Update

 
It's probably time for me to let you know what's going on. It's been hard to get motivated to update my status because I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself. I kept hoping I could get on and say that everything is great, but unfortunately that is not the case. It's actually been a bit more difficult since I finished receiving radiation treatments. I didn't realize that the radiation would continue to effect me after the treatments were over. It's been quite surreal because I can almost feel the radiation moving up through my head. Once the sores in my mouth and throat healed, my sinuses became quite swollen and now that that is improving, my scalp is feeling sunburned. What an interesting adventure this has been. I've had an ear infection for 6 weeks now that is just not healing and I have too many kids and too much to do to be as patient as I need to be. I still cannot eat anything but Ensure, but things are slowly improving. I just didn't realize what an intesive process this would be. (Of course that is because Hal and I decided not to read the literature provided us and just take things day by day.)
 
This experience has certainly changed my perspective about everything. I like to think I am a little kinder and more loving... I am certainly more appreciative of my blessings and empathetic towards others. I am confident that the day will come when we will view this experience as a blessing.
 
Love you all so much.

 
Hal and Leslie

Starting the recovery phase

Hal stayed home today to take care of the kids, get our house back in shape, and let me rest. What an awesome man he is.

Well, I didn't realize this before, but the recovery phase of radiation therapy may actually be more difficult than the radiation itself. I'm having a very difficult time getting enough nutrition and, therefore, enough energy because I cannot eat anything and the nutritional drinks sometimes make me throw up. My nose and throat are very tender and bleed a lot and my skin is burned a bit.

Even though I know I have a few tough months ahead, I feel very blessed to have such competent doctors and state-of-the-art facilities here in Logan. This would have been so much more difficult even a couple of years ago. I would have had to drive to Ogden every day and who knows what I would have done with my children.

I know the Lord is aware of me and my family and the struggles we are going through. He sends me messages of comfort in so many ways and I am so grateful for this.

Final treatment

Well, tomorrow morning will be my final treatment and then, hopefully, the process of rebuilding my body can begin. I feel like the knot at the center of a tug-of-war rope. On one side...my family, friends, doctors, and faith... and on the other...that &^%$&* machine. It's tough to be caught in the middle, but how very grateful I am for those fighting and praying for me. The prayers are real and tangible and so very much appreciated. I know I have a long road ahead because I am having an extremely difficult time forcing myself to eat anything because it all tastes like acid and I have a hard time keeping down those "nutritional" drinks, but I know I'll have to force myself.

Hal wants to build a bon fire and burn my mask, but I think I may regret that because, once I stop hating it so much, it will make for an awesome show-and-tell.

Update: 9/26/11

Tomorrow I will begin my final week of radiation treatments. At this point I am just hoping time will pass as quickly as possible. I am suffering a lot with the sores that cover my tongue and throat and having a very difficult time eating or drinking anything because the radiation has destroyed my sense of taste. I am forcing myself to drink a Carnation instant breakfast 3X day (not easy because I do not like milk) and then doing what I can with rice cakes, chicken broth, and hard boiled eggs (the only thing I have found that tastes a little like it is supposed to taste). YUMMY! I was truly feeling sorry for myself as I watched my family eat the Pizza Hut pizza, breadsticks, and cinnamon sticks they had for dinner.

Hal is stressed and overworked, but he has been so kind and supportive. I have no idea how I would get through this without his support and willingness to listen to my occassional...O.K....constant...babywhining. He is a very good husband.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

From Melanie

From Melanie:
The experience that Leslie has been going through has really been a horrible time for her and for Hal. My heart goes out to her and I am so glad that she is almost done. There has been one or two really great things that have come out of it though. I have had the opportunity to get to know Leslie and Hal's kids better and I can tell you that they are delightful. One of the big concerns Leslie had when she was diagnosed was the well-being of her children. I offered to help anyway I could but I will tell you that they brightened my life much more.

After the horrible flood in their house, I offered to take the four little ones to Pocatello with me and have a sleepover. Mason wasn't very interested in going to see Cinderella but the other kids were. Thank you so much to Jan and Alan Frew, Debbie King, Kimberly and Zach Miller who helped me buy them some new clothes for the big night. We went to Mystique to see the show and the little girls loved meeting Cinderella for reals. Bailey kept asking me questions all through the show, "Is that the real Fairy Godmother, is that the real King, is that carriage really flying, are the rats real?. She loved it. After the show, the whole cast was really great with them but they really loved Cinderella. Great times.

