6/7/06

6/7/06

Dear friends,

Thank you for all of your prayers as I have completed my tests and anticipate surgery on Friday. I am supposed to be there at 1:50 and they will start between 2:30 and 3:00. My surgeon will try to get out more cancer by "scraping off the muscle and skin" in that area under my left arm and on my left chest wall. She may also take some muscle if she feels she needs to. This cancer is not discernable to the eye, so she will have to go with her discernment and experience. They might do some lab testing during surgery, but I don't know. It is supposed to last about 2 hours.

Please pray that the Lord would show her exactly what to do.

My oncologist said that I might have some permanent nerve damage. We can pray for that to be minimal.

Anything done there could also cause lymphadema (swelling due to a build up of lymphatic fluid) in my left arm. That is a very costly problem in time and financially, so join us in praying that the Lord protects my arm from that.

Pray that I would heal quickly.

She will also put in a port. This device will enable easier chemo infusions without IV's. Pray that it goes in well with no infections. I should be able to start chemo within a few weeks after the port is put in. Maybe the week of the 19th. My oncologist gets back that week and we want to get started so we can get it over with.

I have a sore tooth. I need to decide if something needs to be done with it before I start chemo. It may be getting infected and need to be pulled. Once chemo gets going, it would be dangerous to do any dental stuff. Pray for us to know what, if anything, to do about this.

I had a MUGA heart scan on Friday and that went well. My number was good enough for me to have chemo, but I don't know any details other than that. They told me this test would make the metal detector go off at the airport.

I had my PET scan yesterday. That was the hardest test for me so far. I was dehydrated so the IV wouldn't go in, so after many pokes I got sick and almost fainted. It took quite a while to feel better. I got through the scan OK but felt sick the rest of the day from the nuclear contrast they injected. Today I am fine. I got preliminary results today, but my oncologist was out of town. It sounded like there may be something in my left lung, but they didn't seem to know for sure if it is metastasis or not. I will check with my surgeon either tomorrow or Friday. Maybe she can give me some more information.

Thank you for praying! We will send another update after surgery on Friday or Saturday.
God bless you!
Nancy