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Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:56 PM CDT
BEFORE I UPDATE YOU ALL... I just read the guest book. Would MIKE POTTER and "Blast from the Past" PLEASE EMAIL ME at jeanneohaver@earthlink.net???? PLEASE???? Mike, I've looked for you on and off for years (we're having a reunion 09.18-19; hope you're coming); Blast from the Past, PLEASE identify yourself!!! EMAIL ME!!!! Thanx!!!
OK--when I last updated this site, I had an ultra sound on September 2nd and an appointment with an OB/Gyn on the 3rd.
So the doctor (who is delightful, and who says she will be my gynocologist in the future) was going to do a procedure to help me with my "female" problems. It was all planned out; they tried to get me worked in last Friday on the 4th, but the hospital had no ORs available, so they set it up for tomorrow (11th).
But my female problems LITERALLY dried up on September 3rd! It's a PRAISE GOD, for SURE!!! When I got home that evening, I thought that things had sure slowed down for that day, and was thankful for that since I was downtown at the doctor's office. But when everything remained at a standstill for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, etc., etc., I realized that (1) God healed the situation, (2) a secondary med had finally kicked in and worked (after 2-3 months), or (3) both!!
In the meantime, though, one (or more?) of the cancerous lesions on my spine has begun to cause severe pain, and as each day goes by, I am having more and more trouble walking and pain. The pain has spread around to my left side, as well as my left hip (not the one that was replaced in 2001) and leg. They are sending me back to the radiology oncologist next Wednesday; they think the lesion on my spine could be causing the pain in my hip and leg, and hope they can safely radiate it and solve the problems for now. I am praying they are right! I've been hoping and praying that I don't need another hip replacement, etc.
I was also already set up for an appointment with my oncologist on October 1, with tests (CT scan and bone scan) the week before. I will probably keep the October 1 appointment; the tests will depend upon what's going on with my spine and the radiology, etc.
So that's the deal. I want to thank all of you who signed my guest book, but ask a favor: if you KNOW I don't have your email address, please give it to me!!! I don't have any way to contact you otherwise!
God's blessings on you all. Don't forget the prayer chain if you have someone you need to submit a prayer request for: to submit a request or a praise, please send an email to wwpc.mail@blogger.com. The subject line will be the title of your request. Please sign your name, as otherwise it will attribute the request to me, and I will have no idea who sent it in. To view the blog/ pray for others' requests, go to http://thewwpc.blogspot.com.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:56 PM CDT
BEFORE I UPDATE YOU ALL... I just read the guest book. Would MIKE POTTER and "Blast from the Past" PLEASE EMAIL ME at jeanneohaver@earthlink.net???? PLEASE???? Mike, I've looked for you on and off for years (we're having a reunion 09.18-19; hope you're coming); Blast from the Past, PLEASE identify yourself!!! EMAIL ME!!!! Thanx!!!
OK--when I last updated this site, I had an ultra sound on September 2nd and an appointment with an OB/Gyn on the 3rd.
So the doctor (who is delightful, and who says she will be my gynocologist in the future) was going to do a procedure to help me with my "female" problems. It was all planned out; they tried to get me worked in last Friday on the 4th, but the hospital had no ORs available, so they set it up for tomorrow (11th).
But my female problems LITERALLY dried up on September 3rd! It's a PRAISE GOD, for SURE!!! When I got home that evening, I thought that things had sure slowed down for that day, and was thankful for that since I was downtown at the doctor's office. But when everything remained at a standstill for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, etc., etc., I realized that (1) God healed the situation, (2) a secondary med had finally kicked in and worked (after 2-3 months), or (3) both!!
In the meantime, though, one of the cancerous lesions on my spine has begun to cause severe pain, and as each day goes by, I am having more and more trouble walking, etc. The pain has spread to my left hip (not the one that was replaced in 2001) and left leg. They are sending me back to the radiology oncologist next Wednesday; they think the lesion on my spine could be causing the pain in my hip and leg, and hope they can safely radiate it and solve all the problems for now. I am praying they are right! I've been hoping and praying that I don't need another hip replacement, etc.
I was also already set up for an appointment with my oncologist on October 1, with tests (CT scan and bone scan) the week before. I will probably keep the October 1 appointment; the tests will depend upon what's going on with my spine and the radiology, etc.
So that's the deal. I want to thank all of you who signed my guest book, but ask a favor: if you know I don't have your email address, please give it to me!!! I don't have any way to contact you otherwise!
God's blessings on you all. Don't forget the prayer chain if you have someone you need to submit a prayer request for: to submit a request or a praise, please send an email to wwpc.mail@blogger.com. The subject line will be the title of your request. Please sign your name, as otherwise it will attribute the request to me, and I will have no idea who sent the request. To view the blog/ pray for others' requests, go to http://thewwpc.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 11:47 PM CDT
Hi Everyone! Caring Bridge changed the way they do things, and I literally could not get in to my little site here for several months! But I've finally gotten it figured out, and I will try to update as quickly as possible.
April 8 ~ My birthday, and my appt. with Dr. Miller, but she wasn't there, so I saw Dr. Sledge. Unfortunately, on the Zeloda, my lesions TRIPLED in only two months' time, so that wasn't good. I was devastated. But Dr. Sledge told me that they had a new treatment (for the past year) for estrogen-based cancers; instead of avoiding estrogen, they flood the body with it, and the receptors shut down rather than making new cancer. He said he was glad we were doing this now as opposed to a year ago; he would have given me FIVE TIMES what he gave me; they have since learned that this is not necessary (thank God). They warned of some side effects; I had no idea at that time how ridiculous it was going to get!
June 2 ~ HALLELUJAH!! Dr. Miller says I am "stable," and that she couldn't be more pleased! My problem is that the estrogen has my body thinking other things are going on; I can hardly leave the house (female-type problems). Dr. Miller let it go for the moment; didn't realize it was as bad as it is.
First week of August ~ Had to cancel the dr. appt.; wasn't able to leave the house (female probs). They rescheduled it for mid-August. They've put me on progesterone, but it helped my situation for only two days, then everything went back to exactly as it had been! I had been scheduled for testing the last week of Sept. and an appt. with Dr. Miller October 1, but since this has gotten so out of hand, they sent me for an ultra sound today (Wednesday), and tomorrow I will see (I think) an OB/GYN. All this may lead to a hysterectomy, but I don't care; that would be fine, if it would end this madness of female problems!! I've HAD it!!
More to come! Thanx for the continuing prayers.
Oh, and BTW ~ I think, considering that this format has practically become obsolete, that I will probably create a new Caring Bridge site for myself in the near future and try to link the two somehow. It's what Caring Bridge has encouraged me to do, but I haven't done it yet; once I started having trouble logging in, I regretted that decision. So this one will remain out there for anyone who wants to go back and read all the history of what went down when, but the new stuff will be on the new site. So that's COMING SOON!!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 11:47 PM CDT
Hi Everyone! Caring Bridge changed the way they do things, and I literally could not get in to my little site here! But I've finally gotten it figured out, and I will try to update as quickly as possible.
April 8 ~ My birthday, and my appt. with Dr. Miller, but she wasn't there, so I saw Dr. Sledge. Unfortunately, on the Zeloda, my lesions tripled in two months' time. I was devastated. But Dr. Sledge told me that they had a new treatment for the past year for estrogen-based cancers; instead of avoiding estrogen, they flood the body with it, and the receptors shut down rather than making new cancer. He said he was glad we were doing this now as opposed to a year ago; he would be giving me FIVE TIMES more, but they have since learned that this is not necessary (thank God). They warned of some side effects; I had no idea how ridiculous it was going to get!
June 2 ~ HALLELUJAH!! Dr. Miller says I am "stable," and that she couldn't be more pleased! My problem is that the estrogen has my body thinking other things are going on; I can hardly leave the house. Dr. Miller didn't realize it was as bad as it is.
First week of August ~ Had to cancel the dr. appt.; wasn't able to leave the house (female probs). They rescheduled for mid-August. They've put me on progesterone; it helped my situation for two days, then everything went back to exactly as it had been! I WAS scheduled for testing the last week of Sept. and an appt. with Dr. Miller October 1, but since this has gotten so out of hand, they sent me for an ultra sound today, and tomorrow I see (I think) an OB/GYN. I'm thinking this is going to lead to a hysterectomy, but I don't care; that would be fine, if it would end this madness of female problems!! I've HAD it!!
More to come! Thanx for the continuing prayers.
BTW ~ I think, considering this format has practically become obsolete, that I will probably create a new Caring Bridge site in the near future and try to link them somehow. They have encouraged me to do that, but I haven't done it yet; once I started having trouble logging in, I regretted that decision. So this one will remain out there for anyone who wants to read all the history of what went down when, but the new stuff will be on the new site. So that's COMING SOON!!
Saturday, February 7, 2009 2:14 AM CST
Just posted my update from last week--sorry to be so late on these things. Haven't been online too much lately.
Finished my first week of Xeloda last Sunday. Usually, a patient takes two doses per day for two weeks, then has a week off. Probably because I have a history of having bad reactions to medications, they started me off with one week on and one week off. I finished my first week last Sunday, and we're just now ending my week off. I'll go back on again on Greg's birthday, Monday, February 9th. I go back to the oncologist (Kathy Miller) on the 18th, so we'll see what she says at that point. There are many side effects to watch out for and try to guard against, and this medication is accumulative, so although I did really well the first week, as time goes on, I will probably feel worse and worse. But this med does a good job and is my best hope, so it's what I need to do.
I continue to try to get in two Beam Ray treatments a day; at least one if not. Besides the regular cancer protocol, I'm alternating several different bone treatments with liver treatments as well as pain. So I really need to do two to get in all the different programs I'd like to run each day.
I'll try to do better at keeping this site up to date. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the prayers, and don't forget to visit the prayer chain site; to view, visit http://thewwpc.blogspot.com, and to send your requests or praises, use the email address wwpc.mail@blogger.com.
love, Jeanne
Saturday, February 7, 2009 2:11 AM CST
JEANNE'S UPDATE--WRITTEN JANUARY 29, 2009
Dearest Family and Friends~
My last update was, I believe, December 27. The first week of January, I had scheduled an appointment with my regular oncologist (Dr. Miller), a Lupron injection (I get every three months), and a bone scan. As you may remember, I had an MRI and a few other tests at the end of my time with Dr. Dugan (radiology oncologist).
