Connie (Mrs. WebSlave)

Originally Posted by WebSlave

. . . Connie really looks forward to those walks. I am looking at them as possibly my last memories of being with her.

This makes me so sad, and I'm sorry that you're having thoughts like that. What are Connie's doctors saying?

I don't know much about ovarian cancer, but I remember so much focus on research, after Gilda Radnor died from it. That was 30+ years ago, and there must be better treatment protocols developed during that time.

We don't know what Connie's oncologist (Dr. Ellison) really has in mind. It has been nearly 8 weeks since her last chemo treatment. Thyroid numbers look good, and the cardiologist says Connie's hard looks really good. So whenever the Doxil treatments will start, hopefully her heart won't suffer any damage.

So Connie has an appointment with Dr. Ellison next week, and also an appointment with a gynecological oncologist at a different facility for a second opinion.

We are still taking our walks. Today (Saturday) we walked up our road and happened to run into a pastor at a really small Baptist church and the end of the road. We spent quite a long time talking with him. He asked to pray for Connie, and we all wound up with tears in our eyes. Strangest darn thing, but while we were talking with him inside of his church, the front door flew open. No wind, and there were no other doors or windows open, so no breeze through the church. I just said, "Come on inside, God."

Did I mention that when we were visiting our friend Rickey's place that a hummingbird swooped down behind Connie's head and just hovered there about a foot away from her. Connie wasn't wearing any bright clothes or anything that would attract a hummingbird thinking it was a flower or something. Rickey said that in all the years he has lived there, that was the first hummingbird he has ever seen there.

I think Connie would like to go to church, but she is still really nervous about being in any crowds with her immune system likely still being on the blink from the chemo drugs. We signed that pastor's bible, leaving the address, and he came by later that day to apologize for not trying harder to give us more comfort and encouragement. Seems like a decent person. But he seems to get teary eyed almost as easily as I do lately.

Not sure how Connie and I got on the conversation, but it came up that nearly everything on our property we have done together. She said that if she were to pass away, then everything here should bring me happiness with those memories. I didn't have the heart, nor the ability without my voice cracking, to tell her that it would do just the opposite. It will be like thousands of cuts to my heart. Every single day.

Her hair has gotten really sparse lately. She is not sure continuing with that DigniCap thing will be worthwhile to do with the Doxil treatments. Dr. Ellison said Connie wouldn't need the DigniCap with the Doxil, but did not elaborate on the "why" of that statement. There is a possibility of permanent hair loss, apparently.

I sure wish Dr. Ellison would do one of those CA 125 tests on Connie. I would REALLY like to know what that "tumor count" looks like right now. If the number is going up because of the long delay resuming treatments, well, let's just say I won't be very happy and leave it at that.

On the plus side, Connie acts like she is feeling really good. She seems to tire easily, but we haven't been having naps like we used to do. The days seem to unwind very quickly lately. Not just from the days getting shorter, it just seems like all the clocks are running way too fast.

As for a Primary Care Physician, both Connie and I filled out applications for a doctor we used to see a long while ago. Not sure why, but we had to change health insurance, and this doctor did not accept the plan we had, so we had to go elsewhere. That is no longer the case with insurance, but not sure if we will get in there or not. Our current PCP office seems to be in chaos, so staying there just doesn't seem to be an option. We have enough on our plate without worrying about them dropping balls all over the place concerning Connie's health.

Anyway, concerning chemo treatments, it just seems like nothing much has changed in years, as far as I can tell. There are alternate therapies, much like you have probably heard concerning COVID, but these seem to get swept under the rug in favor of the "tried and true" drugs that the pharmaceutical companies still make immense profits off of. So you really have to dig hard and dig deep to find out about those alternatives, or even things that would possibly help with the side effects. Cancer treatment is really BIG business, so it saddens me to think that even if a cure were to be found, it would be way to costly for that business to release it to the public. Heck, maybe that has already happened. I guess you would only know by keeping track of the number of powerful wealthy people who DON'T die from cancer.

I guess next week is probably going to provide some answers and perhaps some plans. I sure would like to get a heaping shovel full of good news. Connie is steeling herself for the Doxil treatments and is hopeful she can power through the bad side effects and get through them with an A+ report card after 2 or 3 treatments. I will be helping her through it, no matter what.
Heart, don't fail me now.

On top of everything else going on, looks like the long term hurricane forecast is predicting a major hurricane coming this way at the end of the month. We are in the buillseye. I have no idea what I will do if Connie is really sick from chemo at that time.

Well this is good news, I believe! Connie was thinking she might need to have blood work done at that pre-op meeting she has tomorrow for her port surgery. I told her perhaps the blood work she just had done on 09-20 would suffice. We got access to the portal that Dr. Ellison uses for their medical records, and had printed out all of the blood work results a day or so ago. But the paper report that Connie had looked rather sparse, so I went back into the portal to take a look.

Yeah, the one online is much more comprehensive, so I started to print that out. But wait a minute! Then I noticed that THIS newer report included the results of that CA125 tumor marker test I had asked for. I wasn't expecting to see that result for another week, as it seemed that is how long it took previous results. But there it was. The number was 154. So even with Connie being without having any chemo treatments for 8 weeks, the number dropped from 211 to 154. What is considered as "normal" is 0 thru 38. So now Connie is wondering if she even needs that port put into her chest. She might only need a few more treatments and she would be considered as being in remission (I guess that is the correct term) and would then go onto a maintenance schedule, perhaps of an oral drug and not an injectable form. Frankly, I think any surgery should be avoided unless necessary. Especially ones that stick things inside your body to stay there. And ESPECIALLY something that will put a tube into a vein going directly into the heart.

So I think Connie has in mind running these results by Dr. Stephens' office (the new gynecological oncologist) to see what she thinks.

I was REALLY hoping to see that CA125 number dropping, even after her being off of chemo. Maybe I am just being stupid and/or naive, but that just strikes me as being really good news.

The below graph shows the results of all the CA125 tests except the first one taken at the hospital right before Connie's surgery. That one showed a number OVER 9,000!

Today (January 8, 2023) is our 45th wedding anniversary. We were married in 1978. I was rooting around in a cabinet and stumbled on some really old photographs of Connie and I. Dated September, 1982. They are prints, and they are rather faded and color shifted to a kind of rust color, so I had to modify them to try to return them to a more natural look.

Happy Anniversary, Rich and Connie!

Those are great photos.

04-27-2023. One year to the day from when Connie was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer.

"427" used to be a special number for me for a completely different reason, but I guess it is now preempted by this more significant reason.

Hopefully I will be able to say on many more future April 27s that Connie is still alive and doing well.

Happy Anniversary! What a joyful thing. Congratulations seems such an inadequate word, but huge congratulations and prayers of thanks, along with prayers and wishes for many more!

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Lovely photos and memories, Happy Anniversary!

Awesome photo's Rich!