We’ve had a few developments in Joyce’s Journey lately, so I thought I’d share a quick update. Over the summer, Mom had a full knee replacement on her left knee. The surgery was done in July and within no time she was doing way better than average. The physical therapists were very impressed with how quickly she was able to really use the knee and released her from therapy earlier than usual. We had a follow up with the doctor a week ago, and he insisted that her x-rays could be used in a text book, showing exactly how the process is intended to go. She is using the knee wonderfully!

We also switched her cancer care to Louisiana Oncology this month. (This is the clinic where Matthew works and it’s much more convenient for Mom.) She was very pleased with the new doctor, Dr. Gallagher, and is excited to feel at home in the new clinic. It’s been right at two years since her cancer diagnosis and one year and six months since the surgery. Her blood work came back wonderfully this week and the doctor said he sees nothing of concern right now in terms of recurrent cancer. Of course, we’ll always have to monitor things closely. However, her tumor marker was a glorious 2.5 this month. (It was 4.5 in May and anything under 5 is considered “normal.”) Seeing how far the tumor marker has dropped was a reason to celebrate in itself!

As of right now, Mom’s biggest obstacle to overcome is her back pain. We’ve recently discovered that the pain stems from scoliosis, arthritis in her back, and probably osteoporosis. There’s not really much that can be done about the condition of her back. However, we’re hoping to find some ways to manage the pain within the next few weeks.

All in all, things are looking wonderful! It’s quite amazing to think about everything that’s happened in just two short years, and I’m happy that we’re mainly fighting your average battles these days, not those hefty ones. If you’re new to Mom’s story, you can click the “Joyce’s Journey” tag below to follow a bit of the story. Thank you to everyone who has followed along and continually sent prayers and thoughts our way. It’s been most encouraging and my entire family appreciates your support!

This photo was taken as she zoomed through Wal-Mart shortly after the knee surgery. Hide your babies.

It’s time for a #JoycesJourney update! This past week Mom went for her six month oncology checkup. It’s been almost nine months since her surgery and six months since she was cleared by the doctors. I’m happy to say that we have good news to report today!

Last week, we had an appointment with the surgeon, Dr. Werner, in Shreveport. He said that her incisions are healing very nicely and everything seems to be just fine…better than most actually. She’ll return to him in three months for another check.

On Monday, we visited her oncologist, Dr. Weinberger, for the biggest of the tests. He said that all of her blood work looked good. Her white and red blood cell and platelet counts are all good. Her kidneys and liver are both functioning properly. He didn’t hear any issues with her lungs and didn’t feel any trouble with her lymph nodes. All of the signs say that we are healing perfectly and cancer free!!

Of course, Mom was a little nervous about these appointments, but we’re thrilled to have gotten a good, clean report. We’ll see the oncologist again in February and have another colonoscopy then. If everything looks good in February, she won’t have to be checked again for another 3-5 years!

Both my mom and I appreciate everyone’s thoughtfulness through this process. This time last year, we were kicking off chemo and radiation treatments. It’s simply amazing how much can transpire in a year, and how much the encouragement of others can help during tough times like these. My family and I are so incredibly thankful that we can report good news just one year later. We can’t thank you enough for taking this journey with us. Feel free to leave a comment for Mom here. She loves to come and read them!

To read the full story, click here.

P.S. Mom still has a little trouble getting around sometimes because of her knees. (Surgery prep for knee replacements is actually how we found the cancer.) This photo was taken at Wal-Mart as she learned to drive the motorized scooter. This was her second attempt at driving a scooter, and let’s just say it went much better than the first! She’ll be a pro in no time!

Things are moving along nicely with Mom’s treatment plan, but I thought I’d give everyone a quick update of where we are.

As you know, she completed her chemo and radiation treatments right before Christmas. Our next plan of attack is surgery to remove the tumor, which is currently scheduled for February 25. In the meantime, she’s under strict instructions to take her medications regularly, eat well, and get lots of exercise. She needs to build lots of strength to be prepared for the surgery. We go back to Shreveport on February 12 for the pre-op appointments. As of right now, they’re expecting her to spend one week in the hospital there before returning home.

In other news, she got the keys to her new apartment this week! She’s pretty excited to get moved in and has really enjoyed preparing for and making plans to decorate the new place. We’ll spend most of the weekend getting her settled in, and I’m sure she’s looking forward to getting back into a routine.

As always, she thoroughly appreciates all of the sweet messages and comments. We still have a few hurdles to jump, but we’re making good progress. Feel free to leave her a note of encouragement here. She loves reading them!

Yesterday marked Mom’s very last chemo and radiation treatment!! I’m going to let that sink in for a bit.. It’s a really big deal…

I haven’t been able to do a full update on Mom lately, but rest assured that we’ve been fighting hard over here in My Neck of the Woods.

Here’s the quick version:

• We spent a week in the hospital – dehydration, low blood pressure, dropping potassium levels, mystery infection, and a host of other and much more harsh symptoms. She’s a trooper though. (She got out just in time for Matthew and I to leave for Thanksgiving in Nashville.)
• She spent Thanksgiving week recovering from the long and tough hospital stay.
• We had a really good week.
• Insurance required her to try another version of her medicine, which made her treatment symptoms rush back in full force.
• We had a really bad week.
• We got the medicine switched back and are currently working on getting her leveled out again.

Basically, this whole experience has been a series of ups and downs – a roller coaster of feelings, symptoms, and emotions. Every single day was/is different. Some days she felt great…others were bad. The worst part for me has been watching. I suppose it’s sort of like having a sick child…you see that they’re hurting and there’s nothing you can do to fix it. This is particularly hard for me because I’m a “fix it” kind of gal.

As things got tougher and tougher on her, I’ve had to steadily remind myself that this is cancer. Cancer. It’s not a pretty thing. It’s not easy. As a matter of a fact, it’s hard. I can’t fix everything because this treatment plan is unavoidably hard.

No matter how hard the last week has been, there is always a silver lining. Now, we can celebrate her being DONE with these treatments. This amazingly strong Mama of mine has knocked out 8 weeks of chemo and radiation! (It was six weeks of treatment, 1 week in the hospital, and 1 week of rest.) She’s still not feeling well, but they say she should start feeling more normal within the next 3 weeks or so. I’m optimistically hoping “normal” comes a lot more quickly than that. Honestly, I’m hoping that each passing day of not going to treatments brings with it a slight improvement for her.

What’s next? We will follow up with both her oncologist and radiation oncologist in 3 weeks. The current plan is to let her rest and recover for 6 weeks and then follow up with the surgery to remove the rest of the tumor after that. The surgery will take place in Shreveport and should have a week-long recovery in the hospital there. We will know more definite details once we follow up with the surgeon.

All in all, we’re making good progress. In my opinion, the hardest part is over. We knocked those treatments out! She’s not completely out of the woods yet, and she’s certainly not feeling herself. However, progress is progress and we’ve made a huge leap towards the finish line. Please keep lifting her up and sending well wishes and happy thoughts our way. She appreciates every comment, prayer, and message that you send. Feel free to leave a comment here. She is my most loyal reader, after all!

The above pictures are from the radiation treatment room. You can keep up with the process with the #JoycesJourney on twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Also, read the most recent Mom updates here.