The bone scan showed even more tumors on different places on my spine as well as my hip, and bone deterioration any place where there was tumor activity. Dr. Miller ordered an MRI on my brain and another CT scan, with contrast, on the thoracic portion of my spine, as well as one dose of Zometa, the bone strengthener I had to stop taking two years ago. We had to wait several days for the results of the tests; Greg had already left to go to Anaheim for the NAMM Show and the release of the capos he invented. I was also supposed to go, but was not up to it. Anyway, the results came in a few days after he left, and, at first, we were both pretty devastated. The MRI (brain) looked just fine, so that was a relief. But the CT Scan showed a lot of tumors plus two new ones in my liver. We've always felt so fortunate that there has never been any tumor activity in any of my organs; obviously not the case anymore. They are starting me on Xeloda on Monday.
But I called my friend Charla, who's been dealing with similar cancer: she had breast cancer that metastasized to her liver. Of course, she hasn't had the problems I have with the bones, but she went to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and they left no stone unturned. In the end, she was on Xeloda and, at this time, is in remission. There is no cancer that they've been able to find anywhere in her body. She did a good diet and a lot of good supplements, as well as using the Beam Ray machine faithfully, but she is back to work full time now!! So that has TRULY given us a ton of hope. We know that the Lord IS THE LORD, and that He CAN and WILL do whatever is His will. I'm just not liking the idea that His will might be for me to leave now; I'm just not ready yet. I want to be here for the kids and my hubby!!! And I PRAISE GOD that they have all been here for me!!!
So anyway, we're feeling very hopeful and upbeat, and there's no reason for any of you to worry. Praise God--ALL the Time!!! He's taken care of us before, and He will again.
God's blessings on all of you now, just as before, and once again, I thank you SO MUCH for keeping me in your prayers. I love you all.
Love, Jeanne
Still Thankfully in His Love and Care~
Jeanne McGill O'Haver
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Ephesians 3:16-31
Saturday, December 27, 2008 3:40 AM CST
Hello Family and Friends~
Well, the MRI looked pretty good, except for the fact that there is more "activity" in other places; in addition to the T6 and the 7th rib, we have the T5 and T10. But Dr. Dugan said there is no reason to get a CT scan; I've already had an MRI, and I'm scheduled for my regular bone scan on January 7th, so he said there is nothing a CT scan would show that we wouldn't already have seen on one of these two tests.
As far as the hip goes, I went back to Dr. Wurtz on Monday, December 22nd, who did my hip replacement in '01. He took x-rays and felt around, and moved my leg all around. The good news is that there is no infection. He believes my problem to be the burser (bursor?) sac; same thing Peyton Manning had with his knee. He injected me with two drugs, one a short-term numbing agent much like novicain, which lasted about 2 hours or less, and then cordizone. He said it would be a couple of days before that kicked in. Well, it's Friday night/Saturday morning (and that was last Monday), so it's been five days, and the pain is as bad or worse; no cordizone relief quite yet. Greg and I plan to call him back on Monday and see what he says; he'll probably want to see me again. They also took some blood to do several tests, so we'll see what those showed.
Other than the hip problem, the game plan is to stay on the oral medication Kathy Miller (my oncologist) has me on, and to try to eat well and take as many Beam Ray treatments as I can. I hope the hip-thing doesn't throw a monkey wrench into the mess.
Again, thanx for all the prayers, and for all of you who are thinking of me. I've heard from a lot of people, and it really does make me feel good.
Hope your Christmas was merry, and hope your new year will be a great and prosperous one. Pray for one another; pray for our country. God's blessings on each and every one of you, and thanx again for your continued prayer.
Love, Jeanne
Still Thankfully in His Love and Care~
Jeanne McGill O'Haver
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Ephesians 3:16-31
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 1:13 AM CST
Dearest Friends, Family, and Prayer Warriors~
I apologize for continuing to lag so far behind on emails, etc. My computer is having a few frustrating little problems, plus I’m not comfortable in my chair, and my cats always want to type, too, so on those few occasions that I do sit down here, it’s not usually for long; I give up pretty quickly.
But I did want to give you all an update, as best I can right now. For those who may not remember, the short version of what you all knew so far is that after about six-seven years without another cancer recurrence, I ended up with a tumor on my 7th rib, and later, a newer, smaller one on the T6. (I had gotten complacent using my Beam Ray, and had stopped one of my medications about a year earlier.) These tumors are both on the left side of my upper-mid back. They decided to treat it with an oral medication until we discovered I had two broken ribs, the 7th and 8th. The decision was made to treat the larger tumor (on the 7th rib) with radiation, five days a week for four weeks–20 treatments (the smaller one would be much more complicated to get to). My radiation ended November 17th.
Today is December 15th; although I thought they had said this would be a little too soon, I misunderstood and thought the appointment I had today was for a CT scan to see if the tumor had shrunk. Initially, the thinking was that I probably need to wait another month, more or less, before we do a scan; the cells are still in the process of changing. I already have an exam with Dr. Kathy Miller as well as a bone scan scheduled for January 7th, so it looked like we had everything covered.
But I’ve been somewhat sick, on-again off-again, for about the past ten days or so. There was one medication that was traded out for a different one for 28 days and then back; it was suggested that this could be part of it, but that change ended more than a month ago, so I doubt it. I have had a pain on the right side of my back that was bothering me. It got worse–pretty bad at times–and they upped my pain meds (probably why I had stomach problems). The pain then sort of moved down into my right hip, which is the one that had to be replaced in ‘01 (after cancer “ate” it up). They asked if I had pain and swelling anywhere, and in feeling around, we realized that the hip has some swelling, and that there is also pain in the T6 area. I’m realizing that what pain I feel just standing or sitting, and what I feel when someone is pushing on different areas, are two different things, so I need to start paying more attention to that (just an excuse to get closer to my hubby!!!).
So Dr. Dugan said that if we were only looking at the tumor they just radiated, we would be good doing nothing for now until after the bone scan and time for the CT scan. But he explained that this new pain and swelling, plus the T6 pain, warrants an MRI. He drew me a picture and explained that the tumor on the T6 was not, as far as we could tell, initially near my spinal cord, but we don’t know now if it’s growing, or making its way toward the spine, or what. He said if it penetrates the spine, there is “nowhere for the spinal cord to go to escape the cancer.” This could have dire consequences.
This Thursday evening, I have an MRI scheduled, and then an appointment with Dr. Dugan on Friday afternoon (just before his Christmas holiday off) to see what it showed. So I should have a little bit of an idea on Friday what’s going on.
Again (and how many times have I said THIS???), I thank you SO VERY MUCH for all of your prayers, and know how much difference it makes. He is so faithful, and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful network of people to pray with me and for me, as well as for all the other people on our prayer chain who have so many problems.
Have a blessed Christmas and, if you are able, I pray that those of you who have the ability will help other families who are really, really hurting this holiday season. I don’t think the people of this nation have been in this much trouble since ‘29, and so many people are worrying about food and heat in their home instead of the usual “how will we pay for the presents under the tree?” May I make a suggestion? Our family gets together, but has stopped buying gifts, for the most part, so this is truly a blessing for us, as none of us can afford it. I hope those of you who are feeling that pressure to buy a lot of things you know you cannot afford will talk to your extended family, and perhaps change your family traditions so as not to cause even more financial difficulties for one another. That’s a matter of pride if you are buying things to impress others; we all know what the Bible says about that. (And how often do people buy things for others that are not appreciated or liked?) Your family will understand and “forgive” you, and most of them are probably in the same boat as you are. In our family, we try to take care of the kids as best we can, but that’s about it. And we find that “white elephants” are lots of fun fun fun!!!! (Just a suggestion.)
Have a Blessed, Safe, and Merry Christmas, and I wish for you God’s blessings in the new year.
Love, Jeanne
Still Thankfully in His Love and Care~
Jeanne McGill O'Haver
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Ephesians 3:16-31
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 1:40 AM CST
Thanx again for all of your prayers. I haven't been online for about a month, so I'm still trying to catch up on email. I have five more radiation days; I'll finish on Monday, November 17.
I looked at the prayer blog and was horrified at all the filthy junk mail that was on there; for that reason, I've now changed the email address for the blog to: wwpc.mail@blogger.com. Please change this in your address books, and don't forget to send your prayer requests there. I hope this stops all the terrible stuff; it took me an hour to delete it all!
I'm doing ok; mostly I'm just really, really tired; drained. They won't be able to get an accurate scan until right about Christmastime, so I won't know if this was successful or not until then.
I'm thankful that the pain was really reduced very shortly after the two ribs broke; apparently it was the pressure that was causing most of the pain. My skin is doing well; not burned or irritated, so I'm thankful for that, too. They say it will probably take four to six weeks to get back to normal again after the treatments end. I'll keep you posted. Sorry about not being online; just don't feel like sitting there! Love you all and, again, thanx for all the prayers... I so appreciate you all.
Love, Jeanne
Still Thankfully in His Love and Care~
Jeanne McGill O'Haver
<°}}}>< <°}}}>< <°}}}><
Ephesians 3:16-31
Monday, November 10, 2008 6:20 PM CST [This was actually sent out as an email on 10.10.08]
Friday, August 8, 2008 6:28 PM CDT Hi Everyone. Well, to be completely up to date, you need to read (or reread) my last Caring Bridge entry, and THEN read this one. Monday, February 25, 2008 2:16 AM CST Hello Everyone! Wednesday, February 13, 2008 5:25 PM CST Dearest Friends~ Saturday, December 8, 2007 11:39 PM CST Hope this finds you well and happy, and preparing for Christmas. This is a wonderful time of year. Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:37 PM CDT Just checking in... The band had a good night on Saturday. Had a nice crowd, a lot of fun; saw lots of old friends that we've been missing. Unfortunately, I think I picked up something that I shouldn't have, and my old back injury's been hurting ever since... weird thing is, the "old back injury" is also pretty much the same spot where the spot of cancer is located, on a rib. So I'm just hoping that the pain I'm feeling IS the old back injury, and not the cancer spot. I'm sure I'll know if it hasn't gotten better in the next week or two!
Saturday, October 6, 2007 7:44 PM CDT Hi Friends!
