Margo's Status Updates, 10/2006 -- 11/2007

Status

Friday, October 20, 2006

Margo is doing well. Had physical therapy, ocupational therapy, and speech therapy, and radiation therapy today. She started using the walker for the first time. She has a good attitude and is continuing to plan for Thanksgiving.

Tonight she is supposed to start chemo therapy. She'll be taking a pill for starters.

Keep praying.

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Margo is responding well to the physical therapy. She's using a walker now and walking on her own without the walker occasionally. Chemo is progressing and we're expecting her to start the intravenous chemo today or Tuesday.

Looks like we'll be limiting the Thanksgiving celebration but expanding the Christmas celebration.

Margo is anxious to leave the hospital but she'll need to continue to improve before she can leave.

Sandi Preston is leaving this Saturday and hopefully some of the guys at our fellowship will be able to help with the ranch maintenance.

We spoke to Dr. Aronson the chief oncologist on Wednesday, the 25th of October this week. He explained that Margo is in the upper echelon of patients and he expects she has a much better chance of surviving long term. However, long term survivorship depends on her ability to accept the chemo and radiation and their effectiveness against the cancer.

The Dr. explained he will be using a menu of 6 drugs against the cancer but will initially only use 4. If the cancer doesn't abate he'll use the other two. If that doesn't stop the cancer he has access to other drugs that might be effective. He also suggested the possible use of biological therapy. This therapy is relatively new and attacks the cancer at the cell level.

The doctor explained it is his goal to cure the the patient of the cancer.

He said he thought Margo had about a 30% chance of surviving three years and if the cancer was in check at the end of the third year the chances of longer term survivorship would increase.

However, all his prognostications depend upon Margo's responsivenes to the treatment and it was impossible to tell how she would respond.

It is going to be very difficult for us to live in Pueblo and keep the horses while Margo is receiving treatment here in Denver. We are depending on the Lord to help us decide where we should live and how we're going to handle a move. We'll be praying daily about this and would appreciate your prayers for this as well.

please keep praying for Margo.

Tonight she is supposed to start chemo therapy. She'll be taking a pill for starters.

Please keep praying.

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Friday, December 29, 2006

We're home from Denver and finished wiht the last chemo intravenous treatment. We got to Denver on Tuesday night to begin what we thought was going to be a three day treatment process. However, the a big winter storm looming, The oncology nurse at the clinic decided, along with the doctor, decided to change the treatment to a one day procedure rather than the original three day procedure. This allowed us to leave immediately after the treatment and we got home about midnight.

Before the treatment began Margo had a pulmonary test, and a baseline MRI. The pulmonary test was negative.

The MRI showed progress and improvedment in the treatment of the original tumor. However, a new tumor showed up. It's much smaller than the original one, but it's located deeper and closer to the hypothalmus. The doctor showed us where he thought the new tumor was located on the pre op MRI. We could see a faint outline of it. The doctor thought the tumor was hidden by the swelling present before and immediately after the operation. The doctor thinks we'll have to continue with the original plan for chemo treatment hoping to stop and shrink the new tumor. The new treatment process will include biological drugs which we're hoping will stop the growth of existing tumors.

Margo is handling all this very well and is in very good spirits. We are dealing with the winter snow storm here. Margo's sister Brenda, her dog Gretchen, our niece Stephany, and her mom will be with us a couple more days until the storm blows over.

Abigail is also with us but will be leaving for Australia on January 1st.

Please keep praying for Margo.

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Friday, January 5, 2007

We received a call from the head oncologist, Dr. Arenson today to give us the results of the conference he and the surgeon had regarding Margo's MRI and further treatment. Overall, he said they were very pleased with the progress of the treatment and the surgery. He wants to take another MRI in a couple weeks to check on the status of the "new" tumor. Normally they would not take the next MRI for another 6 weeks.

The doctors don't believe additional surgery is an option for the new tumor because of its location. They are recommending continuing the current chemo and biological drug protocol with the option of using the gamma knife radiation treatment after they review the next MRI.

