Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Scoop on Yemma

I have a brief update on my mom. She went to the chemotherapy information session on Tuesday. She was bombarded with information and my grandpa (Pi) kindly sent me copies of everything. While skimming over the papers, I found something encouraging: there was a section that said something like "I understand that my chemo is being given for the following reason" and there were four options. The one that was circled basically said that the chemo was to prevent a recurrence of her cancer even though there is currently no evidence that any exists. I'm guessing this was just the closest option to her situation because her doctor had stated that there was some cancerous granulation tissue coating her organs - so it's not ALL gone, but hopefully mostly gone. (The other options were to try to keep it under control in the case of extremely advanced, terminal cancer; to try to shrink the tumors to facilitate surgical removal; and something about radiation, which is not currently part of the plan for her.)

She'll have six rounds of chemo and each cycle is going to be 21 days. That means that it will take her about four months to complete her chemo. (This is a lot longer than I anticipated, but I'm not sure WHAT I imagined - if that makes any sense). She has been told that she will lose all of her hair by the end of the second cycle. She is going to have Josey shave it all off before then because she doesn't want to be traumatized finding it in clumps on her pillow. She'd rather lose it all in one go and on HER terms. I love that, and I'm really comforted that it will be something for her and Josey to experience together. I'm so glad that Yemma has a "daughter" nearby while I'm in Oklahoma and Mary is in New York.

There's a very thorough schedule detailing which drugs to take and on what days after her chemo. They're called "rescue drugs." Basically, she has to get the chemo, then save herself FROM the chemo with these medications. It's a scary thought, but again, we're not allowing fear to consume us. We rest knowing that God is in control, and we are counting our blessings. He knew this was going to happen when He created this world, and no amount of freaking out on our part is going to change it. So we wait. And trust.

Yemma is getting her energy back after her major surgery. She is still tired, but less so. She's been getting out and about more and more. Her staples are out and I took the liberty of removing most of her steri-strips when I saw her on the way to Chicago (St. Louis is very conveniently located in the middle of the route from here to Chi-town). She will start her chemo on June 10th. Ryan and I will be up there a week and a half later to spend the weekend. I wish we could get up there before then. Alas, work calls. If praying is your thang, please do so. It works.

Thanks so much again to everyone for asking how my mom is. We are so blessed with a lot of people who care.

5 comments:

Ashley Hancock said...

I just wanted to let you know that your family is in my thoughts and prayers! Your positivity and strength are truly inspiring!

Sh. said...

Sarah! Thanks for the update. Sounds like everything is planned out very well. And I think it's so awesome that Josie can be there for her like that. You and your family are in my thoughts!!!

Joe Momma said...

It sounds like everything is going great. Chemo obviously won't be fun, but once she's finished she will have had an amazing experience which she can use to connect with and help others. In a year or so when she's all better, you guys can come out to New York and go to Super Saturday! (It's a designer garage sale that benefits ovarian cancer research-- http://www.ocrf.org/)

Stephanie said...

I'm glad to hear that things are looking so well!

Mandie said...

Sarah! Thank you for the update on Yemma! I want you to know that your mom and your family are in Michael and I's prayers. I think you have a wonderful outlook and am proud of you for staying strong. It in gods hands just as you said. Please let me know if I can do anything to help.