Saturday, April 7, 2007 6:16 PM CDT Hi Friends~
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 1:19 AM CST Well, PRAISE GOD! As I mentioned in my last posting, I had my bone scan in November, and my "regular" appointment with my oncologist on January 3 to get the results. (Mind you, if there had been bad news, they would have contacted me as soon as they got the results; in these situations, truly, no news IS good news.) There is no cancer visible in my bloodwork, as we knew already, and again, the bonescan looked exactly like last time, which was exactly like the time before that, and the time before that... that's what bone scans are supposed to look like. So, it appears there is NADA!! NOTHING!! ZERO!! in the way of bad stuff!! So we're really glad about that.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 7:08 PM CST Hi All; Merry Christmas and happy new year to each of you. I hadn't realized that it had been so long since I updated my patient page. I just had a bone scan in November (and some bloodwork prior to that); the bloodwork came back good, and I'm assuming the bone scan did, too. I have an appointment on January 3rd with my oncologist and she will tell me all's ok at that time; if it wasn't ok, she would have called me long before now.
Monday, March 6, 2006 9:47 PM CST WOW!!! Have God's blessings ever been flowing in our direction!!!
Monday, February 27, 2006 0:50 AM CST Hi All! I haven't been here for a while; it's been a very interesting fall/winter.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 6:10 PM CDT Just wanted to praise God, and update this a little. Went on the 7th of September (2005) to the cancer center for my three-month checkup. They took some blood to check it out (that came back good--otherwise they would have called), and set up a bone scan for November. I have one every 12-15 months to ensure no cancer is showing up/coming back. There was a point in time where every test I took found more cancer, but since we got the Beam Ray, none has shown up at all (that's been over four years now). I AM SO THANKFUL.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 7:46 PM CDT I just realized that I haven't updated this journal since January. Truly, when you're talking about cancer, NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS!!! I praise God that we're in a "NO NEWS" phase, and pray that we will stay that way. Friday, January 7, 2005 7:08 PM CST Well, I have just a little bit of an update here. In the past year or so, I have had problems with extra bone growths in my mouth--very painful. Got it "taken care of," or so I thought, several times. They cut the gum so they could cut off the bone growths that were stretching the skin taut and even poking through the skin, but they couldn't get it to close properly. I went to a couple of different oral surgeons, etc.; it took a lot to get the problem to a place where I could live with it (it's still not "right," just "tolerable"). Friday, December 17, 2004 11:15 PM CST Well, PRAISE GOD that things are working out so well at this time!! Since I copied much of the journal entries for this site from another site, as well as a few I had on paper, I didn't really edit them much, and I haven't said a lot of things that I would have said, had I taken the time to do this properly. (But I had never heard of this site until a few weeks ago!!) I've said very little up to now about our church, family, band, or prayer chain. So I'll try to catch up on these things now. BTW, as far as my prognosis at this time, although I may have to deal with cancer in one form or another for most of my life, or it may come and go, but will probably always be around the corner, the good news is that it's always been treatable so far, and will probably stay that way. Chances are I won't be one of those who dies young from a cancer we are unable to control. Tuesday, December 14, 2004 2:16 AM CST December 14, 2004
May 3, 2004 I don't have anything real important to add or report right now, at least not as far as new tests or anything new going on with me of that nature... except that with the coming of spring, I am finding I have a renewed sense of spirit within me.
February 2004 Guess what? We were completely UNsurprised to learn that, indeed, this latest bone scan is just the same as the last, and the one before that. From what I can tell, the doctors and nurses seem to be surprised; we are not. August of 2003 I have faithfully gone in every month since getting out of the hospital. My treatment is as follows: I take one pill a day, Arimidex, which is supposed to keep new cancerous tumors from forming, and keep the tumors that are there from growing any further. They say that anytime after about the two-year mark, I will sort of become immune to this; it's not uncommon that tumors begin to appear again, in which case they will change to another medicine that does the same thing in a little different way. I go to the hospital once a month for an infusion of Zometa, which is a drug that strengthens my bones and makes them more or less "cancer-resistant." I also must get an injection every quarter; they had me on Lupron for about two years or more, but then reverted back to what they said was an older drug, Zolodex, because tests were showing that the newer Lupron was not as effective. In any case, the purpose of these drugs is to put a woman into menopause if she is old enough to be, but isn't there yet. All of the treatments explained here are only for post-menopausal women, so I had to be in menopause to take the treatments. Summer 2001 "THE STORY," for those of you who don't know: Most of you visiting this page probably picked up this web address from the web page or an email update of the group CROSSOVERroad. I am Jeanne, the only female in the group.
Click here to go back to the main page.
This is the continuing story of my two cancerous tumors (one on my 7th rib, the other on my T6), and the two broken ribs (7th and 8th).
We had our appointment with the radiation doctor on Monday, Dr. Dugan. He's very nice, and seems to be hopeful that all will turn out ok... I'll begin with the end, when he said that it looked like I'd be dealing with this for a very long time, so we needed to do things right. Now THAT's what we wanted to hear!
He told us that radiation has come far since '95 when Mom had it to her whole chest, and they ruined her heart muscle, and even '01 when I had it on my spine and my right femur. Now they can pinpoint to the nth degree where they are radiating, and can plan and plot in all kinds of ways to ensure that they don't hit the heart or lung. They even tattoo your marks onto your skin, and build supports for your body to be sure you are positioned identically for each treatment. I had been told I would get probably 8 to 14 treatments, all in a row, day after day including weekends. He said not so. He says the body responds better when it's slow and careful, at low doses. He said we will be doing Monday through Friday for four weeks. I will be going back on Monday, October 13th, for my first appointment. (They needed this week to get all the info from IU Cancer Center.) I know there will be a lot of time in plotting and planning, and possibly making supports. I assume I will get my first treatment that day, as well, but I guess I don't really know that for sure.
So that's the story. Prayers are coveted, but we are feeling much better about everything than we were, and are praising God for His faithfulness!
God's blessings on you and yours.
Oh, PS, the problems we were having using email for the WWPC have been solved. Feel free to send your prayer requests to wwpc.post@blogger.com.
Love, Jeanne
Still Thankfully in His Love and Care~
Jeanne McGill O'Haver
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Ephesians 3:16-31
As I said in February, after six years of no cancer, I became fairly lax in my Beam Ray treatments and diet, plus I was taken off of the bone strengthener in 2005 due to severe side effects. For these reasons, what had been a little bitty spot on a rib, inactive since 2001, became a growing tumor (we realized this in October 2007). My oncologist, Dr. Miller, changed my medication and we all hoped that would make a difference. I started making some changes in my diet and Beam Ray treatments, too. By February 2008, the tumor wasn't growing, but wasn't diminishing, either.
So Dr. Miller changed my meds again. Several months later, I began to experience pain on my left side. It made it difficult to breathe sometimes; it was like what I imagine a broken rib would feel like. So the doctor ordered another bone scan and a CT scan, which I had on July 29 ('08). While we were still there at the hospital, the tech let us look at the bone scan (I've had copies of my scans since '01, so we know what they usually look like). Our hearts sunk down into our stomachs when we saw that tumor glowing huge and bright; it looked like the Star of Bethlehem or something. We went home to await the results.
Usually, when it's good news, or not all that bad, they call and tell me what's going on over the phone. So when they have an assistant call and say that I need to see the doctor, it's a fairly scary thing. That's what happened. My doc and her nurse are in clinic only on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so when they received the results on Thursday afternoon, the soonest appointment they had for me was on the following Wednesday, six days later. So we spent six days hoping, praying, and trying not to come unglued. Our fear was that I would have a repeat of what occurred in 2001; I don't think I could go through all that again. (That is written about in the Journal portion of my Caring Bridge site if you don't know and are interested: www.caringbridge.org/in/jeanne). We told only a few people about the news ahead of the appointment rather than possibly unnecessarily scaring everyone.
We went to the appointment on Wednesday, and it was basically good news!! Here's the BAD NEWS: the cancerous tumor on the 7th rib has grown, but the pain in my side is tranference pain, so at least there is no additional cancer in my side somewhere. Also, there is a new small cancerous tumor on the T6 in my spine. I cannot be on the drug that strengthened my bones and kept the cancer from growing there because I had horrible side effects (Zometa), so we have to fight this without that additional help.
But I have doubled/tripled my Beam Ray treatments, and I have now REALLY cracked down on my diet. Cancer patients need to keep a close eye on our pH levels; cancer grows in an acidic environment, so the goal is to be as alkaline as possible. This week, my alkaline tested high, and once as GOOD AS IT CAN BE--all the way to the top of the alkaline chart, so THAT's good. Dr. Miller has changed my med again, plus told us about a new med. It does what Zometa does, but in a totally different way, so I should not have the side effects I had with Zometa.
This new drug has been in clinical trials for a while now, mostly with women with osteoporosis. That study concluded, and with great results; some women even regrew bone. This drug is in FDA approval mode; there is another study being done with two groups of women, one group who took Zometa and one group that did not. Dr. Miller said the FDA is required to give a response in six months--and the response CAN be that they need more studies--but she doesn't think that's going to happen because their studies have been so complete and so good. They COULD approve the drug only for women with osteoporosis, but she feels strongly that she can get me on it when it comes out, one way or another. So the prayer is that the new drug I'm on now, along with the Beam Ray and my strict diet, will be more than enough to see me through, at the very least until this new drug is released.
So that's the news. I ask for prayer, and thank you in advance. We are feeling thankful, and that it could have been a WHOLE lot worse; we were considering checking out Cancer Centers of America, etc., rather than go back in for surgery, radiation, etc., etc. So although there is some bad news here, there is a LOT to be thankful for!!!
God's blessings on you and yours~
Love, Jeanne
Thanx SO MUCH for all your prayers, and I apologize for the several-day delay in letting you know how things went. As for the appt. with my oncologist re: my MRI and bone scan, that is all OK. In case you don't remember, I have a small tumor that returned under my shoulder blade on my rib, in the same spot as a 1980 back injury, which has been bothering me more and more often all the time (a couple of times REALLY bad). The little tumor is still about the same size as it was about six months ago, which is when she (Dr. Miller) switched my med. She had hoped it would have shrunk a little, but has decided that the new med we started in October isn't doing anything, so she changed me to something different. My understanding is that it normally would have either shrunk or grown; the good news is that it didn't grow. I'm certain the Beam Ray will eventually take care of this, along with my better diet and a different kind of med she's trying out now. In any case, she's still not worried, and neither am I.
