5.02.2009

Quick Update

There's so much I want to write but with the family home for some holidays, I expect we'll be a little busy doing fun stuff in this fabulous spring weather.

I am home and feeling fine after a whirlwind couple of weeks including a craniotomy to remove what turned out to be six centimeter tumor from the center back right side of my brain at the National Cancer Center and then gamma ray surgery at the Tokyo Women's Medical University just yesterday to kill off the almost three centimeter tumor behind my left temple. This postponed chemotherapy plans a few weeks but I'll start on Adriamycin and Cyclophosphomide on May 15 to blast away at the lung and pelvic bone metastases and am ready with my spring line up of kerchiefs and caps for this summer's no hair look.

The onset of the symptoms of the brain tumors and my gut reaction to get myself to my usual hospital immediately were so sudden that it caused a bit of a panic on the home front but battalions of friends jumped right in to make sure that my family was OK, that I had everything I needed while I was in the hospital and that my family and friends had updates. It was not only a huge relief, but also heartwarming.

So, on to Golden Week - No school for six days and lots of sunny days...picnic time.

6 comments:

Cecilia said...

Wow!

Terrific news Kathy, and you are amazing. :)

ElaineM said...

I am very happy that your surgery was successful and that you are feeling much better. The her2support.org gang has been praying for you.

Lesley Pettigrew said...

I second that, you are amazing! I am so glad that you are home and doing well, and I am as always incredibly inspired by your positive attitude!

Best wishes, Lesley

Anonymous said...

Kathy, i met with Patricia and her husband yesterday at a campout. First i want to thank you for being so outgoing with the ladies in Shimokitazawa. I saw Ms. Okubo a few months back and they enjoy your company and power=^o^=
Second, someone told me once that God never gives us more than we can handle...You my dear woman are a walking miracle and evidence of the fact that there is a God, and His Love pours through all of us. I want to be first in line if you ever need anything from me at all. Name it and this i mean from my heart. In Serenity and Love, julien

Jo Shnell said...

Kathy, I, too, am so amazed at your strength and attitude. I've been reading your blog for a long time; my good friend lives in Houston and she has been with me for many treatments at MD Anderson. She follows your blog and 'introduced' you to me.

I have followed with great interest. While your treatments have been different, of course many are similar. I had good success with treatments in Tijuana using Navelbine and Ukraine. However, I couldn't afford to keep up the travel to or those treatments. I ended up doing treatments with MD Anderson: Taxol, FAC, double mastectomy, and radiation, and I continue with Arimidex. My diagnosis was advanced stage (3b) ductal and lobular invasive carcinoma.

I haven't written before because I didn't feel that I had anything to add and didn't want to bog down with extra 'clutter.' Now, my husband has found something I think you might want to mention to your doctors or pursue. It is called "Photo Beam" Technology. A Kenji Madoka in Tokyo was quoted to say it was "Absolutely Painless." Another quote is: Dr. Akio Kagawa, Neurosurgeon in Osaka, Japan, says:

"I'm pleasantly surprised with how happy patients are. They keep saying that they have no pain and the treatments are so ‘uneventful.' They come out saying, ‘That was no big deal at all'... There are patients who might have run out of traditional treatment options... Fortunately we have been able to offer them an option and it's one that is less toxic and more comfortable than traditional treatments."

Kathy, I hope you can check out this information and maybe it will be just the ticket for you!

Love and prayers,

Jo Shnell,
Hobart Oklahoma
donshnell@sbcglobal.net
http://maryjoshnell.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Kathy, just a note to let you know we are thinking of you here as well.

Suzanne in Canada