goood news!

I AM IN REMISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHOOOHOOOOO!!!.
Now this does not mean I am cancer free, but my tumor count is 20.5 and going down. My lungs are fine and I have an appointment with my regular M.D., Dr. Quach, on wednesday for a overall physical exam and to find out if I will still need coumadin, which they put me on when I developed a blood clot in my lung.  If everything is good Linda and I are going to head for Utah Wednesday afternoon. We will go half way on wednesday and the rest of the trip on Thursday. This is good because my brother Billy is having a procedure on the following Tuesday. He will be in the hospital overnight. I can go with him to the hospital. I will have to wear a mask but that is ok.  Heather, Ze and the kids are in Brazil for a month so Linda is going to spend time with her twin sister in Utah. She is going thru some really strong chemo so linda wants to be there with her and for her.    my last session of chemo is tomorrow. I will need to be very careful in what I do for the first 10 days. That is when I develop Nutropeena which means my white blood count is low which means my immune system is not working well. This is when i have had problems in the past. My Oncologist, Dr Liu said to keep monitoring my temp. if it goes over 100.5 head over to St. Marks Hospital. Hopefully I won't need to. She  gave me a release to go back to work at the end of the month. I need to come back to SD for a ct scan and blood tests and to see my doctor in December before I go to England to visit for Christmas...Oh ya, I didn' tell ya but I am going to England for Christmas to see my daughter and her family. I am so excited!!!
I went to a cancer support group this afternoon and after hearing the stories and watching them talk i realize just how lucky i am. some of these people have been fighting cancer for many years but their spirits are so high and they just appreciate every day one day at a time. I want to go to volunteer at the cancer wellness center with Lydia when I get back to Utah. I just feel the need to give back to others who are going thru this terrible fight. I realize I am not cancer free and that there is a very good chance it will show up again in the future but I am not going to sit around and wait for it. If and when it does come back I have learned, one day at a time. I am so proud of my sister-in-law, Yolanda for being so  strong and not letting cancer define her. I am also proud of my other sister-in-law, Lydia for also being so strong especially now she has started a very strong chemo drug. My thoughts and prayers are with both of them and I plan to visit each one of them when I return to Utah. So you both have been forewarned!

Stand Up To Cancer

 my new phone number is 858-699-9164. My old number is now Alberts phone number/

I am finally home

I am finally home from the hospital. This just goes to show ya how when everything is going good in your life so you let down your guard a little and then...BAM...everything goes to crap. On Saturday I felt a little more fatigued and weak than normal. Sunday I did not get out of bed at all.  I started monitoring my temperature at around 8:00 and it was 99.4. My normal temp usually runs about 97.8. I felt very weak and my muscles were achy.  I started drinking iced drinks and even took a cold shower (brrrrr). By 10:30 I was at 101.4 so I headed for the hospital. When I checked in my temp was 102.8. I felt very weak and drug out, along with cold chills.  They had me in this room that was freezing so I asked for another blanket and the nurse said "no, you have a fever". She smiled and left the room.  To make a long story short, somewhere I had caught a bug. They took blood, took ex rays, started me on fluids and mega amounts of antibiotics. They said my lungs looked and sounded great so the bug was somewhere else. I was finally taken to a room at 4:30. By Monday my potassium levels were very low :<, my INR was very low, my white blood cell count was 1.8, (normal is 10),  my blood pressure was 85 over 47 and I felt fine. Most of this was caused by Chemo. Anyway, they pumped fluids in me for the blood pressure, and gave me meds to raise my white cell count, antibiotics for the bug, a mega amount of potassium, doubled up on coumadin for my INR. By day 3 all my counts were much improved except my blood pressure. They pumped alot more fluids into me and my bp started raising closer to normal. I had to stay one more night just to be monitored. On Thursday I went home.  I am still on antibiotics and I feel kinda drug out and weak but all in all I am doing good.   When I got home Thursday I received a phone call from the pulmonary dept wanting me to pick up their night monitoring equipment so I headed back to the hospital to pick it up. I was very spacey and probably should not of been driving but it did not hit me until I started walking thru the hospital again. After sitting down for about 1/2 hour I felt  much better and headed home.  I slept last night with wires taped to my finger.      

I want to take this time to send my well wishes to my sister-in-law/good friend Lydia who has been fighting colon cancer for at least 3 years. She just found out her tumor count has gone up and she starts a very strong chemo on Tuesday. She has been on this chemo before and it makes her very sick. I want to let her know that she is in my heart and on my mind. She is such a special lady, grandma and friend. She is always doing for others weather it be her grandchildren or someone else, she is always there and does not deserve this cancer crap. Lydia, we love ya and only hope good things for ya. Stay strong and know you are in my thoughts and prayers.

1 more day

Heather again, Valerie was not released today due to finding an infection in her urine. She is feeling great though, they have been pumping her full of antibiotics for 2 days now. She is up and walking around, reading books in the chair, not the bed. All looks well. Hopefully this is my last update : )

Update From Heather

Hi all, it's Heather (again). Im checking in for Valerie because her hospital is lame and has no internet, but yes she was admitted to the hospital last night or early this morning shall I say (4am) when her fever reached 102. No one knows why, she feels great except for the shivers during her fever. She tried everything to stay home with cold showers and such but it didnt work, so to the ER she went.

I went and visited her this morning for a couple hours she is fine, just tired from a long night of being poked and prodded. She has her cell phone so you can still call her. Her white blood cell count was low and as were her potassium levels but they gave her some shots and pills to fix those. Her temperature and oxygen levels were well within normal range when I got to the hospital at 9am this morning but they want to keep her for 48 hours of monitoring and administering more antibiotic's. She is 9 days out of her last chemo session which is a weak point in her chemo recovery, so all of this is pretty standard. Nothing new or scary and unexpected.

Hoping she is home tomorrow and will update then!

Another post

Every thing is looking good. I went to have my oxygen levels checked. They were having me run all over the hospital with this monitor on. My levels were great. No problem, right...wrong. They decided they have to do a night study on me. They were out of the equipment I needed to take home for the evening. ARGH! (I personnaly think they are in cahoots with the oxygen supply company.) Anyway I have not needed oxygen for quit some time but I am being charged rent for all the equipment I have. The Insurance company pays for this, but still! All in all everything is going very well. 1 more chemo session on the 17th and I am done!!! Yea!