As I said before, I believe the reason there is now growth there when for six long years I kept it under control is that I became complacent... convinced myself that I was no longer in any danger, and got very lazy about my treatments and my diet. I won't be doing THAT again. I now realize that I must stay on top of this with my Beam Ray treatments and what I do and don't eat all the time, because unfortunately, cancer IS just waiting to pounce on me again, for whatever reason (my personal opinion is that the initial cause was Sweet'N'Low, but I have no proof of that). For a while, feeling that cancer was just waiting to get me about sent me off the edge, but I'm more used to it now. The Lord has calmed me about this, too.
On the tumor, I did ask if there is any way the old back injury had anything to do with the tumor, or the tumor had anything to do with the old back injury. She said the first was out of the question, but the second was probable; the location of this tumor is just right to cause the old injury to flair up and cause me pain. She also noted on the MRI that my bones are not as strong as she'd like to see. Since I had a negative reaction to the bone strengtheners they gave me for a while, there is nothing they can give me for that, so I just do my calcium and other supplements, run the Beam Ray, and pray! I just started running bone programs; didn't occur to me before now.
With these tests and then the doctor appointment, in a week's time I was in a clinic, a hospital, and the cancer center--that's a WHOLE LOT for a HERMIT any time of the year, but during Round Two of flu season, going to all these places where sick people were everywhere was not a great idea. My body is trying to fight off all the stuff that's out there; I have a couple of days of feeling fine, then a few where I don't feel so well, and Greg seems to be doing the same thing. During these periods of time, I'm just kind of tired and grumpy and not wanting to hang on the phone or sit at the computer... so I haven't really contacted many. Got a few phone calls and told those folks what was going on, but not much else. So I apologize to anyone/ everyone I "left hanging" out there. Wasn't very nice of me, was it??
I just praise Almighty God for the gift of no really bad news; we both were acting pretty confident, but realized when we got there that we were both a little more scared than we realized or would have liked to admit. I am SO BLESSED. The only thing I can figure out is that He has things for me to do still--like trying to keep my grandson in line, and making sure he is loved to death, etc. Truly, our story of faith and near death is one He wants told, I believe, and I try to do it when the opportunity is there. I want to do His bidding.
God's blessings on you for your prayers; I am SO THANKFUL to have all of you praying for me. That's a BIG part of it, I absolutely KNOW it is. I hope you'll also continue to pray for all the folks who write in for prayer requests, too. I don't know most of them, but after a time feel that I do. Many friends and strangers--whole congregations--prayed me through the really, really bad times in '01, and that's what kept me alive. The prayer blog is such a blessing. Remember to go to http://thewwpc.blogspot.com to view the blog, and send an email to wwpc.post@blogger.com to send in a prayer request or praise.
Love to You All~ Jeanne
Well, in rereading my last entry (dated December 8, '07), I am surprised to see that the problems I'm having now are the same exact problems I was having then (and I've had them several times in the meantime, as well). My back injury (from 1980, the first and worst, and only recurring) is in the same spot as the little tumor that had begun growing again. In my last entry, it took two weeks to get my back healed up again. This time, I just reinjured it again on Monday night (all I did was reach!), but this time, we're REALLY checking it out. On Thursday, I go for an MRI; on Friday, I go for another bone scan (it's been almost six months since the last one); and next Thursday, I go back to my oncologist to get results and see if there's any correlation here between the back injury and the tumor. I did pull that muscle just a little on Saturday night, but it wasn't really bad at all. I've been babying it since, thinking it would heal itself up pretty quickly. But then I reached on Monday, and pulled something so badly that I was wailing; I thought I was back in 2001 all over again! Today has been a little better; during the day (yesterday and today), it's been back and forth a lot. I have additional pain medication that helps some, as well as a heat pad, which I use four or five times a day. I've been taking one or two Beam Ray treatments, making sure I run "PAIN" every time.
I would truly appreciate your prayers on my behalf that this back injury has nothing whatsoever to do with this little tumor, and that both would heal up in no time flat. I'm using the Beam Ray a lot, trying to eat well, and babying my back a LOT. Greg is doing practically everything. I am thanking you in advance for all of your prayers!
In His Name~ Jeanne
Last time I checked in was the last time the band played. Greg's been really too busy to book us, and this summer and fall, I think he was nervous as to what the doctor was going to say, so held back. I've been doing backup for him at some of his songwriters-in-the-round gigs; that's always a huge blessing and a lot of fun. We did one last night at my childhood church, and I hadn't seen it since I was a kid. It kind of freaked me out!!
As far as my health, I've been doing Beam Ray treatments six days a week (sometimes seven), trying to do TWO a day, but not hitting that as often as I should. I've gone back to being more careful with my diet; my pH has been better than its EVER been, so THAT's good.
The only thing I could really use prayer on is I keep pulling muscles on that left side! This last time was about two weeks ago; I pulled it (get this!) choking! My water went down the wrong pipe, and I choked and choked, and pulled the muscle on my left side (lower than the location of my former back injury and my tumor). It's finally getting better, but it's been two weeks now!! I'm learning that I really DO need to stop lifting and carrying things, etc. I seem to never heal one muscle up before I pull another one!
Hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas; remember what the season is all about! We're not even trading gifts this year; we're doing a "white elephant." We're so grateful to the Lord for all He's done in our lives; we owe Him so much!
Love, Jeanne
I wanted to explain something, especially for those of you who may have a Beam Ray machine, since my last post. Since it has been about six years or so since I've had any active cancer at all, thanx to the Lord and this wonderful Beam Ray that He provided, I'm afraid I gradually got a little more complacent with each passing year. I was supposed to have been doing three to four treatments a week for maintenance... but I wasn't, really. I would turn the machine on, but then hop up half a dozen times to do this and that during my treatment; or sit through 2/3 of Greg's treatment and "call it a treatment." I wasn't doing great on the diet, either; I didn't force myself to eat things I dislike but know I need to eat. I occasionally ate things I shouldn't have. "But I'm now cancer-free," I would tell myself. "As long as I have the Beam Ray, I should be okay." And that would have been true had I been doing what I was supposed to be doing!
So let me just say this about that... complacency will get you into trouble. If you are now "cancer-free," PRAISE GOD!!! But don't go off your Beam Ray treatments, and don't start eating stuff you know you shouldn't have! If I'm prone to cancer but not sure why, it's going to be tough to "fix" that problem, so I must behave as though I still have to watch out for it, BECAUSE I DO!!! He's blessed me SO VERY MUCH to still be here, and I think I took advantage of that. We need to remember from where we came. So this was largely my own doing.
So that's the story. Back to "active" cancer treatment protocol: two Beam Ray treatments a day, six days a week, back to a "cancer" diet: no pork, no red meat, no bottom-feeders or shellfish; only white Perdue chicken breast, etc. Lots and lots of fresh raw veggies. No sugar; as little as possible in the foods I eat. (Gotta watch the fruit, as even though it's FRUIT, it's full of sugar--yeah, it's "natural," but it's still sugar!!) Try not to eat processed foods, etc.
The Lord is good--all the time; all the time, the Lord is Good. He has blessed me abundantly; to listen to the medical community, I should have been dead in '01 or '02. He had things for me to do. Greg and I felt strongly that to help other people with life-threatening diseases was the direction He was putting before us, and we've been trying to fulfill what He wants of us. We also have our music--music that hopefully helps people reach out to and find our Lord. He knows only too well from where WE came: "anything but perfect" is a pretty good description. We know how to relate to people who do not have "any interest in religion." It's up to us to let them know and help them to understand that there is a definite difference beween religion and a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Greg and I have a long way to go to be where He wants us to be, but we're blessed at the long way we've come from where we used to be.
May the Glory of God touch your life today and every day. Help someone else find that blessing, too, will you?
Until next time, God's blessings on you and yours~
Jeanne
Don't have a whole lot of time right now, but wanted to update you all as to what's going on.
CROSSOVERroad will be performing (last gig in '07 that we know of!) at the Fellowship Coffeehouse at 3828 Madison Avenue (in a strip mall at Hanna and Madison Avenues). The band has been "attacked" by the enemy as of late; lots of problems, etc., and I'm afraid we got sidelined from booking.
As for my own personal path, I have good news... a spot that was seen on my bonescan IS new cancer growth on a rib, BUT is nothing to be concerned about. We are changing one med (conventional medicine), and I am increasing treatments and getting stricter with my diet (alternative medicine), so ALL IS WELL. The Lord is taking good care of me!
Please keep other band members in your prayers, and COME SEE US NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT!!! I can't tell you what that would mean to us!!
love, Jeanne
Still Thankfully in His Love and Care~
Jeanne McGill O'Haver of CROSSOVERroad
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Ephesians 3:16-31
Well, this has been a weird week. Friend Ginny passed a week ago Thursday on March 29. I am ecstatic that she is pain-free and with the Lord in beautiful heaven without a care; just wish her family could be doing as well. I didn't know Ginny for years and years, but it felt like I did. I truly loved her, and tried my best to help. I really, really miss her a lot. But I am SO blessed to be as close to Ginny's daughter Beth as I was to Ginny, so hopefully, we can help one another get through this time.
Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday and my birthday; I don't feel much like celebrating my birthday, but I am certainly going to celebrate our Lord, and thank Him for all He did for Ginny prior to her passing. God knows just how we feel; after all, He gave up His one and only Son for us, and tomorrow celebrates that He is the RISEN Christ, Our Lord, who took it all for us. A person can't ask for much more than that!
I am very thankful that my own health report is really good, and has been that way for some time. Friend Sharon is hanging in there; little friend Cale is doing just wonderful (please read the prayer blog at http://thewwpc.blogspot.com, and use this email address to post your prayer requests to the blog: wwpc.post@blogger.com.)
Thank you for continuing prayers, and please sign the Guest Book if you visit. God's continued blessings on you and yours.
Love, Jeanne
Hubby is finally completely free of his kidney stones ordeal, and Milton (Kyser, of Kyser Music Products) took him to the NAMM Show in Anaheim this week, then back to Dallas. They were supposed to be working on Greg's capos when they got back to Dallas, but the guy doing the tooling on them didn't have them done. So they were bummed about that; they should have checked on it, or lit a fire under him, or something. Greg got back to Dallas on Monday, and will get back home on Thursday.