Margo will be starting the new biological protocol as soon as the drug arrives. It's been shipped by Swedish Hospital. We will be charged a small copay, but we haven't received the bill yet.

The Lord is good, and we trust He will deliver Margo and our family from this scourge.

Please keep praying for Margo.

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Saturday, March 24, 2007

Today we're resting at home in Colorado where we're getting some much needed rain. Abigail will be coming home tomorrow. Since our last update Margo has had the gamma knife radiation treatment, and is recovering nicely. She's also had another MRI. Her head chemo oncologist reviewed the new image and believes the tumor treated by the gamma knife has stopped growing and may be shrinking. It was hard to tell from the MRI how effective the gamma knife was because there is still quite a lot of swelling.

After the gamma knife treatment we were able to go to the Indian Wells tennis tournament near Palm Springs California. We were able to visit several of our friends and relatives while we were there. It was wonderful to see and visit with so many of our friends and family. We wanted to stay longer and were so sorry we couldn't see everyone.

Almost two weeks ago we were in Denver for another monthly treatment. Margo has been recovering from this last treatment and her blood counts have been good. She's still some what lethargic, and we're working on getting her up and around more. We're also continuing with the thalidomide oral chemo treatment. It's believed this drug is causing most of the lethargy.

Margo has had several visitors lately and she has very much enjoyed their company. Our friends Betty Adams and Niela Stover visited from California and stayed with us about 5 days. Their stay enabled me to go to Phoenix to work with my brother-in-law in hopes of starting a new business here in Colorado.

We are blessed to have so many good friends and relatives.

God is good!

Please keep praying for Margo.

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Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Wanted to update Margo's status after yesterday's trip to Denver for MRI, and pulmonary function test(PFT)...

We are very much relieved by the results of the MRI. I was concerned about Margo's recent condition which has been deteriorating over the last few weeks. Until we could get an update from the oncologists in Denver I didn't want to concern others about it. I've been lowering her dose of steriod gradually (per the oncologists instructions) and it appears she's not ready for the lower doses yet. I conferred with the chemo oncologist and we've decided to go back to higher doses. We are also going to participate in a clinical study of a new drug that will replace the steriod we're using (decadron). The study will take a couple of weeks to complete and then three months after that before we can start administering it regularly. I'll be receiving the forms to start the study in a couple of days. This new drug apparently has none of the awful side effects of decadron. After we participate in the study, we'll be recieving the drug free of charge from the drug company. We are very hopeful about this new drug. Only one major drawback that we don't like, i.e., the drug has to be administered by injection.

The chemo oncologist, Dr. Arrenson, is also going to start Margo on another biological drug, in addition to thalidamide. It wasn't his first choice of biologicals but the insurance company wouldn't approve of his first choice because the drug has not been approved by the FDA and we would have to pay full price for it which would ruin us financially. His second choice is also not approved by the FDA but the drug company will provide it gratis.

As for the details of the MRI, there appears to be no new tumor growth and the existing disease appears to be "breaking up". The tumor that the gamma knife attacked appears to be shrinking. Praise God! We don't have the final results of the PFT but the prelim showed no problems.

Because of the side effects of the steriod, we'll be seeking a physical therapist for Margo. We've started her on an exercise regimen, but it's very difficult for her to get started on this...the steriod and the thalidamide inhibit ever her desire to exercise. We're hoping we'll find a PT locally that will accept our insurance and that the insurance will approve it.

Because Margo's blood counts were so low, she was not able to have chemo yesterday so she'll have to have blood tests over the next few days and once the counts are high enough, we'll be going back to Denver for another round of intravenous and oral chemo therapy.

God is good!

Please keep praying for Margo. We love her very much.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Wanted to get out an update on Margo's status after the MRI yesterday in Denver.

