Blog by Karen's sister, Susan

I just thought I would post the link to my new blog in case you would like to follow what is going on with me and Karen's family. It is http://hey-soul-sister.blogspot.com/
We are all missing Karen and know it will be a difficult holiday season without her but we will get through it with the support of our family and friends. Thanks to all who gave a donation to Caring for Carcinoid and to those who were able to make it to Karen's "Celebration of Life". It was a beautiful memorial and I know Karen would have been proud to have so many join together to "celebrate" her life. I am thankful for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving.
Susan

Update from Karen's sister

My beautiful and amazing sister, Karen lost her courageous battle with cancer on November 1, 2009. Our family would like to thank you for all your prayers. Karen loved life and fought this horrible disease with grace and dignity. She loved her family and friends so very much and we will all miss her greatly. She will forever be in our hearts.
For those interested, there will be a "Celebration of Life" ceremony for Karen on
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Crosspoint Baptist Church
7661 Warner Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
http://www.crosspointhb.org

You may also send donations to:
CARING FOR CARCINOID
Online donations: http://www.firstgiving.com/karenwetterich
Or mail to:
Caring for Carcinoid Foundation
(Karen Wetterich Memorial)
198 Tremont St, Box 456
Boston, MA 02116

Thank you.

Change of Plans

After many labs and a CT and ultrasound of my liver there is no sign of infection. My hgh WBC is still somewhat of a mystery. The doctors in the OC and at UCLA are concerned that my liver funtions are going down and there has only been minimal change after 1 round. They believe it is not the correct chemo for me. I will be starting Topotecan tomorrow. This chemo takes about 1 1/2 hours to infuse and is done 5 days consecutively. I am not sure how long the break is between series yet. The doctor says this chemo is better tolerated but it can cause bone marrow suppression so I will have to do self injections of more neupogen in order to counteract the chem suppression. I pray that in collabroration of all the doctors, they have come up with the right solution and their decision has been guided by the lord.

Looking for Sunhine.

It has been a very difficult week and a half. I went into the oncologist's office on Monday, Sept. 14th expecting to receive chemo and the doctors decided to potpone it because my WBC was too high (28,000). They sent me with oral antibiotics and told me to cime back in a week. Well... this did not make me too happy. The antibiotics didn't sit well with me either. The just made me nauseas and sick. Now I could barely tolerate liquids. So..they swithed to IV antibiotics, Zofran for nausea and fluids to keep me hydrated. This combo lasted 3 hours a day for 5 consecutive dys and knocked me out cold. I think it was mostly the antibiotic. I would fall asleep after a small snack at home and be out until about 11:00 the next day.

If you called or texted me this week I apologize for not getting back to you. Haven't seen much unshine this last week and a 1/2.

Can somebody please get that fluffy creature out of my trash!

Ok, so I guess it wasn't a creature because it didn't move. Must be all the hair that is coming off my head. If this keeps up, I will be bald by Sunday. Yikes! Good-bye beautiful hair. See you later.

Healing Hands

I am truly blessed. I received a call from a very good friend today. She mentioned her church was having a prayer meeting to pray for the sick at her church. I agreed to go if I could muster up the energy. Luckily I was able to get in my 4 hour nap and felt well enough to make the drive.
It was amazing to have almost a dozen people lay their hands on me and all pray at the same time while one person lead the prayer. I truly believe God heals others through the actions of others. It was a wonderful experience and I felt honored that my friend thought of me to take part in this special prayer service.

Thank You!

Recovering from First Chemo.

The last two weeks are a bit of a blur. The third day after I completed chemo it started to really affect me. I could still make short trips out of the house but I was unable to carry on my normal duties. My color was off and my poor bely was large and that made it very difficult to eat. The injections (Nupogen) I was giving myself to increase my white blood cell (WBC) count increased my lower rib pain and were not sufficient to keep up my WBC. I became increasingly exhausted on Monday, Aug. 24 and developed a fever over 103.0. That is my cutoff. The time I must call the doctor. Saw the doctor, they drew blood and discovered I had low WBC count. Time for IV antibiotics and a higher dose of Nupogen. This made me feel even more weak. Came back the next day to find WBC were good and my red blood cells (RBC) were down. Welcome to the rollercoaster of fluctuating labs during chemo treatments. Argh! Good news was I could finish the antibiotics orally and they would watch my Hemoglobin and Hematocrit (H & H). The next day everything was within range. Yea! I have to thank my Physician Assistant, Jennifer, she called me evernight to check on how I was feeling.
The following week has been spent in my lovely recliner. I take about 4 hour naps these days, maybe longer. My biggest challenge these days is eating and maintaining my weight. I welcome any ideas for high calorie meals. Salty foods are really salty and sweet foods taste exceptionally sweet to me these days. That's about how my last two weeks have gone. I am hoping for a few good days before I start this all over again next Monday. :)