That's about all that's going on here! Friends Ginny and Sharon are still fighting the good fight with their respective cancers, but I have a good feeling--no, a GREAT feeling--about both of them. They've both been through a lot, but each is managing to stay strong, and has a terrific faith in the Lord. Ginny is using the Beam Ray; Sharon will again when she can (you have to be away from chemo for a minimum of 48 hours to use it, and she's doing daily treatments at this time). I have every faith both of these gals are going to do fine. Do me a favor and keep them in your prayers, will you?
God's blessings on each of you who read this, and special thanx to those of you who take the time and trouble to pray. Our Lord will bless you any time you pray for another.
Love~ Jeanne
This has been a heck of a year. As each year comes along and we're another year older, we lose more friends than the year before. How I wish everyone had a Beam Ray machine!! Nothing would make me happier; I'd bet we could cut that number in half (or more) if every one of our friends and relatives who are ill in some way was able to use a Beam Ray! I am no longer calling our machine a "Rife"--too many companies out there are "nailing two things together" and calling it "Rife technology." I know for sure what a Beam Ray machine is, and I have no idea what any of those other things out there are, but I do know that a couple of people we know have bought other machines claiming to be "Rife technology," and they have now passed away. I am not trusting any other company; I don't know how I would or could test or prove any of those others; the Beam Ray has already passed every test.
Anyway, on to other things--the trip(s) to Texas was (were) wonderful. The trip I referred to in my last posting was in the spring and we took our grandson. I didn't feel up to doing a lot of the stuff we had planned to do, but this gave Stevie and Poppo some time to themselves, so it was definitely a good thing, and it gave me some time to just hang with my sister-in-law and then Jeanie Kyser. Stevie also did a little hanging around with his cousin Ashley, who is (I think) 16 now. She's a race car driver with her grandpa (Greg's brother Terry), and Stevie and Poppo got to go see her and Terry race (and got to get in the cars, etc).
Greg's capo designs (the actual reason for the trips to Texas) were well-liked by the music company, and they are going to manufacture and distribute them, along with a DVD that teaches guitarists what each of the different capos is used for, and how to use them. This will be REALLY helpful for those musicians who would love to try something new and have no idea how these capos work. Greg went back for several days again in July, and then the two of us went back again in November. This has all been such an incredible blessing; the company owners are Christian people and we find we're all on the same page with everything. They have so generously paid for all of these trips as they work toward working Greg's capos into their line of products, and even insist that I come along, too! The Lord has really provided huge blessing for us in bringing Milton and Jeanie Kyser into our lives! What a giving couple.
Greg has been harried and hassled by kidney stones since about September or October; he had two huge ones: 1.7 and 1.4 cm, and ended up having to have them "blasted." It's like a surgery, but they don't cut him; they use sound waves to break up the kidney stones (much like how the Beam Ray works). It did take quite a while for him to overcome all of this; this procedure was very, very costly, and he had to recover just as though it was a major surgery; they put him out, and he did some throwing up afterwards, etc. After the procedure, we ended up back in the emergency room two times that same week. The pain was unbearable, and the pain meds ended up making him terribly sick. Once this would spiral so far out of control, there was nothing we could do but go back to the hospital and have them give him iv meds. We are praising God that this is now finally behind us.
As I mentioned, we have lost more than several friends this year. It's a very sad thing, and one that's sometimes very difficult to get past. We just have to keep hanging on to the fact that the Lord is all-powerful, and not "of" this world; He is not interested in the same things we are interested in, and our understanding of Him and His ways is just not there. We must lean on Him completely in faith, knowing He has everything well in hand, whether we have a clue about it or not. We are so very thankful to have Him in our lives; I don't see how people survive all the stuff we have to survive without Him.
My voice has (somewhat) returned; it's sure not what it was before, but it does feel that it's on the way back. I think the suggestion that acid reflux is causing the problem is probably correct. I have ups and downs with that, and need to try to figure out what the differences are so that I can avoid anything that causes me problems. I'm not recognizing that quite yet.
On May 28th this year, we adopted our two new kitties (new to us!!), who turned three this summer (they are a month apart in age). As you may/may not know, our one remaining kitty (I usually had many; rarely had just one) who was almost 22 years of age ("Misty") passed in August '04. We went over a year without pets, thinking we'd have a lot more freedom to travel, etc. But we didn't really do it, and I found myself kind of depressed. Greg finally (in May) said, "I think it's time we got our kitties, don't you?" So I sent out some emails re: exactly what we were looking for, and my friend Ginny (former classmate) had just received an email from someone she worked with looking for a new home for her two kitties (she was traveling all the time for work and never home). So it was just meant to be. They are SO much fun and SO very funny; they're more entertaining than TV. They're old enough that they've settled down some; they're not into everything at once, yet they're still young enough that they have plenty of kitten left in them. They love to play, and they've really warmed up to Greg and I and are lovey dovey. They're both girls; they're named "Peyton" (after Peyton Manning--she has kind of a "star" on her forehead) and "Sadie" (short for Mercedes, because she purrs like a fine motor). They are both black with lots of white markings on them. They really do make us very happy (especially me!). We have a friend, Mary Ann, who has lots of pets of her own, but who also "pet-sits" for others when they go on vacation, etc. This trip we just took was my first since getting the girls, so Mary Ann came over every day and fed them, etc. I told her she didn't have to come every day, but she said she wanted to!! She's a true blessing, too!!
Well, that's about all the news that's fit to tell for the moment!! I hope and pray that each of you has a great 2007. Be sure to visit the prayer chain blog at http://thewwpc.blotspot.com and read the prayer requests. If you want instructions on how to post your prayer requests, send me your email and I'll send you an instructional email (you have to have the username and password, etc). We would love to pray for you!!
God's Blessings~ Jeanne
Ephesians 3:16-21
First off, the little challenges I was dealing with in my last entry are now gone; I discontinued a medication and everything is now fine. I'm still working through the vocal trauma that having a throat infection left behind. I would REALLY appreciate prayer for that!
Through one friend who told another who told another, we are now in need of a revolving door on our house for people taking Beam Ray treatments! We're trying to work schedules around to get everybody in here for different treatments at different times, and contacting Birmingham for advice about programs a couple of times a week now! These are the kinds of problems we LIKE to have. All have positives to say about their treatments.
For those of you who have been submitting folks with different diseases to us for prayer, particularly cancer, and particularly when the doctors have nothing or very little to offer, please, PLEASE consider how incredible this treatment is. Six of us went to dinner this evening and, comparing notes, the testimonies were incredible! I would urge people to share this information with their sick friends and family members. We are always willing to share our machine; there is no charge for taking treatments. If they live far away, we can check with the company to see if there's someone in their area who has a machine they can use. If not, we can tell you: we did not have money to purchase a machine, but even "financially challenged" people can find stuff in their house to sell to come up with money if/when it's life and death! That's what we did!
We were also discussing this evening what's going to happen if/when the drug companies begin to catch on and realize how successful Rife technology is, and begin to consider it a real threat to their businesses. We can't imagine how a small corporation like this will be able to protect itself against a monopoly that has the conventional medical community (not to mention the nation as a whole!) by the throat. We do consider this a clear and present danger; we're afraid they might try to "squash them like a bug." If that were to happen, the machines would no longer be available to us. Hopefully, those of us who already have machines would not have them ripped away from us (I'd hide mine!!!), but for those who don't have them, it would be a terrible, terrible thing. A couple of people at the table have, I think, decided to get machines of their own before there is any possibility of that happening. (And I should say, I think there are some copies out there that are NOT authentic; PLEASE do not buy just anything that says "Rife technology" on it!! I don't know where those other companies got their info. I DO know where Beam Ray Corp. got their info, how long it took and how expensive it was to develop today's programs from the machines and info from the '30s, how very many research and development scientists were involved, etc.)
I had an interesting time at the oncologist's office last week; I was examined by a PA (Physician's Assistant) instead--yet another closed-minded conventional medical person. Although I'm doing really well (and they all seem very amazed by that), and they have no other explanation for WHY THAT IS other than the Beam Ray, they just cannot conceive that it could possibly be anything other than what THEY are doing (is this a God complex??); and this PA had the gall to actually laugh at me!! It really knocks me out that they would rather send a patient home to die rather than say to someone, "Well, I have no knowledge about this, so I'm not really recommending it, but we DO have a patient who swears by it, and you have nothing to lose at this point, so if you wish to talk to her and check it out, here's her number." Would it HURT them to do this??? Wouldn't this be 1,000 times better than just saying, "See ya" and "Sorry"? At least this way, they are giving them even the slightest bit of hope. WHY would they prefer to just allow people to die than to send them to something unconventional? Is this ego? I just don't know, but if I live to be 500, I'll never understand it.
Well, anyway... If you would like info about this, feel free to contact me. I am praying to the Lord that we (that's everyone in the country--world!!--who has a Beam Ray) will be able to save many, many more people because they will come and check this out rather than just go home to die when their physicians give up.
And although this web page is devoted to sickness and healing, I would like to throw in that we are SO excited right now; seems Greg (my hubby) has business near Dallas, and his brother Terry lives in a suburb of Dallas, and it's near the time that our grandson will be on spring break, so we all get to go and spend a little time down there!! Stevie's never flown before, so Stevie and Mommo (that's me) are gonna fly down and meet up with Poppo (Greg) and have a heck of a good time. Uncle Terry is back stock car racing again (he retired until his granddaughters got old enough to be interested; now he's back in the car again!), so we'll get to see one of their races, and go to Six Flags, etc. I hope I can keep up, but we'll probably get a wheelchair or a motorized cart if we find I can't. I haven't been on a vacation since all these surgeries, so it's hard to say, but before the surgeries, we went to Disney World and had to get a wheelchair. We'll do whatever we have to do to make it happen. Exciting stuff!!! God is Good!
