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.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
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!
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!
Friday, August 5, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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!
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!
Monday, August 1, 2011
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.
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.
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