Carson has always wanted to going fishing. I want to thank Jordan and Terry for taking him fishing. He caught two fish all by himself. Jordan and Carson caught their first fish ever that day. Victoria took Hallie Kate shopping and bought her some new back-to-school clothes and gave her a new hair cut. Hallie Kate is a very bright, very charming young lady and Carson is all boy. He is very quiet unless you talk about fishing or baseball. We bought him a Yankees shirt and hat. He was so grateful but was very quiet about it. The little girls are simply amazingly adorable.

Thank you to Hal and Leslie for raising such super little people. I will always appreciate getting to know them better!

Lucy, Bailey with Cinderella at Mystique




The Briggs kids having a candy hunt

Hallie Kate with her little sisters

Halfway there

My last treatment will be Sat. Oct. 1., so that makes 10 down...10 to go. Saw the Dr. today. Unfortunately I have a yeast infection in my sinuses, so that complicates things a bit. The infection was likely caused by the steriods. Oh why can't things be easy? Right now I am mainly suffering from sore throat, swollen sinuses, and congestion. I was given an antibiotic for the infection and hopefully that will help. I mentioned in my last post that the radiation has dramatically changed the smell and taste of everything. Basically everything tastes the same, from water to chololate... similar to what I imagine arsenic would taste like. At least I lost 6 pounds this week, so I guess that's one minuscule silver lining.

Nine down

Nine treatments down. I'm having some very interesting side-effects now. The radiation has completely changed the way everything tastes, including water. It's really interesting, in a blind taste test I'd probably not be able to identify even the most basic food. Weird!

I feel that if I can get through this upcoming week, I can begin the home stretch. Knowing your thoughts and prayers are with me and my family (at least Hal...the kids still think cancer is the greatest thing ever to happen to our family...food...attention...playdates...kind parents...) truly does make all the difference. We love you all so much.

Getting tougher

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers. Things are definately getting tougher. Can't lay flat because of the swelling in the throat and the soreness has worsened. However, after tomorrow's treatment I will be halfway to the minimum goal of 18 treatments. Hal is able to come and be with the girls during the treatments and then ladies of the ward are able to take them for a while so I can rest. Everyone has been so wonderful. Love you all.

More side effects

Dr. Ingersoll wants to do somewhere between 18-25 treatments. I've done 6 (1/3 of the way to the minimum...hard to stay optimistic). Now that the radiation is building up in my system, the side effects are starting to show up (sore throat, burning on the face, nausea...). I'm just taking it minute-by-minute, knowing the day will come when I'll be glad I did this. I am starting to feel as though this may be the most difficult thing I've ever had to do, but at the same time I realize that it could be much worse.

By the way, if you happened to see the video that went viral yesterday (of the people who pulled the burning car off of the motorcycle rider), my radiologist, Matt, was the big guy lifting near the rear tire. It's comforting having a real-life hero taking care of me.

Feeling better

Well, the steroids did the trick. I feel much better. The headaches and vomiting have stopped and the nausea has lessened. Thank heavens, and blessing, and prayers, and desperation, and steroids, etc., etc. Now I get to wait for the "expected" side effects, although I doubt those will be nearly as debilitating.

Thanks again for all your concern and love.

Side Effects

Saw the doctor about the headaches, nausea, and vomiting I am experiencing. He says it is unusual to experience these symptoms so early and so intensely, so he thinks there may be swelling around the tumor. He gave me a prescription for a steroid and he hopes this will take care of it (ME TOO!). I was told that the most common side effects of this type of radiation are swelling in the nasal cavities, burning/sore throat, and peeling skin. Haven't even gotten to those yet... what's that about?

Family and friends have been truly amazing... so kind and supportive. I have a fridge full of food and very happy little girls (who get to go play at a new house every day... and, of course, be doted on and fed yummy things.) For the many of you who have done such kind things for us, please know that "thank you" notes are forthcoming... just as soon as I can see and think straight... which hopefully will come some time before "never". you are all so wonderful and so much appreciated.

Radiation begins

I had my first radiation treatment yesterday morning and have had the worst headache of my life since then, so severe in fact that the pain has caused me to throw up 3 times. I AM NOT LOVING THIS SO FAR! I now have some medicine for headaches and nausea and hope it will help. The technicians were surprised that I become sick so quickly, but this is such a rare type of tumor that I just don't think they know what to expect. The treatments themselves are not too bad, but the aftermath is no fun at all. I was told that my situation will be reevaluated at 3 1/2 weeks, so perhaps the treatments won't last as long as originally thought. That's what we're praying.

Thank you all so much for your love and support.

