update from Bob S.

Marti is doing fairly well today. We all went to see "The King's Speech" yesterday afternoon and it was great. Today Marti and Noreen went to church this morning and they are excited about watching the 2 football games later today. Noreen hates the Steelers---I am not crazy about them either, but I have always hated the Jets more because of what they did to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl 3. We were all happy that Sara and Nick got to spend time together this weekend. Marti starts radiation again tomorrow afternoon. Barbara is coming tomorrow or tuesday and we are looking forward to seeing her (and the dogs too).
Thanks to everyone
Bob S.

Udate from Bob Shalowitz

Maureen has had a decent week. She radiation to all 3 sites, each day from monday to friday, as well as chemo with taxol on thursday. We had about a one hour meeting with Dr. Pollack, the Radiation Oncologist on wed and this was very helpful. We both are extremely comfortable with him. He also started Marti on a course of decadron (strong type of cortisone) to try to decrease the pain in her right shoulder. Noreen has been here since sunday and she has been awesome-great sense of humor and great cook, too. We were going to go to the casino last night but it was 0 degrees and we lost our desire to go outside.
Also, Marti had a cat scan of her left hip because of pain---this was done yesterday and I reviewed it with the radiologist, and the rod looks good, and there does not appear to be any cancer in that area--nice to get a piece of good news once in a while.
So we start all over again monday. Thanks to everyone for all the support. She gets tired easily and sometimes suddenly, but her spirits are good.
Best regards,
Bob

Update from Mom via Sara

Hello everyone! I just spoke with my mom and she asked that I write something on the blog -- she is doing well and her spirits are strong...she's completed 2 chemo rounds and is starting her second week of radiation. My aunt Noreen just got up to WV this weekend and will stay for a week. This is short I know, but Mom just wanted to say hello and pass along that she's fighting hard and doing all right.

-Sara

From Bob Shalowitz

Radiation treatment #3 was done today--She is doing fine with that so far--side effects usually start happening about the 3rd week. Chemo #2 is tomorrow--a tough day because she has to get up early, have radiation first at one hospital, then chemo at another hospital.
Pop-Pop Danny used to say "Always something to keep life interesting"--and that is exactly what happened this past sunday night, when Marti broke a tooth! So I got her in with the dentist as an emergency monday morning to get that fixed--about 2 1/2 hours in the chair--and then radiation later that day.
So Anyway, tomorrow is a long and busy day00I will try to update everyone tomorrow night.
Love Bob

From Bob Shalowitz

The first chemo, on thursday was really tough, because, they insisted on doing it very slowly, over 6 hours the first time. It was very enervating for Marti to lay there that long. She was very worn out when she got home.
Fri morning she had more xrays and a cat scan at Dr. Pollack's office as part of the calculations to aim the radiotherapy as accurately as possible. I thought Marti and Kathleen were going to be meeting with Dr. Pollack, but that did not happen.
She did fine last night, Kathleen and I went to the Casino for about an hour and had dinner.
I expect an OK weekend. The radiotherapy is supposed to start monday on a daily basis, with chemo again on thursday.
It is a life saver having Kathleen here, as it is impossible for me to stop working.
Have a nice weekend everybody, and I hope you are having better weather than us.
Love, Bob

Chemo #1 down!

Hello everyone!

I talked to mom today briefly and she sounded great! I was telling her about how my training for my half marathon is going and about the different movies that are out right now -- she is trying to save up strength to be able to go see The King's Speech.

She is in very good spirits and said it has been great having her sister Kathleen there along with my dad -- they have all been getting to spend time together and keep each other positive :-)

That's all for now!

-Sara

From Bob Shalowitz

We had an extensive consult with radiation oncologist Jondavid Pollack yesterday, and Maureen had an hour of measurements, xrays and markings. Dr Pollack works today on plotting the radiation plan and then she goes in for more measurements and a cat scan tomorrow. This is all to make sure the radiation goes to the exact right places and avoids the good areas as much as possible. Radiation treatment may be starting monday, daily for about 5 weeks.
In the meantime, she is starting chemo with taxol this morning. Kathleen arrived last night which is really great.
Again, I am asking everyone not to ask her to go over all this-she had to do it three times on the phone last night. Please check the blog for medical info and call her to discuss typical everyday stuff, argue about politics, etc. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S UNDERSTANDING ON THIS.
Love
Bob

radiation doctor update

I got a brief update from my dad tonight, he will write more later -- Mom's radiation oncologist appointment went well today. Dr. Pollack took many xrays and measurements and he will take more on Friday so that they can determine precisely where to radiate. They plan to begin radiation treatments Monday. They anticipate doing the radiation treatments everyday for 5 weeks on her right shoulder, sternum, and lower back.

My Aunt Kathleen arrived in Wheeling tonight and will stay over the weekend. We're going to need help as the weeks go on with getting Mom to her chemo and radiation treatments, especially as she gets more tired. My dad has to keep working and I live too far away to be there everyday. I have built up a lot of sick leave so I will be able to use it to as necessary to help out.

Thanks for all of your support and love -- we really appreciate it.

-Sara

From Bob Shalowitz

Sara's summary was completely accurate. Maureen will be starting chemo on thursday morning with Taxol, once a week in relatively small doses until Dr. Mehotra sees what she can tolerate. A large dose of IV decadron (strong form of cortisone) is give before the taxol to reduce side effects. OUr appointment with Dr Jondavid Pollack, the Radiation oncologist is at 3:30 this afternoon. He trained at NIH and knows most of Marti's doctors that took care of her in Bethesda. We are very impressed with him, he also is a PhD and has a great personality.
Unfortunately, I can't help being somewhat discouraged by how frail and weak she is now. I hope that this improves as the amount of cancer (tumor burden) shrinks with the treatments.
We also found that she has a very low Vit D level and we are starting a regimen to alleviate that to prevent osteoporosis.
It is very important that people call to discuss everyday stuff, NOT quiz her on her cancer, unless, of course, she brings it up and wants to vent.
Thanks to everyone for their support
Love,
Bob S.

Chemo starting this week

I just got off the phone with my parents and my dad asked me to go ahead and post what they find out at the doctor's appointment today. He will write a more detailed post tomorrow sometime, but here's briefly what happened today. The radiation oncology appointment had to be rescheduled for Wednesday this week, but they were able to see the medical oncologist. Mom will be starting chemotherapy this Thursday. She will be taking Taxol, which is the same drug she had the first time eleven years ago. I was under the impression that Rather than administering it monthly, they will be administering it weekly in smaller doses. The doctor thinks that she will be able to handle it better this way and it has also been shown that this method is more effective at treating the disease as well. As of now, they do not think they will have to install a port to administer the drugs, but that is a possibility depending on how she does with it. Radiation will begin soon as well, but we will find out more information regarding that on Wednesday.

Mom has been extremely tired lately - needing to lay down and rest more than she is awake throughout the day. But she is very positive about this plan and is ready to fight. My Aunt Kathleen will be arriving in West Virginia on Wednesday night and my Aunt Noreen will be coming up from Florida for a few days next week.

We will see what the next few days and weeks will bring, but we are all trying to stay positive and appreciate your love and support as we tackle this as a family and try to help Mom get through it.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year! Mom and Dad had a great weekend with our friends, Marsha and Sheldon Freed. They got to kick back, relax, and enjoy the weekend not thinking about the trials that lie ahead in the upcoming weeks and months. They are back in Wheeling now and have appointments with both the radiation and medical oncologist tomorrow. My dad will write an update after we know more. We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.

-Sara