Pain Management

On Thursday afternoon, Emily's pain was so severe that her doctors recommended she go to the ER. They admitted her to the hospital and the first order of business was to find her a pain killer that would actually work, unlike the Advil and Oxycodone she had been taking. She was also dehydrated and extremely tense, both of which were exacerbating her symptoms. Once the docs were able to dull her pain with Dilaudid, they focused on relaxing her body so she could get even more relief from the new drugs in her system. She decided that it was wise for her to spend the night in the hospital to try to get some much needed rest while being monitored by the staff. On Friday she was seen by a barrage of specialists who offered many ideas about the source of her pain and how they could relieve it, but all were a bust. After another chest CT, it was determined that there was indeed fluid in her lung which was pressing on her trachea, but it could not be drained because the tumor had caused the lung to collapse.

The nurse requested that she stay another night in the hospital because they needed to work out a pain management plan for her that would be appropriate for use at home. Saturday was spent trying a couple of different medications, none of which did anything but make her a complete zombie who could still feel a great deal of pain. She hopes to be released from the hospital on Sunday with a new plan in place to keep her comfortable. I will try to keep the blog updated with new information as it comes to me.

My Perspective

As an observer of Emily's ongoing cancer treatment, this has been a particularly difficult couple of weeks. If there were one word to sum up the experience of these past 10 days, it would be pain. Physical pain for Emily and emotional pain for those of us who love her. It is upsetting for me to watch my sister dealing with this adversity and to know there is nothing I can do to ease her burden. Most of you already know that Em has decided to go on medical leave from her job in order to focus solely on her health due to some recent complications. She has been experiencing significant pain in her back and shoulder, which we had initially attributed to fluid in her lungs but after a chest CT, we discovered that the tumor in her lung had grown. Her two primary doctors are divided on her prognosis with one offering dire predictions and the other saying it is her tumor dying and she may feel horrible for a while, but it is part of the healing process. She certainly has been feeling horrible, there is no doubt about that! But through all of this crisis, she remains committed to her recovery and plans to stay the course of treatment that she has chosen. She has managed her cancer up to this point and plans to continue with renewed vigor. If there is one thing she has shown us all during the past 3 years is that she has unbelievable determination and the strength of character to follow through with her choices.

Start Spreading the News....

Emily is back from New York! She spent her first few days with Will, Katie and Tess, enjoying a little snuggle time with our newest family member. Little Tess completely won her heart and she loved having the chance to visit with Will and Katie. Then she headed for the Big Apple and spent a few days at Angie’s place in the city.



Tuesday and Wednesday were packed full of doctor’s appointments. After a couple of years of visiting many different doctors with various specialties, Emily has finally found a doc who “gets it.” When she arrived in Dr. Gonzalez’s office, he already knew all about her history and was well versed on all of her treatments, past and present. He also knew all about the Hippocrates Institute and understood that program in depth. He was happy with all of the choices she has made so far and he was pleased that she was looking to enhance her treatment options. After doing extensive blood testing, he had lots of recommendations for her, including additional changes to her diet, detox and enzyme therapy. He told her numerous times that he has never seen a cancer patient whose overall health is as good as hers and he thinks she will respond well to his program. It is going to take some significant time and effort to put the program into use in her daily life, but she is certainly up for the challenge. She is excited to get started and feels a renewed sense of hope and validation that she has made the right choice in her cancer treatment.

Emily's Fund

I have been approached by numerous people, asking if there is anything they can do to help Emily as she goes through treatment. Some of our family members created Emily's Fund, which will help finance her unreimbursed medical expenses.

To donate, please visit www.earlsphotos.com and click on Emily's Fund.

Previously on Abreast of the Situation.....

When we last saw our hero, she had become vegan and was living a clean and healthy lifestyle. She had never felt or looked better – even her pale skin had taken on a lovely tan hue because of the vast amounts of beta carotene in her system. Things were back to normal until late October when she was felled by the dreaded swine flu. She was back on her feet again after a few weeks, but her cough persisted until December and she was diagnosed with pneumonia. After a course of antibiotics and a brief respite from coughing, she started to have pain in her shoulder and back and her doctor suggested a chest x-ray, which showed a mass in her left lung.

Now the first thing I thought when I heard the news was “uh oh, lung cancer.” As it turns out, it isn’t technically lung cancer. It is breast cancer of the lung – weird, huh? Anyway, after her previous bad experiences with chemo, she had already made up her mind that if any cancer came back, she would not pursue chemo as a course of treatment. She has done extensive research on treatment options and she is working with her Naturopath to find a healthy alternative to the standard protocols. Currently she is doing occasional IV therapy and infrared heat therapy twice a day in an effort to shrink the mass. She will get monthly blood tests and chest x-rays to mark the progress of this therapy.

Through all of her research, she came across a doctor in New York named Nicholas Gonzalez. He was featured in the book “Knockout” as one of the doctors who is curing cancer using alternative methods. His method is aimed at treating the underlying reasons WHY the body is getting cancer and involves diet, detox and pancreatic enzyme therapy. In order to get into his program, she wrote a long and detailed letter about her past treatments and current diet regimens, and sent it off early in February. She found out last weekend that she was accepted in to his program and will be traveling to New York for a consultation near the end of March. She is very interested in this treatment plan and is looking forward to her appointment. She is also lucky enough have a few extra days built in to her trip to go meet Baby Tess!

If you are interested in reading more about the Gonzalez plan, you can check out his website at www.dr-gonzalez.com/treatment.

Whew!

1 1/2 years of cancer treatment: $360,000

Gas to and from 245 doctors appointments: $1,200

Trip to Hippocrates Health Institute: $15,000

A body scan that finally produced good results: PRICELESS!

It has been 5 weeks since Emily finished radiation and she had yet another full body scan last Friday.  For the first time since she was diagnosed, she received some positive test results.  Her scan came back clear!  She gets a three month break and will have another scan in August, just to check a few little spots that were inconclusive on this test.  After that, she need only have two more clear scans before she is considered cancer free!

Congratulations on the great news, Em!  We are so happy for you!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

After Emily's last radiation treatment, she received this certificate of completion.  I thought it was very clever and uplifting so here it is for all to see.  You can click on the image to make it bigger.