May God guard you through each night and day
And ever watch above you . . .
God smile on everything you do.
God go with you . . . God love you!
Greetings,
Thank you all for being patient as we get the blog updated. We've been so busy--it's amazing how fast the last day and a half has gone.
Jane is now two days post-op. Overall, she is making a good recovery. She has been up walking quite a few times, and she goes a couple steps further each time. She had a slight fever this morning but it returned to normal after a couple hours. A chest x-ray showed mild pneumonia, and they have started IV antibiotics. Other than that, things are going well, and we are giving many thanks to the guardian angels that have been watching over her. No news is good news at this point. Jane is exhausted right now because sleeping has been difficult for her so the best thing we can give her is a quiet room to rest in.
Thank you to everyone that has stopped by, brought presents, sent messages, and sent positive thoughts and prayers. Jane (and those of us who love her) couldn't do this without you.
p.s. I couldn't let a post go by today without also saying, "Go Hawks!" Special thanks to the women at Jane's office for bringing her some gear. We're hoping she'll wear her new Hawkeye slippers on her next walk.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Out of surgery
Like the warmth of the sun
And the light of the day,
May the luck of the Irish
Shine bright on your way.
Good afternoon! Jane is out of surgery, out of recovery, and into her room. The surgery lasted about 4 or 4.5 hours and went well. Dr. Bender was able to get 97% to 98% of the cancer and says he expects her to recover well. He did not have to resect any portion of the liver and also didn't have to cut into her bowel, both of which were possibilities heading into today. He was able to ablate (burn) and scrape the cancer from the periphery of both organs and there was no concern of there being cancer within either structure. He left a nodule in her spleen because it was in the vascular structures supplying the spleen, and he didn't want to put her at risk for further complications. He preferred to leave it and hit it with chemo rather than risk complications that would delay starting chemo. The same is true with a nodule Jane had in the vascular structures of her small bowel.
The third area he left behind involved several lymph nodes in the cardiophrenic area, which is the space above her diaphragm near her heart. These were enlarged on the CT scan she had a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately are in an area that is too difficult to reach. We don't know if these are cancerous or if they are just enlarged because her body is fighting something. He will monitor those as she goes through chemo to gauge how well she's responding. Dr. Bender staged Jane's cancer as stage 3c. He removed a couple lymph nodes in her pelvis that he called borderline enlarged, but he did not see evidence of disease on them.
Jane is in her room and sleeping very soundly. We'll post updates as she starts to wake up and move around. Thank you for all of the prayers and positive thoughts you've been sending her way!
p.s. I chose the blessing above because the sun was shining all day today like the luck of the Irish was following Jane. It's been rather cloudy for the past few days, so we felt this was a good sign for today and the days to come.
And the light of the day,
May the luck of the Irish
Shine bright on your way.
Good afternoon! Jane is out of surgery, out of recovery, and into her room. The surgery lasted about 4 or 4.5 hours and went well. Dr. Bender was able to get 97% to 98% of the cancer and says he expects her to recover well. He did not have to resect any portion of the liver and also didn't have to cut into her bowel, both of which were possibilities heading into today. He was able to ablate (burn) and scrape the cancer from the periphery of both organs and there was no concern of there being cancer within either structure. He left a nodule in her spleen because it was in the vascular structures supplying the spleen, and he didn't want to put her at risk for further complications. He preferred to leave it and hit it with chemo rather than risk complications that would delay starting chemo. The same is true with a nodule Jane had in the vascular structures of her small bowel.
The third area he left behind involved several lymph nodes in the cardiophrenic area, which is the space above her diaphragm near her heart. These were enlarged on the CT scan she had a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately are in an area that is too difficult to reach. We don't know if these are cancerous or if they are just enlarged because her body is fighting something. He will monitor those as she goes through chemo to gauge how well she's responding. Dr. Bender staged Jane's cancer as stage 3c. He removed a couple lymph nodes in her pelvis that he called borderline enlarged, but he did not see evidence of disease on them.
Jane is in her room and sleeping very soundly. We'll post updates as she starts to wake up and move around. Thank you for all of the prayers and positive thoughts you've been sending her way!
p.s. I chose the blessing above because the sun was shining all day today like the luck of the Irish was following Jane. It's been rather cloudy for the past few days, so we felt this was a good sign for today and the days to come.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
May the Good Saints Protect You
May the good saints protect you
And bless you today
And may trouble ignore you
Each step of the way.
Greetings! It's the night before surgery, and we thought we'd post a quick note (and use this as an excuse to post cute baby videos). Jane had a nice weekend visiting with family and a few days of putzing around the house--she even got out to do some shopping the day after Christmas. We're all ready to get this show on the road tomorrow. Jane's surgery is at 9, and we've been told it will take 3 to 5 hours. We'll post updates here as the day goes along.
Below are a few more pictures from the past couple of weeks, and a video of Ann Marie reading to Connor and Jack.
And bless you today
And may trouble ignore you
Each step of the way.
Greetings! It's the night before surgery, and we thought we'd post a quick note (and use this as an excuse to post cute baby videos). Jane had a nice weekend visiting with family and a few days of putzing around the house--she even got out to do some shopping the day after Christmas. We're all ready to get this show on the road tomorrow. Jane's surgery is at 9, and we've been told it will take 3 to 5 hours. We'll post updates here as the day goes along.
Below are a few more pictures from the past couple of weeks, and a video of Ann Marie reading to Connor and Jack.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Welcome, Friends
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again,
May Gold hold you in the palm of His hand.
Greetings!
