Robin After Surgery (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!) --- 09/30/09

Robin and I sat in her room with very little action (except filling out forms and signing pages) until about 9:00PM. THEN, all of a sudden, people in white coats started showing up to take blood, take vital signs, take x-rays, etc., etc., etc. Within fifteen minutes, they whisked Robin off to the OR for surgery. A little after 10PM, Dr. Mason came out to talk to me and said that everything went well. Robin had a Carbuncle (I think), A carbuncle is an abscess larger than a boil (not to be confused with the gemstone, “carbuncle“), usually with one or more openings draining pus onto the skin. It is usually caused by bacterial infection.     (Click here ==> Carbuncle).

I was able to see the wound today, and it is quite a bit larger than the last wound. I would estimate the hole is two inches in diameter, and about 3/8 to 1/2 inch deep. Her last wound required one full gauze pad to pack it tightly. This new wound took two full pads, and was packed loosely. Certainly, the surrounding skin is not as red as it was yesterday, and the wound is not oozing nasty stuff, like it was before surgery.

The pain has been much more tolerable today, but the shingles seem to be relatively unaffected by the pain medications. The rash from the shingles did not look as bad, perhaps the reduction of Robin’s stress levels. Dr. Mason started Robin on Valtrex, an antiviral medicine that prevents the virus that causes shingles from multiplying. It should shorten the duration of the disease and hopefully, reduce the potential nerve damage that might be done. The other rash in Robin’s waistline is almost gone (but not quite). Overall, Robin seems to be MUCH better (as I see it), even though she has lots of pain. My guess is that the carbuncle caused the other problems indirectly, by diverting so much of Robin’s immune system to that infection.

WRT Robin’s birthday, I gathered all the cards (and other stuff) you folks sent and dropped them on her bed after breakfast. She received 48 cards (59, if you count the card that my Mother made for Robin as 12 cards, which it really was). Robin has been getting phone calls and visitors all day, and when you add the medical visits, we have only had time to read about 15 of them. Based on this sample, though, I believe you folks did a great job!!! There were some that sang to her, “Sister Mary Discipline” talked to her about enjoying herself too much, and there were some that just made her laugh out loud. This was a dramatic difference from yesterday, when she was crying out loud. I imagine a few more cards will arrive today and tomorrow, so it looks like she will be reading cards for a several more days.

Well, I will sign off for now. I am out of time. THANK YOU ALL!!!! Please don’t be offended if I have not responded to your message to us. I have not been able to mail much from home lately, and when I do it takes HOURS to get it uploaded. (DArNED COMCAST!!!).

Love and Thanks to all,

                  --- Robin and Larry

Robin is a Sick Girl 8~( 09/29/09

Just a short message to let Robin’s friends and family know that she is in the hospital. Over the last few days, she developed several problems. First, she started getting a red patch on her back, close to her left shoulder blade. It grew worse and worse, eventually developing into a boil-like sore with a head over the weekend. It opened up on Saturday and continued to look very bad, but Robin wanted to wait for her appointment for chemo before seeing a doctor. Friday, she also started to develop a patchy, bumpy rash on her right arm which also grew worse through the weekend. Over the weekend and all day Monday, the rash got worse and became excruciatingly painful. By Monday, she had blisters on her finger tips and between her fingers. On Saturday, in addition to the rash and the boil, she showed me an ugly continuous rash on her waistline. We have seen these before when her immune system gets low.

So, when Robin’s oncologist saw her condition, she sent Robin to the hospital. Her favorite surgeon, Dr. Mason, is trying to get her into surgery tonight. He will need to do a procedure similar to her last surgery (in June) to open and clean the sore, including any “trails” that might exist. The bumpy rash on her right arm and hand appears to be “Shingles,” an excruciatingly painful disease caused by the virus that causes chicken pox. The virus becomes active again, possibly when a person is under stress, and it attacks the nerves. So that’s where we are. Waiting for surgery and planning to spend her birthday in the hospital.

FYI, Robin’s wound from the last surgery is doing pretty well, but she developed a bedsore nearby, and it “connected” to her existing wound. It has been getting better, and shows no sign of infection.

I’ll try to send an update after surgery. It may not happen until tomorrow. I have brought all her birthday cards with us to the hospital, so if she’s able tomorrow, I’ll surprise her with them. Thanks to all who were willing and able to respond. I’ll give you a report soon.

