Mary Feltman Mary Feltman

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. 
  Mary, first of all, is a wonderful wife, mother, Grammy, sister, sister-in-law and friend. Next, she is a warrior fighting  cancer.  She has courageously battled a form of thyroid cancer that is in her bones. She and Jim received her diagnosis in December of 2005. Since that time, she has undergone radiation treatments, and various chemotherapies. With each treatment there was only temporary success in attacking the cancer.  Her initial tumor site was in her right hip. As time went by, the tumor in that area had destroyed a significant amount of bone and caused her so much pain. Hoping to relieve the increasing pain, she had that tumor removed and her hip ‘rebuilt’ with plates and screws. Unfortunately, that surgery did not provide her with any pain relief, and the cancer has progressed. She is now in a trial chemo therapy/immunotherapy program that will last 8 weeks and then re-evaluate it’s effectiveness in her cancer. She has completed 2 weeks. This trial involves infusions every 2 weeks and frequent blood draws, up to 4 times a week. 
  Pain control has been a huge issue since Mary’s surgery. She has needed increasing amounts of pain medication, and still not getting adequate pain relief. So last Monday, she had a device called an HF10 spinal cord stimulator inserted. This, too,is a trial to help with pain relief. If effective, after its trial, she will have one inserted permanently. In size, is much like an implanted pacemaker that is used for heart patients. We are very encouraged that this HF10 trial has decreased her pain from what often was a 6-8, down to an average of 0-2! The doctors will evaluate its effectiveness next Tuesday and make a decision/plan based on the data we provide them.
  I can’t tell you how much Mary, Jim and their family appreciate and covet your support and prayers.