Planning session for radiation treatments

Hal and I went to McKay Dee hospital for my "planning session". I was placed on a table and (...I'll see if I can describe this...) a flat, white, hot, mesh outline of a head and shoulders was pushed onto my face and shoulders and anchored to the table (I felt like Han Solo, frozen in his 'cryptogenic' thing). Then the workers proceeded to physically form it to my face. They then placed cold, wet towels on the mask so it would harden in the exact shape of my body. They then proceeded to take pictures and make markings on the mask. I was anchored to the table for about 20 minutes before it was removed. Then I was taken for a catscan. The doctor wanted to have contrast in the image, so the nurses needed to inject dye into my body. The first nurse tried twice to find a vein. The second nurse tried three times. Finally an E.R. nurse was successful on his second try. The seven bruises on my arms are quite beautiful. I've never had this much difficulty with an I.V., but I've not been drinking much and we figure I am probably dehydrated.

I will be starting daily radiation treatments here in Logan beginning on Sept. 6 (unless they can get me in earlier). The mask that was created today will be placed over me and anchored to the table and then the radiation/laser machine will rotate around my body targeting the tumor. I am so grateful for the marvels of modern medicine. One of the nurses today told me that about 10 years ago, they used wires and tape to keep people in place while attempting this kind of radiation therapy. I'm really amazed at what they can do.

Meeting with the radiologist

Here's the latest...

Hal and I met with the radiologist, Doctor Ingersoll, today. I will be going through 5-6 weeks of daily radiation treatments (yippee skippee!!!). We are going to Odgen Friday. There the doctors will give me a catscan and make a form-fitting face mask that will be placed over my face each time I receive a treatment. Dr. Ingersoll did say that my tumor is placed in a somewhat precarious place, around the pituitary gland and in between the optical nerves. I know, I know... I can never do anything in the conventional way. Let the fun begin!

Operation

Here's the most recent update: from Leslie

Went to the hospital yesterday to have the bulk of the tumor removed. The operation seemed to go well. I feel dizzy and weak, but can breathe well for the first time in 8 months. Hal and I will be meeting with the doctor again today to remove the packing in my nose and discuss the success of the surgery. He also mentioned that the hospital wants to do another biopsy on the tumor itself (which we found quite interesting). The plan now is to go to mom's cabin and rest for a few days and then start radiation treatments when we return.

We have both felt, in a very tangible way, the effect of your thoughts and prayers on our behalf and for that we are eternally grateful. Love you all so much.

Test results

From Leslie: Here's what happened today.

Hal and I decided to fast together and attend the temple this morning, deciding that would be the best way to pass the time as we waited to meet with the doctor and hear my prognosis. I cried through the entire session, but he said he had an amazing feeling of calm when he entered the Celestial room. I was glad to hear that because neither of us have been so scared in our lives as we've felt these past two weeks. There are no words to describe how we felt when the dr. said that all of the tests came back clean, which means the cancer is isolated within the sinuses. I will therefore not require chemotherapy. On Thursday afternoon I will undergo an operation to remove the bulk of the tumor and that morning we will meet with the radialogist in Ogden to discuss our options and schedule radiation treatments. How quickly our perpectives change. Never in a million years would I have imagined I'd be praying for radiation treatments.

It's been such an interesting and enlightening experience to visit the cancer treatment center during the course of this experience and watch the despair people feel comingled with such hope. These are some of the most amazing people I have ever met.

These past 14 days have definately given me a new outlook on life. Let's recap: in the past 14 days...

1. A lizard jumped down my shirt
2. I found out my "allergies" were actually a malignant tumor in my nasal passage.
3. I have had 3 MRIs, a PET scan, 4 injections, blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy (which involves removing bone from the hip), a biopsy of the tumor, 2 balloons inflated inside my nose, drank 16 oz of barium, and a skeletal survey.
4. Our pediatrician ordered that my 11 year old daughter have an MRI as well.
5. Our house flooded.

AND...

1. 14 people brought us food.
2. 6 different people cared for our children.
3. 2 people sent us money.
4. 18 people were at our home within 15-20 minutes of hearing that our home was flooding and they had all the furniture, carpet, and padding out, a trench dug around the side of our home, and the water removed so quickly that even after 6 tests the restoration company found absolutely no moisture in our walls. Incidentally, our bishop refused to let anyone contact us until they had our home cleaned up as much as possible.
5. Hal and I have not fought the entire time.

INDEED, MIRICLES DO HAPPEN!

