Love for Lori: April 2013

April Fool’s day was a big day for us. It was Lori’s first day of Chemotherapy for her breast cancer. We met with Dr. Anderes, the oncologist, at 10:30 am and reviewed the treatment plans and then went to the infusion room where all the other cancer patients were getting their Chemo. Our friend Tracey, who is a breast cancer survivor, stopped by for a few minutes to give Lori moral support and bring her a goodie bag of things to help with the side effects and some books. Our daughter Rachel was home for Easter weekend along with her husband Drew and our two sons, Ben and Mike. Mike’s girlfriend, Mary, and Ben’s girlfriend Rachel Maurer came as well. Rachel helped set up this blog site too. Thanks RaMau!! Rachel our daughter stayed over on Monday to go to the chemo appointment and it was wonderful to have her around. Last Thursday, March 28^th, Lori had a “port” surgically placed to allow infusion of the chemo directly into her central circulation. This involves placing an ultrasound guided needle into the Internal Jugular vein in the neck and threading a catheter over the needle and into the vein and putting the tip of the catheter just above the heart. The needle is then removed. Next, they tunnel the other end of the catheter under the skin, over the collar bone and attach it to a small metal container about 2 inches in diameter with a rubber membrane on top. After placing the container, the skin was sutured shut. This allows them to poke a needle through the skin and membrane into the container and not have to fish around for IV’s in the arm. Also, the chemo drugs are very toxic and could chemically burn peripheral veins. A port is the best way to administer chemo.

Anyway, the chemo infusion began around 11 am and started with a lot of “pre-medication” to battle the side effects of the chemo. She was given Ativan, Emend (a strong, long lasting anti-nausea drug), Dexamethasone (strong steroid) and Benadryl. She then was given Adriamycin and Cytoxan. She slept for much of the day from the sedating effects of the pre-meds. The good news is that she tolerated the chemo very well. It is now 4 days after the infusion and she still hasn’t had any discernible side effects besides some mild fatigue. She went on a 3 mile walk with Rachel after the chemo was done!! Because the chemo is toxic to the bone marrow, most cancer patients get a shot of Neulasta the day after chemo. This drug stimulates the bone marrow to produce white blood cells and significantly reduces the risk of infection. It can cause bone pain though and Lori has been taking Claritin, Ibuprofen and Aleve and hasn’t experienced any bone pain at all. So, all in all, the first round of chemo went very well. She will repeat this routine 3 more times, every two weeks. As the nurse said, “You’re one quarter of the way done with the AC drugs”. She will start Taxol next.

April Fool’s Day this year was also a milestone for us because that night, Lori’s Dad, Don Wolf, passed away. Don had been in a nursing home for 5 years with Alzheimer’s disease. Over the last few years, he was on hospice care, so his passing was not totally unexpected. They thought he might go, off and on for the past week. The night he died, Lori’s sister Diane was in the room with him and was able to hold the phone to his ear while Lori was able to tell him how much she loved him and will look forward to seeing him in heaven. Diane, Lori and Rachel then sang the Doxology twice and ended with his favorite hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. During that hymn, he stopped breathing and was gone. He died very peacefully listening to “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,…”. When he started looking bad last week, it appeared that his passing and funeral, etc. might coincide with the start of Lori’s chemo. We were very anxious and eager to get started with Lori’s treatment and had to agonize about the possibility of not being able to attend Don’s funeral. Lori’s family was very supportive though and told her that she needed to take care of herself and they totally understood if she wasn’t able to come. Even so, there were lots of tears with that thought. But, God is good. Don held off passing till April Fool’s day which in itself was ironic. You’d have to know Don to get it. He was quite the jokester and a source of lots of family laughs and groans. This allowed Lori to get her first chemo and funeral plans are for this Sunday and Monday. So, Lori and I will be able to go to the funeral this weekend without any interruption in Lori’s chemo schedule. In addition, Rachel, Drew and Ben will be able to fly to Cleveland for the funeral as well.

As I said, April Fool’s was a big day for us and we won’t soon forget it. Lori continues to amaze me with her ability to handle all that is happening. She is showing a strength I have never seen in her and she would say it is from God. She is driving around Kalispell with her friend Jan and going to a class to learn how to wear wigs and scarves for when she loses her hair. I still am not ready for that. Lori inherited thick, beautiful hair from her dad. Thanks again for all your love and support. If you add your email address where indicated on this page, I believe you will get updates automatically when they are posted if you would like. We Love you all, John and Lori

PS: My dad’s favorite verse was, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Love for Lori

Pages

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

We Are All In-No One Fights Alone.....

The Foundation

Our Family

Lori in her Library

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Easter Picture

Lori's first Chemo and other news