Chemo & TLC

Sorry for the delay in the update but fall has been keeping our family busy.  After a week home from the hospital my mom was moving around the house, making grocery lists and planning family dinners like she didn't JUST have brain surgery!  She had her follow up appointment with her neurosurgeon and neuro-oncologist down at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and they were very pleased with her recovery. She was thrilled to get the okay to drive and lift things less than 50 pounds, which means she can finally hold Tristan again :)

Together with her doctors we decided to follow a slightly different plan from her last course of treatment.  We are going to avoid oral chemotherapy and brain radiation and just do IV Avastin therapy.  She will be getting her infusions up here in Bellingham every 2 weeks and will have follow up brain MRI's down in Seattle every 2 months.  Her first infusion was this Wednesday and went very well.  Besides feeling a little tired for a couple days she tolerates Avastin very well.  We are so thankful to have surgery over with and have positive hopes for her treatment to work again for her.  More than ever we are spending lots of time together as a family and looking forward to celebrating Tristan's first birthday and Thanksgiving together next month. God Bless!!

Home At Last

After 3 days and 2 nights at the hospital my mom finally got the okay to go home. They were thinking about discharging her the day after surgery because she was doing so well but decided to observe her one more day due to the placement of her chemotherapy in her brain and the possibility of increased swelling. We were prepared to meet with speech therapy if swelling caused any difficulty with her language. Instead when we got to her room on Wednesday morning she was reading her breakfast menu and calling to order her own breakfast! This is so amazing because after her first surgery she had some difficulty reading and forming clear sentences for a couple months. We even got a text from her that night in our hotel room saying goodnight :)

                                               

Ordering "room service" in the hospital (she doesn't know I took this picture but it was too impressive NOT to!)

 Sporting our new scarves! She talked her surgeon into not shaving her entire head for surgery and once her incision heals up I bet she will be rocking a new hair do that my sister will do for her.

So impressed with the level of care my mom received at UW. All of her nurses were so sweet and allowed our whole family to be a part of her care as much as possible. Her surgeon and his team of attendees were incredible, answered all our questions and gave us such a positive perspective on fighting this disease. Plus my mom said the hospital food was the best she's had so far, top notch hospital all around!

                                         
She traded her hospital gown for her Maui clothes as soon as she got the news she was going home soon! My parents were supposed to be leaving for a vacation to Maui a week after they found out my mom's brain tumor was back. So we have postponed their trip for now and plan to take the entire family  to Maui next spring to celebrate her awesome recovery!

She is so happy to be settled in at home again and is sleeping and healing up excellently. She gets to slowly start tapering off her post surgery medications and is feeling more and more like herself everyday. My sister Taryn and I are so thankful to be living just a few short miles from my parents, where we can come by all the time to visit and help out wherever we can. My Aunt Barb stayed down in Seattle with us for the surgery, made food for us this week and has been so amazing! All of our family and friends have once again amazed us with their outpouring of support and help. Every meal, card, text message and facebook comment reminds us daily of how lucky we are to have such a wonderful support system.

We really could not have asked for a better outcome and thank God for guiding her surgeon and giving my mom strength through the surgery and recovery. She seems to have no side effects so far from the chemotherapy working in her brain and we meet with the doctor in 10 days for her postop visit and to figure out where to go from here. Please keep my mom and our family in your prayers, we love you all!

Success!!

This is going to be brief but I just wanted to get the word out to everyone waiting for news...my Mom's surgery was a HUGE success!! After being in surgery for 2.5 hours we got a phone call from the operating room nurse letting us know that everything went well and she was on her way to recovery. Her surgeon Dr. Silbergeld met with us shortly afterwards to tell us they were able to remove all of the tumor and successfully place her chemotherapy. They did another brain MRI just prior to her going into surgery and they used this image to guide the tumor removal. She had minimal bleeding and after coming out of sedation she was already talking on the operating room table! We didn't share this earlier but the one major concern we had prior to surgery was the possibility that her speech could be damaged due to the location of the tumor being so close to her language center.

