Happy Robbie Burns Everyone! I sure hope Haggis is on your menu, and as we heard in Vancouver - Haggis Egg Rolls (we can hardly wait to try these!:) ).
Michellie's blood counts are back up and she is off the shots! Yeah! All the energy and support she is receiving from all of you is helping to pick her up and dust her off. Her energy is a little less than round one, but she is in great spirits and is eager to get to school today and catch up with her buddies.
The weather here continues to be colder, with a -11 today and a wind chill of much worse. The dormer windows that did not get redone in the fall are full of frost - the kind we used to spray on our windows in Alberta - kind of funny to see it for real. The cats love scraping and licking.
After we went to bed last night - midnight here, 8 pm in BC, Jessica was able to surpass her goal of raising $200 for cancer. In fact, she was able to almost double her efforts. I have posted the site for you to follow beside this post. Jessica never imagined that by cutting her hair to support Michellie she could make such a difference. I am in awe that a ten year old could dream so big and then surpass her own expectations. Thank you to those individuals who have stepped forward to help her realize and magnify her goal.
One of the incredible technological advancements that Michellie has been lucky enough to receive with her treatments is her Port-A-Cath. When Michellie's Grandmother Pat had cancer several years back, she had all of her chemo through her arm and into the veins in her arm by intravenous. The effects of those harmful drugs on her veins have left her with hardened lines up her arm. As well, the drugs had to travel through narrow spaces until they could reach the heart and be more productively distributed. Michellie has the Port-A-Cath in the center of her chest. It is a little device that was implanted into a pocket made just under her skin. When she receives her treatments, she gets extra fluids through this spot, the chemo, blood can be drawn from it, and it can completely seal up when she doesn't need it. This little device allows her to be able to easily be hooked up with minimal trauma to the skin, surrounding tissue, and easily anchored. As well, there is a direct line to the main arteries leading to the heart. The distribution of the chemo is very quick and there is much more opportunity to dilute the drugs in the blood supply here and have it disperse quickly. She can also be hydrated the same way. When the Port is not in use Michellie can change clothes and shower with ease. This advancement has made a huge difference to those patients requiring many days of intravenous use. And both arms are then free for important things like texting, ipod shuffling, xbox games, facebooking - oh, and maybe handwriting homework assignments! You can see more detail about the port at http://www.portadvantage.com/.
Been a little lazy making comments, but never fear, I am keeping track.
ReplyDeleteSounds like improvements are happening! Yay!
Isn't a port-a-cath a wonderful device? Will be even nicer when it's pitched out!
Keep well, warm and happy...and thanks for the updates.
Yes, those port-a-caths sound even better than a central line! Thanks for making your blog educational. When I found out I had an aggressive cancer, I really knew of no one else anywhere near my age who'd had cancer and really knew of no one who had come out the other side healed. But as I went through my experience, I kept meeting people who would share their stories, e.g. cancer thirteen years ago, cancer nine years ago, etc., stories they had never told because that time in their life was too scary or too embarrassing (e.g. sterility from certain drugs) or too dramatic or too painful or whatever. Right or wrong, I decided at that time to tell everyone I met that I'd had cancer, that the experience was painful and the healing long, but I was fine and strong and full of life in spite of it... Because I want people to know that cancer happens to the best of us, even those who eat healthy and exercise regularly; that it can be beaten; but the experience is a hard road and those of us who must walk it need the compassion and support of those around us. I think if we would all talk about these things more, they wouldn't have to be so scary and we would know that the human spirit can conquer anything, even death and grief. So keep writing! We need to hear what you have to say!
ReplyDeleteI have never met Sharon, but I think we are kindred spirits with much the same philosophy when it comes to cancer. Heed her words-she's right on track.
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