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Surgery!
The date has been set! Wednesday Sept, 24th, 6am. Please continue to send prayers and positive thoughts her way.
p.s. Jill is allergic to fresh flowers... But pictures of flowers would be excellent!! -
5th Chemo
June 23, 2008
"5th Chemo treatment down! Yea! For this treatment they used a 3rd drug - T. There will not be any nausea with the last 4 treatments, which is nice. The bottoms of my feet feel like I am walking on pins and needles. Ouch!
I definitely feel more tired. My sleep is rather flip flopped from day to night and usually occurs in 3 hour spurts. Of course, it could be that I am waking up to feed - one thing I haven't lost is my appetite.
Thank you for all of your good love vibes! Just keep 'em coming :)" -
Half Way
June 13, 2008
"Can you believe it! Half way through Chemo - Whoo Hoo! The Cancer is shrinking which is very exciting. In spite of having the most aggressive chemo treatment my center offers, I have been feeling pretty good. I run out of breathe (low red blood cells) very easily and have had things like mouth sores (low white blood cells.) Every time I go to Chemo, they check my blood counts and every time all 25 or so readings have been perfect! Another big Hurray!
Thank you for everyone's support! I truly believe in my heart how integral your support is in my treatment. Every good thought brings me closer to a cancer free body! Together we will chase this cancer right out of me." - First Chemo Treatment
April 24, 2008
(Email sent out by Helen, JIll's Momma)
Jack and I went to Northwestern Hospital with Jill yesterday for her first chemo treatment. Our first stop was the Walgreens on the first floor to pick up the prescriptions her doc ordered. I admit my knees went a little weak when the pharmacist told us the total for five prescriptions was $8079.25! Thankfully, Jill had already met her $5,000 deductible because of the many pretests, doc visits, etc., so the prescriptions were totally covered by her insurance. (Of course, this does not include the chemo drugs)The two most expensive were the Nuelasta ($7258.29) and the Emend ($725.99).Jill will be injecting herself at home with the Nuelasta...her choice so that she will not have to return to the hospital 24 hours after her chemo to have it done by the nurse."Neulasta® is a prescription medication called a white cell booster that helps your body produce more white blood cells to reduce your risk of infection. A low white blood cell count can delay your chemotherapy or keep you from getting your full dose.""Emend blocks the actions of chemicals in the body that trigger nausea and vomiting.Emend is used to prevent nausea and vomiting that may be caused by surgery or cancer chemotherapy."Jill's first chemo treatment went very well. She had an excellent, excellent nurse, Karen. Jill was very happy to learn that the veins on the tops of her hands were very accessible and therefore she will not need to have a port-a-cath inserted under the skin of her upper chest wall for the chemo treatments. She was dreading that possibility.Jill brought her camera (of course) and took some pix of her chemo "experience"...Karen said her picture was in a lot of her patients scrapbooks and some even brought video cameras. I'm sure Jill will be sharing these pix with you!The whole thing took about three and a half hours and Jill felt well enough to go out to lunch with us afterward. However, when we dropped her off back at her apartment, she was looking a little tired.Once again, thank you so much for the prayers, positive thoughts and support!!One treatment down and seven more to go (four months)!--Helen and Jack