Hard news…
12-26-06 Dear friends,
It is the day after Christmas and the snow is melting. We had a very nice family Christmas and especially enjoyed having Heng Hua who just flew in from Taiwan yesterday afternoon and her Taiwanese friend Paul, who was here for Thanksgiving also, join us for dinner last night. We had a very nice time playing games and trying to keep Heng Hua awake as jet lag was hitting her. We love our Taiwanese friends! (Hi to any of you in Taiwan reading this- We miss you!)
I am feeling very tired, but then I have been really pushing it and not resting as much because of the holidays. My burns are healing pretty well, but it is still red and sensitive and sore deep down in there. I saw a PA at the oncology office today and she can feel scar tissue forming where the radiation was given. Things seem normal and she didn't feel anything unusual. My doctor is on vacation for 2 weeks, so at least until he gets back, I can just keep healing and we will decide soon about what drug I should use long term in the Tomoxifen family. More about that later.
The biggest news is that Greg was informed by the board last Wednesday that he is being removed from leadership at Initiative360 (formerly Caleb Project). No reasons were given. We are absorbing this news and trying to discern what God wants us to do after 26 years in that role. The board has generously offered us a sabbatical to give us time to transition. Greg and Laura are both putting together resumes. She graduated from college last week. We would appreciate your prayers for us in the wake of what feels like a tsunami year. We really do wish you all a fantastic new year. I am looking forward to looking back next year to see what God does.
God bless you! Nancy Fritz
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Denver blizzard 12-21-06 update
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Dear friends,
As I sit here, I am looking out the window at somewhere around 2 feet of snow from “The Denver Blizzard of 2006.” The city has been shut down since yesterday at about noon. Laura was scheduled to fly in yesterday afternoon. She was finally able to get another flight for Saturday afternoon. We were hearing rumors of her not being able to get a flight until Monday, so we are very grateful! She had driven with her roommate to fly out of Akron, OH. Megan’s family lives there. They are graciously hosting Laura for these several days of waiting for the airport to reopen and her Sat. flight. We are eager to have her home!
The equivalent of Make a Wish Foundation for cancer patients in Denver (Diana Price Fish Foundation) gave me 4 tickets to take the girls to go see Phantom of the Opera tonight at a dinner theater. They allow me to do something each month during active treatment. They signed me up in Oct. since they can only have so many people doing the program at a time and I had to wait for an opening. January is when it will stop for me probably. I am using Dec. and Jan.’s gift for us to see Phantom. Well, I was so disappointed that Laura wasn’t going to get home in time to see it, but it worked out well since the theater isn’t open yet due to the snow. So we will reschedule hopefully before Allison goes back to college Jan. 10th. It is such a nice treat to be able to do something special each month.
I finished radiation one week ago. I was told the tiredness would continue for 2 weeks and then next week I will start feeling less tired day by day, until 2 1/2 months from now, I can expect to feel like my old self. I was doing pretty well this week with a few extra naps. Greg and I went to stay at a beautiful guest house in the mountains Sunday and Monday nights and just rested. Greg slept more in those 2 days than in the last week or 2 put together. It was a very nice respite. Anyway, today I got up late and took a 3 hour nap. I am achy and have a headache. I’m not sick, so I figure it must be from radiation.
My radiation burns are peeling and healing. I think it is interesting that I have a square on my left back of dark freckles and tan. I asked the doctor about it and he said it is from the radiation that I had on my front left clavicle area- just to the left of my neck. It went right through me to my back. He said the freckles would fade and I don’t have to worry about skin cancer. I just thought I would tell you since I think it is an interesting side effect.
I appreciate the understanding I have received from everyone regarding my energy level. I haven’t done my neighbor baking yet, and I am behind on sending out Christmas cards. They are almost done, but they should go into the mail tomorrow. Even the mail stopped here in Denver due to the blizzard. I usually get them done at the beginning of December, so this feels odd for me. We have had friends bringing some meals over the last few weeks and that has been a huge blessing.
I hope you get where you want to be for Christmas, that you are with your loved ones and that you experience the joy of the Christ child and what He did for mankind- for each one of us. I will send you the poem I wrote this year in a few days. I am including it with your Christmas card if you get one of those from me. God bless you! Nancy Fritz
Dear friends,
As I sit here, I am looking out the window at somewhere around 2 feet of snow from “The Denver Blizzard of 2006.” The city has been shut down since yesterday at about noon. Laura was scheduled to fly in yesterday afternoon. She was finally able to get another flight for Saturday afternoon. We were hearing rumors of her not being able to get a flight until Monday, so we are very grateful! She had driven with her roommate to fly out of Akron, OH. Megan’s family lives there. They are graciously hosting Laura for these several days of waiting for the airport to reopen and her Sat. flight. We are eager to have her home!
The equivalent of Make a Wish Foundation for cancer patients in Denver (Diana Price Fish Foundation) gave me 4 tickets to take the girls to go see Phantom of the Opera tonight at a dinner theater. They allow me to do something each month during active treatment. They signed me up in Oct. since they can only have so many people doing the program at a time and I had to wait for an opening. January is when it will stop for me probably. I am using Dec. and Jan.’s gift for us to see Phantom. Well, I was so disappointed that Laura wasn’t going to get home in time to see it, but it worked out well since the theater isn’t open yet due to the snow. So we will reschedule hopefully before Allison goes back to college Jan. 10th. It is such a nice treat to be able to do something special each month.
I finished radiation one week ago. I was told the tiredness would continue for 2 weeks and then next week I will start feeling less tired day by day, until 2 1/2 months from now, I can expect to feel like my old self. I was doing pretty well this week with a few extra naps. Greg and I went to stay at a beautiful guest house in the mountains Sunday and Monday nights and just rested. Greg slept more in those 2 days than in the last week or 2 put together. It was a very nice respite. Anyway, today I got up late and took a 3 hour nap. I am achy and have a headache. I’m not sick, so I figure it must be from radiation.
My radiation burns are peeling and healing. I think it is interesting that I have a square on my left back of dark freckles and tan. I asked the doctor about it and he said it is from the radiation that I had on my front left clavicle area- just to the left of my neck. It went right through me to my back. He said the freckles would fade and I don’t have to worry about skin cancer. I just thought I would tell you since I think it is an interesting side effect.
I appreciate the understanding I have received from everyone regarding my energy level. I haven’t done my neighbor baking yet, and I am behind on sending out Christmas cards. They are almost done, but they should go into the mail tomorrow. Even the mail stopped here in Denver due to the blizzard. I usually get them done at the beginning of December, so this feels odd for me. We have had friends bringing some meals over the last few weeks and that has been a huge blessing.
I hope you get where you want to be for Christmas, that you are with your loved ones and that you experience the joy of the Christ child and what He did for mankind- for each one of us. I will send you the poem I wrote this year in a few days. I am including it with your Christmas card if you get one of those from me. God bless you! Nancy Fritz
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Some Pictures...
1) This is a picture of me with Sister Marie Paula who is the nun who does hospitality in the radiation waiting room on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. When someone finishes, she does a little graduation ceremony with them. Here I am with her in my graduation robe.
2) This is a picture of me with Janet Lencioni who has gone with me for cancer treatment stuff 4 times. She has been one of the many friends who have ministered to me in that way. She got to watch the radiation treatment being done and ask questions about it. What a blessing my friends have been. Several are bringing dinners now on these tired recovery days. Thanks Jenni, Christa, Cindy, Candy, Greg and Lisa for driving me these last 8 times!
3) Here are Jenni and her best friend Lauren in their madrigal costumes at the school Madrigal Feast dinner theater. They got to wear the special dresses because of being in the Gold Tones special vocal group. It was a fantastic evening!
4) This is me with one of my new friends, Carol, who I met at radiation. She gave me her email today so we can stay in touch. She is half done with hers and is a widow. I'd appreciate your prayers for her and her family. I feel like God brought us together for a reason. By the way, my hair is about an inch long. It covers my head but doesn't have any 3 dimentionality to it yet. In the radiation waiting room lots of us don't have much hair, so it is nice to be one of the bunch!Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Only One to Go 29 done!
12-13-06
29 Done and 1 to Go!
Dear friends,
As these weeks of radiation have passed, they have seemed to take forever and also in a strange way, I am going to miss the routine. I am so excited to be done! Friends at church who have prayed for me throughout this whole treatment process gave me a beautiful rose plant at the Christmas party Monday night as an expression of their love and prayers. What a nice reminder that I have almost finished!
The last 7 times I have gone as well as tomorrow, friends have driven me to my treatments. I found that fatigue would come and go in waves, and sometimes when I had to drive. It was nice to have company and get to visit with friends on the way. Janet went last week and got to watch them give me radiation- the room, machine, the monitors and how they set it all up. She is a PA and since she knows so much medical stuff, she enjoyed learning about how they do it all.
Today was my last day when my little nun, Sister Marie Paula, was going to be there, so we did my graduation a day early. She put me in a graduation gown, I had a hat with the tassel, music, the whole nine yards. I was given a diploma and had my picture taken with her and with Janet who wanted to go with me today for my graduation. It is nice to be almost done! Tomorrow I go with my friend Candy who I help with children’s missions at our church. She and I have shared cancer experiences and she is a dear friend.
There is one lady named Carol who has become a friend. I want to share my faith with her tomorrow as it will be the last time I’ll see her. I would love for you to pray for her. I think she is very open to my story. It as been a continual “to be continued” conversation since when they call you for your treatment, you need to go right away. I told her I’d see her tomorrow, and she is looking forward to it.
I saw the radiation oncologist on Monday this week and they gave me pain meds for the burning pain and some cool (literally) radiation sticky gel sheets I can put on the burn under my arm to ease the burning. They feel so good as they keep the skin from rubbing or getting too dry at the worse areas. I am having the last 5 treatments focused on the one area under my arm where the cancer was found. It is electrons for that which is different from what they did on the 3 previous views the other 25 times. The area under my left arm is very burnt, but not blistering so far. It is the equivalent of a severe sunburn at this point. He told me the skin will keep burning for the next week to 10 days before it starts healing. The process is likened to a sun burn showing up the next day. The other areas we finished last Thursday seem to be starting to heal. I am still doing lots of caster oil during the night. It is too gooey for during the day. The doctor and nurses seem to think I am doing extra well, so they are making note of my use of caster oil.
Dr. Jacobs told Greg and me on Monday what to expect from here on. For 2 weeks I will be especially tired and possibly grouchy or emotional- (“don’t be surprised by tears”). Then I will begin to notice my strength coming back. My skin should start healing then and in a month he will recheck to see how I am doing. The long run is that in about 2 ½ months my strength should be back to my normal level, and my skin will probably look normal again too.
I wrote a poem for those who have helped me there. I gave it to my main techs-Don & Lacy, and to Sister Marie Paula and the nurses. Here it is:
To My Friends at Saint Joe’s
God uses you guys to help us in our trials,
And many of us have to drive lots of miles.
But when we get here, we know that we’ll find
Staff who are helpful, loving and kind.
You have been so kind to me each day
I’ve traveled here to get those rays.
In some ways it’s felt like it would never end,
But yet when it does, I’ll miss my new friends.
I appreciate you taking the time
To explain to me it’s worth the climb,
To fight my cancer and that I have hope
To beat it forever, and with my burns how to cope.
I’ll miss you and yet it is bittersweet,
I hope I see you in new circumstances when we again meet.
God bless you and I wish you Merry Christmas a ton-
And I hope that your New Year is filled with much fun!
Don came and found me after I gave him his card and gift with tears in his eyes to thank me and give me a hug. He asked if the card was his, because even if it wasn’t, he was not going to share it with anyone. It was too special. I had made other copies for the others.
Next Thursday I will see my oncologist to check in on how all is going and to talk about long term hormone therapy (I think Arimidex?) It is post menopausal medicine like Tomoxifen. I reacted badly to Tomoxifen, so I am not sure how this other will do for me either. Other tests my be indicated, but I will have to wait and see what Dr. Bourg thinks. Mainly, now I get to recover. Friday I get to take all my vitamins again.
Tonight I attended the funeral for the pastor of caring from our church. There were over 1000 people there and it was an incredible service. What a testimony Johnny Patterson had. It was a privilege to know him. He died suddenly of a heart attack last Thursday night. He leaves a wife and 4 kids, and a whole church full of people who will really miss him. He has ministered to so many in my support group as we have been in the hospital and seen some of our friends go to the Lord.
On a different topic, Initiative360 is still in a difficult spot. We still need to see serious money to come in. A new leadership team has been set up to help Greg work with the hard work of getting us out of the problems we’re in. I can tell he is stressed and not sleeping well, as the pressure is great, but at the same time, he is confident in wanting the Lord’s will. Please continue to pray that some foundations considering gifts at the end of the year, would make up their minds to give in our direction if it is the Lord’s will.
Well, it is night time and like usual lately, I am totally bushed. I am sleeping late every morning until 9, 10 or one day even 12! It just takes sleep to recover, but it doesn’t leave time for much else! Thank you again dear friends for reading all of this! Allison home Saturday and Laura (for good) on the 20th. Jenni and Jesse (the J-sters) finish finals tomorrow. Jenni is battling fatigue of left over mono she had some time this fall. Blessings- Nancy
29 Done and 1 to Go!
Dear friends,
As these weeks of radiation have passed, they have seemed to take forever and also in a strange way, I am going to miss the routine. I am so excited to be done! Friends at church who have prayed for me throughout this whole treatment process gave me a beautiful rose plant at the Christmas party Monday night as an expression of their love and prayers. What a nice reminder that I have almost finished!
The last 7 times I have gone as well as tomorrow, friends have driven me to my treatments. I found that fatigue would come and go in waves, and sometimes when I had to drive. It was nice to have company and get to visit with friends on the way. Janet went last week and got to watch them give me radiation- the room, machine, the monitors and how they set it all up. She is a PA and since she knows so much medical stuff, she enjoyed learning about how they do it all.
Today was my last day when my little nun, Sister Marie Paula, was going to be there, so we did my graduation a day early. She put me in a graduation gown, I had a hat with the tassel, music, the whole nine yards. I was given a diploma and had my picture taken with her and with Janet who wanted to go with me today for my graduation. It is nice to be almost done! Tomorrow I go with my friend Candy who I help with children’s missions at our church. She and I have shared cancer experiences and she is a dear friend.
There is one lady named Carol who has become a friend. I want to share my faith with her tomorrow as it will be the last time I’ll see her. I would love for you to pray for her. I think she is very open to my story. It as been a continual “to be continued” conversation since when they call you for your treatment, you need to go right away. I told her I’d see her tomorrow, and she is looking forward to it.
