Cancer Free

I am now cancer-free they say, but still have to have check-ups with all the doctors for about five years. I am feeling great and have tried to put all this behind me. However, I would still love to hear from everyone once in awhile.

Hello! Just thought I'd update

I am so sorry that I haven't been updating everyone. I went through radiation therapy with very little complications. I did have a severe burn under my arm, but it was healed in a couple of weeks after radiation was finished. I am doing very well now. I do not have to go back to the doctors until October, so all is good for now. My radiation therapy doctor told me that I was probably cured! What a blessing. Now I'm just waiting for my hair to get longer so I can feel back to normal.
Thanks for everyone's love and support.
Julie

Radiation Therapy Scheduled

I went in to see the radiation oncologist and I will be starting my therapy next week (March 25th). I have to have 30 treatments so once a day for 6 weeks. I have had radiation therapy before and it doesn't make you sick and you don't lose your hair (so it can keep growing back). The only thing it does is zap your energy. I'll let you know how it goes once I get into it.

I had a follow up appointment with the surgeon last week. He said he took my case to the tumor board (whatever that is) and they were amazed at how good my tumor responded to the chemo. They really encouraged me to get genetic testing though, but my insurance won't pay for it so we're trying to go about it another way. They said my chances of having the cancer gene is about 16.5% whereas the general population is less than 5%. The benefit of genetic testing? I will probably be tested more often and with an MRI rather than a Mammogram. Also, they want to take my ovaries out because my chances of getting ovarian cancer is about 50% (if I have the gene).

Will update soon.

Julie

Good News!

The surgeon called me today and gave me the good news. The tumor was reduced to just 1/4 cm. and of course they took it out. The scar tissue they took had clear margines and was cancer free. It appears that all those chemo treatments worked even though it was a hard road to tow. Now all I have left is six weeks of radiation treatments and I'm done. My hair is starting to grow back (not fast enough though) and I'm feeling terrific.

Thanks for all those prayers and putting my name in the temple. You all made a miracle happen!

With joy in my heart -- Julie

Successful Surgery!

I had surgery on Monday and the surgeon said that it looked like the tumor was gone. All that was left was scar tissue. He took out the scar tissue and surrounding tissue, we will find out on Thursday whether or not there is any cancer remaining or whether they got it all. The lymph nodes came back cancer free. Hurray! I am doing really well. I have had little to no pain for the last couple of days. I will report back when I recieve more information!

Julie

No More Chemo -- On to Surgery

I went to the doctor on the 7th fully expecting to have my last chemo treatment. When the doctor came in, he explained that I had probably had almost as much chemo as they usually give, and since I got fevers and pneuomonia the last three treatments, he said I had had enough. Needless to say, I was elated. So the next step - surgery.

I met with the surgeon today and he looked at the CT scan I had while I was in the hospital and said my tumor had decreased to half it's original size. I will be having surgery to remove it on the 25th of February. While there, he is going to take out my first set of lymph nodes, have them tested while I am under and if they come back positive, then he will have to take out the rest of the lymph nodes. Let's pray that they come back cancer free. The surgery is a little more involved than I expected. I thought I wouldn't have to test the lymph nodes because the biopsy came back negative. The doctor said he still wanted to take them out and test them while he is in there, just to make sure. I guess that is a wise decision, but I am a little worried now.

In the meantime, I am feeling fine and more energetic than I have been in a long time. It's not over yet, so keep me in your prayers and thoughts.

Julie

Yes - Going Home

She finally got the go ahead to go home. She couldn't be more thrilled.

All the tests came back proving that it wasn't viral or bacterial. So they are left to assume that it is due to the Taxotere. The lung specialist doesn't want her to have another treatment but he doesn't get to decide that - it will be up to the cancer specialists.

She should find out more information on Thursday.

:)

**The Hempel Family**

Day 9 - Going Home?

Fevers are BROKE! As of Sunday morning mom had gone 24 hours without a fever. That was great news. This morning it has been 48 hours.

Most of the test are back from the scope. They are leaning towards a reaction to the Taxotere, but until all results are in they wont say that for sure. The test should be back today.
We are hopeful that they will release her today. Her Cumidin levels are almost back to where they want them so they will let her have shots at home to keep those levels going up.

She is still scheduled for her last treatment of Chemotherapy this Thursday. When she goes in they will discuss what to do. They may just give her a treatment without the Taxotere. They really hate to not finish up the treatments.

Again, Thanks for your prayers!

**The Hempel Family**

Day 6 at the hospital

Yep.. she is still there. The echocardiogram came back looking great. The CAT scan however showed that she has pneumonia. They think it may be viral. So today - Friday - they are doing a scope down her throat to take a biopsy of her lungs to see what kind of pneumonia it is. In order to do this procedure they had to take her off of the Cumidin (blood thinning medication) and give her some plasma. Once the procedure is done they can put her back on the Cumidin but have to monitor her going back on it. She will have to stay through the weekend to do this.

One thing that may be causing the pneumonia is the Taxotere part of the chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is chemicals they use to fight the cancer - she is on 3 different chemicals. Taxotere is one of them. If the results show that it is the Taxiotere then they may only do the 2 different chemicals at her last treatment - or they may just skip the last treatment all together. (I think mom is rooting for this one :)!) I am not sure when the results of the test get back. Like any other lab work - not soon enough!

Wednesday and Thursday Valerie stayed the day with her. Thursday night Karie slept over and will stay the day with her today. Mom didn't get much sleep due to the constant attention they gave her to get the plasma through her system.
Her fever was down to 99 last night but unfortunately it was up again this morning. As we get more news I will let you know.

Thanks for your prayers!

