Happy New Year to all of you!!!

First off, I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers and the wonderful kindness that has been shown to me.  It is truly in times like these, that you know who really cares about you.  My heart is so full from the out pouring of family and friends.   It is hard to believe that it has already been two weeks since surgery.  I am starting to feel much better!  There is just about a 1" on area on my stomach that hasn't healed all the way, but the places that they put in the two ports for chemo are doing very well.  I have my first Dr. appointment on Tuesday, January 6th.  I am sure that the surgeon will let me know how I am progressing along with finding out when I will start chemo, so stay tuned.    I am still taking weekly blood tests to keep my coumadin levels in check, somewhere between 2 and 3 is where they want me to be.  They are trying to keep my blood thin since I have been in A-Fib since before surgery and they want to prevent a stroke or heart attack.  They will be setting me up for a heart procedure in the next few weeks to shock my heart and hopefully put it back into a normal sinus rhythm.  Until that time, I have been put on a new heart medication that will help control the the funny heart beats.   All of that aside, I am really doing well and I am so glad to be home where I can relax and let my body heal.  I definately don't take a single breath for granted!!  Happy New Year to you and your families!!!! Love, Sheree

Saturday - Day 5, Post Surgery

My mom is finally home!  :)

She was released from the hospital Friday afternoon and is finally getting settled in at home!  It is such a comforting feeling for all of us to have her on this side of the surgery and to know that she is on the healing end of things.  According to my mom "the ride home from the hospital was a little uncomfortable with all of the bumps and holes in the road".  As some of you are probably familiar with the I-17 freeway is being worked on right now and there are some spots that are a little more rough than others so I am sure that is what she was referring to!

My mom has a follow up Dr. appointment before the new year and we will be able to find out more of the information for her chemo and other questions that she will have at that time I'm sure.  Before she left the hospital on Friday she was given a copy of the pathology report and it appears that the cancer was indeed in both of her ovaries and her uterus as well.  The left ovary was where the largest tumor was also located and therefore that was the side that contained the larger amount of cancer.  The cancer was attached to the outer lining of the colon wall but luckily it did not penetrate through.  Her omentium was removed but it did not contain any cancer.  She will have to do daily blood draws for now to monitor her blood levels since she was just placed on coumadin so they will be keeping a close on on that for her right now.  She was also able to have a bm today as well which is good news for the recovery end of things.  

She is doing really well and we are excited that she is home!

Friday - Day 4, Post Surgery

Good News, Good News!  

My mom gets to go home today!  Yea!!!!

She got the all clear today from her Dr.'s that she is going to be able to go home today!  They told her that she is doing remarkably well and that she has come so far in just a short amount of time!  The entire practice has been wonderful and all of the hospital staff have been amazing!  She has really had a great experience and a great recovery from her surgery while she has been there.

She is supposed to be released sometime later this afternoon or early evening.  Once she is home she is going to rest and recover from the surgery.  She has a follow up appointment with her Dr.'s in a few weeks and we will know a lot more information at that point.  For now the Dr.'s orders are to rest and let her body heal from the surgery.

My mom wanted me to specifically thank each and everyone of you for all of the love, prayers and concern that has been shown on her behalf.  She is truly blessed to have amazing family, friends and co-workers like you!  You are the best!

I'll try and update again on Saturday to let you know how the transition is going at home.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Jennie

Thursday - Day 3, Post Surgery

What a FANTASTIC day my mom had today!!!!

She did amazing on walking around today!  I was not at the hospital to see for myself but I was told by my aunt, my dad and my mom that she was more often than not seen walking around and sitting in a chair rather than staying in bed today!  She is looking great especially after her transfusion yesterday and seems to have a lot more energy.  She is eating all solid foods, off practically all pain medicine and even had a shower today!  Boy I bet that shower felt great! :)

The doctors came in today and told her that as long as everything went well today and tomorrow morning that they would go ahead and release her on Friday afternoon sometime.  She is really excited to get home and sleep in her own bed and recover from the surgery before she starts her chemo.  The Dr.'s are still watching her heart closely and will continue to do so during her chemo treatment.  They put her on coumadin to help with some of the issues that she has been having with her heart.  We do not have any further information on when her chemo treatments will start but it will be sometime in the next few weeks.  We will keep you updated on her progress!

Thanks again for all of the prayers and the support!  You have all been truly amazing and she appreciates it more than you will ever know!

-Jennie

Wednesday - Day 2, Post Surgery

Today has been a little more of a rough day for my mom.  She was unable to have any food or water after midnight today.  She went in for a procedure to put the port (for chemo) in her chest.  They ended up placing the port on the right side of the chest thinking that would be the best choice for her since it would be to close to her heart if they put the port on the left side.

Her procedure was about an hour or so behind schedule but assured her that it would be similar to her previous colonoscopy.  I should have asked a little more detail since when I was able to see her after the procedure she explained to me that she was awake the entire time and could feel the procedure happening along with all of the pain and sensations associated with it.  She even felt and saw her own blood while on the table getting the port placed.  I guess most people are not put under for a colonoscopy but my mom was and she did not think that she would actually be awake during the entire port procedure.  She was a little groggy after but made it back to her room to rest and recover.  

Her doctors decided to give her a blood transfusion of 2 units to try and get her levels up where they should be before she starts her chemo.  She is at 8.1 and should be up around 10 at least before chemo starts.  She had to stay in bed most of today since they did not want her walking around or sitting up very much while receiving the blood transfusion.  She is looking forward to actually being able to walk around quite a bit tomorrow and she was going to try and walk several time this evening after she is finished with the blood transfusion.

