April radiation and a new baby!

Sorry it has been so long, but here is the last few weeks' worth on Liz.

After her MRI on her birthday, Liz started taking a steroid, dexamethazone, for inflammation of her spine. It did affect her appearance, so she got a bit of the "moon face" (chubby cheeks) and a little belly. She also had more of an appetite which was good. She is now tapering off of the steroid.

We asked about Liz taking study drugs vs. radiation treatments for her cancer in her bones. Dr. Ribas said she could stop taking the drugs just during the days she has radiation, then start again afterward.

So, on April 12, Liz began five days of radiation treatments on her spine and her hips. It seemed to go fine. She developed red skin rectangles where the radiation went into her body, front and back. Her esophagus was irritated from it too, and by the following Wed. it was pretty painful to swallow. She began to take more oxycodone to help with the pain. Monday 4/26 she started on a liquid to gargle and swallow. It contains lidocaine for pain, maalox for acid, and diphenhydramine for swelling reaction. She also has clotrimazole lozenges to suck on for the thrush (her tongue is white) and we feel like these are helping somewhat. Both of these were used before when she was released from the hospital after IL2 treatments.

On April 13th Liz had an infusion of Zometa as well. It is a medicine which blocks cancer from being able to react and break down bone. It took her nearly two hours, instead of 30 min, because they got the wrong person's prescription ready, and almost gave it to Liz: Elizabeth K Harris is an older lady who also needs zometa but takes it with other medicines at a very slow rate.

Zometa made her bones ache that night around her ribcage, an expected side effect. She took oxy to help. This will be a once a month treatment for her bones to grow better over the next 4 months. Liz received rides to radiation treatments from Melissa Lewis, Cindi Wendler, Nell Howell, and Lisa Safeer. Dinners were brought in by Karen Leonard, Linda Leonard, Yalanda Atchison and Jeanne Moore and Nell Howell. They were delicious!

Then Liz had an appointment at UCLA on 4/21. Liz did blood tests fairly easily and saw Dr Chmielowski (sp?) because Dr. Ribas was called away on an emergency. She received the next three weeks' worth of medicine and we plan to return on 5/12 for the start of cycle 5.

After that appointment Liz flew to Yakima to join the rest of us at Rachel's house, to see their beautiful new baby boy, Hyrum Benjamin Jensen. Luckily Hyrum is small enough that Liz can hold him. He is a sweet boy, and his parents are very happy and devoted to him. He was born on 4-6-10 and weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. He has lots of blond hair. It was fun to have a little break from some worries and get away. Even Matt got to come, right after finals at BYU. We worked on a few projects there to help out. We enjoyed participating in Hyrum's blessing too.

We drove home through the night from Sunday to Monday the 26th. We all feel better for getting a good night's sleep in our own beds. Liz keeps a pretty good attitude most of the time. She does get tired of her body always having pain somewhere, or her appetite being gone, then returning, only to be less able to swallow. She keeps trying and we will work it out. We so value our friends who help lift our burdens (weed my flower beds, and mow the lawn, feed the dog...) and share our concerns. Thanks for your support!

April radiation to come

Liz and I went to see Dr. Bauman, a back surgeon, at the IHC clinic in Salt Lake on Monday. He looked at an MRI of her spine and said that if she were a little old lady with osteoporosis, he could help her with kyphoplasty. We could see the discs T3 and T6 were gone. T11 was only a small wedge shape left, tipping a bit toward the spinal column. He explained that putting the acrylic cement in only works when there is enough bone structure for it to adhere to. She has more curvature of the spine at the area between her shoulder blades and just below. IF she experiences any more extreme pain like she had between January 30th and February 20th, she should come right in and stop further breakage. We were disappointed but better educated. He also said if she falls or picks up something heavy she will break her back.

Later we asked him about getting her a back brace to help stabilize her spine. Dr Bauman prescribed one for her so we may get that. I think as she travels in a car or airplane especially she may be glad for the extra support. She feels every twist and turn, deceleration, and bump. The pain is much better than in February.

We also met with Dr Ying Hitchcock, a Chinese lady who prefers talking to listening when it comes to dealing with patients. She agreed to do radiation on Liz's spine and both hips over the week of April 12-16th, rather than the standard two weeks, because we have planned for Liz to go to UCLA for a clinic visit then go to WA to see her sister Rachel's new baby boy. It also will mean she is only off the clinical trial drugs for 5 days instead of 12. (We were so glad she can just take a break and get right back on them. If we had known this in Feb. we would have done things differently too... 20/20 hindsight.) Liz has a few more black tattoo dots to mark her body for those treatments.

Liz has begun to drive a little, using the Suburban or my car as they are easier to drive than her car with no power steering. She likes feeling a little more normal and free to go as she pleases.

We loved having a quick visit from my sister Karyn, Andre' and their kids over Easter weekend. We enjoyed hearing messages of hope and faith in Christ as we celebrated his Atonement. We rejoice in His love and trust in His power and goodness.