Please continue your prayers. She needs all the help she can get!

Love from us both,

                  --- Larry and Robin

Back on Chemo and Latest Scan Results --- 09/08/09

I am writing this in the chemo lab at Deke Slayton Cancer center. It has been a while since I last updated Robin’s Blog. The last entry was after she got out of the hospital from her surgery for her other pain in the butt, her cyst on her backside. (I assume you all know that I am her #1 PITA.)

Robin’s wound has finally filled-in pretty well and (fortunately), in spite of the location, never became infected. The routine of getting Robin up all night long has not ended, but I now do it every two hours instead of every 1.5 hours. I assume that, because of the Coumadin (for the blood clots in her legs), it has been easy to get it bleeding again. The location makes it prone to pressures and pulls from moving, so even today, two-plus months after surgery, her wound was bleeding. However, we have generally been able to keep it dry (as long as I don’t oversleep), and that seems to help the recovery. Also, she does not require a dressing most of the time. If it gets wet, I have to clean it with saline solution, then blow-dry it (quite a weird picture that I try not to think about), and put cornstarch–based baby powder on it. It is a far-cry better than having to pack it three times a day!!!

Robin couldn’t have chemo while the abscess wound was healing because the chemo would slow the healing process. However, she still had to go get her blood tests done every week to check her Coumadin levels. They scheduled Robin for chemo in mid-to-late July, but she had not healed enough, so the doctor sent her home. Each week, we came back to try again. Finally, on August 18th, she was cleared for chemo and started back on track. The chemo holiday seems to have helped her tolerate the chemo better. The after-effects were less-pronounced than before (or maybe my memory is not as good as it used to be?). For the two days after chemo, I have to get her up from bed every hour because they pump her SO full of fluids when she gets the chemo. Those nights are killers!!! Fortunately, it is only for a couple of days.

Other than these new rituals, life has returned to some semblance of normal. John was home for the summer, and that was a big help. He can get Robin to do things that I can only dream about. But he has returned to Texas A&M, so we are empty-nesters again. We will certainly miss his cooking. It was always interesting, and usually very good. His specialty is grilling. He also introduced me to many different varieties of “liquid bread” (his name for beer). He will definitely be missed.

Robin had her quarterly CT and bone scans done last week. We got the reports last week, and we were quite concerned about what we read. The radiologist indicated that there was a new metastatic (cancerous) node in Robin’s lung. We had a rough weekend worrying about what that might mean. When the cancer is in the bones, it is generally slow to progress, but our concern has always been that, if/when it progressed to soft tissues of the inner organs, the progression would be fast and lethal. This morning, we met with Robin’s Oncologist. She told us that it was premature to start worrying. The node was 6 millimeters in diameter, which is about ¼ ‘’ (I believe this is about the size of a pea). The doctor said that it may have been there before, but was missed because it may have fallen between the “slices” of past CT scans. She said that, because it was so small, we should watch it in the future, but since Robin is back on chemo, we shouldn’t get unduly concerned. So we will try to follow her advice, but we will also be upping the prayer factor.

Robin, John, and I have so many things for which we are thankful, not the least of which are the many people who have provided such invaluable support. I don’t know how anyone could handle this terrible disease, or the treatments, which are almost as bad, without being surrounded, both physically and spiritually, by caring, loving friends and family like you. There are a couple of special folks who send Robin cards in the mail on a regular basis. She looks forward to those cards like a kid at Christmas. In fact, Robin said she wouldn’t know it was the weekend, if she didn’t get a chuckle from Pat W. each Friday. Luci sent Robin a beautiful bouquet of flowers after Robin got out of the hospital, and our friend Terry surprised Robin with Roses a while ago. Our blood relatives live (mostly) on the other side of the Mississippi, so we have what we call our “extended family” who have helped us in so many ways. Several members of our extended family bring us meals, help with chores, come by to visit, or just sit with Robin when I have to work at night. John’s “Texas Grandparents” require special note for their unwavering love and support, week in and week out. We feel truly blessed to have them, and to have all of you standing with us through this battle. Robin is surrounded by Angels who bring us the Grace to continue.

Thanks to all for the prayers and good thoughts. This November will mark five years since Robin was diagnosed with Cancer. She has already beaten the odds, but she still has a long way to go. Please don’t quit now. Keep up the good work!!!

Love to all,

                  --- Larry, Robin, & John