I saw the radiation oncologist on Monday this week and they gave me pain meds for the burning pain and some cool (literally) radiation sticky gel sheets I can put on the burn under my arm to ease the burning. They feel so good as they keep the skin from rubbing or getting too dry at the worse areas. I am having the last 5 treatments focused on the one area under my arm where the cancer was found. It is electrons for that which is different from what they did on the 3 previous views the other 25 times. The area under my left arm is very burnt, but not blistering so far. It is the equivalent of a severe sunburn at this point. He told me the skin will keep burning for the next week to 10 days before it starts healing. The process is likened to a sun burn showing up the next day. The other areas we finished last Thursday seem to be starting to heal. I am still doing lots of caster oil during the night. It is too gooey for during the day. The doctor and nurses seem to think I am doing extra well, so they are making note of my use of caster oil.
Dr. Jacobs told Greg and me on Monday what to expect from here on. For 2 weeks I will be especially tired and possibly grouchy or emotional- (“don’t be surprised by tears”). Then I will begin to notice my strength coming back. My skin should start healing then and in a month he will recheck to see how I am doing. The long run is that in about 2 ½ months my strength should be back to my normal level, and my skin will probably look normal again too.
I wrote a poem for those who have helped me there. I gave it to my main techs-Don & Lacy, and to Sister Marie Paula and the nurses. Here it is:
To My Friends at Saint Joe’s
God uses you guys to help us in our trials,
And many of us have to drive lots of miles.
But when we get here, we know that we’ll find
Staff who are helpful, loving and kind.
You have been so kind to me each day
I’ve traveled here to get those rays.
In some ways it’s felt like it would never end,
But yet when it does, I’ll miss my new friends.
I appreciate you taking the time
To explain to me it’s worth the climb,
To fight my cancer and that I have hope
To beat it forever, and with my burns how to cope.
I’ll miss you and yet it is bittersweet,
I hope I see you in new circumstances when we again meet.
God bless you and I wish you Merry Christmas a ton-
And I hope that your New Year is filled with much fun!
Don came and found me after I gave him his card and gift with tears in his eyes to thank me and give me a hug. He asked if the card was his, because even if it wasn’t, he was not going to share it with anyone. It was too special. I had made other copies for the others.
Next Thursday I will see my oncologist to check in on how all is going and to talk about long term hormone therapy (I think Arimidex?) It is post menopausal medicine like Tomoxifen. I reacted badly to Tomoxifen, so I am not sure how this other will do for me either. Other tests my be indicated, but I will have to wait and see what Dr. Bourg thinks. Mainly, now I get to recover. Friday I get to take all my vitamins again.
Tonight I attended the funeral for the pastor of caring from our church. There were over 1000 people there and it was an incredible service. What a testimony Johnny Patterson had. It was a privilege to know him. He died suddenly of a heart attack last Thursday night. He leaves a wife and 4 kids, and a whole church full of people who will really miss him. He has ministered to so many in my support group as we have been in the hospital and seen some of our friends go to the Lord.
On a different topic, Initiative360 is still in a difficult spot. We still need to see serious money to come in. A new leadership team has been set up to help Greg work with the hard work of getting us out of the problems we’re in. I can tell he is stressed and not sleeping well, as the pressure is great, but at the same time, he is confident in wanting the Lord’s will. Please continue to pray that some foundations considering gifts at the end of the year, would make up their minds to give in our direction if it is the Lord’s will.
Well, it is night time and like usual lately, I am totally bushed. I am sleeping late every morning until 9, 10 or one day even 12! It just takes sleep to recover, but it doesn’t leave time for much else! Thank you again dear friends for reading all of this! Allison home Saturday and Laura (for good) on the 20th. Jenni and Jesse (the J-sters) finish finals tomorrow. Jenni is battling fatigue of left over mono she had some time this fall. Blessings- Nancy
Friday, December 08, 2006
Only five to go & we could use prayer 12-8-06
Dear friends, I only have a minute before getting ready to go to radiation. I am now having friends drive me every day as waves of fatigue hit, and I never know when they will happen. Jenni was home sick on Tuesday and ended up driving me, and friends have volunteered to do it with me every day until I am done next Thursday. I have finished my regular radiation and now have only 5 "boosts" to the exact area where the cancer was found. Ironically, I travel 40 minutes there, do one minute of radiation and come back home. I am pretty red under my arm now- like severe sunburn, just short of blistering. That is where these boosts are going, so I am hoping the burning doesn't get much worse. They said my skin will continue to burn for 2 weeks after I am done. Just keep on praying for me to get this done. I am very tired of going! Sister Mary Paula is planning my radiation graduation for next Wed. The sad news is hitting us on two fronts today. One is that a friend and pastor from our church died suddenly last night of a massive heart attack. His wife and I used to do kids missions together and he came to the hospital to visit with us before my surgery. We have been on the phone and he has encouraged me and so many hundreds of others over the years as the grief pastor. As you can imagine, his wife and 4 children need our prayers. His name was John Patterson. I am comforted to know that he is with Jesus right now. The other sad news is that we are still experiencing a large financial shortfall at Initiative360. I would appreciate your prayers for Greg who has such a huge burden on him right now as he leads the organization. God's will regarding the continuation or conclusion of our ministry is in the balance. We are resting in God's grace and desiring His will with our whole being. We don't feel we have presumed or made bad decisions regarding the merger, so we trust Him to do his perfect will. Please join us in praying for that. We have been at this for 27 years, and this seems like one of the biggest crossroads I remember. Thank you for standing with us before the throne of God! God bless you! Nancy
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
22 done and 8 to go 12-5-06
Dec. 5, 2006 Dear friends, Oh, how I have a new appreciation for the concept of tired. I have finished 22 out of my 30 radiation treatments. I have 3 more regular ones to go and them I have five "boosts." The boosts are aimed right at the specific area where my cancer was found. The other day when they were doing the set up and checking the angles for the boosts, I figured out that they were aiming at the wrong place. The wording written in the report mislead them to the spot they checked for but didn't find any extra cancer in June. But by God's grace we figured it out. They got everything readjusted yesterday, so we are ready for Friday-next Thursday for the boosts. I met my new radiation oncologist yesterday as well. The one I really liked left to join another practice last week, so I will finish up with Dr. Jacobs. He seems excellent. They are all noting my use of caster oil as it seems to be working pretty well. I am very red, but have not blistered so far. My skin will keep burning for 2 weeks after the treatments are done, but I will keep using the oil, and hopefully it won't get much worse. Soft clothing is the ticket. I have to wash the oil off every day before I go, and put lotion on as soon as I'm done. I am taking a small dose of antidepressant to help with hot flashes and they have decreased to about 1/5th of what they were. That is a huge blessing and help. My neck is still swollen and very sore from the Neupogen I used to keep my white counts up during chemo. I have been told that the residuals from that can take quite a while to work their way out of the vertibrae. I am going to the chiropractor for that as often as I can manage. I am amazed at how much time it takes to get everything done. I can only do little bits each day- besides the 2-3 hours it takes to go for my treatements. It took me a week to put up Christmas decorations. I am lowering my expectations on what I can get done and those around me are being very understanding. I am sleeping about 12 hours a day. Allison gets home from college on the 16th and Laura on the 20th. And Laura will be home for good- as she will be done with college. She is still in job hunt mode. She has replaced her phone for $20 and has new glasses ordered. She was able to see a very good eye doctor in Pittsburgh last week. Jenni participated in the school's madrigal feast on Friday and Sat. nights and the dinner and music were fantastic. She loves to sing and to hear so many beautiful voices blending is a thrill. Jenni and Jesse are fighting colds, so we are doing all of the cold prevention things we can think of. It is the week before finals, so missing school is a bad idea. I have a sore throat, but the doctor told me it is a side effect of the radiation and will go away in a few weeks. Greg is healthy and had a great experience last week at the Lib-a consultation in Miniapolis. Continued prayers for the finances of our ministry would be appreciated. Each step we have taken with the merger has been in deliberate obedience to the Lord. The leadership team feels very confident that we have made each decision the Lord wanted us to. He either will provide and keep us going, or has other plans different from the new organization. As you can imagine, this weighs heavily on Greg and the leadership team. God is big and can do a miracle, but beyond anything, we want His perfect will. Thank you for praying for me, us and for our ministry. God bless you! Nancy
Sunday, November 26, 2006
16 done and Happy Thanksgiving! 11-26-06
11/26/06 (My 49th birthday)
Dear friends,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had 15 here. Greg’s sister, Shelby, and her family came, 2 close family friends (Deb- SisterLuke, and Marti), our 5 (minus Laura in Turkey) and 3 Taiwanese students, Heng Hua, Wendy and Paul. Since Shelby’s husband is “Big Paul,” and our nephew is “Little Paul,” we re-named our new Taiwanese friend, “Medium Paul!” It was lots of fun. Wendy and Medium Paul have never experienced Thanksgiving before, so it was fun to explain the customs and foods. They also brought a few dishes that were fantastic. Everyone brought things, and my kids helped cook, so the load on me was less than usual. We had a very full table and enjoyed leftovers for the next few days.
In the afternoon we went to the park for a game of touch football. Deb, Marti and I sat in chairs on the sideline and made up cheers- (too corny to repeat). It was a fun and memorable time for all. We won’t talk about the football game on TV that night. It is best to forget that part! We also taught and learned card games with our international students. The newest one is “James Bond.”
Laura wrote on Friday that her trip to Turkey is going very well. She had her backpack stolen on Wednesday in a government building in Ankara. Along with the backpack itself, so lost her glasses, digital camera, phone, Bible, Good to Great book and I think a few extra Bibles. She is thanking God that no one got hurt and that everything will be replaceable in time. Fortunately her cash and passport were not in there. She said that the trip is making a huge impression on her and feels the timing is good as far as her deciding what to do next with her life. We’ll find out more when she gets back tomorrow. She will leave early Monday morning, Turkey time. She finishes college on Dec. 20th.
I am getting a little redder from the radiation. My doctor told me that the skin burning goes on for about 2 weeks after radiation finishes, then peeks and begins healing. I am feeling that it helps to wear soft clothing that doesn’t rub me there. When there is itching I am supposed to use hydrocortisone cream. Scratching would irritate the skin and make everything worse. I use caster oil every night also. So I hope the blistering doesn’t happen like it has to some of my friends at radiation.
I have discovered that although my hair and eyebrows are growing back, by bottom eyelashes are falling out. I also have overall body aches that I think are still side effects of chemo. I’ve been taking daily long naps and am sleeping all night. Thank you for your prayers and love. Please keep praying fervently for a miracle for our ministry. Initiative360 will only make it to the New Year by God’s grace and provision. We need to see 100’s of $1,000’s come in. God bless you and your families! Nancy
Dear friends,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had 15 here. Greg’s sister, Shelby, and her family came, 2 close family friends (Deb- SisterLuke, and Marti), our 5 (minus Laura in Turkey) and 3 Taiwanese students, Heng Hua, Wendy and Paul. Since Shelby’s husband is “Big Paul,” and our nephew is “Little Paul,” we re-named our new Taiwanese friend, “Medium Paul!” It was lots of fun. Wendy and Medium Paul have never experienced Thanksgiving before, so it was fun to explain the customs and foods. They also brought a few dishes that were fantastic. Everyone brought things, and my kids helped cook, so the load on me was less than usual. We had a very full table and enjoyed leftovers for the next few days.
In the afternoon we went to the park for a game of touch football. Deb, Marti and I sat in chairs on the sideline and made up cheers- (too corny to repeat). It was a fun and memorable time for all. We won’t talk about the football game on TV that night. It is best to forget that part! We also taught and learned card games with our international students. The newest one is “James Bond.”
Laura wrote on Friday that her trip to Turkey is going very well. She had her backpack stolen on Wednesday in a government building in Ankara. Along with the backpack itself, so lost her glasses, digital camera, phone, Bible, Good to Great book and I think a few extra Bibles. She is thanking God that no one got hurt and that everything will be replaceable in time. Fortunately her cash and passport were not in there. She said that the trip is making a huge impression on her and feels the timing is good as far as her deciding what to do next with her life. We’ll find out more when she gets back tomorrow. She will leave early Monday morning, Turkey time. She finishes college on Dec. 20th.
I am getting a little redder from the radiation. My doctor told me that the skin burning goes on for about 2 weeks after radiation finishes, then peeks and begins healing. I am feeling that it helps to wear soft clothing that doesn’t rub me there. When there is itching I am supposed to use hydrocortisone cream. Scratching would irritate the skin and make everything worse. I use caster oil every night also. So I hope the blistering doesn’t happen like it has to some of my friends at radiation.
I have discovered that although my hair and eyebrows are growing back, by bottom eyelashes are falling out. I also have overall body aches that I think are still side effects of chemo. I’ve been taking daily long naps and am sleeping all night. Thank you for your prayers and love. Please keep praying fervently for a miracle for our ministry. Initiative360 will only make it to the New Year by God’s grace and provision. We need to see 100’s of $1,000’s come in. God bless you and your families! Nancy
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Half done and Thanksgiving greetings
It is November 21st today- the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday of the year.One key factor is that I get all my favorite foods right around my birthday which is on Sunday this year. Sometimes my birthday falls on Thanksgiving and that is very special! I have completed 15 of my 30 radiation treatments, so I am officially 1/2 way there. I have every lane change and pot hole between here and the hospital I go to downtown memorized now. It seems pretty automatic. I am definitely getting more tired by the day. I am sleeping in until 9 or 10 in the morning and going to bed by 10ish most nights. If I miss that sleep I take a long nap. If I do that, I am keeping up alright. Allison went with me to radiation yesterday and enjoyed Sister Marie (I think) while I did my treatment. I am getting redder where the radiation is hitting- especially under my arm. My new friend Kelly, who has done about 22 of her treatments, is swollen and bleeding under her arm. After getting permission from my radiation oncologist, I have begun using caster oil and think it is helping me to not itch as much, and maybe to slow down the damage to my skin. I am looking forward to having Thursday and Friday off for the holiday, but will have to make those days up at the end for a total of 30. Here is the written copy of the prayer letter I just mailed out yesterday. If you are on our mailing list, you should be getting it soon. I wish you a wonderful holiday and thank you as always for your interest, love and prayers. Nancy Dear friends, November 18, 2006
With this holiday focusing on thankfulness to God, our thoughts turn to the things we are blessed with in our lives. We think of our family, our ministry, our friends and God’s faithfulness to us every day of our lives. He has provided for our every need, and has chosen to do that through His Body.
We have had the unique privilege of experiencing that provision monthly for 26 years. You are partners in what God is doing through our ministry. You share in a very tangible way what the Lord is doing through Initiative360 (formerly Caleb Project). Your participation allows us to be involved in strategic ministry to those least reached with the Gospel. Thank you for being part of our team. We highly value you and your connection to us. So on Thanksgiving, when we go around the table to share what we are thankful for, you will be thought of and mentioned. Thank you!