More later! My prayers are with all of you in your struggles and challenges, and are with the friends and family members you ask us to pray for every day on the prayer blog (http://thewwpc.blogspot.com). Keep those prayer requests coming, and send the sick ones here to read about what the Beam Ray can do for them. Also, on the home page of the prayer blog are some links; you can click on Rife page 1 and Rife page 2 for an overview, and you can email me directly: jeanneohaver@earthlink.net to ask direct questions. Our ministry is to help others (particularly those who are sick), whether it's through the Beam Ray, or through our testimonies and original music, live in concert or via our CD. Let us know how we can help!!
God Bless You Big!!!
Love, Jeanne Eph 3:16-21
For starters, I picked the wrong time to loan my Beam Ray machine, which we have done on several occasions, but never for longer than 30 days. But I loaned mine the entire month of October and managed to get sick while it was gone, which I had managed to avoid the past couple of winters. I got to go to Thanksgiving dinner, but spent Christmas eve and day in bed sick. I am thankful that the gigs we had in December for the holidays were before I got too sick, and we didn't play much in January and February. I've been fighting an infection that just wouldn't go away; hopefully, I've got the upper hand now. (Once it gets hold of me, it's a real battle; that's why I usually just use the Beam Ray every day to keep infections away to begin with.) Now I just have to get rid of the residual vocal problems that always plague me AFTER the infection is gone.
I realize that it's a miracle that I'm still here; we talk about it all the time, and people say it all the time. But sometimes, I really don't actually know it in my gut; that kind of comes and goes. Sometimes I think, "Maybe it wasn't really as dire as we thought it was." At times, doctors don't really say what the deal was until it's behind you; they don't want to actually say it while it's still going on. Either that or they don't really know.
My oncologist had said to me years ago, after all the surgeries, that she would just be my regular physician, for everything, and that I could release the internist I had just started seeing when I was diagnosed by the MRI.
But this winter, four years later, when all this throat infection stuff started before Christmas, I think the oncologist office got frustrated with trying to treat this kind of stuff; they deal with cancer, and this is not really what they do. In emailing the nurse, Barbara, back and forth, she mentioned that I should be going to my regular physician for this stuff. I explained to her that before she had come to that office, my oncologist (Kathy Miller) had agreed that she would be my regular doctor, so she was all I had! Barbara wrote back: "But at that time, Kathy did not expect you to live long enough to have problems outside of cancer. But you have outdone all expectations, so now we don't expect THAT to happen anytime soon."
Whoa. There it was in black and white. Shocking for me, even though we knew it, and have been telling our story all this time. I followed their instructions and returned to my former internist, Debra Moreland, who had originally had the MRI done, diagnosed me, and had sent me to Kathy Miller. She was really glad to see me alive; she thought she had given me a death sentence when she got those original results and sent me to Kathy. I showed her all the bone scans and x-rays I have, and what a "bionic" woman I am now with so many artificial parts where cancer ate my bones like pacman. She was amazed at how well I get along, how little (comparatively speaking) pain medication I am able to get by with, and that I'm not in even more pain than I am with all those "spare" parts. She said that I had been in really rough shape, and she hadn't thought I'd make it through that year (she was getting reports back about me and what was going on at the time); I told her that's what the oncologists thought, too, after all that surgery, etc. She said, no, she hadn't meant after all the surgery; she had meant just from that MRI and the cancer in my spine (which was all they knew about at the time--all the other places weren't discovered until after the spine surgery). So there it was again. WOW. She told me several times that it was a complete miracle that I was not only here, but that cancer hadn't returned immediately and consumed me.
I told her all about the Beam Ray, and she was very interested in hearing about it. I'm going to send her a packet of info about it, and let her check it out for herself. I know, I KNOW, that cancer would have returned by now without the Beam Ray; I absolutely know that, without a doubt. I am still on medication that they told me would "help to keep cancerous tumors from forming" for approximately two years before it would no longer work for me, and I would at that time have to switch medications. We would know it was no longer working because cancer would return somewhere (oh joy). I started that medication in July of 2001; this summer will be the five-year mark. There is nothing anyone can say to convince me that this drug is keeping cancer from returning!! I tell my oncologist that it's the Beam Ray; she wants me to stay on the drug; she says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" and I do agree with that. If I'm doing ok with keeping cancer away with what we're doing, let's not mess around with the program and goof this up! I can see that. But I guarantee you, it's the Beam Ray.
And I see that I came to the Beam Ray at the perfect time; the doctors had done all they could to clear my body of the cancer, had rebuilt where bone was eaten away in my spine, pelvis, and hip, and sent me home. They fully expected, by the aggressive way the cancer had metastasized and started eating my bones, that it would soon show up again, and only hoped the meds would buy a little time. But right then, within a couple of weeks of coming home from the hospital, we found the Beam Ray. So it didn't have to kill huge cancer growths or tumors; it only had to kill a few little lingering cells in my body, and then keep any other cancer from regrowing. That's obviously much easier than having to do away with a whole mountain of cancer! Had I found the Beam Ray before all my surgeries, I still would have had to have the surgeries, because they had to replace where bone had been eaten away--not something the Beam Ray can do. So it was a perfect situation--perfect timing--for me--the work of the Lord, for sure. He brought the woman to me in the lobby of our church on the first Sunday I was able to make it back on a walker. "In His time." "His perfect timing." We hear that all the time, but it's like talking about the perfect timing of a comedian or an actor; we "regular" people may kind of understand the concept, but we don't really "see" the timing the way they do when performing their craft. We know that God has The Plan, and we don't always understand it, but I know for sure that His timing is what saved me.
For what did he save me? I ask myself that all the time, for I feel fairly worthless when I'm lying about the house doing a whole lot of nothing. But I know that in our concerts, when we share the music my hubby has written about our experiences, Bible stories, and stories of our friends, and how God has so divinely intervened, and then I give a little of my testimony, and then we tell people we have a prayer chain (http://thewwpc.blogspot.com) where they can post their prayer requests, as well as pray for the requests of others, I have no doubt what our mission is.
And that's not even getting into the Beam Ray--that is, by all means, one of our missions. It's premise is simple science--light and sound frequencies. That's it. The right frequency to match the cells of whatever disease you happen to be suffering from--that's all there is to it. It was painstaking work for the scientist who invented it, but now that they've documented all of those and have them all programmed nicely into a computer, for us, all we have to do is use it, and know that it's God's work, it's God's simple science, it's utilizing the way in which God created everything, and gave us what we need here on this earth and the brains to put it all together. It's math, and math is God's divine design. Wow. I'm so blown away when I realize all this. It really helps to have the help and encouragement of so many; it really makes this journey so much easier for both of us, but especially for me.
I really thank you all for all the prayers, and the well-wishes, and I thank you for caring enough to visit this web page once in a while to see how I'm doing!
I do have a few lingering issues that I'm hoping to get cleared up here very soon; I suspect it may have to do with medications and I have an appointment March 1, so perhaps all will be cleared up here very soon. I'll try to update again sooner than I have been doing!
I still am very tired and wiped out every time we do much of anything, but that's just part of it. I do very well otherwise. Last winter, our CD was finally released; we've been playing music pretty steadily. Greg has also been playing a lot of gigs as a single to supplement our income, which is helping, as finances have been a problem, especially over this past summer. He just checked out a new gig for him, and is hopeful that this will work out well. Also, he has an invention that he is talking to a few very select people about, and if all goes well with that, this could "save" us financially. I am hopeful.
We just celebrated our anniversary. Since we got married on the anniversary of our first date, this anniversary was 17 and 16, if you know what I mean. This occurred during the same timeframe as his sister's 50th Anniversary!! Wow. The party was great; Greg's brother came in from Texas for a week to be here when the party came around, and to visit. So things have been going well, despite the financial challenges.
I ask you, if you are reading this, to please keep the people misplaced and victimized by Katrina in your prayers. At this writing, Rita is making threats and we don't yet know what she will do. It's a terrifying time for a great population, including a lot of Katrina victims who find themselves once again in harm's way. Please, PLEASE take some time for prayer for these folks. You'd hope for these prayers if it was you or your loved ones in harm's way (and it just might be!!)
BTW, the precious little one referred to in my last post (which was last winter) went home to be with the Lord on the 4th of July; I didn't hear about it until much later. I am in agony for her family, but at least we know she is in the loving arms of Jesus, and no one in the universe loves the little ones more than He does (though I figure I've got to be in the top 10!). Please keep her family in your prayers, that they will get through this over time.
Oh, also, wish to ask for prayers for my son and family. Our precious grandson is going to be 13 next month; though he has a "girlfriend" that he's "going out" with (even though they aren't yet allowed to date), he's still a young 13, and I praise God for that! (And he's fine with not growing up too fast.) But there is a lot of tension and stress in that household; not getting along, etc., and they need MUCH prayer. My daughter-in-law has been having anxiety attacks; please pray that God takes those away, too.
Thanx for reading, and I hope you'll comment in the Guest Book. It looks like no one has been there for eons. But that's ok--I run a prayer chain and the band's web page, and I guess most people feel they've spoken with me quite enough!!
Love, Jeanne
God has richly blessed us in terms of people seeking us out for information about (and treatment with) the Beam Ray. We talked to Mr. Lynn Kenny (owner of Beam Ray, LLC in Birmingham, AL) and found that the Beam Ray is very close to FDA approval! It takes such a long time for these things. Also found out that, in addition to the "Rife Conventions," etc that take place (mostly in CA), there is a hospital that has been doing clinical trials for the past two years. I thank God for every ounce of credibility we can get/find with the Beam Ray, as I grow weary battling doubters, knowing that the difference between whether or not I am able to effectively discuss this alternative could easily be the difference between life and death for other human beings. It's very scary to me, especially when I have days that words just won't come, and I stumble and stammer through everything I'm trying to convey.
I am especially emotional right now over a little girl nearby with cancer; she has been to St. Jude's, and the family has been told that her time is short. I have tried to get to the family to have her come and use our machine, but I have failed. (We have a mutual friend who has conveyed a little info to them, but they weren't interested in contacting us about it.) I just pray and pray for her in my mind every waking hour, and I fear that at this point, it might be too late (although I discussed this with Lynn Kenny, and he believes her to be savable, at least by 50%. Her doctors give it 0%, so that's quite a difference!). Please pray for this little one; God knows who she is.
That's all for now; I go for my two-month checkup next week, but I don't expect there to be any news. God bless all of you who read this, and please remember that we have something that WORKS if you find that a relative or friend has cancer. Don't lose hope! This machine was a God-thing with us, and remains so!
