Plan of Action

This Friday we spent almost 5 hours with the wonderful people that work at St. Joseph’s Cancer Center in Bellingham. We received a ton of information about the treatment options and the overall process my mom will be facing. Learning that my mom has cancer has brought on a flood of feelings and concerns for the future. The people at St. Joseph’s Cancer Center understand just how overwhelming this can be and are helping us learn as much as possible about what we may experience. Right here in Bellingham they offer the best available technology, techniques and state-of-the-art equipment available to treat cancer. The staff have already been so supportive and uplifting to deal with.

The very good news is that the prognosis that came with my mom’s diagnosis really is much more positive that we had originally hoped for. After meeting with several different oncologists, we chose Michael Taylor (Radiation Oncologist) to monitor and plan my mom’s treatment. She liked his “warm & fuzzy” bedside manner and the fact that he brings in his golden retriever to the office from time to time  Dr. Taylor is very optimistic because her tumor was so small, was removed completely and my mom is in such good health to begin her course of treatment. We have an initial plan to begin her first radiation treatment starting December 10th. Radiation therapy will be 5 days a week and continue for 6 weeks. We also were told that chemotherapy is actually very effective in treating this type of brain cancer. A 4-6 week course of chemotherapy will follow the radiation therapy. Frequent MRI’s will be done throughout the first couple months of treatment, to keep an eye on any tumor regrowth but at this point the doctors don’t expect to see another tumor popping up any time soon. During treatment she also has access to some pretty great alternative therapies including a dietician, massage therapist and acupuncturist.

It is important for you all to know that we are still actively pursuing other opinions and specialists for further treatment options down the road. First of all we have already requested a 2nd reading of the tumor pathology report to be sent to UW. Unfortunately even after triple checking everything, mistakes are still made in medicine and we want to make sure we know for sure exactly what kind of cancer we are dealing with. Also, St. Josephs has already presented to us the option for my mom to participate in an ongoing clinical trial for glioblastomas. We will be asking lots of questions and be doing some extensive research about this trial before making a decision about this course of treatment. But it is so wonderful to know that we have OPTIONS! Even just by word of mouth we are hearing about new treatments that have worked for other brain cancer survivors and we are getting more and more hopeful for a positive outcome.

Here is a personal message from my mom…
“Thank you EVERYONE for all your love, support and healing words. I promise I am thinking about all of you just as much as you have been thinking about me. Please know that all of your phonecalls, emails and blog comments mean the world to me! Just because I haven’t been able to speak with you or see you yet, doesn’t mean that I haven’t been strengthened and uplifted by your thoughts and warm gestures. I’m feeling stronger everyday and my family wants me to preserve my energy for starting my first round of treatment next week. I want to reinforce the POSITIVE outlook we are choosing to have for the future. Love you all!!!”
-Tricia

We hope that by sharing this information with all of you will help you feel more connected to our family and give my mom continued strength on our journey.
Please feel free to email me at Tanisita16@aol.com with any more resources or medical contacts that could be of use to my mom. Feel free to visit the St. Joseph Cancer Center website www.peacehealth.org/cancer. The more we learn the more empowered we become to help my mom fight this battle.