Medical Update
Here is an update on my (Nancy’s) cancer treatment. I had surgery in May and June, had 5 chemotherapy treatments in July, August and September (3 weeks apart), and began radiation on November 1st. Radiation is much easier than chemo was. It doesn’t hurt. I am still dealing with some side effects of the chemo, but radiation’s main short term side effects are skin burning and fatigue. I have begun to experience some of those, but not too badly. Radiation takes only 1 minute on 3 locations, and 12 additional minutes to adjust the table for those doses. The main cost is time, as it takes me 1 ½ hours to drive each week day to and from the treatment. I have done 13 out of 30. As far as we know, all of the cancer was removed during surgery, and what we are doing now with chemo and radiation is to prevent further metastasis (traveling and growing elsewhere) of the disease. Once I am done with radiation, I will focus on rebuilding my immune system. Our network of friends and family here is awesome & we have been well cared for in every way. Thank you for giving extra for medical costs if you did. That was a huge help.
Ministry Update
Initiative360 is born. Caleb Project has merged with ACMC. Greg is the CEO of the new organization. We have been working very hard on merging the finances, ministry goals and staff of both ministries. We are in a financial shortfall as a ministry currently due to the merger, and ask you to join us in concerted prayer. The cost of the merger was high, and if $500,000 doesn’t come in to cover this in the next month, we will be faced with very difficult decisions. With careful planning and much prayer, we have stepped out in faith and obedience to do this merge, and trust the Lord to do His perfect will. We don’t believe this is the time for our ministry to end, so we are seeking God, working hard and waiting on Him. Pray for Greg as he leads the ministry. We serve a BIG and powerful God! He is able and we trust Him.
Family
Allison is home from college for the week. Laura left yesterday for Turkey on a 10 day ministry trip for her college, and will finish at Grove City in a few weeks with her entrepreneur business degree. Jenni just learned that she made it into All-State Choir and is finishing up college applications. Jesse is working at King Soopers grocery store and is planning to go on a ministry trip to Kenya next summer.
We will have 15 people here for Thanksgiving including Greg's sister and her family, two long time friends and 3 of our Taiwanese student friends from the University of Denver. Selina who recently went back to Taiwan, told me that her favorite memory of her time in America was playing football after our Thanksgiving meal last year. We go down to a field at the park and play touch every year. I took Selina and our original adopted international student, her roommate Heng Hua, to Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park to see the elk in Sept. and there is a picture of us with an elk in the background on the prayer letter we just sent out on Monday. We enjoy our international student friends tremendously.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Fritz family! Greg & Nancy Fritz, Initiative360 (formerly Caleb Project), 10 W. Dry Creek Circle, Littleton, CO 80120 gregfritz@takeitglobal.org nancyfritz@aol.com nancy's cell: 303.885.7545 Office: 303.459.5400 Home: 303.791.9306 www.takeitglobal.org
With this holiday focusing on thankfulness to God, our thoughts turn to the things we are blessed with in our lives. We think of our family, our ministry, our friends and God’s faithfulness to us every day of our lives. He has provided for our every need, and has chosen to do that through His Body.
We have had the unique privilege of experiencing that provision monthly for 26 years. You are partners in what God is doing through our ministry. You share in a very tangible way what the Lord is doing through Initiative360 (formerly Caleb Project). Your participation allows us to be involved in strategic ministry to those least reached with the Gospel. Thank you for being part of our team. We highly value you and your connection to us. So on Thanksgiving, when we go around the table to share what we are thankful for, you will be thought of and mentioned. Thank you!
Medical Update
Here is an update on my (Nancy’s) cancer treatment. I had surgery in May and June, had 5 chemotherapy treatments in July, August and September (3 weeks apart), and began radiation on November 1st. Radiation is much easier than chemo was. It doesn’t hurt. I am still dealing with some side effects of the chemo, but radiation’s main short term side effects are skin burning and fatigue. I have begun to experience some of those, but not too badly. Radiation takes only 1 minute on 3 locations, and 12 additional minutes to adjust the table for those doses. The main cost is time, as it takes me 1 ½ hours to drive each week day to and from the treatment. I have done 13 out of 30. As far as we know, all of the cancer was removed during surgery, and what we are doing now with chemo and radiation is to prevent further metastasis (traveling and growing elsewhere) of the disease. Once I am done with radiation, I will focus on rebuilding my immune system. Our network of friends and family here is awesome & we have been well cared for in every way. Thank you for giving extra for medical costs if you did. That was a huge help.
Ministry Update
Initiative360 is born. Caleb Project has merged with ACMC. Greg is the CEO of the new organization. We have been working very hard on merging the finances, ministry goals and staff of both ministries. We are in a financial shortfall as a ministry currently due to the merger, and ask you to join us in concerted prayer. The cost of the merger was high, and if $500,000 doesn’t come in to cover this in the next month, we will be faced with very difficult decisions. With careful planning and much prayer, we have stepped out in faith and obedience to do this merge, and trust the Lord to do His perfect will. We don’t believe this is the time for our ministry to end, so we are seeking God, working hard and waiting on Him. Pray for Greg as he leads the ministry. We serve a BIG and powerful God! He is able and we trust Him.
Family
Allison is home from college for the week. Laura left yesterday for Turkey on a 10 day ministry trip for her college, and will finish at Grove City in a few weeks with her entrepreneur business degree. Jenni just learned that she made it into All-State Choir and is finishing up college applications. Jesse is working at King Soopers grocery store and is planning to go on a ministry trip to Kenya next summer.
We will have 15 people here for Thanksgiving including Greg's sister and her family, two long time friends and 3 of our Taiwanese student friends from the University of Denver. Selina who recently went back to Taiwan, told me that her favorite memory of her time in America was playing football after our Thanksgiving meal last year. We go down to a field at the park and play touch every year. I took Selina and our original adopted international student, her roommate Heng Hua, to Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park to see the elk in Sept. and there is a picture of us with an elk in the background on the prayer letter we just sent out on Monday. We enjoy our international student friends tremendously.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Fritz family! Greg & Nancy Fritz, Initiative360 (formerly Caleb Project), 10 W. Dry Creek Circle, Littleton, CO 80120 gregfritz@takeitglobal.org nancyfritz@aol.com nancy's cell: 303.885.7545 Office: 303.459.5400 Home: 303.791.9306 www.takeitglobal.org
Friday, November 17, 2006
11-17-06 12 out of 30 radiations treatments done!
11-17-06
Dear friends,
It is Friday morning and I just got back from picking up Allison at the airport. She is home until the 27th. Laura left Pittsburgh this morning for the same amount of days in Turkey. She will be in 3 cities and in the 3rd one, she will celebrate Thanksgiving with the folks there she’ll be visiting. Greg is on a short trip to Ft. Wayne, IN and gets home tonight. He is visiting some of our staff who are based there.
We found out on Wednesday that Jenni made it into All State choir. I think 4-5000 tried out and 600 made it. She is excited. She still has to finish up several college applications by the end of the month, so please keep praying for her to get that done. She is trying to keep up with her current AP classes while getting that done as well.
I have finished 12 radiation treatments out of 30. I am beginning to turn a little red at the radiation site, and it is itching some. I use a special cream right after my treatment and when it itches I am NOT to scratch. I am to use cortisone cream on it. Irritating the skin will do more damage in the long run. I am going to get some caster oil to put on that area at night. I have testimonies from others who have gone before me and permission from my radiation oncologist.
Yesterday I left home at 1:20 p.m. for my 2:00 treatment and ended up going in for my 15 minute treatment at 3:20. There was an emergency new patient in room #3-my treatment room, so we all waited. I got to meet the folks who had the time slots after mine. When they finally called my name, everyone waiting applauded. We knew that meant things would start moving again. I got home at 4:30. That is the first time I have had to wait more than 10 minutes. I had nice visits with 3 different women. We shared our lives.
I am tired and think I need to pile up some sleep in the next few days. I have been able to drive myself this week just fine as long as I sleep in in the morning and go to bed early. Our friend visited from CA and we had a nice couple of days with her. She went with me to radiation on Wednesday and even got to see the room and machine. Anyway, I think the tiredness in increasing but is still manageable for now. I have a sore throat today. I am still having lots of hot flashes, but am sleeping a lot better.
I asked you to pray for my hurting tooth/jaw. My dentist took a look and sees a swollen area on my bottom right jawbone near that tooth. I need to go back to where I had my jaw surgery last year to see what he thinks is going on. The tooth seems OK, but something is swollen and sore. I’d appreciate your prayers for wisdom in how to deal with this. It is possible for insurance to cover this if it is jawbone and not tooth related. That will take some effort to figure out. My CA friend asked me how I am coping with all of this cancer stuff. I am feeling confident that although the treatment itself is a lot of work, I do believe that all the cancer is gone. I expect tests early next year will confirm that. God was truly authoring the situation that allowed me to find it so early. He continues to be good. I am continuing to meet lots of amazing folks I would never have met otherwise and I have amazing friends and family who are standing by me every step of the way. Life is good and we have much to thank God for on Thanksgiving! Thanks for your love and interest! God bless you!Nancy
Dear friends,
It is Friday morning and I just got back from picking up Allison at the airport. She is home until the 27th. Laura left Pittsburgh this morning for the same amount of days in Turkey. She will be in 3 cities and in the 3rd one, she will celebrate Thanksgiving with the folks there she’ll be visiting. Greg is on a short trip to Ft. Wayne, IN and gets home tonight. He is visiting some of our staff who are based there.
We found out on Wednesday that Jenni made it into All State choir. I think 4-5000 tried out and 600 made it. She is excited. She still has to finish up several college applications by the end of the month, so please keep praying for her to get that done. She is trying to keep up with her current AP classes while getting that done as well.
I have finished 12 radiation treatments out of 30. I am beginning to turn a little red at the radiation site, and it is itching some. I use a special cream right after my treatment and when it itches I am NOT to scratch. I am to use cortisone cream on it. Irritating the skin will do more damage in the long run. I am going to get some caster oil to put on that area at night. I have testimonies from others who have gone before me and permission from my radiation oncologist.
Yesterday I left home at 1:20 p.m. for my 2:00 treatment and ended up going in for my 15 minute treatment at 3:20. There was an emergency new patient in room #3-my treatment room, so we all waited. I got to meet the folks who had the time slots after mine. When they finally called my name, everyone waiting applauded. We knew that meant things would start moving again. I got home at 4:30. That is the first time I have had to wait more than 10 minutes. I had nice visits with 3 different women. We shared our lives.
I am tired and think I need to pile up some sleep in the next few days. I have been able to drive myself this week just fine as long as I sleep in in the morning and go to bed early. Our friend visited from CA and we had a nice couple of days with her. She went with me to radiation on Wednesday and even got to see the room and machine. Anyway, I think the tiredness in increasing but is still manageable for now. I have a sore throat today. I am still having lots of hot flashes, but am sleeping a lot better.
I asked you to pray for my hurting tooth/jaw. My dentist took a look and sees a swollen area on my bottom right jawbone near that tooth. I need to go back to where I had my jaw surgery last year to see what he thinks is going on. The tooth seems OK, but something is swollen and sore. I’d appreciate your prayers for wisdom in how to deal with this. It is possible for insurance to cover this if it is jawbone and not tooth related. That will take some effort to figure out. My CA friend asked me how I am coping with all of this cancer stuff. I am feeling confident that although the treatment itself is a lot of work, I do believe that all the cancer is gone. I expect tests early next year will confirm that. God was truly authoring the situation that allowed me to find it so early. He continues to be good. I am continuing to meet lots of amazing folks I would never have met otherwise and I have amazing friends and family who are standing by me every step of the way. Life is good and we have much to thank God for on Thanksgiving! Thanks for your love and interest! God bless you!Nancy
Saturday, November 11, 2006
11/11/06 8 out of 30 done!
11/9/06
Dear friends,
It is 2 days after the election and I have finished 7 days of radiation out of 30. I am doing well. I was able to go with Jenni and her friend Jenny, to visit DU (Denver University) on Monday. I stood in line to vote for almost 3 hours and can only think that it was a divine appointment to meet Beth who was on line in front of me. We talked about every part of our lives. She is a newly married 25 year old. The woman in front of her talked with us for a while and it turned out that her sister is also going through radiation at the same place I am, and at almost the same time. We figured out that I had actually seen her several times this week. Now that I am changing times to 2:00 p.m., I won’t see her again. It is a small world isn’t it?
11/11/06
It is now Saturday and I just finished feeding Greg and 2 of the board members lunch. Greg just went hiking nearby with one of them and the other just left for the airport. This was the first board meeting in 25 years I can remember that I haven’t taken care of the food for the board when they have met in Denver.
I have now finished 8 of my radiation treatments. I am now going at 2:00 every day for the duration. I am starting to notice fatigue now. Yesterday I was very tired driving home. I am sleeping better at night for which I am very thankful. But tiredness seems to be setting in. My skin is a tiny bit red at the radiation sight, but I am putting special lotion on it and am being careful to wash it carefully and not irritate it. Tiredness and skin irritation are to 2 most common side effects of radiation. My morning nuns from last week were on the news last Sunday night as they watched the Broncos game at the hospital.I met the afternoon nun. I think next week they will initiate me. Then I will graduate at the end. I am looking forward to getting to know the people there the same time as me. We are making plans to have our international student come with us to a wedding on the 18th. She has never seen an American wedding before. Laura leaves next Friday for Turkey and Allison leaves to come here from FL! I trust you are enjoying your Fall. It was 81 degrees here on Wednesday, and 2 weeks ago we had a snow storm. Never a dull moment in CO! Have a great day, and God bless you- Nancy Fritz
Dear friends,
It is 2 days after the election and I have finished 7 days of radiation out of 30. I am doing well. I was able to go with Jenni and her friend Jenny, to visit DU (Denver University) on Monday. I stood in line to vote for almost 3 hours and can only think that it was a divine appointment to meet Beth who was on line in front of me. We talked about every part of our lives. She is a newly married 25 year old. The woman in front of her talked with us for a while and it turned out that her sister is also going through radiation at the same place I am, and at almost the same time. We figured out that I had actually seen her several times this week. Now that I am changing times to 2:00 p.m., I won’t see her again. It is a small world isn’t it?
11/11/06
It is now Saturday and I just finished feeding Greg and 2 of the board members lunch. Greg just went hiking nearby with one of them and the other just left for the airport. This was the first board meeting in 25 years I can remember that I haven’t taken care of the food for the board when they have met in Denver.
I have now finished 8 of my radiation treatments. I am now going at 2:00 every day for the duration. I am starting to notice fatigue now. Yesterday I was very tired driving home. I am sleeping better at night for which I am very thankful. But tiredness seems to be setting in. My skin is a tiny bit red at the radiation sight, but I am putting special lotion on it and am being careful to wash it carefully and not irritate it. Tiredness and skin irritation are to 2 most common side effects of radiation. My morning nuns from last week were on the news last Sunday night as they watched the Broncos game at the hospital.I met the afternoon nun. I think next week they will initiate me. Then I will graduate at the end. I am looking forward to getting to know the people there the same time as me. We are making plans to have our international student come with us to a wedding on the 18th. She has never seen an American wedding before. Laura leaves next Friday for Turkey and Allison leaves to come here from FL! I trust you are enjoying your Fall. It was 81 degrees here on Wednesday, and 2 weeks ago we had a snow storm. Never a dull moment in CO! Have a great day, and God bless you- Nancy Fritz
Saturday, November 04, 2006
3 radiations down and 27 to go!
