Wednesday 29 April 2009

She's home !

I picked Karena up from the hospital yesterday afternoon.
I have the rest of the week off work so am playing nurse (badly probably!!)

This afternoon, we managed to venture out to the garden centre for a cappucinno....and Karena managed a sausage sandwich at the same time...a big improvement apparently on the "disgusting disgusting" quiche she was forced to eat on her last day in the hospital ! We talked, enjoyed the sunshine - and cried just a little bit......

Then we came home and she sat in the sun lounger in the garden in the sunshine and listened to the birds who were apparrently singing to her !?.....whilst I went out for a run (did a 10k PB-hoorah !)

She's still really sore, felt quite dizzy at certain points in the day, and is still very swollen...but she's soooooo glad to be out of hospital !! Tomorrow is 1 week since the op. What a week it has been ! She's in good heart & is walking very slowly.... but this afternoon she was talking about getting a running training-plan together for when she's through all this. (Terri, you got a mention as the potential author of such a plan !) ;-)

As for me - I'm glad to have a few days off work and am privileged to be looking after the biggest hero I know. Haha !

Stuff to pray for :-
  • Rapid healing and recovery post-op (her chemo's restart in ~4-6 weeks time)

Friday 24 April 2009

"Amazing........."

So we met the surgeon this morning at 8am; having completed the operation she said that Karena's response to the chemotherapy was "amazing" (do doctors say that kind of thing?). Her ovarian lump was actually about 5cm (past tense - it's now gone !); the omental lump was "very small" (past tense also - it's now gone too). There was another small nodule in her pelvis (yes, you guessed it.....it's now gone too!). So they completed the full hysterectomy (which they were not sure would be possible depending on the condition of the cancer). One of the things they prepared us for pre-op was that there could be further spreading like "sprinkled rice" - they found no further evidence visible to the naked eye.
The surgeon said that before the operation she expected Karena was going to be her most difficult case of the day but in reality she was actually one of the easiest ! She also said that she was "really delighted" with how well the operation went.

Time for some more tears after that lot !

The plan is to still complete the 6 sessions of chemo post-op as a 'mop-up' for any microscopic cancer cells still remaining.....so the path ahead is still a long one and frought with many challenges - but as I see it currently, where we are at today is just about as good-a-place as we could have possibly imagined...hey....celebrate with us !

"Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power and love
Our God is an awesome God"

Thursday 23 April 2009

Just another day.....

What a day...!

It started with dropping Karena off at the hospital at 7.30am....after some comings and goings, she eventually went down to theatre at 11:30am....and returned to the ward at 4:30pm.

Went to see her this evening and overall she seems really well (hooray) ;-) She even asked for a cappuccino which is a sure sign that she's on the mend (they wouldn't let her have one tho !)

We have to meet the surgeon tomorrow morning at 8am ish to find out exactly when they did (or didn't) do - but the nurse told us that they did complete the hysterectomy and as I understand it they removed the omental lump too (nurse didn't know more and Karena was asleep at the time !).....anyway, we will find out the details tomorrow.

Karena has lots of tubes coming out and going in at the moment but that should change in the next couple of days. She's still very strong in heart and the scripture which she memorised before going into theatre was Isaiah 41:13 "For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you".

She says that she feels better than she thought she would, and she was really sleepy when I left.

For the many who have prayed for us in these tough times, we are so grateful to you.

The road is still a long one....but I'm really glad the day is over at last......

Saturday 18 April 2009

An unplanned visit to the hospital.....

So I did the Marie Curie Swimathon this afternoon (http://www.swimathon.org/) - 5km in the local pool - 200 lengths in convoy with Sean 'Fishboy' Green with the Red hat, Richard 'Speedo' Walker in the Black hat, and me in the Green hat (why Fishboy wasn't in the Green hat I'm not quite sure)....anyway, it was good to do but the swimming was basically pretty dull - we finished in 1hr 41mins to absolutely no rapturous applause whatsoever (understandably) ! If you sponsored either me, Fishboy or Speedo, thanks so much - some people that you will never know and never meet will benefit from your cash !

Unfortunately the pre-event prep wasn't great.....an hour or two before starting I was at the hospital with Karena - she was feeling really rough, has a bad sore throat, is shivvery, has ear ache and is blocked up.....and because the chemo is an immuno-suppressant, we were told that in the event of illness to get to a doctor - as 'normal' things like colds can become quite serious quite quickly. Anyway, long story short.....we saw the doctor and Karena has some antibiotics and was OK to come home - and this evening is feeling a little better....thankfully.

She had her pre-op checks yesterday (blood tests, heart checks, signing the forms etc). The doctors (both yesterday and today) seem happy that the operation can still go ahead this Thursday even if she has a cold. I think that's a good thing.....

Stuff I'm grateful for today :-
  • Competant Doctors
  • the NHS
  • People who are standing with us in love, in faith, in hope, in prayer
Stuff to pray for :-

  • Karena to be well for Thurs - shivvery cold to go, sore throat to heal etc
  • Operation to go ahead as planned on Thurs - full hysterectomy + omental lump and any other traces of cancer to be removed
  • Strength in heart and mind as Thurs approaches

Thursday 9 April 2009

D Day approaches

So the operation date has now been confirmed for 23rd April.
I wonder what the troops must have felt like before D Day? I wonder if it was anything like this...?

We're grateful for knowing the date at last.

Have a great Easter - Jesus was crucified for us and wonderfully rose from death - the greatest event in history....which gives us all hope in the midsth of the challenges we face !

Have a great Easter. With love.....C+K x

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Consultant appointment update

Consultant appointment at the hospital this afternoon - operation will take place in late April - probably either 23rd or 30th. Karena will be in hospital for ~5 days, then can't do a lot for a month (no lifting etc) and recovery is 6-12 weeks. She will have a hysterectomy providing the cancer hasn't stuck the uterus to anything else (otherwise they will just remove the ovaries and omentum). There's also a possibility that there could be some bowel removed if there is any cancer there (but nothing showed up on the scan on the bowel). Following recovery from the op, they are now saying that they would plan to do another 6 bouts of chemo - this was quite hard for Karena to hear as she thought she was half way through the chemo's - now they are planning to do more which could take us the best part of the year to get through. The good news in that is that they want to do more because she has responded so well to the chemo so far. On examination, the consultant couldn't find the lump in her abdomen with her hands (this is so far away from where we were just a couple of months ago). In herself Karena is really well, she has energy and is still pain-free. She is really looking forward to being able to spend some time with the children over the Easter holidays.

Stuff we're thankful for :
  • The good news that we've had so far - an early op, pain-free, improvements in health and energy
  • A great lady consultant we saw today who will do the op
  • Our children who continue to take everything in their stride despite some challenges
Stuff to pray for :
  • Operation to go well - full hysterectomy to be possible, both lumps to be removed, no other traces of cancer elsewhere
  • Karena to recover quickly post-op
  • An enjoyable few weeks before the next phase of the battle
Thanks so much. Love to you......x