Since my breast cancer is mostly in my bones (and, although it's considered breast cancer that metastasized to bone, they're now calling it "metastatic bone disease"), the infusion I got every month at the Cancer Center--Zometa--was to strengthen my bones and make them resistant to cancerous tumors. In October, when the oral surgeon sent the bone he cut out to pathologists to be sure it wasn't cancer in my mouth, the pathologist contacted him and said they had case studies showing that Zometa (and another similar drug) CAUSED these types of bone growths in the mouth!!! So October was my last infusion.
This leaves my pill once a day--Arimidex--and a shot once a quarter to keep me in menopause (since all my treatments are for post-menopausal women). The drug they have been giving me for this for the past year is Zolodex, which is a pellet that is injected into my abdomen--OUCH (with a GREAT BIG NEEDLE!!). BUT this week when I went in for it, they told me they had received word to put me back on Lupron--which is a liquid, injectable into the hip with a tiny little needle (thank You, God!!). So THAT's good news, as well.
So being off the Zometa now, which strengthened my bones, and still on Arimidex, which I've been on for almost four years now [and they told me it would be good for about two], I find I am more dependent than ever on (1) the Lord and (2) the Beam Ray to keep cancerous tumors away! But things are going well, as the tests show no more or new cancerous tumors, so I am VERY thankful!!
And that's the story for now!!
The things I do have to deal with are ongoing pain, pain meds, and occasional treatments. I fatigue easily, partially because I have a crooked place in my back (result of surgery on my spine) that makes my legs seem to be of different lengths; the limp this causes wears me down pretty quickly. So I have problems with stamina and tire out fairly easily. There are many things at home that are also difficult for me to do, but this is nothing compared to what so many go through, and I've got the best husband in the universe taking care of me! I'm SO BLESSED!!
Another thing I wanted to tell you about is the WWPC--World Wide Prayer Chain. We call it that because when/if all the folks who receive it not only pray, but pass it along to all of their ebuddies, asking them to do the same, it really goes places. If you would like to be on the prayer list, please email me at jeanneohaver@earthlink.net. We would LOVE to pray for you and your needs.
As for our church, my hubster, Greg, and I (and our grandson, Stephen, when he's with us) attend BridgeWay Community Church in Fishers, Indiana, a not-too-large nondenominational church. BridgeWay has been a blessing in so many ways. I was VERY impressed by the fact that they take very seriously praying for their people, and are faithful to not only pray but to remember, follow up, and keep tabs on if and how those prayers get answered. That is THE most important thing a church can do, in my opinion. If you're not doing that [as a church], you're not caring for your people.
Greg and I had been "church shopping," but hadn't decided on BridgeWay yet because of our "checklist." I truly wanted a church that had Sunday EVENING services since our group most often plays on Saturday nights. I "don't do mornings" as it is; it takes me quite a while get going, especially since the cancer and now the meds, but after a late night of strenuous activity, it's darn near impossible to drag me out before noon or so the next day! So a Sunday night service is really what is needed, and is of some importance to me. That was really the highest priority on my checklist.
The other big number on our checklist was to find a church that was somewhat "musically challenged," where they actually NEEDED our help, where we could make a difference, and help their music program; maybe even get to have a hand in shaping it. But BridgeWay actually has some of the best musicians in the country--Keynote is the organization that feeds Campus Crusade for Christ their bands and musicians, and Keynote is located in Carmel, Indiana, just blocks from our house. As a result, there is a whole boatload of Keynote musicians who not only attend BridgeWay, but who are involved in worship music during service every week. So this is probably the LAST church that would need any help from us, for sure!! Once in a while, they are so sweet to ask Greg and/or me to do a particular song that has relevance to the sermon, but to be honest, they have everything they need and more!
So those were the big items on the checklist, but... when I went into the hospital in 2001, for a time, things were not looking particularly good for me; my hubby was attending BridgeWay while I was gone, as we had visited several times and really liked the people, the music, the sermons, etc., and he felt comfortable there. He needed to have church people around him to talk to, etc. He talked about my situation to lots of people there, and they just closed ranks around him, surrounding him with their love, hope, and particularly with prayer. They checked in on him; they made arrangements to start having meals brought to us after I got home. Some of them even offered to help him clean house in preparation for my homecoming (sure wish he'd have taken them up on it!!). Some of them even came down to the hospital to visit me during those seven weeks. That's a lot to ask of a church for folks who had decided they probably would NOT be attending there on a regular basis! But Greg was in desperate need of everything they were giving him and, upon my return home from the hospital, it was pretty clear that, despite the checklist, we would be trying to make it there for service whenever we could.
I also mentioned that we're in a contemporary Christian group. In the '70s, we were in secular bands (Greg in Pleasant Street and I was in Shiloh Morning). During the '80s, we had each moved out of state in opposite directions, and had stopped playing full-time. We both returned to Indianapolis in the mid '80s and became a duo; Greg's former bassman, Tom, joined us and we became a trio, singing acoustic music--a combination of folk and light rock. Greg and I had helped to found a new church in '91 called New Paradigm Christian Church; we were totally immersed in the music, as well as many other aspects of the church. The church didn't have a "band," per se; they had performance trax, both for worship music and for special music, and they had songleading teams that led worship each week. So Greg was mixing and singing special music, and I was songleading and doing special music using tons of trax tapes, and there were so many songs that I wanted to work up in the group. It was in the early- to mid-'90s that I really got the guys interested in playing Christian music, too; we had two repertoires, one secular and one Christian, and we could always subtly slip a few Christian songs in with the secular ones!! So we were "Crossover" for a time, but slowly, the emphasis began leaning more toward Christian music. We noticed that Greg's original songs became almost exclusively Christian. So now, at this point in time, we are now a five-piece group, and although we might occasionally play a secular gig (maybe once a year?), we generally stick to Christian venues, and now our name is CROSSOVERroad. This is more fitting; we've crossed over from a secular lifestyle (musically) to a Christian one, and are now witnessing to others that they can do the same. The guys also think the play on words is kind of cute; they say they've "moved"--from Pleasant Street to Crossover Road.
I praise the Lord that He has blessed me in so very many ways. When I got home from the hospital, I could hardly stand, and could not walk. My lung capacity disappeared; it took more than three months to get it back so I could sing. But now, I am able to be in the group, still able to sing, even with occasional limited energy. I have the most devoted, wonderful husband in the universe who takes WONDERFUL care of me! He runs his own sales business out of our home, so even though he's busy, he's here on hand if I really need him. We have our lives set up here; he works here, and I'm able to help him occasionally when he needs it; we're able to have rehearsals right here at home, also, so we don't have to go out to do that. Truly, despite occasional challenges, life is good.
We also have a loving, sweet, and caring grandson; I fell in love with him before he was born, and I remain so. We started out his life coming home with Mommo and Poppo every single weekend and attending church every Sunday. Except for those times when the family lived with us for a while (when we got to have him ALL the time!!), this kept up until he was about nine, when he decided to cut it to about every other weekend so he could see his friends, etc., on weekends. As he's gotten older (he turned 12 in October), he comes over less and less frequently; we try to get him as often as we can, though, with or without his friends. Thank God he loves our music; he even helps us roadie a little when he comes to a gig. Thank God he learned about the Lord, and loves Him! And thank God that he was the best little six-year-old nurse you ever saw, and then again at eight and nine. There were times when he WAS my reason to keep going; I know many grandmas are in love with their grandkids, but no one more than I! I praise the Lord every single day for this precious, wonderful, bright, articulate kid!
We are so blessed to be with family at Christmastime (I know many only wish they could), and I thank God for all His blessings--for the birth of His Son Jesus Christ, our Savior, Who gave His life so that we could be free and clear, bought and paid for by His blood. Greg and I have lost SO many friends as they went home to be with the Lord, particularly this year; although we miss them terribly and haven't yet healed from the loss, we realize that this is a human condition--this is how God, our Father, made us. He knows it will take a while; He knows it is human nature to grieve, even though we are happy for them that they are with Him in heaven. But in the meantime, we have our family, we have one another, we have Him, and we have you, Dear One, and we wish you all the joy and happiness that you deserve. We are so very grateful!
God Bless You, and Merry Christmas to All.
Well, we have GREAT news today!!! But I need to begin at the beginning....
In the past few weeks, I've noticed that, in addition to the sciatic nerve pain in my left hip (NOT the one they rebuilt), I seem to have a pain in my right arm that's increasing. It awakens me in the night, every time I change positions. So I saw the doc week before last, and she examined me; she thought another bone scan was in order to rule out the return of cancer, so I went last Thursday. I was supposed to return to her office on Wednesday to get the results, but they called to say there was no need--the scan looks really good, and there's no new cancer. God is good--all the time!
So this is some really good news to wrap up 2004--a very difficult year. We've had a lot of sadness; a great many friends went home to be with the Lord, and it is amazing how many people are cropping up with cancer, etc., especially children. This year has been so jam-packed with this kind of thing that it's been overwhelming; we've not even had enough opportunity to deal with it all. So we need to do that; we need to take stock, and get through the grief, and remember to LIVE NOW while we are still here. It is so easy for me to get swallowed up in this stuff and allow days to go to waste. So I am really happy with the good news, and I need to remind myself to take our happiness where we find it; be grateful for the day, and thank our precious Lord and Saviour for every good thing He has given us!! My gratitude to all of you who pray; to all of you who care, and who contribute to my life in a happy and helping and wonderful way. You are truly blessings to me, and I am truly grateful!!
So have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and it's on to 2005!!
One of the most difficult things about having cancer is that, for the longest time, the thought that lives in the back of your mind, 24/7, even in your dreams, is "I may not have very long to live. My little grandson might not have much memory of me by the time he finishes college and marries; he won't remember that I loved him so very much that I would gladly have given my life for him without a second thought; he won't remember the times he stayed with us; the vacation trip we took together, just the three of us. He won't have memories of all the stories that now won't get passed on to his children. He won't have me here to help him through the sometimes terrible, always rocky teenaged years. I don't want to leave him!!"
If others find ways to get rid of these nagging thoughts, then I am so happy for them, but I never could--not while I still knew for sure I still had cancerous tumors. Now that there is a strong possibility that the tumors have died, I find I don't have these thoughts all the time, and it's such a wonderful break; it is its own kind of freedom!
