SRS approved and a wedding date

Hurray! We got approval from the insurance company for SRS treatment, Tuesday morning. We opted to go on our scheduled trip anyway, as we were about to walk out the door.

We asked Dr Ribas at UCLA how long to be off of the study drugs before radiation this time. He said on Tuesday 4 days, then Wednesday he said Roche (drug company) says 7 days. (Grr.) The half life of the drug is two days but it takes longer to clear it from the body if you have taken it longer. They also say 7 days after radiation is when to restart the study drugs.

We drove back from CA with my sister, Val. (We hope to hear Val and Brent's daughter, Cambric, will have her baby any day now.) Liz slept some and read some. Val did most of the driving. We got lots of time to talk. :) We like how smooth and quiet her car is, and its great gas mileage. It was fun to see Afton, Stillman, and Brent there too. Matt drove us home from Provo Th. night. We were amazed at our very clean house - those angels dropped by again. :)

Friday we went to Huntsman early to meet with Dr. Anker, a young man (looks like Matt) who works with Dr. Shrieve, regarding SRS treatment. He took more pictures of Liz's skin since some were out of focus last time. We also found out the big X-ray machine there hasn't been working; a part was flown in from Germany and they hoped it would be running by Monday. We still have priority but it may not happen until Tues 5/18 or later, due to backlog. Then we went upstairs for an MRI - to plan the SRS procedure. Liz came back in tears; they couldn't get an IV in, so no MRI was done. She was likely dehydrated. (The same fellow who got her IV in one try last time did three tries without success.) We go back Monday (today) for another try. Liz has been drinking a lot of liquids.

On a positive note, we have a date for Liz and JD's wedding: Saturday, July 10th. We'll try for a reception the night before, so she won't be worn out with too much happening on one day. We look forward to a very busy 8 weeks of anticipating, planning and arranging. Liz and JD have worked on getting ready for the temple endowment before the wedding. We don't have a date for that yet. We bought a beautiful dress the previous Saturday, May 8th, in Provo. So many of you have already offered your help, and we promise when we get a minute to breathe we will figure out how to let you. :)

We saw Iron Man 2 on Saturday, and enjoyed it. (I had my earplugs in.) Liz spent a little time out and about and got sunburned lips and nose while trying to stay out of the sun. Little adjustments are necessary. We planted a few vegetables and flowers. Life goes on, and we make the best of it. Thanks for all of your support!

"Feelin' Stronger Every day..." and a crash.

We returned from another trip to UCLA on Tuesday. Liz had two appointments on the 4th and 8th. She is feeling better and stronger. She has more energy and can eat more, and moves about more easily on her own. She has been on the study drugs for three weeks, and started the second cycle. She still takes morphine twice a day and oxycodone a few other times and in the night. Her body has been doing better at processing food, although she still is not eating as much as normal. She weighs 98.8 pounds now, and we think there may still be some waste to get rid of, as her stomach still feels hard sometimes. She gets cold often, as you can see from the picture on the plane.

Side effects - skin rash is present over nearly all her body. She has a red patch on her wrist that has now become thickened and rougher (since Monday when we saw a dermatologist). We have prescription creams and hope they will help ease discomfort and lessen the rash. The rash typically goes away after another 3 weeks from now, we hear. Liz also has joint pain, currently in her right wrist and index finger.

Her back pain is still there. We also mentioned that her vertebrae look different and had two doctors look at them. There may be some breakage from metastasis, making them stick out further. Because she is feeling better right now we won't worry enough to involve an osteo specialist; likely that would mean getting a brace, according to Dr Grossmann. We have a CT scan coming up in about 12 days, before the next visit to UCLA on 3/31.

Today we noticed new freckles on Liz's face - tiny ones, they just weren't there before. We may start taking weekly pictures. We are also trying to note location of pain daily.

CRASH - On another note, Rachel and Jill had way too much excitement when they tried to drive home last Friday 3/5. Jill was driving and the car hit some ice or slush in the HOV lane in Salt Lake. The car spun around and was hit in the driver door by a truck pulling a horse trailer. Jill had a 3 inch gash on the back of her head and was unconscious for a few minutes. Rachel had back and pelvis trauma and pain. Both kids were uninjured. Jill and Rachel both went to the U of U hospital to be checked over. Jill was released with stitches and/or staples, and she and her kids went home Sat or Sun with her sister driving halfway. Ben drove down Friday and Rachel was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon after her contractions lessened. They drove home Tuesday to Washington after Rachel was feeling more mobile. Their car (Ben's first) was totaled, and will need to be replaced.

We are just very grateful that it wasn't much worse, with two pregnant women and two children. Brad was there for Rachel when I could not be. The most frustrating part was that Rachel was strapped on a board and in a neck brace by the ambulance crew, then not allowed to move for 5 hours, causing her pain. This was due to lack of communication between the OB and Trauma departments. When they finally let her move, much of her discomfort left too. She is still very sore and will move slowly and carefully for a while, and is on Lortab.

We are grateful for blessings! We know the accident could have been much worse. We are glad to have family around to help and to visit and uplift us. God gives us what we can handle... sometimes we wish He didn't think so highly of us. :) We are so fortunate to have Val and Brent welcome us to their home in North Hollywood and loan a car for our use. We enjoyed watching the Oscars with someone who knows the business and voted. I loved getting to hang out with Val, buying fabric, going to church, pulling weeds, playing games, whatever. It's all fun and we love getting together.