Lifes ups and downs

valeriec

Hi all you great semi-colons and their loved ones,
As you might remember, my mom finished her cyber knife treatments 2 weeks ago. They were treating "only" the mets to both her adrenal glands. The good news....My mom is feeling GREAT!!! The pain in her back from the tumors is completely gone. The fatigue is gone, and she looks better than she has ever looked since this all started 11 months ago. We had a visit with her onc last week and her 2 week blood draw. Her blood work was awesome!! Her CEA is the lowest it has ever been at a 1.5. They will be doing a PET/CT scan in about 6 weeks. You might also remember that my mom quit doing chemo about 9 weeks ago. She does not want to start third line treatment of Erbitux/CPT-11. We are trying to convince her onc to prescribe Thalidomine, but are not having much luck. I have contacted another onc in Denver to see what he thinks.

In the last 11 months, I have lost 2 uncles, my grandpa, a close friend, and now one of my dogs. We have 4 dogs(German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, Red Healer, and a Black Lab.) One week ago they all came down with a "mysterious" illness. Our vet says it is not the food related thing. Because we live out a ways, our dogs are always current on all their vaccinations. Their main symptom is a horrible cough. On Friday, I let Diablo, the German Shepherd, out for just a few minutes. When I went out to get him, he was dead. It was absolutely terrible, and to make matters worse, my husband and boys were in Wyoming. Thank God we have a wonderful neighbor who brought his backhoe over to dig a grave, and to help me bury him. Last night, our vet called to let me know about blood work he had been running on all the dogs. It seems as if the rest are doing better, but he did let me know that he believes our Australian Shepherd has liver cancer. I am totally devastated. He is 11 years old so I think we will be putting him to sleep soon.

My faith in God in God is strong, and I know that this is just life. I am so thankful that my mom is doing well. I guess this is just the ups and downs of life?

Hope all of you are doing well. You are in my prayers every day. Enjoy this wonderful Easter season!
God bless-
Valerie

jams67

Valerie, So sorry to hear about the downs in your life. You seem like the kind of person who makes lemonade when life throws lemons at you. Hopefully, you will get a bit of sugar to go with the lemons.
Happy Easter to you too.
Jo Ann

hopefulone

Hi Val. I'm so glad your mom is doing much better. I remember your posts and persistance at getting her the cyber knife treatments. Just goes to show persistance pays off!

Sorry to hear about your four legged family though. Your right about life having it's ups and downs and it's our faith that gets us through those down times . Keep your chin up as I know you'll do . Good luck and God Bless and Happy Easter . It's a time of hope and optimism.

Diane

KathiM

Valerie,

Sorry about your doggie! Sounds like 'kennel cough' to me....VERY contagious....

CONGRATS on mom's condition!!!!! Things get so much better when the pain is gone, I remember well!

I, myself, was starting to feel like a female Job. My ex-hubby dying. Then my 22-year-old daughter. All after the 2 cancers....

The good news? Yes, it's a part of life. But so is laughter, and loving friends and family. Your mom is soooooo lucky to have both!

Hugs, Kathi

betina61

Hi Valerie, you are right the ups and downs of life,sometimes is so hard, but at least for us that have faith in God is not as hard, I am so glad to see that it looks that the treatment for your mother,looks to be working, that low cea is GREAT, so try to concentrate now in the ups of life seeing your mother getting better.I will be praying for a great scan for your Mom. Lots of hugs.

vinny3

Hi Valerie,

The good news you have given us about your mother has certainly made my day better. It's just wonderful when someone improves when you worry that they may have given up (from previous posts).
Sorry to hear about your dogs. Hopefully the others will recover.

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