The Whole Story

First I need to thank Greg for the delicate way he put things into words. He's definitely a keeper. But I'm going to swallow my pride and tell you about what's been happening (and not happening...)

It all started about five weeks ago, a week before our Seattle trip, and I was really gasping for breath in Dr. Tezcan's office. It was expained to me that if I took a pain pill every few hours it would help my airways relax and could help me not feel so frantic about breathing. They warned me that these pain pills cause constipation. So I was warned. But I thought to myself, "Well that might be a problem for some people, but not for me."

And everything was fine for several weeks! I enjoyed the way the pain pill relaxed my airways. Then last week I started to have the problems I was warned about. And Saturday morning at 4:00 a.m. I woke up with excruciating pain below my right ribcage. So I took some painpills and went back to bed. Greg called the doctor who was on call in the oncology ward and asked about controlling this pain. Unfortunately there was no discussion about what was causing the pain. And at this time, it honestly never occurred to us that this pain could be caused by constipation. It was so severe, we were thinking it was my liver being weird or something. I spent all of Saturday and Sunday in my bed with a heating pad and living for the four-hour span between doses of pain pills. And I was so loopy that I couldn't enjoy visiting with my family or anything.

Finally Monday morning we went to the ER and it seemed like they were able to diagnose my problem lickety-split. I was embarrassed and they reassured me that it was common for cancer patients to have this problem because of all the chemicals and drugs. I went home with something disgusting to drink that was guaranteed to get things going.

But thank goodness for my nurse friend, Nancy DeAustin. She's the one who really came to my rescue. She brought a wonerful dinner for us for Monday night and she gave me a recipe for an enema with molasses and whole milk that she said I could try if the guaranteed disgusting stuff I drank didn't kick in. She has been an ER nurse for years and she told me they use it in the hospital.

So here's an example of true love. Greg giving me that enema. And it worked! So I'm feeling like myself again and I won't be taking any pain pills for a long time. And my breathing has been great.

God has been teaching me about pride lately. It's amazing how He's able to use situations in our lives to bring us closer to Him. I am so grateful for your prayers. Love, Julie

Good News

Good News:

We made a trip to the hospital today. Julie has been taking a pain medication to help her relax to breath a little easier. Well, we found out that one of the side affects to her pain meds is constipation, which has been causing her pain in her abdomen. They gave her some "liquid dynamite" (so to speak) which will give her a whole knew meaning to the word "relief."

Forgive me for my alarmist message from yesterday, but I know Julie would still love to hear from you.

Your prayers make a huge difference in both of our lives. Thank you!
Greg

Please pray for Julie's strength. She is experiencing pain for the first time. The pain may be coming from her liver, but we won't know until we meet with the doctor. In the meantime, she has to take pain medication, which wipes her out and it makes it difficult to visit with others (which is her favorite thing to do).



Julie has received so many encouraging cards, letters, text messages & e-mails over this past year. Many of those messages that have included passages of scripture have touched her deeply. Those verses have been "sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."



Please consider sending Julie a note of encouragement and/or a verse from scripture this week, because it is the best kind of medicine she could receive.



I want to thank you on Julie's behalf! Greg

Onward...

We met with Dr. Tezcan this morning and he was pleased that my lung sounded better as a result of my fun time in Seattle. He told us it was our decision about where to go from here and that he does have a plan for treatment. There is only a small chance that it will be helpful, but a chance is a chance! It is also a choice not to seek further treatment. I'm not ready to choose not to have treatment. So I'm already on the schedule for Nov 5! I'll be enjoying the taste of coffee and food for two more weeks then it will be onward with fighting with some kind of chemo again.

Dr. T. also told us that if the creepy tumor in my lung grows into my airway again, Dr. Wood (he did the surgery in Seattle) can do another bronchoscopy and put in a stent. He didn't do it last time because he didn't think it was needed. I'm not excited about that possibility, but I'm breathing really well right now. If I get to the point where I can't breathe again, I'll be more excited to visit Dr. Wood again.

Greg and I had a really fun day yesterday. It started with watching the last part of Jane Eyre. Isn't Greg the best husband ever? After that, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. I was riding my cool red scooter and going so fast Greg could barely keep up! We went to a late lunch at The Olive Garden and then went for a drive enjoying the beautiful fall weather and colors and views of the lake. We feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. It's nice that Greg has Mondays off to hang out with me.

I'm thankful that God has a plan for my life and that He knows what's ahead so I don't have to worry about it. I believe God gives me faith, through your prayers, to stay focused on one day at a time. Thank you for continuing to love and care about us. Love, Julie

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It's my Mom's birthday today and I wish I could give her a big hug and tell her thanks for being such an amazing mother. She is the best.

Since getting home from Seattle, it seems like every day there's improvement in my breathing. Hurray! I was hoping it wouldn't be so gradual, but I'm so thankful for the improvement.

This afternoon Jake and his girlfriend, Hilary (she's visiting from New York), the Russells, Greg and Nick's Mom all went to see "Where the Wild Things Are". I was considering going. I know I wouldn't disturb the audience with coughing very often and I feel pretty good. But there are so many people around here who are sick with the flu. I decided being in a crowded theater wasn't the best place for me this afternoon. So I'm sitting in my favorite place on my favorite couch with the Food Channel on. A perfect Saturday afternoon.

My friend, Teri, came to see me this morning and we had such a great visit. She caught me up on what's going on at Fernan. Visits like that really help me feel connected and it means so much to me because I know how busy she is!

