"Ready to fight"

Sorry once again for taking so long to give you all an update, but I love being able to pass on PROMISING and EXCITING news…

So lets go back to the end of last week. On Friday my parents travelled down to Seattle to meet with Dr. Chamberlain, Chief of Neuro Oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He has been consulting with my mom’s oncologists in Bellingham and is 100% in support of their current plan for her treatment. He is also very excited about the clinical trial in Bellingham that my mom will be participating in and promised us that she will be getting the state of the art treatment at St. Joseph Cancer Center. Dr. Chamberlain will continue to oversee my mom’s care from Seattle and he encouraged her to be treated in Bellingham because there is no reason for her to travel when she can get the very best care right here at home. The one recommendation that Dr. Chamberlain did make was that he would like my mom to begin radiation, chemotherapy and the clinical trial all at the same time and as soon as possible. So beginning this week, she spent almost every day at St. Joseph Cancer Center (SJCC). She was prescribed her first round of chemotherapy and was fitted for a special mask that she will be wearing during her radiation treatments.

Radiation therapy uses various forms of radiation to safely and effectively treat cancer and other diseases. Radiation works by damaging cells, normal cells are able to repair themselves, whereas cancer cells cannot. My mom’s 5 day a week radiation treatment will take place in a special machine called TomoTherapy. It is an 8 foot tall device with a doughnut-like hole in its center and is one of only 120 such machines in the world! It uses 3D images to guide cancer-fighting radiation treatments with such precision it can hit a tumor the size of a pea. It allows the doctors to better target the radiation in my mom’s head to protect healthy cells from damage. Each session will last about 20 minutes and she won’t see or feel a thing. My mom shares my fear of small tight spaces but luckily one of her wonderful oncology nurses is teaching her to use acupressure to help her relax before she goes into the machine. Radiation side effects occur only in the area that is being treated and not everyone has these side effects. If they do occur, it is usually in the second half of the treatment course and could include hair loss, nausea and vomiting, fatigue and mild skin reactions.

The new chemotherapy treatment my mom will be receiving is cutting edge and the VERY BEST! Chemotherapy is a group of medicines that can kill cancer cells directly. My mom will be given a pill form of chemo, which is nice because she can take it in the comfort of her own home. It is considered a systemic therapy because the medicine will go through the bloodstream to the entire body and for this reason patients tend to experience many more side effects than radiation. The newer forms of chemo (like the one my mom will be on) have made some breakthroughs by producing very little side effects in some patients.

We have an INCREDIBLE family doctors office that have been a pillar of support to my mom these last couple weeks. Marcy Hipskind spent an hour talking with my parents and giving them a lot of encouragement, telling them “People live so much longer and so much BETTER with cancer these days!” Little did we know that Marcy was already very much on board! Earlier in the week she had contacted my mom’s surgeon and oncologists and presented my mom’s case to the Tumor Board at St. Josephs Hospital. During the board meeting her radiation doctor described my mom as “a vivacious woman, full of life and ready to fight!” It gives me such comfort and hope to hear that so many knowledgeable doctors are following my mom’s treatment closely and they themselves are getting inspiration from my mom!

We are currently just waiting for the first radiation day at SJCC to be scheduled, then chemotherapy and the clinical trial will begin as well. My parents were told it could be as early as Monday December 21st. My mom is feeling strong, encouraged and very supported by all of our incredible friends and family. She’s even felt up to working out at the gym, which has encouraged me to get my hiney in gear again  God bless you all for being so patient and understanding with my blogging…there has been so much information coming at us so quickly, I really am trying to do my best to keep everyone up to date. I promise to include more about the clinical trial as soon as I myself, can become educated on the process. Thank you for all the heartfelt emails, texts and phone calls I’ve received. One that particularly stood out to me this week was an email (including the picture I posted) from our dear friends Laurie & Bob Winters who currently live all the way over in Boston:

“Attached is a picture of the candle I burn every day in prayer, hope, optimism and love for your Mom. We are lighting a pretty candle, made by women in Honduras in a program that supports them, in your honor Tricia, every day. It shines beautifully for you and carries our prayers and love for your healing and strength.”