She is off all iv medication and pain meds and is taking them orally now.  She went over 12 hours without any pain medication at all and only ended up taking 2 vicadin the entire day that I was at the hospital with her today.  She was even able to eat some solid food today for the 1st time since the surgery and not just have clear broths and liquids to drink.  She is determined to be able to do things for her self and even had her first 2 actual meals and really enjoyed the taste of the food even though it seemed a little salty to her.  She has another set of wonderful nurses who are taking amazing care of her and appreciates all that they do for her.

It was a pretty quite day all things considered.  I won't be going to the hospital tomorrow by my aunt will be with her all day.  I'll update the blog as soon as I find out everything from my aunt.

Thanks again for all you do!

Jennie

Tuesday - Day 1, Post Surgery

Today my mom has done really well on her recovery from surgery.  Her incision is healing beautifully!  Her surgeon and his staff have been fantastic and they really took their time and hand stitched her up instead of using the staples!  The incision also ended up not being as large as she was expecting either.  It runs right below her belly button and ends just above her pelvic bone.  The port on the left side where they will but the chemo is healing beautifully as well.

My moms heart is still in A Fib right now.  It has more than likely been like that for quite a while and she has just gotten used to that.  Her doctors are looking at putting her on some additional medicine that will have regulate that better but are still being careful with what they give her so that way everything will be ready for her to start her chemo.  Her doctors also mentioned that her chemo might begin as early as 2-3 weeks depending on how well she is healing from the surgery.  They are planning on putting the port in the chest tomorrow sometime so that way she can start her medicine and try and get her heart regulated prior to chemo.

She has done an awesome job at walking already and has made the "rounds" by the nurses station several times today.  She is going to get her 2nd port placed in her chest in the morning so she will not be able to eat or drink after midnight.  I think that will be pretty hard on her considering how much she has enjoyed her "sips" of water and her "chips" of ice today.  She has really done well with her pain medicine as well and has tried to keep it at a minimum since she does not like to feel woozy in any way.  

She found a cardiologist office that she LOVES that practices out of the hospital.  The doctors are still monitoring her closely and making sure that she has plenty of oxygen when she tries to sleep.  Her oxygen levels tend to go down quite a bit when she is resting and not breathing as deeply as she normally does when she is awake.  She is very determined to do everything that she is able to by her self.  I am amazed by how well she gets herself in and out of bed and still being careful not to pull her incisions.  Not much else to update on at this moment in time.  I'm going to try and update the blog every evening when I am back from the hospital but there might be a few times that the information may be a day or so behind on this blog but I am going to do my best to make sure that this is updated with the most accurate information.

Thanks again for all of your wonderful thoughts and prayers!  They have truly a blessing to her and our family!

Thanks again,

Jennie

Surgery Day

Well today was the "Big" day as we like to say in our family.  This morning my mom went in for her surgery bright and early! :)  Her surgery had been pushed back a few hours so she really did not get into the operating room until 9:15 or so with the surgery to actually start around 9:30 am.  My mom was very comforted by all of her doctors that she saw before surgery and especially her Anaesthesiologist who specializes in cardiology care and surgeries who will be able to monitor her very closely during the surgery since her heart is still in A Fib.

Her surgeon came out into the waiting room around 11:40 am and tried to go somewhere private to speak to us but there really was not a room available.  In the waiting area he proceeds to tell us how her surgery went.  The surgery went very well.  They removed both ovaries, tubes and the uterus as well as the tumors that she had in that area as well.  The left ovary ended up having cancer on it as well as the largest tumor but the other ovary and tumors seemed to be o.k. at that point.  They also found cancerous cells on the outer wall of the colon but the cancer had not spread into the interior wall of the colon which means that they did not have to remove any of her colon.  They were able to scrape off the cancerous cells that they saw.  They also drained over a liter of fluid from her stomach and abdomen area and removed the entire omentium.  Due to the cancer they found, she will need to undergo chemo treatment and we will know more of the information on that as it gets closer to her release time from the hospital.  They placed a port into her abdomen for her to receive her chemo and they will place the 2nd port in her chest at a later time.  They are thinking that she is in stage 2 right now but will know more once the test results are back on the omentium and then depending on what that contains it might go into stage 3.  It really will not affect the course of my moms treatment either way.  It is just good to know where the cancer is in her body right now.

Her doctors seem to be very confident that she will completely recover from the surgery and her chemo and whatever else they decide to have her do.  Her outcome is very good at this point.  Her heart held up beautifully during her surgery and gave her no problem at all this first day.  The Dr.'s are concerned that she is still in A Fib and they are monitoring everything very closely on her heart at this point.  

She has a wonderful group of nurses at the hospital as well as her Dr.'s that will be taking care of her during this entire process.  She feels very blessed to have such wonderful care!!!

Thank you SO much for all of your prayers and concern.  You have all been wonderful!!

-Jennie

A great big "THANK YOU"!!!!!

My mom (Sheree) and I decided that it would be nice if I created a blog as a easy way for everyone to find updates and information about my mom's surgery and progress.  I'm going to attempt to update this as often as I possibly can and with the hopes and anticipation that at some point in the next few weeks my mom will be able to take the reins and update this blog herself! :)

We both wanted to send all of you a great big "THANK YOU" for all of your concern, well wishes and prayers on her behalf.  It has been a great blessing for her as she is going through this trial in her life.  

Thanks again for everything and I hope to be able to post the 1st information after her surgery on Monday December 15th 2008.

Hugs,

Jennie Sholley

(Sheree's Daughter)