Dear friends, I have now been downtown for 3 radiation treatments. It turns out that they are only doing 3 fields, not the 4 I thought. Once they did an actual treatment, it was obviously only 3. I asked the radiation oncologist about it when I saw him Thursday and he explained that they are covering all of the area with the 3 fields just fine and didn't see a need for the 4th. That is good because it makes the lymphodema risk in my left arm smaller. Here is what the experience is like when I go for a treatment...It takes almost 2 hours to get back home from when I leave to go there. I drive 40 minutes, go inside, change into a gown and sit in the waiting room until my number shows up on the screen. Then I go to my treatment room where they are waiting for me. Once on the table, they take a few minutes to get the settings on the table, machine and my little dot tattos lined up to make sure I am level. I can count to between 40 and 50 seconds for each dose to each of the 3 areas. After they do the first one, the machine and table are reset for the 2nd one and then again for the 3rd. The machine is at about 2:00 when I am looking up for the beam across my front, about 7-8:00(next to and below me) for the one to get my left side, and 12:00 above me for my clavical node area. All of that takes about 20 minutes. It doesn't hurt. I actually can hear but don't feel anything. Then I get dressed and go home. There is valet parking for patients if I want to use it. I had been told that I would get to meet everyone having radiation about the same time as me each day, and that we would really get to know each other. I got there early enough to do that on Thursday and Friday. There are 2 nuns at this catholic hospital (St. Joes) who are there to visit with the patients several days of the week. They are delightful. They "induct" and "graduate" patients at the beginning and end of their weeks of treatment. Since I am moving to the afternoon from the morning next week, they didn't induct me. They will let the afternoon nuns do that next week. I had to skip out for my treatment during another person's graduation on Thursday and one of the nuns asked me afterward what happened to me. I told her my number had come up and I had to go. She told me that if I ever say that again, I have to pay a fine and put it into the mouse shaped piggy bank sitting on the table. So, all that is to say, everyone is friendly. When I realized I would be missing some lunch appointments to do my 1:00 treatments for the other 5 weeks, I asked if I could move my appointments later in the day. They are giving me 2:00 instead, which is much better. That will start next Thursday. I am grateful for that. I can come and go in between rush hours. I am going to the dentist on Tuesday to get a check-up. I have an infection under another tooth (it is swollen and sore) and we need to decide what to do. I think I will need this tooth pulled also as root canals always go bad on me. I am allowed to do my dental stuff now that chemo is over and my blood counts are back to normal range. Please pray that these dental issues will be resolved. I know I have 2 areas of osteomyelitis still in my jaw bone that I need to have cleaned out, but I need wisdom about when to do what, and what to do. Also I would appreciate your prayers about my tiredness. It is too soon to be extra tired from radiation if that is an eventual side effect. (For some it is, and for some it isn't.) But I am not sleeping well due to hot flashes all night long. They wake me up hourly it seems, and then I have a lot of trouble getting back to sleep. I am trying different things, but would appreciate you praying that I would find the right combination to work. Jenni ended up driving me Friday since I was so tired and she didn't have school. Thanks much for your interest and prayers- God bless you- Nancy
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Home from the east and radiation starting 10-31-06
10-31-06
Dear friends,
TRIP REPORT:
Jenni and I got back on Sunday evening from going to look at 4 schools on the east coast in PA and NY. Yesterday was busy with laundry (Greg and Jesse had saved their mountain laundry for me!)and very basic catch up. I want to let you know how the week went as many have let me know they were praying for your trip. Here is a brief run down:
We arrived and were picked up Sunday afternoon by Uncle Fred who informed us that he was going to let us drive his Lexus for the week. Any of you who are savvy, know that that means a very pleasant and smooth ride. We had a nice time with him, Aunt Beth and the rest of the family that day, including a terrific dinner, and left early Monday morning for Philly- a 5-6 hour drive. We couldn't figure out the car's navigation system until Wednesday morning, so we depended on our map quest directions. They were wrong for one of our appointments in Philly, and we ended up 15 city miles from where we needed to be to meet friends for lunch. We got there late, ate a quick lunch and them headed to Penn.
Jenni and I met with the admissions director of their engineering school and had a tour of the engineering buildings. That was definitely a city school situation and at this point Jenni doesn't think she'll apply there.
We had dinner with a H.S. friend of mine. She had gone to Bucknell and her daughter spent a year at Cornell, so she had some good information for us. (Thanks Cindy!) We drove that night to Greg's parents' house and spent Monday and Tuesday nights there. We got to meet my nephew Caleb's fiancé, Elizabeth, and had a nice visit the next night with his twin brother, Josh's girl friend, Sandy also. Greg's mom was gone, but we got to see his dad, my brother and sister-in-law, and another aunt.
Bucknell was beautiful and a smaller school in a small PA town. Their engineering program looks very good and Jenni had an interview there. The tour of the engineering labs was impressive.
The next morning we went to Cornell (navigation working great!). We toured the campus with several other CO students and their families, which seemed odd that far from home. We also visited with my mother's cousin who is on the faculty there. I hadn't seen Bruce for decades and that was very nice. Jenni will apply there most likely and see what happens.
We stayed overnight with my mother and brother and got to see my Aunt Clara and Uncle Don too. That was a nice visit, but too short.
On Thursday we went to Grove City College and met up with Laura who only has a few weeks left there. Jenni interviewed and that went well. She got to go to an engineering class with last year's "Mr. Engineer" and learn about thermal dynamics. (The women engineers do the "Mr. Engineer Pagent" every year as a fund raiser.) Jenni got to attend a student lead worship time that night and spend the night with Laura in the dorm and meet lots of people. I think that was her favorite of the schools we visited. A Christian college with a great engineering program on a smaller campus, seemed to appeal to her.
We stayed overnight in the home of one of Laura's professors (the one she is going to Turkey with over Thanksgiving week) while Linda was away at a conference. Very relaxing. Jenni retook the ACT's on Saturday to try to bring her score up some. Laura, Jenni and I made our way back to Uncle Fred and Aunt Beth's again on Saturday afternoon and went to church and lunch with them and Linda Christie (Laura's prof) on Sunday before we flew back.
We had safe driving all week, stayed awake, kept our schedule, had no really bad weather, and had a nice time together. I am really glad we went.
MEDICAL UPDATE:
I went yester day for my last pre-radiation appointment. I received some radiation and they checked to make sure the 4 fields the doctor specified are set correctly. When I lay on my back, one shoots across me from the right side at about 2:00, one at about 1:00, then the machine rotates around me to 7 or 8:00 to hit the back of my arm pit, them up to 12:00 to give me a dose on the left side at the base of my neck where there are a bunch of nodes. It took about 30 minutes yesterday, but starting tomorrow when I go 30 times, 5 days a week, it will only take 15 minutes. The main side effects are fatigue, which could be extreme or not, and the effect on my skin and the exposed tissues. I described all of that back at the end of Sept. so I won't do that again here. I could feel the radiation going in, but it was subtle and didn't hurt at all. I have to keep my arms up and head turned the whole time without moving at all.
I asked you to pray that I would be assigned a convenient time for these 30 treatments and for the 1st week I go at 9:15 a.m. Then starting next Wednesday, I go at 1:00 for the rest of the 5 weeks. Since I have a 28 mile round trip into the city, early afternoon is the best time to avoid traffic. So that is an answer to prayer. I see my radiation oncologist on Thursdays during this time, so I am trying to get all my questions organized for when I see him.
I am tired from last week and am fighting, but winning so far, a sore throat. I had blood drawn yesterday to make sure my levels really are OK now. My radiation oncologist thinks I will get very tired, but several there told me many don't experience that to the extreme. So we can pray. I feel an infection brewing under a tooth that has been bothering me for a while. I couldn’t do anything about it during chemo, but will check into that ASAP, now that I have my resistance to infection back up to normal.
Someone asked me why I can’t do any antioxidants during radiation, and the reason is that the radiation is designed to hit and destroy free radicals (cancer cells looking for a place to settle and grow) in my body in that area. If I take antioxidants, that will plug the free radicals (normally a good thing) and radiation will have no effect. They told me not to, because the radiation will be totally useless if there are no free radicals for it to hit. After I am done I can go to town with my special diet and supplements, etc. I am allowed to eat whatever I want, but am not to take most vitamins and supplements I have been taking.
I will sign off and want to thank you again for praying for our trip. By the way, our extra freezer is almost full now as Greg added another 125+ lbs of organic hormone free elk meat last week (a 5x5 bull) to his mountain souvenirs. He got a cow elk the week before. He actually got home Wednesday with Jesse instead of being gone until Sunday and was pretty lonely for Jenni and me once he got home. He was journaling Tuesday morning in his spot when he looked up and spotted the bull. So Jesse and Greg had an exciting time together. I'll be in touch soon. My goal is to write 2 times a week. God bless you! Nancy
Dear friends,
TRIP REPORT:
Jenni and I got back on Sunday evening from going to look at 4 schools on the east coast in PA and NY. Yesterday was busy with laundry (Greg and Jesse had saved their mountain laundry for me!)and very basic catch up. I want to let you know how the week went as many have let me know they were praying for your trip. Here is a brief run down:
We arrived and were picked up Sunday afternoon by Uncle Fred who informed us that he was going to let us drive his Lexus for the week. Any of you who are savvy, know that that means a very pleasant and smooth ride. We had a nice time with him, Aunt Beth and the rest of the family that day, including a terrific dinner, and left early Monday morning for Philly- a 5-6 hour drive. We couldn't figure out the car's navigation system until Wednesday morning, so we depended on our map quest directions. They were wrong for one of our appointments in Philly, and we ended up 15 city miles from where we needed to be to meet friends for lunch. We got there late, ate a quick lunch and them headed to Penn.
Jenni and I met with the admissions director of their engineering school and had a tour of the engineering buildings. That was definitely a city school situation and at this point Jenni doesn't think she'll apply there.
We had dinner with a H.S. friend of mine. She had gone to Bucknell and her daughter spent a year at Cornell, so she had some good information for us. (Thanks Cindy!) We drove that night to Greg's parents' house and spent Monday and Tuesday nights there. We got to meet my nephew Caleb's fiancé, Elizabeth, and had a nice visit the next night with his twin brother, Josh's girl friend, Sandy also. Greg's mom was gone, but we got to see his dad, my brother and sister-in-law, and another aunt.
Bucknell was beautiful and a smaller school in a small PA town. Their engineering program looks very good and Jenni had an interview there. The tour of the engineering labs was impressive.
The next morning we went to Cornell (navigation working great!). We toured the campus with several other CO students and their families, which seemed odd that far from home. We also visited with my mother's cousin who is on the faculty there. I hadn't seen Bruce for decades and that was very nice. Jenni will apply there most likely and see what happens.
We stayed overnight with my mother and brother and got to see my Aunt Clara and Uncle Don too. That was a nice visit, but too short.
On Thursday we went to Grove City College and met up with Laura who only has a few weeks left there. Jenni interviewed and that went well. She got to go to an engineering class with last year's "Mr. Engineer" and learn about thermal dynamics. (The women engineers do the "Mr. Engineer Pagent" every year as a fund raiser.) Jenni got to attend a student lead worship time that night and spend the night with Laura in the dorm and meet lots of people. I think that was her favorite of the schools we visited. A Christian college with a great engineering program on a smaller campus, seemed to appeal to her.
We stayed overnight in the home of one of Laura's professors (the one she is going to Turkey with over Thanksgiving week) while Linda was away at a conference. Very relaxing. Jenni retook the ACT's on Saturday to try to bring her score up some. Laura, Jenni and I made our way back to Uncle Fred and Aunt Beth's again on Saturday afternoon and went to church and lunch with them and Linda Christie (Laura's prof) on Sunday before we flew back.
We had safe driving all week, stayed awake, kept our schedule, had no really bad weather, and had a nice time together. I am really glad we went.
MEDICAL UPDATE:
I went yester day for my last pre-radiation appointment. I received some radiation and they checked to make sure the 4 fields the doctor specified are set correctly. When I lay on my back, one shoots across me from the right side at about 2:00, one at about 1:00, then the machine rotates around me to 7 or 8:00 to hit the back of my arm pit, them up to 12:00 to give me a dose on the left side at the base of my neck where there are a bunch of nodes. It took about 30 minutes yesterday, but starting tomorrow when I go 30 times, 5 days a week, it will only take 15 minutes. The main side effects are fatigue, which could be extreme or not, and the effect on my skin and the exposed tissues. I described all of that back at the end of Sept. so I won't do that again here. I could feel the radiation going in, but it was subtle and didn't hurt at all. I have to keep my arms up and head turned the whole time without moving at all.
I asked you to pray that I would be assigned a convenient time for these 30 treatments and for the 1st week I go at 9:15 a.m. Then starting next Wednesday, I go at 1:00 for the rest of the 5 weeks. Since I have a 28 mile round trip into the city, early afternoon is the best time to avoid traffic. So that is an answer to prayer. I see my radiation oncologist on Thursdays during this time, so I am trying to get all my questions organized for when I see him.
I am tired from last week and am fighting, but winning so far, a sore throat. I had blood drawn yesterday to make sure my levels really are OK now. My radiation oncologist thinks I will get very tired, but several there told me many don't experience that to the extreme. So we can pray. I feel an infection brewing under a tooth that has been bothering me for a while. I couldn’t do anything about it during chemo, but will check into that ASAP, now that I have my resistance to infection back up to normal.
Someone asked me why I can’t do any antioxidants during radiation, and the reason is that the radiation is designed to hit and destroy free radicals (cancer cells looking for a place to settle and grow) in my body in that area. If I take antioxidants, that will plug the free radicals (normally a good thing) and radiation will have no effect. They told me not to, because the radiation will be totally useless if there are no free radicals for it to hit. After I am done I can go to town with my special diet and supplements, etc. I am allowed to eat whatever I want, but am not to take most vitamins and supplements I have been taking.
I will sign off and want to thank you again for praying for our trip. By the way, our extra freezer is almost full now as Greg added another 125+ lbs of organic hormone free elk meat last week (a 5x5 bull) to his mountain souvenirs. He got a cow elk the week before. He actually got home Wednesday with Jesse instead of being gone until Sunday and was pretty lonely for Jenni and me once he got home. He was journaling Tuesday morning in his spot when he looked up and spotted the bull. So Jesse and Greg had an exciting time together. I'll be in touch soon. My goal is to write 2 times a week. God bless you! Nancy
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Visitors
At the beginning of the summer we had some visitors to our yard- two parent raccoons and their little babies, either digging in our grass or going through our trash. They visited several times, but finally a few weeks ago, Jesse was able to capture them with a picture from his bedroom window. See how many you can count! The babies aren't so little any more, but my guess is that the parents are still doing all the work!