As you all know by now, our dear friend, wife, sister, mother, godmother has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We've created this blog to keep everyone updated, as well as to solicit prayers, positive thoughts, words of encouragement, and perhaps some help throughout Jane's fight. Thank you all so far for the phone calls, notes, and prayers you've been sending our way.
First of all, an update: Jane met with her oncologist, Dr. David Bender, on Monday. You can find his bio here. He was fantastic, and we all felt much more comfortable knowing she's in such good hands. The news was about as we expected--the cancer is on both ovaries, her liver, and her spleen. There is also some lymph node involvement. The gold standard treatment at this point is surgery and then chemotherapy--and that's what we're going to do. Surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, December 28. After a 5-7 day hospital stay, Jane will start chemo 2-4 weeks later. We don't know much about the chemo yet, which is fine, because our first priority is successful surgery and recovery.
Second, how is Jane doing? The short answer: as well as can be expected. After her diagnosis last Tuesday, Scott and Jeff came home with their families for a long weekend. We spent a night at Pzazz in Burlington, where the grandboys had a blast at the indoor water park. We also had a small Christmas (with lots of trains and dinosaur presents!) and spent lots of time relaxing and enjoying each other's company. We have all had our angry and sad moments (or many moments) and many tears have been shed, but we have also had some really wonderful family time during the season when family time is especially cherished.
I was going to add something here about how Jane is gearing up for a big fight to kick cancer's butt, but then remembered something she said one of the first days after her diagnosis. She said, "If I die from this, I don't want my obituary to say 'Jane died after a brave fight against cancer.' I hate that. Say that I was pissed as hell." Doesn't that sound more like the Jane you know? And we're all ready to help her brave this fight in as many ways as we know how.
Third, what can you do to help? Right now, prayers and positive thoughts are very much appreciated. At some point Jane and Randy may need some help with meals or help around the house, but there's not much to do right now. We are hoping this blog will be a place that we can send out information and that Jane can receive all of the positive energy we know you're ready to send her way.
As for the blog, please let us know if we can do anything to make it more user friendly or if there's anything else you'd like to see. We'll update it as often as we can and since Jane will probably not want us taking pictures of her in the hospital, we'll be posting cute pictures of Jane's grandbabies and family. There's not an easy way to create a guestbook through this website, so please use the comments section of each blog post to send your notes to Jane. If you'd like to send notes that aren't visible to everyone else--or just want to get in touch with someone--please contact Jeff or Nike Fleming. You can reach us at jeffandnike@gmail.com or on our cell phones: Jeff (319-321-9873) and Nike (319-594-5267).
Thank you in advance for everything! Jane has touched so many lives and supported so many friends and relatives that we know she has a wonderful support network ready to help.
A few pictures of Jane's grandboys (Connor and Jack) enjoying an early Christmas:
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again,
May Gold hold you in the palm of His hand.
Greetings!
As you all know by now, our dear friend, wife, sister, mother, godmother has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We've created this blog to keep everyone updated, as well as to solicit prayers, positive thoughts, words of encouragement, and perhaps some help throughout Jane's fight. Thank you all so far for the phone calls, notes, and prayers you've been sending our way.
First of all, an update: Jane met with her oncologist, Dr. David Bender, on Monday. You can find his bio here. He was fantastic, and we all felt much more comfortable knowing she's in such good hands. The news was about as we expected--the cancer is on both ovaries, her liver, and her spleen. There is also some lymph node involvement. The gold standard treatment at this point is surgery and then chemotherapy--and that's what we're going to do. Surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, December 28. After a 5-7 day hospital stay, Jane will start chemo 2-4 weeks later. We don't know much about the chemo yet, which is fine, because our first priority is successful surgery and recovery.
Second, how is Jane doing? The short answer: as well as can be expected. After her diagnosis last Tuesday, Scott and Jeff came home with their families for a long weekend. We spent a night at Pzazz in Burlington, where the grandboys had a blast at the indoor water park. We also had a small Christmas (with lots of trains and dinosaur presents!) and spent lots of time relaxing and enjoying each other's company. We have all had our angry and sad moments (or many moments) and many tears have been shed, but we have also had some really wonderful family time during the season when family time is especially cherished.
I was going to add something here about how Jane is gearing up for a big fight to kick cancer's butt, but then remembered something she said one of the first days after her diagnosis. She said, "If I die from this, I don't want my obituary to say 'Jane died after a brave fight against cancer.' I hate that. Say that I was pissed as hell." Doesn't that sound more like the Jane you know? And we're all ready to help her brave this fight in as many ways as we know how.
Third, what can you do to help? Right now, prayers and positive thoughts are very much appreciated. At some point Jane and Randy may need some help with meals or help around the house, but there's not much to do right now. We are hoping this blog will be a place that we can send out information and that Jane can receive all of the positive energy we know you're ready to send her way.
As for the blog, please let us know if we can do anything to make it more user friendly or if there's anything else you'd like to see. We'll update it as often as we can and since Jane will probably not want us taking pictures of her in the hospital, we'll be posting cute pictures of Jane's grandbabies and family. There's not an easy way to create a guestbook through this website, so please use the comments section of each blog post to send your notes to Jane. If you'd like to send notes that aren't visible to everyone else--or just want to get in touch with someone--please contact Jeff or Nike Fleming. You can reach us at jeffandnike@gmail.com or on our cell phones: Jeff (319-321-9873) and Nike (319-594-5267).
Thank you in advance for everything! Jane has touched so many lives and supported so many friends and relatives that we know she has a wonderful support network ready to help.
A few pictures of Jane's grandboys (Connor and Jack) enjoying an early Christmas:
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