Enjoying Home

Ruth is at home enjoying sleeping in her own bed, napping and eating bland food. We have an appointment on Monday with the Oncologist at Shaw Cancer Center so hopefully we will find out more about when and what her treatments will be. As soon as I get an idea of when her treatments will be I will post them on the far right side of this page below all the other things that are on the right. As a family we are so grateful for the outpouring of support, love, and prayers. It makes our journey through this challenging time easier. We love you!

Ruth is home!

My parents got back about an hour ago. After eating some food and getting on the treadmill she is in bed snoozing. She is looking forward to sleeping in her own bed. My father and I are headed to bed as we are going to work early in the morning.

A lot of friends/ neighbors have been calling to see what they can do to help. For right now we are doing good. All of us are trying to stay healthy. Many of you have called asking if you can drop off meals or do anything. Ruth is not eating much and my father and I normally eat at work or come home and don't eat much. If any of this changes we will let you know, thank you for your kind and thoughtful offers.
(Note- next remark is from Bob and Sarah) After spending a week in Denver with all the restaurant, Whole Foods markets, ect.. we are actually trying to loose all the weight that we gained sitting around the hospital room believe it or not!

Thanks for your prayers.

Update Tues. 8:30am

After having a difficult start to the night with a nurse that had challenges starting the IV for the 3rd time she got some well deserved sleep. She was seen up and about walking the halls early this morning by Dr. Davis. He told her she might be able to go home this afternoon! They are going to talk about a release time and get her some solid food for lunch to see how she does with that. Her spirits are high and she seems to be doing well. She said her body is swollen (arms and legs, ect..) so she had some blood tests done to see why and to make sure all the organs were working fine (they are!) we think she just needs to be moving around more. Now we just have to see if Vail Pass and the Tunnel stay open so they can get home.

Other than that I am looking forward to having my parents return home.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
I will post tonight hopefully when she gets home!

Update Monday 5 PM

Talked with my mom this evening- she feels "like a new person" after taking a shower, getting her eipdural, and NG tubes out. It is actually the longest coherent conversation that I have had with her in a week. She has eaten some food and is cooperating with her. After she talked with the doctor this afternoon he said it would be Wednesday before she is released but we hope if she has a good night it could be tomorrow (is what she is hoping and we are all hoping).
Thanks for your prayers and yahooooo!

Update Mon. 10:15am- NG Tube OUT!!

Got off the phone with my dad. NG tube is out. Should be released on Wednesday.
Thanks for your prayers!!

Update Mon. 7am

After talking with my mom yesterday evening she is doing well. She was able to have some soup for lunch. Hopefully she will be able to return home on Tuesday or Wednesday. With encouragement from my father she has been walking a lot and sitting up in the chair more.

When I called her this morning she was optimistic. She had some divestive system luck, was able to keep dinner down. They are hoping that the epidural will come out today and maybe the NG tube. She is looking forward to coming home as soon as they clear her to go. Of course it is dependent on her eating some more food and observation. They hope to talk to Dr. Davis this morning- he has been out all weekend at the National Gynecological Oncology Conference in California- we hope that he has some new treatment ideas for her or maybe some new chemo success have been studied and are ready for use! I will post this evening.
Thanks for your prayers!



Here are a couple of past history interesting facts:
-Ruth had her original surgery 2 years ago on January 16, 2007
- She liked her room so much they gave her the exact same room this time- I think she never wants to be in it again!
-She had been in remission for about 18 months till her most recent diagnosis

Update- Sun. 10:15am

Just got off the phone with my mom, she sounds great, more upbeat and excited for the challenges ahead of her in the next few days. Here are the facts:
- I think she will be released by Tuesday or Wednesday
- She is craving food- sherbert and tangerines
- They are going to put a clamp on the NG (tube that goes to her stomach) today so she can try to eat some food. If she does not get nauseated it means that her body is ready for more food, if she does get nauseated it is not quite ready and there is more waiting to be had.
- The food that she may be able to eat for this test includes sherbert, mashed potatoes and broth (may not sound good to you or me but after not eating for a week she is thrilled!).
- She will get the epidural out of her back on Monday (this has been used for pain management) from here on out pain meds will be administered through the IV.

My father still remains in Denver (yes I think he is stir crazy) but giving my mom the support and encouraging her with a positive attitude and plenty of walking.
She sounds better and more upbeat- however I think she will be happy to be home.
Meanwhile I am at home with the cat who is meowing more than ever to wonder where mom and dad are.
Hopefully I will get an update by this evening and will post.
Thanks for your prayers!

At Last!!!

Was going to post yesterday when I got back to Eagle but not much to report so I waited and have good news!

