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. :)

1st series of Chemo is done!

Yes! I accepted those toxic chemicals into my body without fear. Ha Ha Ha! I have a little nausea but nothing serious. Being very creative about what I can eat now that I have metal running through my body and my taste buds have completely changed. I have a strange metallic taste in my mouth. Spearmint gum seems to work well and I can eat melon, applesauce, cottage cheese and crackers, chips and guac (thank goodness!). Still working on the vegetables. Oh, and I can eat those First Street Creamery Chocolate fudge bars from Smart and Final anytime! You want to bring me a treat. That would be the best.

My belly is a bit enlarged at the moment. I told Steve I'm about 5 months along now. He didn't think that was very funny. ahh! I have to get my laughs in every day. Keeps my spirits high.

I am scheduled to recieve my 2nd round of chemo September 14th 15th and 16th. I am lucky to be able to have the infusion done close to my home in Huntingon Beach so I don't have to travel to UCLA. I still have access to UCLA for treatment ideas and I am very blessed to have this option. Cause UCLA rocks and accomplishes some amazing healing there. Especially with the help from my fellow nursing students at Mount Saint Mary's College. Yeah! Miss you stressed out nursing students!

UCLA & Time for Chemo

I met a wonderful oncologist for a second opinion up at UCLA today. He answered all my questions and was willing to stay longer to answer more. He thinks Cisplatin and Etoposide are the way to go to blast these unruly cells and send them on their way. I will see him again in 6 weeks after I have been toxified with chemo. He will decide what the next step will be.
Chemo starts tomorrow at the oncology office and then Sat and Sun it will be at Hoag Hopsital. I really have no idea what I am getting myself into except for all the stories I am sure all of you have heard. The doctor thinks I will feel better after the initial 2 weeks of utter crappiness. I am committed to being a couch potato for a while if that is what it is going to take to get me through. The kids have instructions to feed me every 3 hours. ha! We shall see how that works out. Luckily, I have only lost 2 lbs so far. Force feeding has never been my forte, but I am learning.

Marry me again

Today was an extroadinary day. Steve and I set off to meet Jason at Crosspoint church while the girls' stayed home. Jess was still feeling feverish from yesterday. Little did we know today was the day Pastor Bruce would renew marriage vows for anyone in the church who was willing. Steve and I were married September 23, 1989 in front of a man-made waterfall in Calabasas and had a wedding officient marry us. I had always wanted to renew our vows in the church and today was the perfect day. When the time came to renew our vows we faced each other and held hands. Steve was afraid he couldn't get the words out because of the pent up emotion of all we had been through and are enduring at this time. It took everything I had to whisper my vows to my husband of nearly 20 years. It was absolutely wonderful! I later found out we weren't the only ones moved by our love and committment towards each other.

Thanks Pastor Bruce! I feel blessed to be witness to your awesome ability to allow the Lord to work through you.

Blogging isn't easy

Okay. So far I have changed the darn template 5 times and the colors and the fonts and oh my goodness I guess this is what I get. It is not perfect... but I will take it. Don't be confused if the next time you visit my blog it is c o m p l e t e l y different. I like the picture. I received it in an email and stole it. haha! There is no other feeling than being in the middle of a barrel on your board. Total awesomeness. Ok, surfer chick is leaving now. I have passed that down to my beautiful daughter, Jessica. Steve used to call her Gidget when she was 9 and just learning how to surf. She has turned out to respect and enjoy the ocean for the God given beauty it possesses. She loves to surf with her dad and her surfin' buddy Katie. Katie's dad often comes along too. Fun times!

Why smile?

I remember reading a story a long time ago about the impact a smile can have on another person. The story spoke about positive attitudes and energy and how we can create that in our lives. They went on to say that providing a genuine smile, and I mean a heart warming smile, can promote the flow of positive energy from one person to the next and act as a catalyst to spread this energy from one person to the next.

Let's say one person is having a bad day. You are at work or on the street and give this person a cheerful, heartfelt smile. The sad person smiles back in response, maybe wondering what in the world you are up to or maybe catches your positive energy and smiles back to someone else on the street. You following me here? This may in turn create a flow of positive energy she takes to work and transfers throughout her workplace. In chemistry they have a word for reactions that create energy without losing energy. This is the tipping point. The point I want to make about smiles and why I do it every chance I can. :)