We're off to the east coast! 10-22-06
Hello all, Jenni and I leave soon for the airport to head to PA and NY to visit colleges. Jesse left Saturday morning to go meet up with Greg in the mountains rather than Friday because of white out snow closing the pass that goes there. I am pooped but packed and ask you to pray for traveling mercies this week as we cover a lot of miles. We plan to visit Penn in Philly, Bucknell, Cornell, Grove City and possibly Carnegie Mellon, although I get tired just looking at this list and we may forgo C.M. Jenni is registered to take the ACT again next Sat. on, I mean in, Mars (PA) to try to improve her score. Then we will fly home next Sunday when our men folk will also come home. My incision is healing well and is very itchy- a good sign. It is intermitantly reminding me it is there, but it isn't too bad. The morning of the 30th, I go in for my last pre-radiation appointment and then radiation begins on Nov. 1st. It will be nice to not think about it for a week. We aren't taking my heavy lap top computer, so you won't hear from me until the 30th most likely. Laura should be posting the picture for me I mentioned earlier, sometime this week though. I hope you have a wonderful week. God bless you! Nancy
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Officially done with chemo! 10-18-06
Chemo is officially over! 10-18-06
Dear friends,
It is Wednesday and it has been 3 weeks since my last chemo. Since that was the length of my chemo cycles, I am declaring my chemo complete. I went through 15 weeks and didn't catch any sicknesses the entire time. That is amazing and I am giving credit to God and want to thank you for your prayers. From my observation, that is pretty rare. Jesse was sick last night and this morning with a fever and bad throat. He missed school and I took him to the doctor since it looked a lot like strep and he is supposed to go hunting for a week on Friday. He is already feeling better and his fever is gone. Jenni and I are doing defensive things to avoid getting it.
Yesterday I went with my friend Deb (sisterluke) to have my port removed. It turned out to be quite a procedure. It went well and took only 20-25 minutes. Deb drove both ways and I am glad she was there. She actually held my feet and got to watch the whole little surgery. We decided that my feet have their own language. They wiggled until the numbing meds went in with a needle and then went totally stiff as I forgot to breath! So Deb held them to let me know she was there and praying- very comforting! We got to see the port and it was fascinating and not messy at all.
Afterward I was a little shaky and it was good that I didn't have to drive myself the 15 miles home. I was hurting a lot last night when the meds wore off, but with pain meds was able to go to Jesse's band concert with Deb. Today I have only used Tylenol.
Want some more good news? My white count is almost in normal range and my neutrophils are now in normal range too. So I didn't have to do extra Neupogen shots. Since I am officially done with chemo, I am allowed to do antioxidents for these 2 weeks until I begin radiation November 1st. That should boost my energy. I am feeling my strength return more all the time. I have a ways to go, but am encouraged.
Here is something else encouraging. My fingernails aren't hurting anymore. There is some very faint orange discoloration, but no blackness which is listed as a possible side effect of the Taxitere. The nerve twinges in my hands and feet (nerve damage from the Taxitere chemo) are minor and my feet are less sore. I hope that those side effects have peeked and are subsiding. I will have to wait and see, but so far it isn't too bad.
Greg is still in the mountains, but has already provided about 125 pounds of organic hormone free elk meat for our family. Our brother-in-law brought it down the mountain and put it in our freezer in less than a day. We have to wait for the chronic wasting disease test to come back clear before using it. We could end up with more by the end of the month as Jesse and Greg are both planning to "be in the mountains" for 10 days together. We'll see!
Jenni and I are still planning to leave on Sunday morning and are pulling together the details of our trip. Pittsburgh to Philly (U. of Penn), then Bucknell, Cornell, and then Grove City. We might try Carnegie Mellon at the end, but we'll see. Jenni plans to take the ACT again in Mars, PA on the 28th, then we visit with Laura and Greg's aunt and uncle before flying home on the 29th. She is trying to get 4 college applications done before we leave and is making good progress. Please pray I get everything done I need to before we leave without getting worn out. Thanks.
I am going to get Laura help me post a picture on the blog, but she is gone for a few days for fall break. Check in a few days- you'll enjoy it! God bless you! God is good and has answered so many of our prayers. Thank you for praying! Nancy
Dear friends,
It is Wednesday and it has been 3 weeks since my last chemo. Since that was the length of my chemo cycles, I am declaring my chemo complete. I went through 15 weeks and didn't catch any sicknesses the entire time. That is amazing and I am giving credit to God and want to thank you for your prayers. From my observation, that is pretty rare. Jesse was sick last night and this morning with a fever and bad throat. He missed school and I took him to the doctor since it looked a lot like strep and he is supposed to go hunting for a week on Friday. He is already feeling better and his fever is gone. Jenni and I are doing defensive things to avoid getting it.
Yesterday I went with my friend Deb (sisterluke) to have my port removed. It turned out to be quite a procedure. It went well and took only 20-25 minutes. Deb drove both ways and I am glad she was there. She actually held my feet and got to watch the whole little surgery. We decided that my feet have their own language. They wiggled until the numbing meds went in with a needle and then went totally stiff as I forgot to breath! So Deb held them to let me know she was there and praying- very comforting! We got to see the port and it was fascinating and not messy at all.
Afterward I was a little shaky and it was good that I didn't have to drive myself the 15 miles home. I was hurting a lot last night when the meds wore off, but with pain meds was able to go to Jesse's band concert with Deb. Today I have only used Tylenol.
Want some more good news? My white count is almost in normal range and my neutrophils are now in normal range too. So I didn't have to do extra Neupogen shots. Since I am officially done with chemo, I am allowed to do antioxidents for these 2 weeks until I begin radiation November 1st. That should boost my energy. I am feeling my strength return more all the time. I have a ways to go, but am encouraged.
Here is something else encouraging. My fingernails aren't hurting anymore. There is some very faint orange discoloration, but no blackness which is listed as a possible side effect of the Taxitere. The nerve twinges in my hands and feet (nerve damage from the Taxitere chemo) are minor and my feet are less sore. I hope that those side effects have peeked and are subsiding. I will have to wait and see, but so far it isn't too bad.
Greg is still in the mountains, but has already provided about 125 pounds of organic hormone free elk meat for our family. Our brother-in-law brought it down the mountain and put it in our freezer in less than a day. We have to wait for the chronic wasting disease test to come back clear before using it. We could end up with more by the end of the month as Jesse and Greg are both planning to "be in the mountains" for 10 days together. We'll see!
Jenni and I are still planning to leave on Sunday morning and are pulling together the details of our trip. Pittsburgh to Philly (U. of Penn), then Bucknell, Cornell, and then Grove City. We might try Carnegie Mellon at the end, but we'll see. Jenni plans to take the ACT again in Mars, PA on the 28th, then we visit with Laura and Greg's aunt and uncle before flying home on the 29th. She is trying to get 4 college applications done before we leave and is making good progress. Please pray I get everything done I need to before we leave without getting worn out. Thanks.
I am going to get Laura help me post a picture on the blog, but she is gone for a few days for fall break. Check in a few days- you'll enjoy it! God bless you! God is good and has answered so many of our prayers. Thank you for praying! Nancy
Friday, October 13, 2006
Good news- no shots for now! 10-13-06
Hello all- I talked to the nurse at the oncology office today since my doctor was out today, and got the scoop. My white count is 1.7 and 1.5 would be the point at which I would need to repeat the Neupogen. So I don't need to do the shots. She said my levels would fluctuate but since we aren't doing anything to bring them down again, they should gradually increase. I will repeat my bloodwork on Tuesday just to be sure I don't go below 1.5. Thank you for praying. I see this as a real answer to prayer. I strongly dislike needles, so it is especially good news. I am hoping for more energy, but that should gradually increase along with my counts.Have a nice weekend and God bless you- Nancy
Thursday, October 12, 2006
White counts and Neupogen 10-12-06
Thursday 10-12-06
Dear friends,
I asked you on Tuesday to pray about the possibility of me doing another 5 Neupogen shots to boost my white count. The first time I did the shots at the second week mark, my white count went up to over 14. That is even higher than the normal range. This time at 2 weeks, it was 3.3. Normal is over 4. And typically is goes down again during the third week. So my doctor had me get blood drawn again today and will let me know tomorrow about the shots. He indicated that I will probably need to do them. What is good is that I can start them tomorrow if I do them and get over the achy side effects in time to get ready for my trip on the 22nd. I am feeling very fatigued, so I won't be surprised if my counts are even lower than Monday. I will let you know when I know.
Next Tuesday I am scheduled to get my port removed and I am looking forward to that. I don't need it anymore and it needs to be used or cleaned every month that it is in my upper right chest. It gets sore sometimes and it seems like a good time to get that over with before radiation. I am so thankful that I had it as it made my chemo treatments so much easier and less painful. I didn't have to have infusion needles put into my hand this time, which was really painful when I had chemo 7 years ago.
Tomorrow I am going to attempt to make a wrist corsage for Jesse's date to the homecoming dance. I know how to make boutonnières, so I hope I am up to the challenge. I downloaded directions and am feeling brave.
Greg leaves tomorrow, so I need to help him finish packing his food. He is excited about this trip and is eager to get there. It is about 5 hours away. Jesse will go there next week with his uncle and cousin who will join them for a few days here and there.
Jenni and I are setting up our itinerary for our PA/NY college visit trip. I sent the newsletters out yesterday, so if you are on our mailing list you should look for them sometime soon. Let me know if you would like to be added to our mailing list. You can email me at nancyfritz@aol.com if you want to communicate with me. I have been told that the blog isn't letting some of you make comments. God bless you, and thanks again for your interest and prayers. Nancy Fritz
Dear friends,
I asked you on Tuesday to pray about the possibility of me doing another 5 Neupogen shots to boost my white count. The first time I did the shots at the second week mark, my white count went up to over 14. That is even higher than the normal range. This time at 2 weeks, it was 3.3. Normal is over 4. And typically is goes down again during the third week. So my doctor had me get blood drawn again today and will let me know tomorrow about the shots. He indicated that I will probably need to do them. What is good is that I can start them tomorrow if I do them and get over the achy side effects in time to get ready for my trip on the 22nd. I am feeling very fatigued, so I won't be surprised if my counts are even lower than Monday. I will let you know when I know.
Next Tuesday I am scheduled to get my port removed and I am looking forward to that. I don't need it anymore and it needs to be used or cleaned every month that it is in my upper right chest. It gets sore sometimes and it seems like a good time to get that over with before radiation. I am so thankful that I had it as it made my chemo treatments so much easier and less painful. I didn't have to have infusion needles put into my hand this time, which was really painful when I had chemo 7 years ago.
Tomorrow I am going to attempt to make a wrist corsage for Jesse's date to the homecoming dance. I know how to make boutonnières, so I hope I am up to the challenge. I downloaded directions and am feeling brave.
Greg leaves tomorrow, so I need to help him finish packing his food. He is excited about this trip and is eager to get there. It is about 5 hours away. Jesse will go there next week with his uncle and cousin who will join them for a few days here and there.
Jenni and I are setting up our itinerary for our PA/NY college visit trip. I sent the newsletters out yesterday, so if you are on our mailing list you should look for them sometime soon. Let me know if you would like to be added to our mailing list. You can email me at nancyfritz@aol.com if you want to communicate with me. I have been told that the blog isn't letting some of you make comments. God bless you, and thanks again for your interest and prayers. Nancy Fritz
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
2 weeks after last chemo 10-10-06
October 10, 2006
Dear friends,
I apologize for taking so long to write an update. I spent a chunk of yesterday at St. Joe’s Hospital Radiation Oncology department getting prep-ed for my radiation treatments that are scheduled to begin November 1st. I was going to start Oct. 30th, but they are giving me a few extra days so my new insurance co-pay year kicks in to pay for it. That means less out of pocket medical expenses for us.
Yesterday I was oriented to the process and briefed on what to expect. The main concern they have is what the radiation will do to my skin and how to handle that. They told me yesterday that it is very individual as to how tired people get doing the treatment. Some do fine the entire time and some get tired the last few weeks, some get pretty tired sooner. My own radiation oncologist thought I could expect a lot of fatigue because of just coming off of chemo, but the folks I met yesterday who do the treatments said it really varies. That was good news. We can pray that I don’t experience the extreme fatigue.
Yesterday’s appointment also included lining me up on the machine to determine with a CAT scan exactly how I will be placed for radiation. It needs to be very exact so that the radiation beams or fields go where they need to go, and miss my heart and most of my left lung. To make sure it is the same each time, they gave me 3 tiny black dot tattoos- one on my middle, one on my left and one on my right side. Since it involved what felt like a big needle, it was my least favorite part of the day. They have decided to do 4 fields of radiation which will take about 15 minutes each of the 30 times I go.
The doctor told me the 4th field would likely cause lymphodema in my left arm due to the scar tissue that will form as a result of the radiation. I would love to not have to deal with that, but would like us to pray for the Lord’s perfect will to be done. Lymphodema is a swelling of the arm (or other extremity) due to lymphatic fluid going into, and getting stuck and built up there. After the arm swells, it is a complicated process of massage and wrapping the arm to keep the build up from getting severe or causing infection- for the rest of your life. It is an expensive and time consuming condition and I would not like to take the time the Lord gives me to deal with it if I don’t have to. The doctor told I have at least a 30% chance of developing it within the next 1-2 years.
My blood is still testing low and high on some things. For instance, my white count is low even though I did the Neupogen shots to boost it after my last chemo. My oncologist told me he would watch and maybe have me do another 5 days of the shots if it looked like I needed them. I have emailed him and am expecting an answer later today. Pray he would have wisdom about whether I should do them. They would make me hurt in my muscles, hips, bones and back for a few days, BUT I would have more energy and better white counts for the trip I plan to take with Jenni, my 17 year old, to see PA and NY colleges October 22-29. I would like to start the shots this Friday, if I do end up doing them, so I can be over the side effects in time for our trip.
How am I doing now? Many are asking. I am tired, but am getting through about half a day before I need to rest. My feet are hurting more now with the neuropathy my oncologist told me I might get during the 2 months after finishing the Taxitere chemo. Me feet feel like someone hit them with a stick and then also are tingling. They worsen during the day, so I am ready to get off my feet by the time evening rolls around. I am having so many hot flashes I can’t count them anymore. I just wear layers and peel on and off the outer ones all day and night. That is really a bother, but not painful in any way.
My breast cancer support group met last week and we had a fantastic speaker. He is a doctor who does acupuncture and explained that to us and why it helps to fight cancer. Also my friends shared their radiation experiences with me so I could know what to expect. Thanks to any and all of you who supported the Race for the Cure on Sunday here in Denver. They had 26,000 participate this year. I pray that the money raised will help find a cure for this disease. Wouldn’t that be fantastic?