The MRI was performed after some blood tests around 12:00 PM. We reviewed the MRI with Dr. Arenson around 14:00. Overall Dr. Arenson said there was improvement and some "shrinkage" in the existing tumors and no new tumors apparent. The progress is slow.

However, there is significant swelling which clouds the MRI. Though Dr. Arenson never stated it, it appeared to me that it would be difficult to tell what was happening in the area that was swollen.

Overall, Dr. Arenson appeared to be satisfied with the progress of the treatment.

Margo is participating in a clinical, double blind study of a new drug, hCRF (human Corticotropin Reducing Factor access the following url http://www.virtualtrials.com/hcrf.cfm) to reduce the swelling. However, either she is not taking the real drug or it's not working for her. We have to decide whether to continue the study, or go back to higher levels of dexamethasone (steriod). Dexamethasone has some serious side effects and we need to reduce her use of it.

Currently, because of the swelling, Margo can hardly get around. She can't dress herself or go to the bathroom without help. She is also starting to fall down. Yesterday she fell twice. I think Margo thinks she's better than she really is. She doesn't seem to realize her condition. Not sure why, but she seems to be better some days than others. It's puzzling to me.

I'll be calling the doctor today to discuss her condition again.

Please pray for Margo.

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Tuesday, August 21st, 2007

Some of you know this and others don't, but Margo is in Swedish hospital in Denver. She was admitted last Wednesday. She had severe diarrhea and we couldn't get it under control. The was caused be a reaction to the IV chemo and oral chemo treatments she had that week. We left the house to drive to the ER around 12:00 noon. From there she was admitted to the hospital.

It took a few days but the docs were able to get the diarrhea under control and get her hydrated again. Her blood counts were also dangerously low and they were successful getting those back to normal with some special drugs.

When I was taking her to ER in Denver, Margo started complaining of back pain. During all the problems with the diarrhea and blood counts, she was given pain medicine and there was some sedatives administered I believe, so the back pain was ignored. After the other problems were brought under control, the back pain returned with a vengeance. It took a couple days to get the doctors attention, but they finally Xray'd her back and they found a fractured vertebrate.

Margo is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow to confirm the Xray results. We've discussed the options with our head oncologist and we believe she should have the procedure done that injects a kind of cement around the fractured vertebrate.

The docs will confer with each other tomorrow, we hope, and then we can decide for certain what should be done and schedule the procedure.

Margo is taking a heavy dose of steroid and it causes deterioration of the bones. She has been on fosimax, but apparently it's not doing the trick. The doctors will begin prescribing another more potent drug to be administered by injection that will shore up her skeletal system. I'll be administering the drug daily.

I don't expect Margo to leave the hospital until sometime next week. I'm working now so I can't be with her all day every day. I know she would appreciate your phone calls. You can call her at: 1 303 788 7123. She's in room 120 on the 7th floor of Swedish Hospital.

Margo has handled this whole thing wonderfully well. She needs your continued prayers and support and telephone calls. You all know how much she loves to talk. She can't see well enough to dial the phone anymore so please feel free to call her often.

Thank you for your prayers.

P.S. God is good and in control, even when it doesn't appear that way sometimes to casual observers.

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Sun, 9 Sep 2007

Wanted to update everyone on Margo's status...

We're back home now from the hospital and from another three days of chemo. Margo also received another MRI last Tuesday.

The results of the MRI were good enough to allow her to start the new hCRF drug that will allow her to reduce her dependency (we hope) on the decamethasone steroid which is causing her so many problems. This is very good news...praise God for that.

Also, her last chemo treatment went very well. So far she's had only one bad night where she was nauseated to the point where she regurgitated. But after that, she's had no serious problems and she seems to be getting stronger daily. She has two more days of oral chemo to go.

It also appears that the kyphoplasty that was performed on her crushed vertebra was successful. She's not in much pain and doesn't have to often use pain killers...praise God for that too.

