Final Tests Are Back

We met with Rachel's oncologist last week to review the results of her latest testing. The results were good... her CT Scan to measure mass/tumors was negative and her PET Scan to measure metabolic activity or "glowing" in cells was nearly negative. It was clear in all of her lymph nodes and previously infected areas, but there was a small "glow" in her upper right lung. The tests showed no mass there and the doctors feel it is "residue" from her recent radiation treatments. They expect it to go away in a month or two and we'll test her again in August. So that was a pretty good result!!

Rachel has resumed her longer workouts and working at Girard Hospital and her stamina is increasing daily. The doctors were impressed that she is doing 45 minute workouts already. Also, her hair is coming back... it's kind of a "Sinead O'Connor" style now.. not quite ready to burn the wig... but getting close.

Again... our family cannot express our thanks enough for all the thoughts and prayers for Rachel. We will never be able to repay your kindness....

Final Tests This Week

Rach had her follow up tests  this week.... on Monday she had a "Muga" test which looks at her heart function. This was especially worrisome during the final weeks of her chemo when her heart rate became high during rest and extremely high during activity. We are hoping that was just a side effect and  that her heart function returned to normal.

On Wednesday she had another "PET" scan which is a radio active dye test to look for deformed cells in her body. This is the test that actually "finds" suspect cancer cells. In August it showed her cancer in two areas.... In December following her chemo it showed those cells were gone. We are hoping that will be the results again.

We meet with the oncologist next week to discuss the results....  We are praying that this is over and we'll move on!

Rach continues with school and has increased her hours working in the Emergency Room at the Girard Hospital. You wouldn't know we've been through all of this by watching her....

Again... your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated!

It's OVER!!

Rachel finished her Hodgkins treatments today!!! It's been a long six months, but she did a great job! Her last radiation treatment was this afternoon and now she is free of treatments and appointments for about six weeks. At that time, she'll be tested again... heart, lungs and a body scan... assuming all are okay... she'll be on a 3 month follow-up routine with body scans. Those scans will last about 2 years at that rate... then to to every 6 months for a couple of years....

The next two years are very important.... statistically if she has no recurance there is over a 95% chance it won't return.... once she gets to 5 years.... it's over 99% chance it won't return.

So far so good.... she is working again at Girard Hospital and taking 14 hours at Pittsburg State.... having some problems with swallowing food, but that should subside next week. It is a result of the radiation.

We'll keep you posted over the next few weeks, especially with her next round of tests which are crucial to her progress. Our family want to thank all of your for your concern, support and prayers for Rachel's recovery. There is no way we can ever re-pay you!!

January Update

Can't believe it's been a month since the last posting.... Christmas went great! Rachel was fine physically.... her rapid heart rate has mellowed a bit since ending chemo. We are assuming that was a by-product of the treatments.

We visited a radiation clinic in Joplin at Freeman Hospital since Rachel has chosen radiation treatments, instead of additional chemo, as the final phase of her treatment. Rachel delayed this portion of her treatment thinking she was going on a mini-vacation after Christmas.... but this did not materialize, so we're a bit behind getting this over with! She was "marked" with specific measurements for the exact location of the radiation and will have them in two areas... chest and left neck areas. The treatments began on January 14th... once per day for 15 business days... at this point she has had 6 of 15.... Radiation can make you tired and create some nausea, but this has only happened once to her.

Rach has enrolled in the 2nd semester at Pittsburg State and has started working again in a coffee shop in the mall. She will return to her hospital job in Girard, KS at the end of February or early March. We are on full ahead with life as normal as possible and Rachel refuses to believe this stuff is even happening to her. She's handled this pretty well, except for an occasional flare-up with family members, but that's pretty normal.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers!

Great News!!

We met with Rachel's Oncologist on Wednesday.... to receive the results from her PETScan. That test looks for cancer anywhere in the body.... the results were great!  No Cancer anywhere!!

What this does tell us though it Rach had Stage 2 Cancer.... we were unsure about the chest area... if it was a second cancerous node or her thymus gland glowing on the tests. With no glow now... it was a cancerous node and made her a Stage 2 Hodgkins patient.... but that being said... it's gone now!

She meets with a radiologist on Monday to discuss her radiation treatments. We'll do those in Joplin, Missouri at Freeman Cancer Center. Rachel will have two areas.... neck and chest radiated.... 15 days, Mon-Fri in a row. Those will start in early January. She'll have her consultation with the doctors and have the areas tattooed (marked) before the end of the year.  

She's almost done.... and we couldn't have received any better news than we did this week!

Thanks to all for your continued prayers and thoughts.... 

Update Monday December 8th

Rachel had a rough Sunday.... she was at her boyfriend's house and her resting heart rate hit 150.... she eventually calmed down, but her rate was still over 100 the rest of the day. On Monday, Jan called her oncologist and we are to take her to the emergency room should this ever happen again. Later on Monday, Rachel and Jan decided to take her to Girard Hospital when her heart rate reached about 125-130... She was examined and given IV Fluids... that brought her rate down to 80... she might have been dehydrated?? She has to continue to monitor her heart rate throughout the day.

It was also decided that she doesn't have to have any more Chemo treatments!!! So we decided to celebrate... Eric, Jan, Rachel, Tyler and I went to Olive Garden and had a great time...

We all made sure she drank LOTS of water.....

Treatment #7 12-3-08

This is Rachel's 7th of 8 treatments.... met with her oncologist before her treatment. What we/she determined is that she will not have any more of the drug that can affect her lungs. That will not be given to her anymore.... a relief for all! Rachel has also decided that she wants to have the radiation treatments for Phase 2 instead of additional chemo treatments.

So here is the plan... Rachel gets a new PET Scan on Wed December 9th... this is the "glow" test to show any cancerous areas in your body. We are assuming there will be no glowing in the neck area, but we are unsure about the heart area, where the 2nd lymph node is... If there is no glow.... we will assume that she had Stage 2 Hodgkins and that it is gone from the chemo. If there is a glow in that area, we will still not know if it is Hodgkins... since the lymph node is next to the Thymus gland. What we don't know is if she still has her Thymus gland...since they go away as persons reach adulthood. If it glows... we can: 1) radiate the area without a biopsy 2) biopsy the area, which is fairly major surgery...

We'll just wait for the test results before we decide what to do...

Rach had her treatment afterwards... did well for the rest of the week.....