Pitchers and catchers report

Another milestone has come and gone, cycle 4 in Reenie's treatment is complete. The pet scan that our warrior had done two weeks ago and the tremendous results have let the doctors tweak the chemo amounts by decreasing the dose about 10%. This reduction of the chemo drug Abraxane "in theory" should be more tolerable to Reenie, hopefully with less side effects....well not really much help. The bone pain in her legs and hips have lessened slightly because the need for Nupragen shots has also decreased. The latest problems have been nueropathy in her hands, leaving them tingling, numb and at times brutally painful. Her nails are discolored, tender with the possibility of loss. Reenie is also fighting a sore throat, cough and laryngitis, so she is back to texting if you are wondering why she is not answering the phone.
In keeping her wedding streak alive, 3 weddings in 50 days,she was determined to attend the wedding of friends Joe and Terry McElligott's daughter Candi to Eric Johnson, this ceremony was special in many ways, 1) well the wedding, 2) our daughter Shannon was a bridesmaid, 3) it was held in the cathedral known as "the Cell" the home of the White Sox, and 4) it marked a special passage of time for our cancer fighting warriors Reenie and Debbie Markham (Candi's aunt). The girls were determined to share this day together and celebrate not only the wedding but also the impending end to their battles. The big weekend did take a toll on Reenie for Sunday she was wiped out and unable to attend our annual Christmas dinner with the Cheer Moms or COF's.
Like I have mentioned in previous posts I was looking forward to the upcoming baseball season to help mark the time of big days in Reenie's fight. Pitchers and cathers report about the time Reenie finished up cycle 4. Opening day will mark the start of the 6st and final chemo cycle with the completion around Ryan's birthday, which by that time the Sox should be in first place by 3 games and the Cubs will be looking forward to next year.
As always Reenie sends her love to all the angels, thanks for everything and always being there for support...keep saying the MIRACLE PRAYER its working

Nervousness..scared..frightened......BLESSED

Near-resolution of prior diffuse abnormal radiotracer activity throughout the subcutaneous tissues.....
Near-resolution of hypermetabolic adenopathy in axillary regions within the subcutaneous tissues.....
THE APPEARANCE IS CONSISTENT WITH TREATED METASTATIC DISEASE!!!!

The chemotherapy, the prayers, the support and the love is all working. Today we were met in the hallway of Reenie's chemo appointment with a whisper of "we have good news" as one of our Physician Assistants walked by while attending to another patient. They brought our fighter into her infusion room and said the doctor is not here yet but when he comes we will move you into a private room. Well if we didn't hear the whisper in the hall we would have reached panic mode. I came home last night to a very frightened girl, man how much more can she handle. A wonderful weekend with an awesome wedding of friends Jim and Carole Lyke's son Phil, and a nice afternoon with her girlz ended with the reality of Monday starts round 4 of chemo and the PET SCAN RESULTS. Reenie was scared and I was nervous, yeah we had good results from the tumor markers but this beast is unpredictable. The pain that Reenie had for two weeks had let up for the last few days what a blessing that was, she was able to attend the wedding which helped the spirits of her family, we know she is felling better when she WANTS to get out. Well when the doctor and his assistant brought us into our room, well our PA was as excited as anyone she could not believe the results and couldn't wait until we got there today. Dr Baridi explained the results and after all the medical jargon he said that 90% of Reenie's cancer is gone...NINETY PERCENT after 3 rounds, pretty miraculous, like I mentioned earlier I firmly believe this has been a collaboration of many efforts, yes the medicine is doing its job and cutting off blood flow to the bad cells, and the prayers are doing their job I know there are many and keep them coming they are powerful,and the support and love from family and friends have helped Reenie keep her eyes on the prize, she doesn't have to worry about things that YOU, her support group are taking care of. The treatment will not change still 3 more cycles,3 months then we discuss the AFTER treatment,AFTER being the operative word, AFTER the cancer is GONE.
Reenie sends her love to all..keep saying the MIRACLE PRAYER

6 more weeks of winter...3 more months of Chemo

Reenie didn't see her shadow this week, cause Reenie usually doesn't see the sunlight. Well there really hasn't been too much sunlight anyway, our fighter doesn't get out much to see the sun or clouds and the last few weeks have been no exception. This was suppose to be the week of recovery, the week to enjoy not having chemo, the week to be somewhat normal. Last Friday Reenie woke up with a swollen arm and red spots on her chest and arm,she was scheduled to have blood work anyway that afternoon so she would let the doctors see the new development then. Her count was low and there was a concern she may have a blood clot in the arm so off to see another doctor. The doctors felt this wasn't a clot but most likely an allergic reaction to ...something, pain meds, food, not really sure. This was not part of the plan, to have another issue to deal with again. The treatment for the possible allergy was a mega dose of steroids, Prednezone, which seemed to work overnight. The swelling went down and the rash decreased, but with the good came the bad, her pain has been unrelenting and it seemed the steroid accentuated the pain. Reenie literally would just sit and cry because the pain would be so much, never complained, just cried and hoped for an end soon.
Today was really the first day in quite a while that Reenie felt good, so lucky her, she had a PET Scan scheduled for her good day. Reenie did have the opportunity to spend the afternoon with her girlfriend Jan from work so for Reen it was a good day.
Monday is really a big day I figure, our warrior starts the second half of her treatment and we receive the results from today's test. We don't know what to really expect other than the hope that the scans shows a reduction in cancer cells a good test that rivals our earlier news from last month's tumor markers.

Thanks to everyone for their love,support and most important their prayers.
Reenie sends her love to all