Most of you know that my mom is on a very difficult journey right now. This blog is to help keep people updated on her condition and ask for specific prayer requests. Our family appreciates all of the prayers so far. Please continue to lift them up.
Here is the email that I sent out on Thursday, summarizing what is going on:
I will try to summarize what the doctor told us today, but I took 4 pages of notes and it is still somewhat overwhelming.
Basic, it was very bad news. The Non Hodgkins Lymphoma has mutated into a very aggressive form. There is “significant amounts” in her abdomin and lungs. If she choose not to do treatment, then she would have 6-8 months to live. However, she has decided to fight this ugly thing and now it begins.
Tomorrow morning (we wanted to wait until next week, but the dr. said that there was a good chance that it would spread into her brain by then) at 8 am, my mom will be admitted into Roswell for three days of heavy duty Chemo. She will, once again, lose her hair and have all of the terrible side effects that come with this. Then on Sunday, she can go home and have 2 weeks of outpatient monitoring. This process is dangerous to the Kidneys because the Chemo is so strong. They have to monitor them very closely to make sure that they can handle it. She gets 2 rounds of this (equals 6 weeks) and then she gets tested again to see if she needs two more rounds or not.
There is a high risk of infection during this time because of the drastic drop in white blood cells. The doctor made it very clear that any type of infection during this time could be fatal.
That is Phase 1 and there is a 80% chance of successfully getting all of the cancer.
If her body can handle it, we then go to Phase 2. This is to prevent any further growth of the cancer and is a Bone Marrow Transplant. I guess these procedures are very dangerous, but necessary. It sounds gruelling and I won’t go into detail here, but basically they kill all of her white blood cells and/or stem cells and replace them with healthy ones. If she can handle this procedure, and the 10x strength of chemo that is necessary, then she will live a long and happy life.
This Phase has a 70% chance of success.
That is a quick summary of the details. Because she is only 66 and just moved out to Buffalo to be near her granddaughters, she is willing to go through this “hell” to try to get better. None of us are happy about it, but we love God and know that He is good no matter what happens.
Please pray for her emotionally, physically and psychologically. Please also pray for my dad, my brother, Phil and myself as we try to help her walk through this.
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1-14-12
Today my mom is doing well. I spent the night at Roswell last night and we can still say that we are very impressed with the staff there. They are very kind and competent. So far, there are no side effects except that she is very tired.
They did tell us today that they thought she would probably stay until Tuesday (instead of going home Sun.) due to the amount of cancer and the strength of the chemo she is on. They want to keep a closer watch on her. We are in favor of that decision.
Please keep praying for this whole journey, but here are some specific praises and prayers:
Praises:
- Wonderful doctors and nurses on staff at Roswell
- Safe travels back and forth so far
- This was caught before it was too late
- TONS of support from friends, family and church
Prayer Requests:
- Side effects to be mild or non-existent
- strength for my dad through out this
- safe travels for my brother coming into town
- COMPLETE HEALING!!!!
Thanks everyone!!
Thanks for keeping us in the loop! I will keep praying hoping to see you in Church tomorrow. do you need a meal next week?
Praying so hard for your family and your mom, Ananda.
Praying for healing and deliverance during this valley.
Love, Sam & Barb Antonio
Joyce is so blessed to have her family around her. Thank you, Ananda, for doing this and yes, I am praying.