**The Hempel Family**

Hospital Update

Mom is still in the hospital. She does not have a UTI, so back to the drawing board. She keeps spiking temperatures. They have drawn several vials of blood to test for infections, virus' and multiple other things. The Dr's are little concerned to send her home without an answer as to why she is having fevers. Mom has been feeling really exhausted and out of breath with just menial tasks, so the Dr. decided to give her 2 units of blood. Her white cell count is awesome, but her red blood cell count was low. They hope that the transfusion will help with that. After the transfusion, her temperature went up so the nurses packed her with ice and adjusted the thermostat in her room and gave her more Tylenol. Mom said it felt pretty good. Teresa stayed the night last night(as Dad has bronchitis and is feeling pretty tired). Mom's temp went up again to 101.9 this morning. She gets the chills and becomes achy when the fevers come. The Cancer PA said they will do a echo cardiogram and a CAT scan to make sure they aren't missing anything. Baring any bad results, she will be released tomorrow. She will need to stay on Tylenol and rest to keep her fevers down. Blood work for all the tests they ran should be coming shortly. Hopefully we will have answers real soon.
Please keep Mom and Dad in your thoughts and prayers.
**The Hempel Family**

Hosptial Stay

Well - here she goes again. Last time around mom got a fever - she thinks it may have been a sinus infection so they put her on antibiotics. This time around they decided to just put her on antibiotics to try and avoid a fever - but Saturday she started having a fever. Sunday she had the chills with it and the doctor told her to go to the emergency room. It was decided that she should be admitted. They changed her antibiotic to see if that would make a difference. This morning her doctor told her that she needed to stay until her fever is gone for 24 hours. It finally broke - but then it went back up this afternoon. They are thinking that it is a urinary track infection. The results come back tomorrow. In that case they will change antibiotic and may send her home since they will know what they are dealing with. Fortunately she only has one more round on the 7th of February.
**The Hempel Family**

My 5th session tomorrow!

I will be having my 5th session of chemo tomorrow. That means I only have three weeks to go for my VERY LAST one. Then I will have surgery to remove what is left of the tumor, after which I will have six weeks of radiation. I've been through radiation before - and chemo is definitely worse.

I'm feeling good now, no more pneumonia or sinus infections. So I'm hoping this round will be easier than the last one.

This is me, on my way to being cancer free!!!
Julie

4 down, 2 to go!

On Thursday, December 27, Mom went in for her 4th round of Chemo. The nurse was a little concerned about giving her the treatment with all the past weeks problems. The nurse checked with the Dr and he said since her blood cell counts have been and are up then she could go ahead. One thing Mom did not want to happen was to postpone the chemo at all. She is still a bit breathy with the pneumonia and is having spinal headaches still. But she is in good spirits! Mom has my Dad off for the next little while during the Holiday break, and Aunt Elaine is staying with them until Jan 6th. She has a lot of love and support right now, and we are grateful!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Happy New Year!

**Julie's Family**

Trip to the ER

Mom went to the Emergency Room last night. She hasn't been feeling well the last week, more than just her new normal tiredness and Chemo symptoms. She was running a fever so her oncologist told her to go to the hospital. They gave her royal treatment and did everything with haste. They did chest ex rays and pulled several tubes of blood to run test. She has had severe headaches and they were concerned it might be Meningitis. So they did a spinal tap. They discovered she has pneumonia and put her on an antibiotic. We waited a long while for the meningitis test to come back. The blood work showed that her red blood cell count was normal, which was great news. Had the count been low they would have admitted her right then. The Spinal Tap came back clear. No Meningitis. They let her go home around 2am this morning. She has been resting today and will need to take it easy the little while. Mom will be contacting the oncologist to see if she will be postponing the next Chemo treatment that is scheduled for Dec. 27th. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers!

**The Hempel Family**

Half way through. Woo Hoo!!!

I had my third chemo session yesterday. Only three more to go. This is flying by quickly. (For all of you) For me, just taken' it a day at a time. I usually feel just a little weak on the 2nd day after chemo, so I can do a few things. But I still have to pace myself. Thank you for all of your comments and prayers. This thing is not going to get me down. I'm going to flly through this and be better for it in the end. All my love to all of you. Julie

Back to work again...

I'm feeling pretty good and I'm back to work until the next round of chemo. The 7 to 8 days after chemo is pretty rough, but I have learned to know my limitations. My girls (all of them) are really wonderful. They take good care of me. They clean my house, do my laundry, cook dinners. What a blessing to have such a wonderful family.

Two Down - Four to Go

On Thursday, November 15, I had the second of six rounds of Chemo.

"New Hair Same Do!"

" Bada bump ba ba. I'm loving it!"

Will this ever end?

The latest news is I have a blood clot in my leg. My leg was hurting, but just thought it was part of the chemo. When it kept hurting I was suspicious of a blood clot so called the doctor, they scheduled me for an ultrasound and sure enough, it's a blood clot. The good news? The clot is in my calf and has very minimal risk of traveling to my lung. The bad news? I have to have heparin shots until the coumadin kicks in (anywhere from 5 to 7 days). The bad, bad news -- Wayne gets to give me the shots. They allowed him to do the first one so they could show him how. It really stung!!!

I have to count my blessings though. Last time I had a clot I was pregnant and had to stay in the hospital for 10 days with an IV. I don't have to do anything different this time - except limp a little.

Other than the clot, I am doing marvelous. Better than I expected.

Yesterday was a Great Day!

Just thought I'd let you all know out there that yesterday was a great day for me. I never needed a nap and my energy level has increased. Of course, I wasn't out jogging or running a marathon, but I almost feel normal. Just thought you'd want to know. Julie