Hi Everyone,
The big surgery day for Lauren was yesterday. The surgery went great and hopefully the second surgery will be a week from Friday!! Wow, I can't believe poor Lauren has to go through all this again!! She is doing well, but it is very difficult and painful. Hopefully, she will feel better each day. I will write a detailed account of everything in a few days, but right now my attention is on Lauren. Thank you for all of your prayers.
Love,
-Pam
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Scans and Getting Ready
One week from today is the big day we thought we would never see!! Lauren will be having surgery.We will be going to Michigan next Monday because we figure Lauren will need to be at the hospital bright and early Tuesday. We will have lots of people there for support. Ryan will be staying home to watch the house and dogs. He will probably come up on a day when Mark is at home. Plus, he has to work. Mark and Gio will be there Mon. night, Tuesday, and will leave sometime Wednesday to go home. Bruce and Sis will be off that day and my Mom and Dad and sister, Linda are also coming up for the day. It depends on which way Dr. Sonnenday decides to do the surgery as to how long Lauren will be in the hospital. It is all up to him and God as to how things go. We are all getting a little anxious, but feel so blessed to have such an amazing surgeon operating on Wo.
Lauren and I went to Michigan yesterday for another CT scan. Dr. S wanted a quick peek at everything before the big day. Hopefully, tumors have not grown, but it is possible since Lauren hasn't had chemo for quite some time. We got to go to dinner with Bruce and Sis before we left which was quite an unexpected treat. Lauren got to ask them all about what goes on before surgery. We got home last night around 8:30. We were very tired from the long drive.
Lauren is doing great on her workouts and eating right. She lost another 2 pounds!! I went to the doctor today and have lost 20 pounds since being there in Sept. He was very happy.
Lauren had a big birthday party this past weekend. She and all her and Gio's friends went to dinner at El Rincon and then back to Gio's house for fun and games. She was very touched at all the nice gifts she received and she and Gio received for their engagement too. She came home all excited and told us all about everything. She took a lot of pics, but she wants to post them on Facebook before I am allowed to post any of them.
Sis is coming home this weekend so we can go dress shopping for Lauren's wedding dress. My Mom might also go. We wanted to keep the amount of people to a minimum because we have seen too many Say Yes To The Dress episodes where there are a bunch of people there and it gets too stressful and chaotic. That's the last thing we want for Wo.
That is about it for now. I would like to ask you all for a huge favor. Will you please pray for everything to go well for Lauren and for her to be ok. Also pray for Dr. Sonnenday and his team to do their best and to be able to help Lauren. Thank you all so much. Kristen and I will do our best to keep you updated here or on Facebook.
Praying for a miracle,
-Pam
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| I probably posted this pic before, but I love it. Mark and Ryan showed their support when Wo lost her hair from chemo by shaving their heads. I love my family! |
Monday, March 11, 2013
Birthdays and Consultations
Hi Everyone!!
It seems like forever since my last post. I am happy you are all still following right along!! Two big things happened this past week. Lauren and Mark had birthdays and we went to Michigan to meet with Dr. Sonnenday, Lauren's surgeon.
Lauren is still doing terrific on her healthy lifestyle. She is eating right and exercising every day. On Thursday, we started increasing our time on the bike and treadmill to 60 minutes from 30. If this doesn't burn fat, I don't know what will!! All I can say is my butt is getting really sore from riding that bike for an hour!! Lauren just walks and walks until her time is up. We are running out of Sex and the City dvds, so we are going to have to move on to something else. We have tons of movies, but we like little half hour shows to keep our attention.
Mark, Lauren, and I went to Michigan on Tuesday for a consult with Dr. Sonnenday. Lauren got a port flush before we went to see him. We saw him, Lauren's nutritionist, Patti, and two of Dr.Sonnenday's nurses. One might have been a PA. Dr. S was his usual dynamic self. He said that he has been thinking a lot and might try a different approach to Lauren's surgery. This procedure is used in South America, but only tried about 50 times in the US. This would be the first time at Michigan. Basically, the larger of the two surgeries would be done first with splitting the liver in two, waiting 7-10 days and then removing the diseased side with the large tumor. I think he said he would take out the smaller tumors on the first surgery too. Lauren would stay in the hospital the whole time in between surgeries. He thinks that this might be advantageous to Lauren because the two surgeries would be closer together, thus giving the tumors less time to grow since she has been off chemo so long. He will have to decide the day of surgery after he looks around and sees how much reconstruction of veins or arteries she might need. This is a very huge, dangerous surgery, so please pray as much as you can for Lauren. We have every confidence in Dr. Sonnenday and trust him completely. Dr. S and Patti were very pleased with Lauren's weight loss and fitness. Patti told us all about post surgery and how the body needs lots of protein to heal. She also said that many people lose their appetites after surgery, so make sure to eat protein first and then everything else or drink protein replacement drinks like Boost. Next a nurse or PA came in and had Lauren sign all sorts of papers stating she understood what surgery she was having, that she might need transfusions, and that Dr. S would be doing the surgery. A bunch of other stuff too. Then a nurse came in and told Lauren all about arriving for surgery, what happens, and post surgery. Very informative. Dr. Sonnenday wanted to get another CT before surgery, so we are going back Monday March 18th for that. It's creeping up on us very quickly.