After a long 3 hour wait we were able to see her in ICU. She had a big sleepy smile on her face and was able to recognize us and tell us all about her amazing team of nurses and doctors that had been taking care of her the last couple hours. With very little help from a physical therapist she has already been up and out of bed. Our mom is AMAZING!! Her brain may experience some swelling tomorrow which is normal after this surgery and it may effect her speech temporarily but it is nothing that would be permanent. There is actually some talk of sending her home tomorrow if she continues to do this well.

Thank you to all of you who kept us in your thoughts this morning, we could FEEL THE PRAYERS! Once again God was watching down on us today and we are so grateful for His blessings. The University of Washington has surpassed all of our expectations and we could not have found a better place for her to come. The chemotherapy they placed in her brain today will be effective for the next 6-8 weeks and we will be working on starting another treatment plan in the meantime. Today completely reaffirmed that we have found the right doctors to take care of my mom and help us formulate the best plan of care for her. More updates to come tomorrow, time to rest and regroup for her recovery. Much love to you all!

A Time To Fight

I am sitting in the waiting room here at UW Medical Center this morning and I have literally started and erased my first ten attempts to start this blog post, because flat out there is no easy way to share this news again with our friends and family. For the past 18 months my mom has been off of cancer treatment and has been enjoying and living her life to the fullest. She was still being followed closely by her oncologist and her brain MRI's every 4 months were consistently coming back with no tumor regrowth. Then 2 months ago there was "a change" detected in the area of her first tumor. After 4 different doctors reviewed the scan they could best describe the change as a "shadow" but with no detectable tumor. They recommended to repeat her next scan sooner. On September 5th they repeated her MRI and gave us the grim news that the cancer was back and a glioblastoma brain tumor had regrown in the same area as her first tumor. We all knew that this could and probably would occur again sometime in the future but we were still not prepared to hear this news and go through the same fear, worry and concern all over again. My mom has been feeling very healthy and objectively we have not noticed any symptoms of the a tumor returning (confusion, headaches, difficulty with speech). 

"I'm ready to fight" was the first thing my mom told the doctors after hearing the news that her cancer had returned. After the initial shock wore off we agreed as a family that we would go to Seattle to meet with Dr Chamberlain the head of neuro-oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. My mom had seen him in consultation 3 years ago when she was originally diagnosed and he helped formulate her plan of treatment up in Bellingham. Dr Chamberlain explained that my mom was a perfect candidate for another surgery to resect and remove the tumor. Unfortunately this type of brain cancer is the most aggressive form of tumor and removing it soon was the first place to start. Neurosurgeon Dr. Silbergeld at the University of Washington was immediately the surgeon recommended due to the fact that he only operates on brain tumors and does over 200 surgeries per year. He met with my parents and scheduled surgery for today, September 18th. Because my mom is in such great health and the location of the tumor site is so close to the surface of her brain it is easily operable. Her doctors also recommended a procedure to implant a type of chemotherapy called a Glio Wafer into the area where they remove the tumor. This is an excellent form of treatment because the chemotherapy will be localized to only her brain and is unable to cross the blood brain barrier to effect her body systemically. 

I can't help but feel like wow, is this really happening again to my mom? And the answer is yes is it but in a brighter perspective this time around we have a lot more positives on our side. In 2009 when she had a seizure which lead to the MRI that found her tumor, we were unaware of her diagnosis going into surgery. On her surgery day today we are blessed to have been given the option to remove her tumor and start her chemotherapy all of in one procedure. This is a way for her to start kicking this cancer's butt right full force right out of the gate! 

Today I feel our family is empowered by the knowledge and tools we've gained over the past three years. We know what she is facing, know what treatments worked for her in the past and we have discussed options for new treatments that are available down the road if she needs them. I hope we are even more prepared this time with the VERY BEST doctors/surgeons, medications and therapies to ease her discomfort from treatments and have our family and friends behind us prepared to offer all the support we may need down the road of treatment and recovery. 

My mom and our family is a true believer in the power of God's hand in all things. We know that only He knows the plan for my mom and it is our job to stay strong and put our faith and trust in Him. I am grateful for my education and training in nursing to be here today as an advocate for my mom and family. I will do my best to post updates as often as possible. Please continue to pray for strength and healing for my mom and all of those lending a hand to support our family through this journey. We are so blessed!