Ruth walked around the nurse's station three times non-stop after I left yesterday afternoon. I called her this morning, she had a rough night but her rough night was rewarded by her digestive system working again!!! They have not talked about releasing her yet or when but we are a huge step forward. When I talked to her she still had her tube down her throat. Other than that she is doing well and hopes to improve.
Will post when I know more.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Update 10:20 am Friday

Yesterday she walked around the nurses station island twice without stopping so she was happy to be able to do that.
Today is not such a good day for Ruth. She is pretty discouraged and tired of machines, alarms, tubes ect... The one positive note is she is getting a little bit of juice. On the other hand her red blood cell count was very very low, this has resulted in her getting a blood transfusion. They have given one pint and she is getting another right now- alltogether 2 pints. After the blood tranfusion they will need to monitor her for a few hours so she will not be able to walk. She is pretty upset about that- she was looking forward to walking more today but that has put a damper on that. She still has the tube down her nose into her stomach. We are still waiting for that gas, hoping that it will come today.

I am probably headed back to Eagle this afternoon or by Sunday. I will continue the updates, it might be before and after work.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, we do appreciate them.

Update 2:45pm Thursday

Hi to all, thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
Ruth has had a great day today! She has been up and walking twice today! She continues to have a tube down her throat so difficult to talk but doing much better today. The pain and nausea have subsided for now hopefully for good. She was getting pretty discouraged so all of your prayers have helped in this matter.
On the other hand we are still waiting for her to pass some gas. After she acomplishes that obstacle she will be able to move beyond no food or drink. This is because she had some of her bowel removed and they do not want to rush the healing process. Her attitude and color is so much better. We hope to be home sometime by the end of the weekend if her body has healed enough to do so. Other than that we are enjoying the wonderful accommodations on the GYN recovery wing at the hospital. Needless to say she so thankful for cold water and ice chips unlike on Tuesday before surgery she never wanted to see water again after prepping for surgery.
We got re-confirmation that it has not spread to the lymph nodes from the doctor this morning- Praise The Lord!!!!

Thanks and will keep you posted as we get a chance.

Wednesday Morning 9:45 am

Thanks to all for good wishes and prayers. Ruth said she had a good night sleeping on and off. We are waiting right now for the big activity of the day- a walk up and down the hall. She is waiting to pass some gas so she can eat some food or drink anything. She still has a nasal tube down her throat so she is not able to talk much as it is painful. Other than that we are watching TV, reading comments to her and she is in and out of sleep. Thanks much for your prayers!

She Made It and is Doing Well!!

She is out of surgery, doing well. Here are the facts:
- She was given an epidural so hopefully she will sleep well through the night.
-The surgeon was able to get 90% of it out- including the big mass that was almost the size of a football.
- There was "a lot of cancer in there".
-The appendix was taken out.
-Part of the small bowel was taken out- 6".
-She had 2 Liters of fluid that was taken out.
- The tissue collected will be sent to California for chemosensitivity tests to see what course of chemo would be best for her.
-Doctor did not say anything about lymph nodes (they were enlarged)- will ask him next time we see him.
- She will start chemo in the next 2-3 weeks.
- She will be released from the hospital in 4-5 days- dependent on her bowels working.

We are waiting for her to get out of recovery, will head to her room to say hi then headed to get some sleep ourselves.
Thanks for your prayers!
5 PM MST

Waiting!

We left Ruth for surgery about 2:30 this afternoon. The doctor said he would be out to talk to us sometime before 5pm. We are waiting and taking advantage of internet access! Will post after we talk to the doctor. Thank you so much for all your prayers!

Surgery Date

Surgery will be on Tuesday January 20th @ 2:30 PM
Thanks for your prayers!

I am planning to go down for the surgery (not like I had originally planned). Will post when she is out of surgery and how it went- check back for a post sometime late Tues. PM or Wednesday AM- dependent on whether I get internet at the hospital or where we are staying.
Thanks!
SM

Background

This blog is for informative puropses for our family and friends to keep up with Ruth's treatment and recovery. We will be posting as we have information to share with you.

Ruth has been in remission for a year and a half, but she has recently had some health issues. After going in for numerous tests it has been determined that the cancer has returned to the abdominal wall. On Friday January 9, 2009 we are again fighting this disease with God's word in hand praying for His mercy and grace. Ruth will be going in for surgery sometime in the next few weeks. We expect that she will also have to undergo 6 rounds of chemotherapy. She has the same gynecological oncologist that she had last time, one of the best in the nation, so we feel confident that he is the man for the job.

We will post the surgery date as soon as we get one.

Right now we could use prayers that it has not spread to the lymph nodes.
As far as everything else we are set, thanks to everyone, we are so fortunate to have you in our lives.


RM & SM