Though the MRI wasn't bad, there are still doubts about possible new growth. The head chemo oncologist is hoping the next MRI will be more definitive. If there is new growth, we'll have to start a more aggressive treatment with new drugs. These drugs could be very expensive...$15,000 for starters that the insurance may not pay. Please be in prayer about this.

We wanted to thank everyone for your prayers, and please keep praying for Margo.

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Thu Oct. 11 2007

Margo is at swedish hospital in Denver.  She started having seizures yesterday morning around 04:30 and we life flighted her to Swedish.  She's currently in the critical care unit (icu). 

Her blood pressure has been too low to perform an mri but we're hopeful today she'll be able to get one.

The ct scan showed bleeding in the brain, but the surgeon believes it's not bad enough to warrant another craineotomy.  Margo has been intubated 
(respirator) because the nausea was causing vomiting. 

Margo is coherent and mentally alert.  She's being sedated and is on pain medicine, mostly because of the intubation.

Abigail is with me, and Ali will be here today.  

I'll keep everyone posted as much as possible.

Please pray for Margo and our family.

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Tue, 16 Oct 2007

Margo will be checking out of swedish hospital tomorrow morning and will be checking into a nursing facility for rehab.  We're hoping she'll be there no
longer than 4 weeks, but can't be certain.  By remaining in Denver she'll be closer to the oncologist  and the cancer treatment clinic here at Swedish.  We
think she'll be checking into a nursing facility in Aurora.

I'll be staying in denver and driving to work in Colorado Springs but i'll be able to continue the medication regimen i've been administering to her daily.  I'll be driving back to the ranch a couple
times a week to pick up mail and make sure all is well at the ranch.

I'll be staying at st. vincent's house, where we staying when we were in denver a year ago.  It's provided by the local catholic churches and it's only
about a mile from Swedish hospital.   Abigail will be with us a few more days and then she'll be leaving for a tournament in Canada. 

Margo is very weak, and her leg muscles in particular have atrophied so much it's takes two strong people to get her out of bed.  We're hoping she'll recover
quickly and enough so we can take care of her at home very soon.

We're planning on continuing with the day care she's been receiving for the last 6 weeks or so, after she returns home.  

Please pray for a rapid recovery and for strength for her.

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Sat, 17 Nov 2007

We are back home now.  Got home last night.  Margo is very happy to be home again.  Our friend Sandi is staying with us and will be here until Dec 10th
helping out and taking care of Margo.

Margo did not reover like we had hoped, but she's very happy to be home.  When she first got to the nursing home she seemed to be making very good progress, but
over the last week to 10 days, she has regressed.  We think part of the problem is she came down off the dexamethasone steroid too quickly without substituting
another steriod.  She started experiencing severe headaches and lost quite a bit of function on her left side.

Now that we have her home, we can control the chemo drugs much more effectively.  We've changed the steroid dosage and she's already feeling better.
We'll be starting in home physical therapy this week, Lord willing.

Margo is trying her best to recover from all this.  We've had some hard times over the last few weeks, but the Lord has brought us through these valleys, and
sometimes it even seems he's just picked us up and carried us. Over the last month, we've been in the ER four different times, in two different hospitals.
margo has been in ER twice while she was at the nursing home.

Please continue to pray for her...healing, strength, encouragement,   and please continue to call her.    It's even more difficult for her to call out now, so
she depends on her friends and relatives calling her more than ever.  Call her on our home phone.  We left the cell phone at the nursing home in Denver and I
won't be able to get it until the weekend.

God bless you all for supporting us with prayers,  cards, cd books, phone calls and visits.  i especially want  to thank those of you who came to visit her.
our pastor Cory Beery and his wife Shanda were there with us when margo came out of ER at Swedish hospital after the cerebral hemorrhage and she was on life
support.  i can't tell you how much that helped me.  i'll never for get that.

p.s. i was able to take margo out in the wheelchair on the deck this evening just after sunset.  it was about 72 degrees and the mountains were beautiful.  some of
you know what that's like.  God bless you all.