Guess Who's Back....Back Again

It's time to fire up the Cancer Blog again.  Originally in 2008 when Beth was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer we were touched by the people who were concerned for Beth and wanted to find out what the latest news was.  As much as we loved connecting with our friends and family on a 1 on 1 basis it simply got to be too much to keep everyone up to date individually.  Furthermore, we did not want to be constantly posting to social media and be a bunch of "Debbie-Downers" on Facebook.  So, we created a Blog where friends and family could check in to see how she was doing.  Unfortunately, we feel it's time to resume posting updates in order to keep everyone in the loop.  

Beth has been through a lot over the last 3 years when her cancer returned for a THIRD time.  We have done a very poor job keeping people in the know about the whole situation. The last 12 months or so have seen things take a turn for the worse in someways.  While we are very optimistic, we are aware that the next few months and years will be filled with many ups and downs.  We will use this forum as a means to keep everyone informed as how she is doing.  We will occasionally post updates to Facebook but they could be few and far between and will most often refer people back to this blog where we will try to post more regularly.  The goal is to post an update to this blog at least once a week.

Beth is currently in Chicago at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA).  We will write a separate post in the near future about how awesome CTCA is.  Beth travels to Chicago for all of her doctors appointments and treatments.

Three years ago we found out that Beth's cancer metastasized to her bones and mainly in her spine and her local doctors started her on hormonal treatments.  After 1 year of treatments and going on the recommendations of a few friends we decided to give CTCA a try.  It was the best decision we have made so far.   We wish we would have started here back in 2008.

In Nov 2014, Beth suffered a fractured vertebrae because the cancer had weakened the bones.  She had back surgery where they performed a Kyphoplasty procedure - filling the fracture with a cement compound, as well as another procedure where they fused the two vertebrae together and placed screws to support them.  



Almost exactly 1 year later in 2015, Beth fractured her back again.  Same procedure.  This time, they told her after she recovered from the surgery and after the holidays that they would start her on radiation in order to address cancer growth in her spine. 

That brings us to today.  A few weeks ago, only two months after her last back surgery Beth fractured her back once again only days before she was to start radiation treatments. They decided to not treat the fracture immediately and to start radiation right away.  She was scheduled for 14 rounds of radiation over a 3 week period in Chicago.  Because she was in so much pain they admitted her into the hospital where she still is today, mainly so they can control her pain and until she gets fitted for a back brace - more on that in second. 

In addition, they also did a PET scan which showed the cancer had gotten worse since the last scan. They started her immediately on chemotherapy which she will have every 3 weeks for the foreseeable future.  

Last night they finally decided to do a third Kyphoplasty procedure to address her newly fractured vertebrae and are fitting Beth with a hard shell back brace - think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shell.  She will have to wear that brace for 6-8 weeks.

They are also starting her on Zometa - a drug to strengthen the bones.



So that is pretty much where we are today.  We believe that they have her pain under control and that the procedure done yesterday will also take some of the pain away.  She has radiation until Feb 22nd. Her next Chemo treatment is on Feb 26th.

We try to take one day at a time.  Beth has been showered with phone calls, texts, emails, letters, packages, singing telegrams, etc... You all have made her feel so loved and supported.  Thank you for all of the prayers and service you have directed towards our family.

 "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

-President Henry B. Eyring 

I have watched this video many times over the last few years.  I am thankful its reminder.



We love you all!