Christmas Miracle

Christmas came early this year for our family as my mom received another clear brain MRI this month. She has now passed the 2 year mark since her diagnosis of a stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor in her left frontal lobe. It has also been 1 year since she was given the okay to stop all treatment because she was doing so well. I am unable to put into words what a true miracle my mom is and how the power of a positive attitude and prayer can truly save a life.

For a recap...my mom was given a 7 month time stamp on her life by the neurosurgeon who performed her brain surgery to remove her tumor. She was even recommended to not pursue any treatment because it wouldn't prolong her life. Our family demanded a second opinion and immediately sought care from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. We were amazingly referred back to an oncologist right here in Bellingham because they had the best technology in the area to treat brain tumors. Here we were given a sliver of hope that there were options for treatment. My mom was given that tiny bit of hope and ran with it. She immediately started a month of brain radiation where she had to combat her fear of clausterphobia, lost almost half her hair and dealt with radiation burns to her scalp. She then underwent 14 months of chemotherapy and participated in a clinical trial with Avastin IV therapy.

After 5 MRI scans of her brain her oncologist could see no further growth of her tumor and decided it was best to give her body a break from all the chemicals that had been pumped into her body to fight off the cancer. I feel like we held our breath through the next 3 months for her first MRI after stopping treatment and when it came back clear we were so relieved. With each scan since then we feel a little less apprehensive and are even more amazed at the true miracle God has given our family. It may not be a gift of a true CURE but its the gift of TIME. Time for us with our mom and time for her to enjoy life, her kids and now her grandkids as we welcomed my first child into the family on November 17th. From our family to yours Merry Christmas and thank God all of our everyday miracles.

 Nana with her grandson Tristan James Ortiz

Healthy & happy

Hello friends, family and fellow bloggers. Sorry we haven't posted in a while but I wanted to give everyone an update on how my mom and the rest of the Smith family is doing. It has been 10 months now since my mom was given the okay to take a break from her cancer treatment and she has had 3 clear brain MRI's since then! She continues to feel wonderful and she is back to her full high level of energy.

Her oncologist is extremely pleased with how she has battled her brain cancer and has even mentioned the "cured" word. We continue to take nothing for granted and appreciate everyday that she feels great and gets to enjoy time with her family.

This picture was taken on August 27th, my wedding day, which was a day I will never forget having her there by my side. She was such a special part of our celebration and is now anticipating the next big event...the arrival of her first grandchild, due on Thanksgiving Day. Sending all our love your way and more updates to follow soon!

It's About Time...For A Break!

As of today my mom has been through 14 months of treatment: 30 days of brain radiation, 14 rounds of chemotherapy, 28 Avastin treatments, 5 MRI's and too many doctor's visits to count. Her scar on her head has healed, her hair was gone and has now grown back thick and curly. After after all that she has faced it's about time my mom gets a BREAK!! And she's finally going to get a one because her oncologists all agree that she is doing well enough to take a break from her treatments. Today we celebrated her last dose of Avastin in the clinical trial she was participating in.  

So what are the plans now? Well first of her MRI scans have been pushed up to every 2 months just to keep a closer eye on her. Of course she is going to continue to see her naturopath and acupuncturist and eating a very organic diet. But her body gets a much needed break from all the drugs. We are continuing to research possible treatment options for the future and are holding onto hope for a cure someday!

My parents have also been up to their own plans. The first which includes 2 week trip to Maui in March! It has been way too long since they've taken a vacation together just the two of them. They more than deserve to kick back on the beach and just enjoy themselves.

The idea of my mom being off of treatment is a little hard to wrap my mind around because she started her therapies almost immediately after being diagnosed in December of 2009. We are all wondering how she will do off of therapy? But at the same time we are so thrilled for her because she has worked so hard to fight this cancer off and now gets to enjoy a break. There is always fear in the unknown and I guess that’s how cancer works, it leaves a lingering unknown. Mostly though it keeps us on our toes, keeps us aware of every breath we take and keeps us in awe of all the blessings in our lives. So for now we are going to all keep calm and carry on. Way to go Mom! Kick your feet up and relax for a while :)