Thank you for your prayers. I am so thankful for you. Love, Julie

Pretty Good Tuesday

This is a pretty good Tuesday. I had two cups of coffee this morning and my air supply seems to be improving every day! I just have to pace myself going up and down the stairs. No jumping or skipping steps yet.

I'm looking forward to Janice coming to visit me in early November and it's just amazing to me that that is only a couple of weeks from now! I love when my sisters come.

Thank you for your love and prayers. I have appreciated hearing that my last entry wasn't too much of a downer. Last week was a challenging one for Greg and me. And it's over! Love, Julie

Home feels good...

We came home from Seattle yesterday afternoon when I was released from the hospital. It feels so good to be home and it was so good to sleep in my own bed last night. I didn't sleep very much Thursday night. It seemed like everytime I got comfortable enough to sleep, I was interrupted by some nice person who wanted my vitals, or to do an x-ray etc. I'm not being critical of the care I received--it was top-notch. I just didn't get to sleep very much.

Our attempts to make our Seattle trip a "nice little vacation" were well-intentioned. But I'm definitly glad that little vacation is overwith. It all started off when we arrived at our "premium" hotel room only to find a very old regular nothing special at all room. It was close to the medical center and it had free parking. Those are the best things I can say about it. So we were a little bummed Tuesday night. I guess we were expecting something more like the Davenport or the CDA Resort.

Wednesday I met with my doctor at 1:30 and we were very impressed with how kind and compassionate he was and he explained everything so well. His nurse met with us to go over some details and she thought my scooter was cool. We had a conversation about "retail therapy" that really made us smile. And I realized I'm not the only one who finds shopping theraputic!

We waited for our appointment with the pre-anesthesia people. More questions we'd already answered. I really enjoyed our dinner that night realizing I wouldn't be able to eat till after my surgery the next day.

Thursday was a day to remember. We arrived at the medical center at 8:30 because we were supposed to arrive two hours before the surgery. Okay fine. But they told me my surgery was delayed because the hospital was doing several heart and lung transplants and there were no rooms open for other surgeries. So finally at 3:45 they called my name! It wasn't fun sitting in the waiting area all that time with no make up or jewelry (my poor Silpada had to stay in my suitcase), and nothing to eat or drink. Off to pre-surgery for more questions that I had already answered several times!!

The surgery itself was really easy and uneventful for me because I was asleep! But the procedure was called a bronchoscopy and Dr. Wood planned to either "core out" or put in a stent. He talked to Greg after the surgery and told him that he decided not to put in the stent because he felt coring out the airway was successful and that putting in a little tube of plastic creates its own set of problems. So he literally removed the junk that was in my airway and it's amazing that already I can feel my left lung working!

After the surgery, I couldn't breathe! They had to give me moist air and they did a chest x-ray. They determined that I should spend the night in the hospital so I could enjoy that moist air and so they could keep their eye on me. It was amazing how much better I was by Friday morning. But I can expect to do a lot of coughing for a couple of days while my lung tries to get rid of a lot of junk. And I can expect not to be so short of breath in a couple of days! I was of course hoping that the results of the surgery would be immediate, but I'm willing to wait a few days.

We were sure hoping to be able to see Betsy and Cam and the boys while we were in Seattle. But it just didn't work out because of our crazy schedule. I told Betsy we were so close yet so far away. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again soon and I'll have enough breath to be able to read to those little guys.

Sorry this entry is so long. I hope I didn't sound too negative. But I know you want to know what's really going on so I decided to not sugar coat anything. I am so appreciative of your prayers and your encouragement. I know God was right with me the whole time and His presence was a comfort to me. Mom, I really appreciated the verse you sent me about angels having charge over us! It was so encouraging! Love, Julie

The doc was able to roto-rooter much of the obstruction out of the passage way in Julie's collapsed lung so he didn't need to use a stint. So, Julie should be breathing easier in the next few days. PTL

Julie had to spend the night at the UW med center so they could keep an eye on her - just to be on the safe side. She was such a trooper. She had to go 24 hours without anything to eat or drink. There were a series of transplants that came up and she had to be bumped to the end of the day (understandably).

Thank you for caring & praying! Greg

Go Go Ultra X

I am now the proud owner of a Go Go Ultra X Travel Scooter! Jake came and spent some time with us this weekend--Betsy's boys adore him--anyway, Jake and Greg went to pick up a few groceries and when they got home they had something besides food with them! A very cool red scooter! Now I don't have to rely on whether or not a store has an available scooter for me to use. I have my own! Greg and I went to the mall this afternoon and I was able to go to several different stores. It was so amazingly thoughtful of Greg to get it for me. Now we can go for "walks" around the neighborhood together!

It is very quiet in our house now. Betsy and the boys left for Tacoma late this morning. We had a wonderful week and it just went too fast. We enjoyed them so much. I was pretty much confined to my favorite corner of my favorite couch, but I loved watching them play. I'm sure going to miss Betsy but we're hoping to see them Tuesday at their house. It will be Julian's 2nd birthday that day and we're planning to go to Seattle Tuesday. So hopefully it will work out.

We've decided to think of our time in Seattle this week as a mini-vacation. It will be so great that I can be mobile because of my cool scooter!

Thank you so much for your love and prayers. I have a really sore throat right now as a result of the radiation. I'm hoping it will heal quickly. Thanks again for continuing to pray for us. Love, Julie