I finally finished my prayer letter which I am preparing for mailing today. Greg is leaving Friday for a 2 week time in the mountains, and Jesse will join him while Jenni and I are on our trip east. Their goal is to have good quality time together and hopefully bring home some organic meat for us. (Did I say that politically correct?) So prayers for Greg’s safety and for the Lord to “recharge his batteries” would be appreciated. Thank you for reading all of this and for your prayers and expressions of love.I am posting this on the blog as well. nancyupdate.blogspot.com God bless you! Nancy Fritz
Dear friends,
I apologize for taking so long to write an update. I spent a chunk of yesterday at St. Joe’s Hospital Radiation Oncology department getting prep-ed for my radiation treatments that are scheduled to begin November 1st. I was going to start Oct. 30th, but they are giving me a few extra days so my new insurance co-pay year kicks in to pay for it. That means less out of pocket medical expenses for us.
Yesterday I was oriented to the process and briefed on what to expect. The main concern they have is what the radiation will do to my skin and how to handle that. They told me yesterday that it is very individual as to how tired people get doing the treatment. Some do fine the entire time and some get tired the last few weeks, some get pretty tired sooner. My own radiation oncologist thought I could expect a lot of fatigue because of just coming off of chemo, but the folks I met yesterday who do the treatments said it really varies. That was good news. We can pray that I don’t experience the extreme fatigue.
Yesterday’s appointment also included lining me up on the machine to determine with a CAT scan exactly how I will be placed for radiation. It needs to be very exact so that the radiation beams or fields go where they need to go, and miss my heart and most of my left lung. To make sure it is the same each time, they gave me 3 tiny black dot tattoos- one on my middle, one on my left and one on my right side. Since it involved what felt like a big needle, it was my least favorite part of the day. They have decided to do 4 fields of radiation which will take about 15 minutes each of the 30 times I go.
The doctor told me the 4th field would likely cause lymphodema in my left arm due to the scar tissue that will form as a result of the radiation. I would love to not have to deal with that, but would like us to pray for the Lord’s perfect will to be done. Lymphodema is a swelling of the arm (or other extremity) due to lymphatic fluid going into, and getting stuck and built up there. After the arm swells, it is a complicated process of massage and wrapping the arm to keep the build up from getting severe or causing infection- for the rest of your life. It is an expensive and time consuming condition and I would not like to take the time the Lord gives me to deal with it if I don’t have to. The doctor told I have at least a 30% chance of developing it within the next 1-2 years.
My blood is still testing low and high on some things. For instance, my white count is low even though I did the Neupogen shots to boost it after my last chemo. My oncologist told me he would watch and maybe have me do another 5 days of the shots if it looked like I needed them. I have emailed him and am expecting an answer later today. Pray he would have wisdom about whether I should do them. They would make me hurt in my muscles, hips, bones and back for a few days, BUT I would have more energy and better white counts for the trip I plan to take with Jenni, my 17 year old, to see PA and NY colleges October 22-29. I would like to start the shots this Friday, if I do end up doing them, so I can be over the side effects in time for our trip.
How am I doing now? Many are asking. I am tired, but am getting through about half a day before I need to rest. My feet are hurting more now with the neuropathy my oncologist told me I might get during the 2 months after finishing the Taxitere chemo. Me feet feel like someone hit them with a stick and then also are tingling. They worsen during the day, so I am ready to get off my feet by the time evening rolls around. I am having so many hot flashes I can’t count them anymore. I just wear layers and peel on and off the outer ones all day and night. That is really a bother, but not painful in any way.
My breast cancer support group met last week and we had a fantastic speaker. He is a doctor who does acupuncture and explained that to us and why it helps to fight cancer. Also my friends shared their radiation experiences with me so I could know what to expect. Thanks to any and all of you who supported the Race for the Cure on Sunday here in Denver. They had 26,000 participate this year. I pray that the money raised will help find a cure for this disease. Wouldn’t that be fantastic?
I finally finished my prayer letter which I am preparing for mailing today. Greg is leaving Friday for a 2 week time in the mountains, and Jesse will join him while Jenni and I are on our trip east. Their goal is to have good quality time together and hopefully bring home some organic meat for us. (Did I say that politically correct?) So prayers for Greg’s safety and for the Lord to “recharge his batteries” would be appreciated. Thank you for reading all of this and for your prayers and expressions of love.I am posting this on the blog as well. nancyupdate.blogspot.com God bless you! Nancy Fritz
Sunday, October 01, 2006
5 days after final chemo 10-1-06
Dear friends,
I thought I would write a short update. It is Sunday evening and I would like to ask for specific prayer. I made it through church this morning and to dinner out with Greg and friends tonight, but spent the rest of the day in bed sleeping and resting. The deep aching of this chemo cycle has set in- mostly in leg and arm bones and joints, as well as in my neck which is swollen and very sore. I am having some more of the predicted longer term side effects from the Taxitere like nerve damage to feet and hands showing up in these last several days (-and my fingernails are very sore). How much of it is short-term and just related to last week's treatment, and how much of it is what I was told to expect that could last for up to 18 months? I have had 4 out of my 5 Neupogen shots this cycle, which are boosting my white count currently. My last one is tomorrow. They should give me more energy and resistance to infection, but also make me extra sore for several days in my hips, spine and neck bones as the extra white cells grow and try to find where to go in my bones.
Pray for me to know the balance of rest and knowing how much energy I have to do things day to day. I need to decide whether to take pain medication from time to time, and do need to be careful as that medicine can effect my liver. Pray that my need for pain meds would decrease as time goes on. In a few weeks I should be past having a lot of the achy pain. It is such a balance.
My doctor ordered blood work for me for the next several weeks to make sure my body is bouncing back correctly. He may prescribe another 5 Neupogen shots in a few weeks, but I hope he doesn't need to.
I have learned that my health insurance with my HMO at Kaiser is intact while I do radiation. That is a very HUGE answer to prayer. So I am moving ahead and have radiation scheduled to officially start November 1st, with 2 appointments this month to set that up. Also, my wonderful and helpful port will be coming out in a few weeks. That, I have learned, is just an office visit, and will only cost a regular co-pay amount. That is good news! So all of this is coming together. With a month until radiation starts I hope to have extra energy back. My daughter Jenni and I plan to visit colleges in PA and NY October 22-29, so our prayer is that my strength improves steadily between now and then. Thank you for all of your love and prayers. I can feel your prayers as I go through these hours of extra awareness that the chemo is working in my body. May it be doing its job of killing cancer cells and may God give me grace to handle the side effects. When up in the night, I was comforted knowing many people are praying for us. Thank you for your faithfulness! God Bless you! Nancy
I thought I would write a short update. It is Sunday evening and I would like to ask for specific prayer. I made it through church this morning and to dinner out with Greg and friends tonight, but spent the rest of the day in bed sleeping and resting. The deep aching of this chemo cycle has set in- mostly in leg and arm bones and joints, as well as in my neck which is swollen and very sore. I am having some more of the predicted longer term side effects from the Taxitere like nerve damage to feet and hands showing up in these last several days (-and my fingernails are very sore). How much of it is short-term and just related to last week's treatment, and how much of it is what I was told to expect that could last for up to 18 months? I have had 4 out of my 5 Neupogen shots this cycle, which are boosting my white count currently. My last one is tomorrow. They should give me more energy and resistance to infection, but also make me extra sore for several days in my hips, spine and neck bones as the extra white cells grow and try to find where to go in my bones.
Pray for me to know the balance of rest and knowing how much energy I have to do things day to day. I need to decide whether to take pain medication from time to time, and do need to be careful as that medicine can effect my liver. Pray that my need for pain meds would decrease as time goes on. In a few weeks I should be past having a lot of the achy pain. It is such a balance.
My doctor ordered blood work for me for the next several weeks to make sure my body is bouncing back correctly. He may prescribe another 5 Neupogen shots in a few weeks, but I hope he doesn't need to.
I have learned that my health insurance with my HMO at Kaiser is intact while I do radiation. That is a very HUGE answer to prayer. So I am moving ahead and have radiation scheduled to officially start November 1st, with 2 appointments this month to set that up. Also, my wonderful and helpful port will be coming out in a few weeks. That, I have learned, is just an office visit, and will only cost a regular co-pay amount. That is good news! So all of this is coming together. With a month until radiation starts I hope to have extra energy back. My daughter Jenni and I plan to visit colleges in PA and NY October 22-29, so our prayer is that my strength improves steadily between now and then. Thank you for all of your love and prayers. I can feel your prayers as I go through these hours of extra awareness that the chemo is working in my body. May it be doing its job of killing cancer cells and may God give me grace to handle the side effects. When up in the night, I was comforted knowing many people are praying for us. Thank you for your faithfulness! God Bless you! Nancy
Thursday, September 28, 2006
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This is Kally. She did my first and 4th chemos. All of the nurses who work there were just great. They had to do about 20 things to make every session work as they switched the bags of medicines and chemos, set the timers on the infusions, ran saline in between, accessed my port and cleaned it afterward. I am sure they put miles on during the day. They have many patients going at a time all day and have to keep everyone strait. They are so optimistic and sweet. Since it was my last time, at the end, they all gathered around and sang to me, “Hit the road, Jack! Don’t want to see you come around here no more, no more! Hit the road Jack!” They blew bubbles and gave me a card they had all signed, and gave me hugs. It was a very nice send off. I am grateful I had such a nice place to go for those 5 long days.
My friend and mentor, Jeannie Dougherty was able to go with me to my last chemo on Tuesday this week. We have been friends for 15 years. I had prayed for 5 years for God to give me just the perfect mentor. After we moved to Denver, Jeannie and I found each other to be soul mates and have been meeting regularly together ever since. She is 10 years my senior, and has been involved in similar ministry with a husband who is also a leader. It is a match made it heaven. It was so special to have her there to share my last visit to that room- hopefully forever to actually get chemo. I may go back in to visit the nurses. They want to see my hair when it grows back in.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Chemo #5 was today- I'M DONE
Dear friends,
I wrote an update before leaving this morning and apparently it didn't post here for you. I left before I made sure it worked. Here is the latest...
I was told my ALT liver count was high last week and I asked you to pray. It was supposed to be 5-50 and was 204 last Tuesday. Yesterday's lab work, which the oncologist gave me this morning, had that number at 109. My AST liver count was supposed to be between5-40. Last week it was 84 and today was44. I would say that is reason to praise God. We prayed and it definitely improved.
Even with these numbers, my doctor said he didn't know if we could do chemo today. The pharmacist might not allow it due to the fact that the Taxitere chemo was apparently not leaving my body quickly enough, straining my liver, and doing it again would put even further stress on my liver.
So, after they consulted for a while, they decided that since all my liver counts weren't elevated, he was going to allow me to have chemo today. I told him that since so many people were praying that I would be able to have chemo today, chances were slim that I wouldn't be able to. I told him we won! He said that was a good thing! He was all for that!
I will have to have blood work done weekly for the next month so he can make sure I am OK. I told him about doing milk thistle supplements for 4 days and he said he had heard that was good for your liver. I will keep doing that and also do another supplement my nutrition doctor asked me to do for liver. SO, God answered our prayers. I also never got that cold. Although sore, I had quite a bit of energy over the weekend- a huge contrast to 7 years ago and another answer to prayer.
Today chemo was given through my port from 11:30 until 3:15. I slept for almost 2 hours of it due to the specific drugs. Jeannie and I had a nice visit before and after my nap. The Taxitere went in for over an hour which is causing extra side effects tonight. I feel fluish without the nausea. I went with Greg to Jenni's concert tonight and enjoyed hearing her first solo with the Gold Tones select singing group. I am very ready to get in bed now, but wanted to let you know how the day went. I will be starting Neupogen shots on Thursday for 5 days, and depending on levels in the next few weeks, may need to do another 5 day cycle before we are done.
Here is a huge request. The health insurance company that is giving us an offer for the non-Kaiser staff of our new organization, has said that they will not allow anyone to stay on Kaiser if they are going to give us a deal at all. Kaiser is willing to keep some of us who are currently in the midst of medical issues- even at a large group rate. (THAT we were thinking of as a miracle. Why would they do that? I am thinking God and our prayers had something to do with it.)
I am supposed to go in a week to have my first of two radiation set up appointments. And I am supposed to start radiation at the end of October. So I have to know what to do right away. I think the time between finishing chemo and jumping into radiation is key to getting the most out of the treatment. The radiation department and I have already invested time in meeting and he has designed my treatment plan already. Pray that this will work out. If I do it with Kaiser, it is a 30-40 minute drive each way, 30 times to their central office at $40 a time. On the other hand, there is a radiation office across the street from our Caleb Project office 5 minutes from home. I love my Kaiser doctors and don't want to switch. This is a big snag. We would appreciate your prayers that the Lord's will be known to all the parties involved in this decision- and VERY SOON!
I got my 2nd favorite chemo chair which actually gave both of us a good view, and Jeannie a great view the entire time- even when I was sleeping. It worked out well as we got to interact with the nurses more since we were by their desks. I have other things to tell you, but this is too long already. I'll get Laura to post a picture tomorrow. I am too tired tonight. God bless you and thank you more than I can express for your love and prayers! Nancy Fritz
I wrote an update before leaving this morning and apparently it didn't post here for you. I left before I made sure it worked. Here is the latest...
I was told my ALT liver count was high last week and I asked you to pray. It was supposed to be 5-50 and was 204 last Tuesday. Yesterday's lab work, which the oncologist gave me this morning, had that number at 109. My AST liver count was supposed to be between5-40. Last week it was 84 and today was44. I would say that is reason to praise God. We prayed and it definitely improved.
Even with these numbers, my doctor said he didn't know if we could do chemo today. The pharmacist might not allow it due to the fact that the Taxitere chemo was apparently not leaving my body quickly enough, straining my liver, and doing it again would put even further stress on my liver.
So, after they consulted for a while, they decided that since all my liver counts weren't elevated, he was going to allow me to have chemo today. I told him that since so many people were praying that I would be able to have chemo today, chances were slim that I wouldn't be able to. I told him we won! He said that was a good thing! He was all for that!
I will have to have blood work done weekly for the next month so he can make sure I am OK. I told him about doing milk thistle supplements for 4 days and he said he had heard that was good for your liver. I will keep doing that and also do another supplement my nutrition doctor asked me to do for liver. SO, God answered our prayers. I also never got that cold. Although sore, I had quite a bit of energy over the weekend- a huge contrast to 7 years ago and another answer to prayer.
Today chemo was given through my port from 11:30 until 3:15. I slept for almost 2 hours of it due to the specific drugs. Jeannie and I had a nice visit before and after my nap. The Taxitere went in for over an hour which is causing extra side effects tonight. I feel fluish without the nausea. I went with Greg to Jenni's concert tonight and enjoyed hearing her first solo with the Gold Tones select singing group. I am very ready to get in bed now, but wanted to let you know how the day went. I will be starting Neupogen shots on Thursday for 5 days, and depending on levels in the next few weeks, may need to do another 5 day cycle before we are done.
