Cancer Sucks.

I am going to try my best to keep this blog up to date with Liz's cancer progress. I think it will be easier for me to express myself this way and also keep everyone in the loop.  I am so good at pouring my heart out on paper... er... on a keyboard. For those of you who are following this blog, thank you.  I am going to do my best to put up a new post each week; sometimes more.  Liz is also going to do her best (when she has the energy) to post videos about what she is going through.  She filmed one in the hospital right after her diagnosis.  If you missed it, you can click here to watch it. 

I left off on the 28th of August.  If you did not get to read my last post with everything leading up to the diagnosis and staging, click here.  She had a lot of visitors last week at the hospital, and everyone who walked through the lobby of her floor in the cancer institute was happy to pose for a picture in front of the cancer sign, expressing their feelings with fists in the air and/or middle fingers up.  Some got more creative than that.  Strangers walking by were enlisted to take these family photos each day and they all chuckled at the sight of a group of people saying "FU Cancer," instead of the traditional "Cheese!"  Here are a few of my favorite shots. 



Angel punched "Cancer" 

Alex tried to throw a chair at it.

But, let's be real. Middle fingers rule!

We had a lot of laughs and it was great for Liz to see so many people fighting it with her. I also recieved dozens of photos from people all over the world who were rooting for her. #BostonStrong and #TeamBarbie were trending in our social circles, and I hope they continue to trend. I made a video collage for her with all of the photos we took in the hospital and the pics we received from our family and friends all around the world. It's so nice to see how much support she has.  I'm going to continue to make video collages for her every Friday.  I hope people keep sending us photos.  If you want to see the video collage with all of the fun hospital pics and #BostonStrong pics, click here. 

August 29:  In the morning, Liz met with the radiology team and they went over their plan of action.  They did a simulation and marked the target locations with a series of tattoed dots. Then, she was able to rest and just get ready for her big day. 

August 30:  Bella and I went to the hospital at 10am.  Yecenia (niece) and Joel (nephew) were already there.  They were supposed to do the first radiation at that time, but it got pushed back until 1pm.  Anxiety levels were high in the room.  The unknown is the worst. We just didn't know what to expect.  At 10:15am, the education and care coordinator came to meet with all of us and she made us feel so much better.  She reassured us that the treatment Liz was about to receive would be very mild and that she would feel very little symptoms.  She said we would be surprised at how well she does and even told us that Liz would not lose her hair!  She was so happy to hear that.  Liz's mother and other nephew arrived and we all hung out with Liz until she went to radiation at 1pm.  Nobody could go with her to this part... but I sure did want to. I want to hold her hand every step of the way.  She was a champ, though.  She did extremely well and it was over fairly quickly.  I think from start to finish, it was about 20-30 minutes.  She said she didn't feel any pain at all. Its like an MRI machine, but open, sort of like this one.

The machine sends a beam of radiation directly to the area where the cancer lives.  It damages cancer cells slowly, and they eventually die.  She is scheduled to receive external readiation therapy every single day for the next 6 weeks. Then, they will change it to internal radiation therapy for several more weeks.  At that point, we hope that all of the cancer is gone.

Some people only get radiation therapy, but she is getting this in conjunction with chemotherapy.  After she came back from her therapy, we all visited with her for several hours.  Her mom and nephews and Bella all went home, but Yecy and I stayed.  They had some issues with her IV and after many hours of waiting around, she finally got her first chemotherapy treatment at 9pm that night.  She slept through it.  I was able to get some video clips of the setup and a super fast clip of her afterwards.  Click here to see it.  Yecy left at about 2am and I stayed the night with her at the hospital.  She ate some salad at about 1am.  She didn't have much of an appetite all day, but I guess when it was all over, she felt hungry.  Then, she slept most of the night.

August 31:  Liz was discharged from the hospital!  Her mom came over and made her some chicken soup and Yecy and I took care of her the rest of the day/night.  Yecy spent the night that night, because we were baking cakes for her daughters' birthday party the following day.  She has the most adorable 1 and 5 year old, and to celebrate their birthdays, she hosted a luau.  Here's a pic of the cakes we made for their party. They're all gluten-free and they were a HIT!

Steptember 1:  The family got together to celebrate Yelenia's first birthday and Yuliana's fifth birthday.  It was really great to see everyone outside of the hospital.  Liz was so happy to finally be around the girls for the first time since her diagnosis.  The smile on her face was priceless.  I tried to get a photo with the other princess, but it was hard to get her out of the bounce house. :)

 

Steptember 2 (today): I heard from a few people that day 3 after chemo is the hardest, and they were right.  Liz's appetite is certainly not what it used to be.  I have been trying to make sure she eats every three hours, as recommended by her nutritionist.  I pick my battles with what she should and should not eat, but I think she's realizing that some foods just don't agree with her as much as others.  Today she requested gluten-free pizza for lunch.  After she ate, I went to the grocery store. But, as soon as I found a parking spot, she called me because she was feeling really sick.  I drove home just in time.  Projectile vomit city.  Its rough to see her in pain, but after she got it out of her system, she was able to rest.  She had some gluten-free toast about an hour later and was able to keep it down.  As of right now, she's resting (semi-comfortably) and the house is clean, laundry is done, and her meds are up to date.  I'm trying to see if I can make it to the grocery store... but I will wait another hour or so to make sure she's doing well before I go.

 

So that's it for this week.  As of now, the schedule is daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy.  I have all of her meds scheduled and alarms set on my phone for each.  I have vitamins and healthy fruit and veggie smoothies ready for her consumption.  I'm letting her sleep when she wants to and eat when she wants, but I do try to make sure she eats every three hours or so.  I've got meals planned and I'm keeping a food and wellness journal to make sure we can pinpoint foods that make her icky and avoid them.  It's definitely a change of pace, but its not hard for me at all. We do what we can for the ones we love, and I love her completely.  She's a fighter. 2013 wasn't our year, but 2014 will be.