Leave April a message!


Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Looking for pictures...

If you have any pictures of April that you would like to see posted please email them to me at kattiejones@comcast.net. I am not sure if I will post them on this site or create a new photo blog site and link it to this group. Either way I think it would be great to get some pictures together. Thanks!
Posted by at No comments:

April Update

My computer is down so I just got this message from April's sister, Alicia.

My Mom has asked me to send out and email with the latest update.

We took April to the ER last night because she was is excruciating pain in her abdomen. After the CT scan the radiologist found a bowel obstruction. We are still waiting for her oncologist to decide how he wants to treat it. We also don't know what is causing the obstruction at this time. We have to wait and see on both. As of right now April will probably be in the hospital for about 3-4 days. They are having a hard time keeping her comfortable due to the blockage as the medicine isn't quite were it needs to.

I will be sending updates out as they come, but just letting you know it may be a while before anything is decided on. Keep up hope and lets continue to pray.
Posted by at 1 comment:

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Please leave some encouraging words...

April is not feeling well today and hasn't been for the last few days. As you can imagine being in pain is quite disheartening for her, not to mention painful. If you are reading this blog please leave a comment and let her know that you are thinking about her. Thank you!
Posted by at 1 comment:

Thursday, October 25, 2007

A little prayer

April had chemo yesterday and is feeling especially run down. Please say a quick prayer that the discomfort will subside and that she will feel better soon. Thanks!
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Looking for a venue...

We are looking for a venue to hold a fundraiser for April and her family. Things are in the VERY beginning stages but I was thinking about doing a Sunday get together to watch a game. We would have food etc and charge a cover to raise money for the costs incurred by April's fight against cancer. Eventually I would be looking for all sorts of help but at this point I would just be trying to find a venue. If you have a big enough home (and a big screen TV) that would be great or if you work at a restaurant that would be willing to donate the space that would be great too.

Thanks for the help!
Kattie
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, October 22, 2007

The Last Lecture

Dr. Randy Pausch delivers his farewell lecture at Carnegie Mellon University. Probably the last public speech he will give. The 46-year-old professor and father of three preschoolers has incurable pancreatic cancer. Yet, Randy did not focus on impending death. Instead, he celebrated the chance he had been given to live the life he always had dreamed of. An inspiring talk that should be shared.



Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Those of us that are in the Google Group received this email from April yesterday and I know that she would want everyone to see it.

I cannot say enough how encouraging all of your words have been. Thank you Kattie for putting this together. I think it is great for those of us involved, to stay in touch. I am heartbroken to realize how many people feel so strongly towards me. You never know how people feel until they tell you. Most dont until it is too late, in my case I am lucky in a sense to be able to say what I want and hear what people need to say to me before I go. I want you all to know, I am not scared. Of course, the unknown is scary but I feel so confident I will see you all again that it makes it so much easier. I have no doubt in that. No matter your religion, etc I know God wants all of us to be together and I firmlybelieve that will happen. I will do my best to update you all on anything that comes up. I go to chemo tomorrow. Dad is my partner in crime on those days. He keeps my head up and we laugh. We had the Docttor laughing becausey my dad finally got a cameral phone and we took pictures of her while she worked. She loved it...not!!! Hey at least we had fun! The nurses are also fun and I look forward to chemo, in a weird way. I get to see my Sister and my Mom for daycare and my Dad and I get to spend some much needed quality time together...I don't get to see him my Step Mom, Vet nearly enough. I am trying
to do as much as possible with my whole crazy extended family and friends for as long as possible. I love you all and appreciate all of your support.

Please continue to pray. I believe it is my only chance now.

Love you all,

April

If you would like to join the Google Group please email me or click on the link to the right and request to join.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Chemo Today

Please make sure to say a prayer for April and her family today as she has a chemo treatment today. Pray that it doesn't make her to sick or weak and that the nurses and doctors continue to treat her with kindness.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, October 15, 2007

Today

I just got this from April:

The side effects from the chemo are kicking in...I'm getting really tired and am now thinking hair will probably thin if I don’t lose. It's a pretty good chance that I will loose it but I'll just have to wait and see.

Lets all just pray that she feels more energized and is able to get through her day without too much pain.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Posted by at 4 comments:

The First Round

April had her first round of Chemo on Tuesday and felt that it went pretty good. So far there have been no side effects and the doctors and April think that she may not even lose her hair this time.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

April's Story

In May 2006, when April was twenty weeks pregnant, she went in for a routine ultrasound to find out the gender of her baby. The ultrasound would turn out to be life-changing in more ways than one. Happily, April found out she would be the mother of a little girl, but sadly her doctor also discovered a tumor. The doctor dismissed it as a ‘fatty deposit,’ even though April had previously had cancer. April asked her doctor for tests because it was so alarming to her, but again she was dismissed.

After the delivery of baby Emma, April began to experience major pain that continued to get worse and worse, so she finally went to the ER, begging to be tested. Unfortunately, they found that the tumor had grown immensely. April was sent to surgery for what was thought to be a benign tumor and possible ovary removal. During the surgery, doctors found the cancer everywhere in April’s pelvic region. A full hysterectomy was performed. April’s doctors tried their best to remove all the cancer, but it had metastasized. She then went on chemo to fight a long list of cancers, because her doctors were unsure what type of cancer April actually had. The tests showed that it was not ovarian cancer, but, rather, another type of cancer that had spread to her ovaries. At that point they thought it was Stage 4 cancer, which is incurable.

In January 2007, April’s doctor told her they received a pathology report from the hospital that had performed her last surgery in the spring of 2004 to remove a non-cancerous tumor. The pathology report showed that the precursor cells that were found in the last, non-cancerous tumor were the same as the cells that were found in the most recent, cancerous tumor. It was a promising hope that April could possibly have ovarian cancer with a strange cellular makeup. That took it from a stage 4 to stage 3. Although the prognosis was still serious, there was hope that April’s cancer might be wiped out.

Once it was discovered that the precursor cells were the same, the plan was to still continue on with chemo for another six months and to have April receive scans about every three months to see if there was any new growth. During the scan in August of this year, April received great news: the doctors believed that there was no new growth, only an inflammation that measured at .5 cm which they believed to be swelling from the last surgery. April’s family was ecstatic for obvious reasons, one of which was that April had made it a whole year with no return of the disease.

Unfortunately, immediately after that last scan, April began experiencing pain again. She trusted her instincts and went in and asked to be checked out even though she had just had a scan. She had an exam the following week, and they found that that small, .5 cm inflammation was, in fact, the cancer. It had really never gone away and was just being held at bay with the chemo. April got another scan in early September, and this one verified the tumor had already grown to 4-5 cm in three weeks.

At the time of this writing, April has started back on chemo, but it’s a different kind of regimen. One part of the chemo drug is called Topotecan, and there is also a bio agent drug called Avistan. The plan is for these drugs to keep the size of the tumor down, or wipe it away all together. There are also tiny spots all throughout her pelvic region now, along with the tumor.

The plan is to keep April on a chemotherapy regimen for as long as is tolerable. If the chemo treatment is not successful or sustainable, there will then be other options. April’s doctors’ prognosis is for a one-year survival rate, with a one- to two-percent chance of the cancer going into complete remission. Even with that news we are obviously holding out for a miracle and hoping that April will be healed.

Isaiah 40:31
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;they shall mount up with wings as EAGLES they shall run, and not be weary;and they shall walk, and not faint"