Robin Status Update - 01/27/06

 
This is just a brief update on Robin since the end of her radiation treatments.

Robin visited her radiation oncologist, Dr. Hatch, on Monday, January 23rd. She experienced significant increase in pain over the weekend as more of the skin crumbled off exposing raw, oozing flesh. Dr. Hatch actually said that it looked very good, but that it would continue to get worse over the next week. She gave Robin a shot of morphine and prescriptions for antibiotics and stronger pain medication. The nurse showed me how to clean and medicate the burned areas. Basically, to avoid rubbing the raw areas, I was instructed to roll a gauze "log" over the area, allowing the debris to stick to the gauze. It seemed to work better, but required several repeats to clean the areas. Anyway, either the trauma of the cleaning, or the morphine (certainly, not my driving) nauseated Robin on the way home. Fortunately, we have learned not to go anywhere without our "barf-bags".

As of today, it appears to me that Robin's burns have turned the corner, and are starting to improve. The new pain medications are working; she either sleeps or smiles most of the time. The burns on her collarbone area are almost covered with new skin, and the chest areas are beginning to shrink. Her armpit areas never really lost the skin; it just turned dark brown (like chocolate) and is now starting to rub off. Her back never burned too badly, either. It was very pink (like a sunburn), but now is tanning. The back tan makes an interesting shape – it looks like a tan, capital Omega on her back – not your normal tan lines. Overall, it seems like the worst of the burning is over.

On Wednesday, we saw her opthamologist, Dr. Foster. Since Robin is not required to lay down for radiation treatments, her vision has cleared significantly. She can read large print, especially in the morning, but she still cannot read normal newsprint, for example. She still has floaters (globs floating in the vitreous of the eye) that get in the way. Dr. Foster could see that her eyes were much clearer. He did not want to use the laser yet, though, because he said he would need too much power, and that raised the chance of harmful damage to the retina. So we will return in about a month, and if there is not further bleeding, she should be ready for the treatment.

Please continue to include Robin, and all those afflicted with cancer, in your prayers. It is a difficult disease and no one deserves to go through all this. We are praying for all of you, too. Robin has a visit with her original oncologist, Dr. McClure, next Tuesday, and we should get a plan for post-treatment life.

Love,

Larry, Robin, and John

Radiation Complete - 01/18/06

 
Robin finally completed her Radiation treatments!!! Wahoooo!!!!!

This should be the end of her treatment for breast cancer.

Over this last weekend, Robin's radiation burns became much worse. She has several areas that became "crispy" (that's the only word that really describes it). These areas crumble when the burn creams are applied, making sand-like grit that was mixing with the cream. It could not have felt good. When the crispy stuff was removed, the moist, raw flesh below was exposed. The burns themselves became painful enough that Robin's medications were no longer effective. She spent the weekend avoiding movement because each movement stretched the burned areas and caused pain and nausea (probably from the pain).

After Radiation therapy on Tuesday, Robin met with her radiation oncologist, Doctor Hatch. In spite of the rough weekend, Dr. Hatch said that Robin's chest was doing much better than they expected. She ordered a shot for pain and prescribed a new (stronger) pain medication. She also prescribed a new salve (silver sulfadiazine cream) to help avoid infections in the open areas. This is a medication that they use for third-degree burns in the hospitals. Apparently, the silver and a sulfide drug mixture gives broad protection for healing burns. Dr. Hatch said that the burns will continue to get worse for 10-14 days, and then will start to improve. Robin will return next Monday for a follow up appointment.

As we left today following her last treatment, we said goodbye to many friends we made in that treatment waiting room. The people in that waiting room are all either cancer patients or care-givers, and there was an obvious "brotherhood" among these folks, no matter what race, religion, education level, age, or political affiliation. We shared our stories, our experiences, our fears and concerns, and our hope. Leaving today was a bit like leaving your family. We were glad to be done, but it was painful because many of them still had more therapy to go. I hope you will all pray for these folks, as we are.

With respect to Robin's vision, there have been some noticeable improvements after the weekends, especially the long MLK weekend. Robin was able to see the faces of her Radiation therapists (Mary and Sharon) for the first time on Tuesday this week. She was familiar with their voices, but Robin said they looked much different from what she had imagined. Alas, once she laid down for the radiation treatment, the blood in her eyes was stirred up, and she could no longer see. She was scheduled for an appointment with her opthamologist today, but she decided there was no point, so she rescheduled for next Wednesday (Jan 25th). Hopefully, after a week of staying upright, she should see much better, and may be ready for some laser treatments to reduce the possibility of future bleeding in the eyes.

Once again, we say "Thank You" to everyone who has been praying, thinking good thoughts, and supporting us in various ways through this journey. Cathy, Robin's "right-hand" at work, found a recent article that proclaimed cancer patients with good support were much quicker to bounce back after treatment. In fact, the article said that it took about two weeks for people with good support to get back to their former lives - much less than the investigators expected! Furthermore, they went through little or no depression before returning to "normalcy" (whatever THAT is). Because of you folks, and the outstanding support Robin has received, she should be back to normal in about two minutes! Well, maybe not quite THAT quick; but I am sure she will bounce back rapidly. Even as I write, she has a smile on her face that I have not seen in several days, and she talks as she has had a great weight taken from her.

One more thing. Last week, Robin told me that she found that praying during the treatments made them seem shorter, and helped her to stay still for those long periods. Robin was not praying for herself, but for her fellow cancer patients, for her treatment staff, AND for EACH of YOU. She plans to continue the practice after therapy, so you should know that she is praying for you every day, too.

We will not forget what you folks have done for us.

Love,

Larry, Robin, and John