Here is a huge request. The health insurance company that is giving us an offer for the non-Kaiser staff of our new organization, has said that they will not allow anyone to stay on Kaiser if they are going to give us a deal at all. Kaiser is willing to keep some of us who are currently in the midst of medical issues- even at a large group rate. (THAT we were thinking of as a miracle. Why would they do that? I am thinking God and our prayers had something to do with it.)
I am supposed to go in a week to have my first of two radiation set up appointments. And I am supposed to start radiation at the end of October. So I have to know what to do right away. I think the time between finishing chemo and jumping into radiation is key to getting the most out of the treatment. The radiation department and I have already invested time in meeting and he has designed my treatment plan already. Pray that this will work out. If I do it with Kaiser, it is a 30-40 minute drive each way, 30 times to their central office at $40 a time. On the other hand, there is a radiation office across the street from our Caleb Project office 5 minutes from home. I love my Kaiser doctors and don't want to switch. This is a big snag. We would appreciate your prayers that the Lord's will be known to all the parties involved in this decision- and VERY SOON!
I got my 2nd favorite chemo chair which actually gave both of us a good view, and Jeannie a great view the entire time- even when I was sleeping. It worked out well as we got to interact with the nurses more since we were by their desks. I have other things to tell you, but this is too long already. I'll get Laura to post a picture tomorrow. I am too tired tonight. God bless you and thank you more than I can express for your love and prayers! Nancy Fritz
Last chemo today 9/26/06
I leave in 45 minutes for what I hope will be my last chemo treatment. My friend and mentor, Jeannie Dougherty is going with me. I am praying that everything will be clear for me to do it today. I have been trying to boost my liver with a supplement called Milk Thistle for the last several days. I had my blood drawn yesterday and will find out what it shows when I see my oncologist at 10:00 this morning. Then after meeting with him I should start chemo at about 11:00 and finish about 3:00. We will try for the nicely located chair which I have been able to use 3 out of the last 4 times. I will send an update tonight. Hopefully I will feel good enough to go with Greg and Jesse to Jenni's choir concert. It is her first one as a "Goldtone." That is the top vocal group at her school. If I feel badly I won't go, but a few times it hasn't been too bad the night of. Thank you for praying for me today. It means so much to me. God bless you- Nancy Fritz
Thursday, September 21, 2006
9/21/06 A few things to pray for before # 5
Hi friends, I got my blood work and have talked to the nurse at my oncologist's office. My white count is OK (7.4 for those of you who knows what that means), but a few liver function levels are high. One of them, ALT is at 203 and normal is between 5 and 50. The nurse said that this staying this high or getting higher could mean postponing chemo on Tuesday. I feel a little like I am fighting a cold. I am doing all of my fighting things like resting, taking Cold Snap capsules, eating oranges, Sambucol Syrup and Cold Care tea. So far so good. The nurse said that as long as I don't get a fever, I could still get chemo if I am at the end of a cold. I would appreciate your prayers that all would be OK for me to have chemo next Tuesday. I really want to get this last one over with. I will keep you posted. I am attempting to get a prayer letter written and sent before Tuesday. Here is some good news about our health insurance. Our coverage for our new organizaton was maybe going to cause us to have to leave Kaiser (our HMO) right in the middle of my treatment. The short of it is that Kaiser is allowing a few of us to stay on with them with large group rates. There is no obvious reason for this and we are really thanking God. The whole staff is getting a few options. Our medical co-pay account will not start until Nov. 1st instead of Sept. 1st due to setting all of this up, so currently we are covering our co-pays through our paycheck. We increased our salary to do this, so the money many of you gave for medical is being used for that. Radiation will be $40 a visit/30 times ($1200), but I start right around Nov. 1st, so most of that will come out of next year's co-pay money. God is providing for us. We are doing well. And a praise I have is that compared to my experience with cancer 7 years ago, I have more energy and less fatigue. God's grace and Neupogen making more white cells. I am feeling the side effects, but it could me much worse! Again, thank you for praying for me and for my family. We are hanging in there and appreciate all of your support. God Bless you! Nancy
Monday, September 18, 2006
9/18/06 One week until #5- So far, so good!
September 18th, 2006
Dear friends,
I want to let you know that God isn’t just listening to our prayers, but He is choosing to answer with some of them with a “yes!” Just for the record, we are never promised yes answers, or that life will be easy. But He does promise to be with His children. I can testify that HE IS HERE, and that He is involved in my life in an intimate loving way. Even if our prayers were answered with “no’s”.
It is almost 2 weeks since chemo #4. The good news is that I have made it pretty well these last 2 weeks. The not so good news is that I have to do it again (and for the last time!) in a week. I was told back at the beginning a list of some probable long term side effects from one of my chemos (Taxitere). Those have to do with general bone aches and also nerve damage in my fingers and feet/toes. My doctor told me that those would be the worst in the 2 months following my chemo treatment and would totally go away at about 18 months to 2 years. The very good news so far is that although some of that has been happening, it has really been very little so far. They are like migratory arthritis pains that I feel for a little while and then they go away. Some nerve tingling, but it also goes away. Most people only have 4 rounds of this chemo, so I am thinking if it was going to be severe, I would be experiencing more of if by now. After the initial chemo side effects and Neupogen shot side effects of intense hip, back and neck pain die down about 11-12 days into the cycle, I just have some aches and pains and headaches to deal with. Oh, and lots of hot flashes! I have to take naps many days, but the medicines have helped me deal with the side effects (other than the hot flashes) adequately.
My blood work shows my white counts to be good. Some other levels are off- either high or low, but nothing alarming. I had blood taken today to see how I am doing this week before chemo so Dr. Bourg can closely monitor my situation.
So, if you are with me and my neck starts turning red, I will probably pull off my outer sweater and fan myself. It just can’t be helped! Thanks for praying and caring and reading these blogs. I am so grateful for those standing in the gap with me.Blessings- Nancy
Dear friends,
I want to let you know that God isn’t just listening to our prayers, but He is choosing to answer with some of them with a “yes!” Just for the record, we are never promised yes answers, or that life will be easy. But He does promise to be with His children. I can testify that HE IS HERE, and that He is involved in my life in an intimate loving way. Even if our prayers were answered with “no’s”.
It is almost 2 weeks since chemo #4. The good news is that I have made it pretty well these last 2 weeks. The not so good news is that I have to do it again (and for the last time!) in a week. I was told back at the beginning a list of some probable long term side effects from one of my chemos (Taxitere). Those have to do with general bone aches and also nerve damage in my fingers and feet/toes. My doctor told me that those would be the worst in the 2 months following my chemo treatment and would totally go away at about 18 months to 2 years. The very good news so far is that although some of that has been happening, it has really been very little so far. They are like migratory arthritis pains that I feel for a little while and then they go away. Some nerve tingling, but it also goes away. Most people only have 4 rounds of this chemo, so I am thinking if it was going to be severe, I would be experiencing more of if by now. After the initial chemo side effects and Neupogen shot side effects of intense hip, back and neck pain die down about 11-12 days into the cycle, I just have some aches and pains and headaches to deal with. Oh, and lots of hot flashes! I have to take naps many days, but the medicines have helped me deal with the side effects (other than the hot flashes) adequately.
My blood work shows my white counts to be good. Some other levels are off- either high or low, but nothing alarming. I had blood taken today to see how I am doing this week before chemo so Dr. Bourg can closely monitor my situation.
So, if you are with me and my neck starts turning red, I will probably pull off my outer sweater and fan myself. It just can’t be helped! Thanks for praying and caring and reading these blogs. I am so grateful for those standing in the gap with me.Blessings- Nancy
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
9/11/06 A week after chemo #4
Dear friends, I tried to post a picture after last week's chemo of Marilyn and me, but was not successful in getting it posted. Keep and eye out and I will see if Laura can put it up for me. It is a week later and I am holding my own. I spent most of the day resting and sleeping today, controling a headache. I am managing, but not feeling great. I have had 4 of 5 of my Neupogen shots that make white cells produce quickly. That should be working and tomorrow the bone aches from that will peak. The good news is that so far that has been working. I will have blood work tomorrow to see how I am doing with all the counts. I have a sore jaw which seems to be a little infected where I still have infection in my jaw. I had most of that removed last year, but ran out of time to deal with it at that time. I was going to do the rest next spring. In the meantime, I would appreciate prayer that it stays under control during these last 2 chemo cycles. My port is on the same side as that suspected infection and it is a little sore on and off. I still need the port for the next chemo and an infection would be bad at this point. So far I am OK with just the expected side effects. I would say hot flashes are the biggest inconvenience currently. They are chemo induced and occur hourly or more often daily- night and day. My neuropothy from the Taxitere is still not bad. There have only been tinges of numbness and tingling which they said to expect, but it hasn't been constant. My fingernails haven't turned black either si far- which they told me might happen. That is good news! So now I am mostly headachy and just generally sore and achy all over. Thank you for sticking with me and our family in your prayers. We are so grateful for you and the Lord's faithfulness during this time. 5 more weeks to be done with chemo, then 2 weeks off before radiation. We are getting there! God bless- Nancy
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Chemo #4 is in and doing its stuff!
Dear friends, I went today with Marilyn for my 4th chemo. My port worked well and at 9:20 they did my blood draw through it and got it ready for chemo later. We waited an hour and met with Dr. Bourg so he would have a chance to get the results. My bloodwork was OK, and he told me I am a little anemic, but otherwise was good to go. I asked him my list of questions, and he gave me his answers. We are still planning on 5 chemos, as the side effects are being managed OK so far. The next chemo is scheduled for Sept. 26th. Chemo actually started at about 11:15 and ended at about 3:30. There was some time in between when they had to flush out the tubing with saline before starting the next kind- 5 pouches in all. Marilyn and I had a nice time talking, I took a 1 1/2 hour nap while she read and worked and we talked some more. I had the same nurse as my first time, and she knew I like the corner chair. She suggested me having my blood drawn there and leaving my jacket to save the chair for when my chemo started. When I came back in for chemo, all the chairs but that one were full, so we walked right over and settled in to the great view. The nurse, Cally, got a kick out of hearing that there were people praying for me to get that chair. It is a small thing, but was a touch of grace from the Lord. Also, the nurse who weighed my in at the beginning just happened to have gone to High Calling this weekend with our coworker Cyndee the day after we left there. It is a small world. I feel tonight like I had a good dose of chemo today. That means I feel pretty awful and need to lay down. I just wanted you to know how it went and to thank you for praying. I will be starting Neupogen shots again on Thursday until Monday. One thing to pray for now is that my surgeon needs to talk to my radiation oncologist to determine if they need to do the 4th field from behind my left upper arm or not. If there might have been cancer left up in my armpit, which I think the surgeon told me, then that would be the right plan. If not it would be great to not have to do that extra field. That field could increase my risk of lymphedema in that arm in a year or two. That conversation needs to happen between those 2 doctors, and Dr. Bourg emailed them both about it. I am going to try and post a picture of us at chemo today with the view from the window we could see from that chair. If the c\picture isn't there tonight, Laura will help me post it tomorrow from college. I need to go lay down. God bless you all! Nancy
Greg on the mountain
Behind Greg is a view of where he will be hunting this fall in California Park, Colorado.
Chemo #4 of 5 is tomorrow
Night before my 4th of 5 chemos
Blog Update 9/4/06
Dear friends,
Tomorrow I go for #4. I can hardly believe it has already been 9 weeks since I began the process of chemotherapy. In some ways it really does feel that way. I can hardly remember shampooing a head full of hair. I am not sure I understand why, but even though I am still in chemo, my hair has begun to grow back. It is about 1/3 inch long and I can feel the wind blow through it if I don’t have anything on my head. I know that sounds strange, but it feels good! That is especially true if I am in the middle of a hot flash. Chemotherapy has stopped my eggs from growing, and has thrust me into menopause prematurely. So this has been very sudden, but I was warned it would be a side effect. I experienced this 7 years ago also for several months.
I know people joke about hot flashes all the time, but getting completely and totally overheated with no warning for a few minutes, almost every hour day and night, is a chore. Greg pointed out that we women have Eve to thank for this experience. If only she had known the scope of what the consequences of her actions would be…
The Taxitere is gathering in my system and showing up in some of the longer term side effects I was told about. Bone and joint aches in my legs, back and neck mostly, and nerve tingling and prickling mainly in my hands and feet. This has lasted this entire 3 weeks this time. I was told this would peek in the 2 months after chemo, which will overlap with radiation, I expect, and then tapper off over the next 18-24 months. I have friends who have had very different experiences with this and would ask you to join us in praying that mine will be minor.
In this 3 week cycle I had about 3 days that I could handle without any pain meds. I was able to function for the last 1 ½ weeks, but ran out of steam part way through the day. Today and yesterday I actually got a project done. It wasn’t big, but it felt good. I also switched desks at the office on Friday with my friend Marilyn who is planning to take me to chemo tomorrow. We plan to leave at 8:15 a.m. and will get home between 3 and 3:30 p.m. I have my port accessed and blood drawn from it at 9:00, see Dr. Bourg, my oncologist, when the blood results come back at about 10:00, then chemo about 11:00 after they mix my meds to his specifications. They start by giving me pre-chemo meds for about an hour, and then the other two chemos for the next 2 ½-3 hours.
Things to pray for: Again trivial, but it would be nice to spend those 4 hours in a chair with a view of the mountains. Pray I’d have no allergic reactions to anything. Pray that my blood work would show that I can handle the chemo. That means white cell count and platelets, etc. are where they should be. If not, they would send me home without it and I would be sad. Pray that as I go in and have this toxic stuff put in me, that I would welcome it in to do its work in killing any cancer loose in my body. Pray that I would be able to manage by God’s grace the side effects of this all on my body. Pray that I will be able to remember what questions I have for Dr. Bourg while I am there. I make a list each time and he patiently answers and explains until I am satisfied. I want to know about how much radiation I need, because the 4th field they plan to shoot may not be necessary based on what my surgeon and Dr. Bourg think. I’d like to avoid it, but want it if I really do need to do it. Did the surgeon think there was still a possibility of cancer above the initial surgery sight in my armpit. She told me there probably was, but I want them to confer with each other so we do the right thing.
Praises- We had a nice time at Steamboat at our friends’ mountain home. I did some of my thinking and decided that there is much more to do. I worked on my living will which the radiation oncologist wants us to do and it raised a lot of questions for Greg and me. We are going to have to sit down and determine our values. At least now I have a list of things to work through in more detail. Thanks for praying for that time. God used it.