When it rains...it pours

From Leslie:
Today Hal and I had to be at the hospital @ 6:40 A.M. for my last round of MRIs. I finished up around 8:30 A.M. and then went over to the Cancer Clinic for my PET scan. The technicians took me to a semi truck, which was parked behind the clinic, sat me in a recliner, gave me an injection of dye, had me drink a "Banana Smoothie", which upon closer inspection was baryium (did they think I would not notice?), dimmed the lights, and told me to sit in the chair for 45 minutes and "not think" (while you may think that would be easy for me to do...it really wasn't). Apparently they want the dye spread evenly throughout the body and brain activity makes it concentrate too much in the brain. Very interesting. It is a very good thing that while I was "not thinking" I did not know that my home was flooding. After the 45 minutes I got to drink another of those yummy smoothies and then they put me in a machine that was exactly like an.....(wait for it)..... MRI machine (how cruel is that?). So, for the fourth time in a week, I got to be wrapped up, stuffed into a "straw", and told not to move. Fortunatly the PET scan machine was a little larger than the MRI machine and I was only in there for 30 minutes, instead of 70. When I was finished with the PET scan, I walked to the waiting room to see a husband who looked like he had been hit by a Mack truck. My first thought was that something had happened to one of the children, so I rushed up and demanded to know what had happened. He just looked at me with a completely defeated expression and said, "Our house has flooded." "Of course it did," was all I could say (but what ran through my mind were Melanie's words... "Heavenly Father, you are ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!")

From Melanie:
Hal and Leslie and I were sitting around last night talking about how awesome their ward is and how blessed they are to live by and associate with such righteous people. I commented how lucky we are to know amazing people. Well, I saw the Gospel at its best today. I stayed over night at their house last night to stay with the kids today while Leslie went in for her final tests. They said goodbye to me about 6:30 a.m. Shortly thereafter I heard what I thought was the shower turning on. I listened for a minute and thought it might be the sprinkler running. I could hear water. I was in the basement on the futon. I laid there for several minutes trying to figure out what was going on. I finally decided I needed to investigate. I sat up to get out of bed. As soon as I put my feet on the floor they were covered with water. Hal and Leslie have black curtains on their downstairs windows so I couldn't see very well. I sloshed over and turned on the lights.

Water was pouring in through the window. I lifted up the curtain, the window well was completely full of water. Muddy water was coming in in buckets onto the floor. I was frozen. I felt so stupid, I didn't know what to do. I don't know very many people in Logan. I said a little prayer and got the answer to call my sister Stephanie because she knew the phone numbers of Hal and Leslie's Bishop and Relief Society President. I was somewhat in shock so I am kind of amazed that Stephanie was even able to follow what I was saying. I explained what was happening. She said she would make some calls. All of the time I talking on the phone I was trying to catch the water flooding through the window with a big pan and dumping it into the sink. I called Terry and explained the situation to him. He offered to come and help me. He woke Jordan and Victoria up and they were all getting ready to drive to Logan from Pocatello. Terry called my friend Ann because her son Creighton Lewis lives in Logan. Terry and Jordan and Victoria decided not to come because there was so much great help.

After I dumped 17 pans full of water I decided that I needed to try to stop the water from the source. I ran outside. It was pouring rain. I almost fell running across the cement in their backyard because it was covered with several inches of mud and water. I ran around the side of the house. The water was coming down the mountain in the back of their house and draining directly into their basement. At first I tried to empty the window well but it was coming in too fast. So, I went to the huge puddle next to the window well and started throwing buckets of water away from the house. I was about knee deep in water. The water was coming in faster then I could bale it out. I truly felt very hopeless. About 20 minutes later their neighbor Brandon Jensen (the Elder's Quorum President) came the rescue. He looked at the situation and asked if we had a shovel. Of course, I had no idea. He ran home and got one. He dug a trench around the window well to divert the water. Wish I had thought of that. He then went to investigate where all of the water was coming from.

Apparently the Power Company is suppose to have a culvert that will catch the flood water but there wasn't one so the run-off from the storm was running right through their backyard and into their basement. A few minutes later some of the other members of their ward showed up. I was so impressed with how well they worked together to handle the whole situation. The Relief Society President Connie came with Karen. Karen's house had recently flooded and she knew exactly what to do. She assigned people to the water vacuums, others to move furniture, others to squeegee out the halls other to pull up the carpet. The family room was completely saturated and had gone through Carson's room and into the bathroom. The laundry room was completely flooded. All of the children were asleep upstairs and missed all of the excitement.