I also had a period of time where I had nightmares every single night; this kept me distraught and exhausted and afraid to go to sleep. For a long, long time, it was mostly stuff about being in the hospital, some of it truth and some of it fiction. My precious Annie and Sister Mary Holy-Card (not her real name!! ha!!) came over and anointed me with oil and prayed over me, and I've not had a nightmare since. This is what the Holy Spirit can do for you (and that was what the evil one will do TO you!).
I have also become very involved in the "Prayer Warriors" emails that I consolidate several times a week and send out; it doesn't actually take all that much work, and when I first started doing it, I thought of it as no big deal. But as time goes on, I get so much feedback from people--gratitude that someone cares enough to direct a whole big group of other people who don't even know them to pray for them specifically, and pass it on, which could mean hundreds, even thousands of prayers going up, just for them. They are so grateful and filled with hope, and want to become a part of it, and start thinking about what they can do for others. Just hearing some of the things people say will lift your spirits right up. And, of course, we all know that no matter how bad things get for us, there is always someone out there who has it much worse than we do; we just need to be in a position to run into that person, or hear about them, to be reminded that they are there, asking for prayer also. Doing something like this is essential to keep one from wallowing in their own predicament.
And I find that people are so kind and unselfish, always wanting to ask for prayer for someone else, someone whom they love; it's so inspiring. And then, of course, you get the praise reports, where you see that all those prayers had an effect! And it's just a wonderful thing; one of those "circle of life" God-things that keeps you a part of life when you weren't particularly feeling that you were. When you're sitting around like a vegetable, it's hard to see God's plan for your life; it's difficult to believe that your life has any meaning anymore. You begin to think that there is no purpose to be taking up space or using up oxygen. So I now see that if and when that time comes for any of us for whatever reason, we need to find some way to be useful, and of service to someone else, even if we're flat on our backs. (Dial the telephone; call someone who's in the hospital, or bedridden like you--cheer each other up!) When we can't find (or don't try to find) a reason to be here, then we really don't have a purpose for our life at that moment. And it's not God's job to find some purpose or other for us; He's already given us all we need; it's up to us to use what He gave us and make something out of it. To me, this is reminiscent of a kid who constantly wants to "be entertained"; he hasn't yet learned to figure out something fun to do on his own! I'm slow, but I'm figuring this stuff out.
So, anyway, I just wanted to share that with you; maybe there's somebody out there who can identify, and maybe because it's something I've been through myself, I can help somebody else work their way through it, too. If that's you, God Bless You; there is an end to this tunnel, and things are not as black as they seem some days!! God loves you, and so do I! E-mail me and "get connected" with the other Prayer Warriors: My email address is jeanneohaver@earthlink.net.
I still deal with a great deal of pain and fatigue. The pain is largely taken care of by meds, which I must take every 12 hours, morning and evening, to be able to function at all. I did, more than a year ago, pare my pain meds back the tiniest little bit over a long, long period of time, and was able to eventually get each dose down by 10mg from what it had previously been (that's 20mg a day). But when I went further that, within a week, my life once again became getting up to go to the bathroom, and to occasionally eat, shower, and change nightgowns; all of my time was spent back in bed; it was like just before I went in to the hospital. Obviously, since that is akin to no life at all, I realized I had reached the point where I could not ease them down any further, and I had to go back up 5mg per dose to get back out of bed and begin to live again. But I remain very pleased that I was able to get it down at all, from what the doctor was telling me. The areas with the most pain are the areas where surgery was performed; I have slight pain in areas where tumors are or were, but usually not a whole lot. I get a shot every three months; used to be in my hip, and one time the sciatic nerve was hit, and I am still feeling those effects, more than a year later. (The shot is now given in my abdomen; different medication.) The fatigue I battle all the time is probably due to having so many surgery sites (which make it painful to walk, etc.), and to the medication. I am also a little "off kilter" from the spine surgery site on down; it wasn't aligned exactly, and now I have the illusion of having one leg shorter than the other.
But the big thing for me is the Rife generator, a/k/a the Beam Ray, which I found at church, believe it or not!! It was like a miracle when our friends told us about their mother who had two large tumors in one breast (situation was almost identical to mine), and she did not do surgery, no radiation, no chemo--nothing but the Beam Ray and some modifications to her diet, and both of these tumors disintegrated after only three months!! She was so shocked when her doctor told her this that she ended up getting two more opinions; she was in disbelief!! I will tell you more about this extraordinary treatment in a different section. I am so blessed to have a Beam Ray machine; got it only a few weeks after returning home from the hospital, and use it every day.
Anyway, in August of 2003, it seems that when I got the results of my bloodwork back; my oncologist was elated--she said that my bloodwork has never looked this good! The only thing that wasn't completely ok was that I was a little anemic--in the big picture, THAT'S NOTHING!! I also got a bonescan--no change since more than a year before.
What you may not know about a bonescan is this: cancerous tumors look exactly the same on a bonescan as the shadow that is left behind when a cancerous tumor is gone. So when the experts look at the bonescan, they are only looking to see if anything appears bigger than the last time, or if there are tumors showing up that didn't appear there before. This would indicate that these tumors are alive and active and growing. If the bonescan looks the same, they assume that either the tumors are all dead, or they're all still there but inactive.
So you have to take a bonescan with a grain of salt, and in conjunction with bloodwork, etc. I get an exam by Dr. Miller every three months to see if she spots or feels any new tumors, as well.
I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in '99, went through surgery and then was supposed to have four rounds of chemo, three weeks apart. (They were certain they got all of the cancer; this was just a precaution.) But the very first round made me so deathly ill that I was unable and unwilling to do any more. I was so sick and could not eat; I began to get big welts, not unlike hives, all over my body. Pretty soon they were also in every oraface, and covered my scalp even prior to all of my hair falling out. My head itched and hurt at the same time so bad; you couldn't scratch without screaming out in pain; it was like scratching a burn. It took quite a while to get well after this, and my hair didn't even begin to come back until more than six months after that, but finally I recovered from the ordeal. I can tell you truly, chemo is definitely not for me!!
We moved into a different county; I had been going to the county hospital, and I wasn't really too wild about the doctors who had treated me, so I didn't get a new doctor right away. I just made sure I got mammograms every six months and thought all would be ok (DON'T EVER DO THIS!)
In the summer of '00, I got a back injury that wouldn't get better, and went to several different doctors over about an eight-month period. I finally decided I needed a new doctor that I could go to regularly, and after taking my history, she said, "Your back should have been better by now; we need an MRI." When the results came back, she told us with tears in her eyes that the cancer had come back and metastacized in my spine, explaining to us that no matter where it reappeared, it was still considered breast cancer. She referred us to an oncologist at IU Cancer Center on the IUPUI campus downtown. Being a general practitioner, she couldn't really tell from looking at the MRI exactly how bad it was, but we could tell she definitely thought she was giving me a death sentence.
Just a note: Remember the female scientist doing work down at the South Pole who discovered a couple of months into her stay that she had breast cancer, and doctors helped guide her co-workers to caring for her until they could get her out? Well, my oncologist, Kathy Miller, was a part of that team who helped save the life of that scientist.
Anyway, it was a really long road, and it's a really long story, but to attempt to keep it short, I went in for the back surgery (11 hours) in June of '01; that was difficult enough, but after that, they kept finding (one by one) cancer in more and more places. Finally, Greg and I insisted on a full-body MRI and bonescan. Cancerous tumors were in many places, but the "big bad" ones were the pelvis (where it was partially disintegrated) and hip (where it was really no longer connected to the thigh bone). Everyone kept asking me, "How on earth were you able to WALK???" No one could figure it out.
In addition to various radiation treatments on the spine and each femur, etc., which did nothing to help the condition, and made the pain much worse, two more surgeries were scheduled--one was to thread a tiny "string" through a blood vessel and permanently tie off a group of blood vessels that had been feeding the cancer. Doing this would also cut the odds of me bleeding out and dying during the next surgery by about 50%--one of the biggest risks, they said. The last surgery was to "rebuild" the pelvis and then do the hip replacement. Telling it like this doesn't sound so bad; living it was a different story; it was like a nightmare. One of the worst things was that I had a bad reaction to one of the drugs they were using for pain, and it took a bit for them to figure out which one it was. I was having terrible dreams and hallucinations, did not know what was real and what was not. I got into some trouble--almost threw myself out of the bed one time, etc. I answered questions crazy; it's a miracle they didn't lock me up in the psych ward! But after the bad reaction with the chemo that I thought for a time was killing me, and then another bad reaction with a drug, I realize that I don't always react in a way they consider normal to drugs, so I am fairly skeptical about adding new drugs to the regimen! I never know how my body will react.
For quite a while during my hospital stay, I thought I was going to die. I didn't think anyone else thought so. I later found out that they all thought so, but didn't realize that I thought so. What a scary, scary time.
But then one day, my husband, Greg, came to the hospital and told me that God had just "bathed him" with peace; he could hardly wait to tell me about it, and told me was then positive I was going to live. I wasn't so sure (and neither was anyone else), but after almost seven weeks in the hospital, I did finally go home the second week of August, 2001. Greg and my sister, Gayle, basically took turns caring for me, night and day, with a little additional help from some of our friends. With time, I finally learned to walk again, and began the slow recovery. (In the hospital, I could lay on my back, or they could roll me a quarter turn to the left--period. All the muscle in my legs went away; I had a little left in my arms from using them to roll myself the quarter turn, but not much.) I had bedsores that took another six months to go away. I had to wear the white hose to prevent blood clots from forming. [This is actually what killed my best friend in the summer of 2004; a blood clot got loose and clogged at the brain stem.]
Finally, I was strong enough (well, not really, but I did it anyway) to play a gig with the band again, something I had wondered for months if it would ever happen again. That was mid-December of 2001--that was pretty much a miracle in itself!! I spent most of the evening half sitting on my stool, but somehow got through it. What we've done since then (although a very incomplete journal) is outlined below.
I didn't do a very good job of journaling, but I will try my best to fill in the holes; I didn't journal in just one place, either, so it's kind of all over the place. I am hoping this site will serve to organize this for me, as well as to "tell my story." Playing in a Christian band, people ask a lot of questions, and having a place like this where they can read about the ordeal is a true blessing.
----End of History----
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