Wednesday was Mark and Lauren's birthday. Lauren, Gio, Mark, myself, Ryan and Stephanie went to Rockne's for dinner. We all had a great time and went back to our house for cake and presents. Mark had white cake with white frosting and Wo had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We also had angel food cake with strawberries and light whipped cream. They both got lots of nice things and were happy.
I started writing this post on Sat. and finally finished it today (Mon.) Lauren and I are going to Delaware, Ohio tomorrow to go shopping with my sister, Linda. My Mom is coming down too. We are going to help Linda look for a dress for my nephew, Matt and soon-to-be niece, Katie's wedding in May. Katie might come too. I think we will have so much fun. My sister is a riot to be around and we always laugh and have a great time.
Thank you for all of your support and prayers. We appreciate all of you so much. Here are some pictures from Mark and Lauren's birthday. Until next time....
Love, -Pam
It seems like forever since my last post. I am happy you are all still following right along!! Two big things happened this past week. Lauren and Mark had birthdays and we went to Michigan to meet with Dr. Sonnenday, Lauren's surgeon.
Lauren is still doing terrific on her healthy lifestyle. She is eating right and exercising every day. On Thursday, we started increasing our time on the bike and treadmill to 60 minutes from 30. If this doesn't burn fat, I don't know what will!! All I can say is my butt is getting really sore from riding that bike for an hour!! Lauren just walks and walks until her time is up. We are running out of Sex and the City dvds, so we are going to have to move on to something else. We have tons of movies, but we like little half hour shows to keep our attention.
Mark, Lauren, and I went to Michigan on Tuesday for a consult with Dr. Sonnenday. Lauren got a port flush before we went to see him. We saw him, Lauren's nutritionist, Patti, and two of Dr.Sonnenday's nurses. One might have been a PA. Dr. S was his usual dynamic self. He said that he has been thinking a lot and might try a different approach to Lauren's surgery. This procedure is used in South America, but only tried about 50 times in the US. This would be the first time at Michigan. Basically, the larger of the two surgeries would be done first with splitting the liver in two, waiting 7-10 days and then removing the diseased side with the large tumor. I think he said he would take out the smaller tumors on the first surgery too. Lauren would stay in the hospital the whole time in between surgeries. He thinks that this might be advantageous to Lauren because the two surgeries would be closer together, thus giving the tumors less time to grow since she has been off chemo so long. He will have to decide the day of surgery after he looks around and sees how much reconstruction of veins or arteries she might need. This is a very huge, dangerous surgery, so please pray as much as you can for Lauren. We have every confidence in Dr. Sonnenday and trust him completely. Dr. S and Patti were very pleased with Lauren's weight loss and fitness. Patti told us all about post surgery and how the body needs lots of protein to heal. She also said that many people lose their appetites after surgery, so make sure to eat protein first and then everything else or drink protein replacement drinks like Boost. Next a nurse or PA came in and had Lauren sign all sorts of papers stating she understood what surgery she was having, that she might need transfusions, and that Dr. S would be doing the surgery. A bunch of other stuff too. Then a nurse came in and told Lauren all about arriving for surgery, what happens, and post surgery. Very informative. Dr. Sonnenday wanted to get another CT before surgery, so we are going back Monday March 18th for that. It's creeping up on us very quickly.
Wednesday was Mark and Lauren's birthday. Lauren, Gio, Mark, myself, Ryan and Stephanie went to Rockne's for dinner. We all had a great time and went back to our house for cake and presents. Mark had white cake with white frosting and Wo had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We also had angel food cake with strawberries and light whipped cream. They both got lots of nice things and were happy.
I started writing this post on Sat. and finally finished it today (Mon.) Lauren and I are going to Delaware, Ohio tomorrow to go shopping with my sister, Linda. My Mom is coming down too. We are going to help Linda look for a dress for my nephew, Matt and soon-to-be niece, Katie's wedding in May. Katie might come too. I think we will have so much fun. My sister is a riot to be around and we always laugh and have a great time.
Thank you for all of your support and prayers. We appreciate all of you so much. Here are some pictures from Mark and Lauren's birthday. Until next time....
Love, -Pam
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| Wo and Gio at Rocknes. |
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| Mark and I at Rocknes. |
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| The birthday girl and boy! |
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| Opening cards and presents. |
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| Fancy slippers!! |
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| Ryan and his crazy hair. I love Stephanie in the background!! |
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| Wo and sweet, little Peanut!! |
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