The whole Frandsen family showed up to help. Bishop Baggaley was there figuring out how to get the restoration people there. Rich Littlewood, Eric Durrant and boys, Will Francis and his son Michael and Clay Rawlins It was an amazing thing to watch. Creighton Lewis came and immediately grabbed one of the shop vacs and got to work. There was a crew working outside and a crew working inside. Everyone worked so hard. When I hear about terrible things happening in the world and then I watch this kind of miracle happen it restores my faith in humanity.

We pulled out all of the carpet and the pad underneath. It actually looked pretty good by the time Hal and Leslie got home. It was a shock to them to see their carpet draped across their fence and their furniture in their garage but they were immediately grateful for the amazing help they received. They teared up as I told them of the people who came so willingly and just rolled up their sleeves and saved them thousands of dollars of basement repairs. I want to offer a personal thank you to those amazing people who just showed up to help. You are truly Christlike people. By-the-way the kids finally woke up about 10:00 because they couldn't figure out why there were so many cars at their house.

MRI's

My doctor has ordered 4 45 min. MRI sessions, so I did 2 today and will do the last 2 on Mon (hated being enclosed in a tube for 1 hour and 20 min., but Valium, prayer, country music, and imagination seemed to help). I also did a skeletal survey today (a test in which pictures of the entire seletal structure are taken...always amazed at how thin I look in skeletal form). Melanie came down to be with the kids (and, of course, brought them treats and activities...LOVE HER!) We are doing our best to hang in there and really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers.

Leslie

Bone marrow biopsy

Today's report - July 28, 2011-Another quote from Leslie: "Today was not an enjoyable experience. They did a bone marrow biopsy. They go in and core out a piece of bone. It's harder if you are a little chubby. I was hard. Hal said, this is not medicine this is carpentry. They were hammering, screwing and pulling. Then I was supposed to go do a skeletal survey, but I forgot because I was worried about Hallie Kate's MRI so I will do it tomorrow after my MRI. They also did blood tests today. We won't know any results until Tuesday. They were going to debulk one side of the tumor, but they decided to wait until after they get all the results. Hallie Kate's MRI is negative and we are real excited about that. She does have some blood pressure issues. She was somewhat dehydrated and very sensitive to her mom's situation. Leslie needs lots of prayers by Tuesday and Tuesday is the day we will have some answers. If you ask the kids about the cancer, they would say it's been great because mom and dad have been so nice to each other and people have been bringing us lots of goodies."

Update

This is a quote from Leslie after her doctor visit today, "We are headed into six days of hell. First thing we have to do is to make sure it has not metastasized. Tomorrow they are going to do a bone marrow test. which includes removing a piece of bone from my hip. I asked if he could do liposuction while he is in there but he laughed at me. Then they are doing a skeletal survey which is a complete exam of the skull. Friday, I get to have a one and a half hour M.R.I. of the whole body. I didn't do well in the last one so I'm not sure how I will do with it. Monday, they are doing something called a PET test. I don't know what that is but it examines the bones and the blood and everything. It is pictures of the whole body. The MRI looks for lesions and things that are not normal in tissue. The PET test looks for admoradles in bones. They are doing all kinds of tests. If they do find that it is issolated within the sinuses they will do radiation and there is a good chance that I will have a full recovery. If it has metastasized then it will be chemotherapy for sure but if it hasn't they will go in and remove most of the mass and then start radiation. We'll know Tuesday if we can be happy about just having radiation or we will know if we should be devastated I never thought I would pray for just radiation.."

Diagnosis

Hello, this is Melanie - I am going to give a brief history of what I know about Leslie's condition. About 8 months ago she started having issues with her sinuses. She was having a hard time breathing. She thought she had allergies and started treating it as such. She was not getting better. She finally went to a few doctors to see if she could get some relief as it was getting harder and harder to breathe. She finally went to a doctor who did a CAT scan of her head. The doctor was very concerned because he thought the mass could be a melanoma that was growing into her brain. This really scared her and Hal as the doctor didn't give them much hope if that had been what it is.
The doctor had her go in for a head MRI, which she hated as it is difficult for her to hold still for long, long periods of time, especially when you are in a straw. When they looked at the results of the MRI they discovered that the tumor was isolated in her sinuses but was blocking one of the passages completely. She is having a terrible time breathing and that makes it very difficult for her to sleep.

After further tests they discovered that the mass is a malignant tumor and would have to be treated with radiation and/or chemotherapy. One of Leslie's big concerns is that they live so close to a power plant that runs continually. There are huge lines going over her home. She has called and asked several organizations to try to get the plant tested but no one will help her. She is very frustrated about it. Hallie Kate is getting headaches. They are going to give her an MRI too on Thursday.