Speaking of remission....

Today was Karri's fifth chemo appointment - only one more to go!! It was a good meeting with her Nurse Practioner and we asked some more specific questions about what it means to be "in remission." Lina said that 'remission' is the more common usage in the field today - they don't speak of being 'cured' of cancer, particularly in cases, like Karri's, where it has spread beyond the area of origin. But remission is a good thing, and Lina pointed out that Karri looks good on paper as well as in person - her lab work shows the tumor markers down and her immune system not particularly suppressed from chemo - a little anemic is all.

Lina said that being in remission means the growth of the cancer is suppressed and the cancer is controlled – it doesn't appear to be lurking anywhere. However, it isn't possible to say with certainty that there aren’t some cancer cells somewhere in her body that the chemo didn't get, and they may very likely start to grow in the future. This could occur relatively soon, or not for many years. But for now there is no sign of such activity, and the oncologist will continue to do blood work and scans on Karri to monitor her health, not only in the region of the abdomen but also in nearby areas – bones (back/spine), liver, lungs etc. Theoretically the cancer might re-occur in any of these (or other) areas. The theory is that monitoring will pick it up early and they will then treat it as indicated, depending on where it is growing. For now, we celebrate Karri's continuing progress toward health. She goes in on Thursday for another epidural and evaluation of the situation with her back, which seems to be slowly but surely improving. Thanks as always, for your wonderful support, Kim and the rest of the gang.

Things Are Looking Up

Hi everybody - Karri here to give a current update. I had a Dr. appointment yesterday and it yielded some important news. He said my cancer is now in remission, but I still need to go through the next two chemo treatments. He also said it would probably come back someday, but they don't know when or how bad it will be. So I guess I will be getting checked and tested quite a bit for the next while, but I suppose that is to be expected in living with cancer. I am also now officially off the TPN - the liquid nutrition in a bag that was hooked up to me every night - and I am a free woman without a needle in my shoulder anymore. I still have the port under my skin to use for chemo, but that's about it. I feel really good these days - I can eat almost anything I want and I don't get sick at all anymore. The only problem is that I am still having a lot of back pain and I still need to use the cane to walk around, but I guess that's better than the walker. It feels very strange for me to have school be in session and not to be a part of it, but I will return someday when I am totally healthy and can handle the work and pressure. Until then - I am still staying at my parents house until my back gets better. Please feel free to comment or call or come and visit me anytime.
Love, Karri

Pain, Pain, Go Away

Yesterday Karri met with a pain management specialist. Although her back pain lessened last week, as she tried to become more mobile over the weekend, it increased again and so we were all looking forward to seeing what the doctor would have to say. Myrth and I went with her. We were favorably impressed and infuriated - because the doctor confirmed Karri's the diagnosis initially made (but later changed) in the hospital (disc impingement on nerves) and indicated that the most efficacious course of action would be a spinal epidural. We are delighted that Karri will get an epidural (on Thursday) but so angry that she wasn't simply given one two weeks ago in the hospital as she had specifically requested. The entire hospital experience was demoralizing in the extreme and visiting with Dr. DeLaney simply confirmed this. She also changed medications for something that is more specifically targeted to this kind of pain and intends to get Karri into a physical therapy practice once her pain is under more control, hopefully within a few weeks. All of this could and should have been done so much earlier - it seems so unfair that Karri has had to endure all of this pain so needlessly - and particularly since we were asking all the right questions all along. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the initial epidural will bring relief, but since she has been coping with this nerve damage for an extended period, it may take more than one epidural. However, we are cautiously optimistic that the doctor has Karri's case well in hand and will have additional remedies to use as needed. We would all like to get past this debilitating back pain so Karri's limited energy could be channeled into something more productive. Today she will try to go with Jerry to see Allie play in her first high school volleyball game if she is up to it. Love Kim

MDUSD Teachers Reading this Blog: How You Can Help -- Donate Sick Days to Karri

Kim and Karri reporting the GREAT news that Karri's back pain is, finally (and as mysteriously as it arrived), after two excruciating weeks, greatly diminished! Hooray!! She is way down on pain meds and she is moving about much more easily, and with greater body strength, although still using her trusty walker. We have high hopes for a continued recovery, and we hope the horrible swelling in her legs and ankles will be the next thing to go. She sees a physical therapist tomorrow and a back specialist on Monday.

In the meantime, Karri is down to almost no sick leave days left but the district has just approved her for catastrophic leave, thus clearing the way for fellow teachers in her bargaining unit to donate sick leave, if they so desire. To donate sick days to Karri, contact Denise Larkins, Employee/Employer Relations Specialist for the district, at 682-8000 x4136; larkinsd@mdusu.k12.ca.us. THANKS HUGELY in advance -Team Karri

Out of Hospital; Not yet ready to Dance the Limbo!

Karri came home to Myrth and Claude's on Saturday evening in time to be a part of Myrth's birthday celebration, which under the circumstances was rather bittersweet, not only due to Karri's weakened physical condition, but also as it is the time of year when grandchildren depart for college and there are more departing every year. The Sunday dinner ended with cakes and family blessings for those staying behind. Here is a brief look ahead at our week:

*the two youngest grandchildren, Karri's Allie and Randy's Jenna begin their second week of high school and their first week of early morning Seminary (religious instruction) at 7:00 am, at the church across the street from the high school. Both girls will be staying at Myrth and Claude's this week while Jerry takes Jordan and Randy and Colleen take Rachel and Kenny up to Rexburg to begin the school year at BYU-Idaho. Our week with the girls will be enlivened not only by Seminary and high school, but also by volleyball, soccer, band practice etc.
*Amidst this excitement, Karri will be trying to recover from chemo and from Jordan's departure. (We are thrilled for him but sad for us b/c he is such a great kid.) This is assuming she gets the go-ahead for chemo tomorrow - we hope the lab results will show her infection is gone and her blood counts are good. She is on a new round of pain meds, which make the back pain manageable, just barely - they sort of dull the agony. She is sleeping in a hospital bed, using a walker, and trying hard to build up her muscle tone and body strength, but she is clearly very weak, and it all happened so suddenly. We are all very perplexed that the hospital stay did so little to address the issue and hoping for a referral from her oncologist to a back specialist so we can get better answers and a comprehensive treatment program going. (Any answer would be better than the non-answers we got at the hospital.)
*On the Hooray side - the acites fluid build up seems to have ceased. Although Karri is very miserable with the back issues, we are all so grateful she isn't dealing with that as well. Given what the oncologist said previously about this fluid, we are assuming it has stopped due to a combination of chemo killing off the cancer cells which produced it and to Karri's improved diet helping her vascular system to absorb fluid more normally. Karri has almost no nausea these days and is able to eat small meals two or three times a day. I'll post a new report after her appointment for chemo tomorrow. Posted by Kim with regards to all on behalf of the family