Greg got his 3 projects done and we took a day to drive over a pass (4 wheel driving) to where he hunts with Jesse in October. At one point we had to stop the truck on a substantial road to let a 6 foot long Aspen tree cross the road on its side and seemingly by itself. As we stretched to look, we could see a large beaver (Ohooo, a hot flash!) on the other side of the tree pulling it toward his construction project on the other side of the road. It was amazing that we just happened to drive by right then in time to see that. It was a treat from the Lord. “So why did the tree cross the road? To become part of a beaver’s dam!”
I need to get to bed so I can be rested tomorrow and not get sick. Blessings to you all, and thank you for your interest and being willing to share in this experience with us through our concern and prayers. Lisa brought me sunflowers today. They are bright and beautiful! Others will be bringing meals starting tomorrow night. God bless you! Nancy Fritz
Blog Update 9/4/06
Dear friends,
Tomorrow I go for #4. I can hardly believe it has already been 9 weeks since I began the process of chemotherapy. In some ways it really does feel that way. I can hardly remember shampooing a head full of hair. I am not sure I understand why, but even though I am still in chemo, my hair has begun to grow back. It is about 1/3 inch long and I can feel the wind blow through it if I don’t have anything on my head. I know that sounds strange, but it feels good! That is especially true if I am in the middle of a hot flash. Chemotherapy has stopped my eggs from growing, and has thrust me into menopause prematurely. So this has been very sudden, but I was warned it would be a side effect. I experienced this 7 years ago also for several months.
I know people joke about hot flashes all the time, but getting completely and totally overheated with no warning for a few minutes, almost every hour day and night, is a chore. Greg pointed out that we women have Eve to thank for this experience. If only she had known the scope of what the consequences of her actions would be…
The Taxitere is gathering in my system and showing up in some of the longer term side effects I was told about. Bone and joint aches in my legs, back and neck mostly, and nerve tingling and prickling mainly in my hands and feet. This has lasted this entire 3 weeks this time. I was told this would peek in the 2 months after chemo, which will overlap with radiation, I expect, and then tapper off over the next 18-24 months. I have friends who have had very different experiences with this and would ask you to join us in praying that mine will be minor.
In this 3 week cycle I had about 3 days that I could handle without any pain meds. I was able to function for the last 1 ½ weeks, but ran out of steam part way through the day. Today and yesterday I actually got a project done. It wasn’t big, but it felt good. I also switched desks at the office on Friday with my friend Marilyn who is planning to take me to chemo tomorrow. We plan to leave at 8:15 a.m. and will get home between 3 and 3:30 p.m. I have my port accessed and blood drawn from it at 9:00, see Dr. Bourg, my oncologist, when the blood results come back at about 10:00, then chemo about 11:00 after they mix my meds to his specifications. They start by giving me pre-chemo meds for about an hour, and then the other two chemos for the next 2 ½-3 hours.
Things to pray for: Again trivial, but it would be nice to spend those 4 hours in a chair with a view of the mountains. Pray I’d have no allergic reactions to anything. Pray that my blood work would show that I can handle the chemo. That means white cell count and platelets, etc. are where they should be. If not, they would send me home without it and I would be sad. Pray that as I go in and have this toxic stuff put in me, that I would welcome it in to do its work in killing any cancer loose in my body. Pray that I would be able to manage by God’s grace the side effects of this all on my body. Pray that I will be able to remember what questions I have for Dr. Bourg while I am there. I make a list each time and he patiently answers and explains until I am satisfied. I want to know about how much radiation I need, because the 4th field they plan to shoot may not be necessary based on what my surgeon and Dr. Bourg think. I’d like to avoid it, but want it if I really do need to do it. Did the surgeon think there was still a possibility of cancer above the initial surgery sight in my armpit. She told me there probably was, but I want them to confer with each other so we do the right thing.
Praises- We had a nice time at Steamboat at our friends’ mountain home. I did some of my thinking and decided that there is much more to do. I worked on my living will which the radiation oncologist wants us to do and it raised a lot of questions for Greg and me. We are going to have to sit down and determine our values. At least now I have a list of things to work through in more detail. Thanks for praying for that time. God used it.
Greg got his 3 projects done and we took a day to drive over a pass (4 wheel driving) to where he hunts with Jesse in October. At one point we had to stop the truck on a substantial road to let a 6 foot long Aspen tree cross the road on its side and seemingly by itself. As we stretched to look, we could see a large beaver (Ohooo, a hot flash!) on the other side of the tree pulling it toward his construction project on the other side of the road. It was amazing that we just happened to drive by right then in time to see that. It was a treat from the Lord. “So why did the tree cross the road? To become part of a beaver’s dam!”
I need to get to bed so I can be rested tomorrow and not get sick. Blessings to you all, and thank you for your interest and being willing to share in this experience with us through our concern and prayers. Lisa brought me sunflowers today. They are bright and beautiful! Others will be bringing meals starting tomorrow night. God bless you! Nancy Fritz
Monday, August 28, 2006
12 Days after #3 Radiation Update
Blog Update Sunday, August 27, 2006
Dear friends,
I am writing this from High Calling, the cabin we have been given to use this week north of Steamboat, CO. Greg had been trying to find a place to get away, to do some writing, and this came open a few weeks ago unexpectedly after all other options had fallen through. Jesse and Jenni are home taking care of themselves, but have many friends watching out for them. Laura flew back to
I think I told you I was going to the radiation oncologist on Tuesday with my friend Janet. She drove which was a blessing as this third cycle, it took me about 9-10 days to feel like I had strength to do much. My last Neupugen shot was on Monday evening, so Tuesday I had a lot of hip and back pain. (Since that is where the Neupugen is making the extra white cells grow, that is where most of the pain is centered.) My neck has been swollen and sore from that too.
Radiation
We were surprised about my meeting with Dr. Westmacott. I think he asked more questions about my medical history than any doctor I have ever met. He seems to be very caring and also knows his stuff. He said that if I had gone in to him to talk about radiation the first time I had cancer, they probably wouldn’t have done it. My tumors that time were smaller than 5 cm’s even though they added up to over 5 cm’s. Since all of my nodes were negative the first time and I didn’t have a tumor 5 cm’s or bigger, I would probably not have been a candidate.
Here is what he told us. I will have 2 more appointments to set up the radiation preparation. One is to do a “simulation” which includes a CT scan, X-ray, and have measurements taken to determine where exactly (angles and amount, etc.) to radiate. The other appointment is to do a dry run to make sure it all is actually working as planned. Then shortly after that, radiation will begin. I will go 30 times over 6 weeks, 5 days a week. It will take 10-15 minutes each time for what he called doing “4 fields” and I will go the same time every day, time to be determined later. It is a half hour drive each way. This is supposed to begin 3 weeks after my last chemo on Sept. 26th. Rather than start at the 3 week mark, he is giving me an extra 1 ½ weeks so that Jenni and I are able to go visit colleges together over her fall break, October 21-29. I am hoping this will work out at this point. So my six weeks is scheduled to start October 30th and end Dec. 8th. One encouraging thing he said was that besides my cancer, I am basically a healthy person. That is unusual for his patients as they usually have other big things going on.
He listed the risks for us. Since I am starting after just finishing chemotherapy, I can expect to be starting tired and to get progressively more tired. There is major risk that my skin will get irritated and break down in that area. My ribs might be weak on the left afterward. There is some risk to my left lung (part of it will be in the radiation field) and heart, although they will try to avoid my heart in the radiation field. Lymphodema (arm swelling due to lymphatic fluid getting trapped in your arm because of disrupted drainage pathways from surgery or scar tissue) risk will be greatly increased since they took 19 nodes out from under my left arm 7 years ago. He thought this would probably have at least a 20-30% chance of happening a year or 2 after radiation and is my most real long term concern. My left side reconstruction will probably survive, but could get fibrous and change. I would see Dr. Westmacott weekly during radiation so he can see how I am doing and to check my skin. Each treatment co-pay is $40, but as of October 1st, our new year of co-pay money (which many of you have generously given toward) will kick in.
How to pray
I have to say that each time I do chemo, I am taking longer to bounce back. The dinners have been a God-send. They have been wonderful, creative and a blessing. This time I started to get back to doing things on the 9th or 10th day. Last time it was the 7th day. My white count was up to 7.2 a week after this time. That was very good, so I didn’t have to have blood drawn on Friday this week. I have had some low or high levels of other things in my blood, but am basically doing OK. Right now I am beginning to feel the long term effects of the Taxitere chemotherapy begin to happen. Neuropathy (nerve damage in the extremities) is the main one. I am having aches in my arms and legs and tingling in hands and feet. They listed numbness and pain also for some people. We can pray that mine is minimal. Dr. Bourg said it would be worse the 2 months after chemo, which will overlap with my radiation, and usually is gone by 18 months to 2 years later.
I am in full chemo induced menopause now and am having dozens of hot flashes daily. Still headaches, but they are controllable with medicine. The radiation oncologist looked to see if my fingernails were black yet, as many have that as a Taxitere side effect. Mine haven’t done this yet, and let’s pray they don’t! I have 9 days until my 4th chemo on Sept. 5th, then 3 weeks for my last one on Sept. 26th. So just over 7 weeks to go of chemo out of 15. Pray that I would hang in there and be able to tolerate the accumulating effects of these on my body. God is merciful and I have all of you praying for me. Some days and nights it is hard, but so far we are making it. I really want to do all 5 chemos as that will give me the best chance of no recurrence. Several have shared that the Lord has told them I will be free of cancer. Amen to that! Pray that I would stay healthy. Anything could be a significant problem if I get sick.
This morning we went to a little country church up here in Hahn’s Peak (Rilla says Hi to whoever knows her). It is really beautiful here. Greg’s book re-write is going well and he is getting a lot done. I am resting and getting a little done. Greg went for a hike this afternoon and I took a nap. It is raining now, so he should be back soon. Pray that I would do some of the thinking I have needed peace and quiet to do. This is the place for it.
God bless you and thank you for all of your love and support-
Nancy
12 Days after #3 Radiation Update
Blog Update Sunday, August 27, 2006
Dear friends,
I am writing this from High Calling, the cabin we have been given to use this week north of Steamboat, CO. Greg had been trying to find a place to get away, to do some writing, and this came open a few weeks ago unexpectedly after all other options had fallen through. Jesse and Jenni are home taking care of themselves, but have many friends watching out for them. Laura flew back to
I think I told you I was going to the radiation oncologist on Tuesday with my friend Janet. She drove which was a blessing as this third cycle, it took me about 9-10 days to feel like I had strength to do much. My last Neupugen shot was on Monday evening, so Tuesday I had a lot of hip and back pain. (Since that is where the Neupugen is making the extra white cells grow, that is where most of the pain is centered.) My neck has been swollen and sore from that too.
Radiation
We were surprised about my meeting with Dr. Westmacott. I think he asked more questions about my medical history than any doctor I have ever met. He seems to be very caring and also knows his stuff. He said that if I had gone in to him to talk about radiation the first time I had cancer, they probably wouldn’t have done it. My tumors that time were smaller than 5 cm’s even though they added up to over 5 cm’s. Since all of my nodes were negative the first time and I didn’t have a tumor 5 cm’s or bigger, I would probably not have been a candidate.
Here is what he told us. I will have 2 more appointments to set up the radiation preparation. One is to do a “simulation” which includes a CT scan, X-ray, and have measurements taken to determine where exactly (angles and amount, etc.) to radiate. The other appointment is to do a dry run to make sure it all is actually working as planned. Then shortly after that, radiation will begin. I will go 30 times over 6 weeks, 5 days a week. It will take 10-15 minutes each time for what he called doing “4 fields” and I will go the same time every day, time to be determined later. It is a half hour drive each way. This is supposed to begin 3 weeks after my last chemo on Sept. 26th. Rather than start at the 3 week mark, he is giving me an extra 1 ½ weeks so that Jenni and I are able to go visit colleges together over her fall break, October 21-29. I am hoping this will work out at this point. So my six weeks is scheduled to start October 30th and end Dec. 8th. One encouraging thing he said was that besides my cancer, I am basically a healthy person. That is unusual for his patients as they usually have other big things going on.
He listed the risks for us. Since I am starting after just finishing chemotherapy, I can expect to be starting tired and to get progressively more tired. There is major risk that my skin will get irritated and break down in that area. My ribs might be weak on the left afterward. There is some risk to my left lung (part of it will be in the radiation field) and heart, although they will try to avoid my heart in the radiation field. Lymphodema (arm swelling due to lymphatic fluid getting trapped in your arm because of disrupted drainage pathways from surgery or scar tissue) risk will be greatly increased since they took 19 nodes out from under my left arm 7 years ago. He thought this would probably have at least a 20-30% chance of happening a year or 2 after radiation and is my most real long term concern. My left side reconstruction will probably survive, but could get fibrous and change. I would see Dr. Westmacott weekly during radiation so he can see how I am doing and to check my skin. Each treatment co-pay is $40, but as of October 1st, our new year of co-pay money (which many of you have generously given toward) will kick in.
How to pray
I have to say that each time I do chemo, I am taking longer to bounce back. The dinners have been a God-send. They have been wonderful, creative and a blessing. This time I started to get back to doing things on the 9th or 10th day. Last time it was the 7th day. My white count was up to 7.2 a week after this time. That was very good, so I didn’t have to have blood drawn on Friday this week. I have had some low or high levels of other things in my blood, but am basically doing OK. Right now I am beginning to feel the long term effects of the Taxitere chemotherapy begin to happen. Neuropathy (nerve damage in the extremities) is the main one. I am having aches in my arms and legs and tingling in hands and feet. They listed numbness and pain also for some people. We can pray that mine is minimal. Dr. Bourg said it would be worse the 2 months after chemo, which will overlap with my radiation, and usually is gone by 18 months to 2 years later.
I am in full chemo induced menopause now and am having dozens of hot flashes daily. Still headaches, but they are controllable with medicine. The radiation oncologist looked to see if my fingernails were black yet, as many have that as a Taxitere side effect. Mine haven’t done this yet, and let’s pray they don’t! I have 9 days until my 4th chemo on Sept. 5th, then 3 weeks for my last one on Sept. 26th. So just over 7 weeks to go of chemo out of 15. Pray that I would hang in there and be able to tolerate the accumulating effects of these on my body. God is merciful and I have all of you praying for me. Some days and nights it is hard, but so far we are making it. I really want to do all 5 chemos as that will give me the best chance of no recurrence. Several have shared that the Lord has told them I will be free of cancer. Amen to that! Pray that I would stay healthy. Anything could be a significant problem if I get sick.
This morning we went to a little country church up here in Hahn’s Peak (Rilla says Hi to whoever knows her). It is really beautiful here. Greg’s book re-write is going well and he is getting a lot done. I am resting and getting a little done. Greg went for a hike this afternoon and I took a nap. It is raining now, so he should be back soon. Pray that I would do some of the thinking I have needed peace and quiet to do. This is the place for it.
God bless you and thank you for all of your love and support-
Nancy
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