11/15 2:00 pm - Update

Ok, sometimes I don't like Verizon Wireless. Today is one of those days. I can barely get cell service anywhere in this Hospital. I know UCLA is #3 in the nation for hospitals, but for cell service, it's alot WAY lower. But on a good note, they have free wireless internet for family of patients.

Anyways, onto Peg! They were a little delayed in getting her into surgery, which she went in around 12:30 PM. Wow, talk about forms, documents, and stuff to fill out! She probably was talked to by about 30 people before surgery today. There is a medical nurse, technician, assistant, doctor for everything. I think if you sneeze here, they have a doctor of sneezology to take care of you. Anyways, you feel well cared for, that's for sure.

They said the procedure would be about 3 hours, so we may be hearing something around 3:30 PM. She was in good spirits when they were rolling her across the hall into the O.R. Mom (Patsy) Haeussler is here, she got here about 10:30 am. Lauri Stevenson (my sister) was here for a little while before having to leave to pick-up her mother-in-law at LAX. All in all I know God has it all under his hand, and in his control. This photo was one a friend sent Peggy yesterday, who has been through cancer treatment and surgeries.

More to come...

Blessings! Larry

11/15-9:15am - Arrival

Well it took us 2 hours and 10 min to drive 50 miles today...to get to UCLA! Wow, we arrived in ok time and peg is check-in and waiting to go into pre-op.

She is sporting her designer hospital gown! She feels good and at peace!

Thanks for prayers...larry

11/14-Surgery Tomorrow

It's official...Peg will check in at 9:00 am tomorrow at UCLA. Surgery begins around 11:00 am. It's about a 3 hour procedure. Thanks for all the prayers...we love you guys.

Larry

11/9-UCLA Surgery

Hello,

It looks like I will be doing the surgery on Nov. 15th next Thurs. at UCLA. I have completed my pre-ops which was just an EKG and some blood work. Dr. Cameron thought this visit would be about 3 days. I will make a list of a few prayer requests.

-Peace for the entire family.
-For the kids to feel confident and secure during this time while being placed elsewhere.
-For Dr. Cameron to get every tiny cell of disease existing.
-For clear margins around the small masses.
-For no complications & quick healing.
-For us to be witnesses for Jesus whenever possible.

Thanks for all the faithful prayers!! Love to all!!!

Peggy

11-1/Surgery Info.

Hi All,

All I have is a tentative date at the moment. So, I might be going in for surgery November 15. That's two weeks from today. Dr. Cameron at UCLA has been called in for jury duty and it has messed up his surgery schedule a little bit. Hopefully I will get this date firmed up by tomorrow. It is hard to get the kids schedules arranged without a firmed up date. But, I do know that he does surgeries on Thurs. So that helps. That way I will hopefully be home the following weekend. And in plenty of time for Thanksgiving.

I hope this surgery will be easier to heal up from since they will be going under the ribcage and not through it this time. But, still it is major surgery and I need to keep that in mind too. I know God will work out all of life's details. It can be so overwhelming trying to think of all that you do and wondering how it will get all done. But that is all part of the be anxious for nothing verse. So I am trying my best. On top of that I am trusting Him for complete health. So much is out of my control and now in His control. Such a better place to be anyhow.

Again and again and again Thank You so much for all the prayers. Through them all God is getting us all through this very well!!

Lots of Love to all, Peggy

10/27-Another Surgery

Dear Friends and Family,

My appointment with Dr. Cameron at UCLA went as expected. He would like to do the surgery. It will be less involved than the other one. But more involved than what I was expecting. I will get cut under both breasts this time. So my scar will go horizontally rather than vertically. He said that the hospital stay would be about 3 days. If the area in question, that is up higher, is touching my rib I will have to have some bone cut away. But, when all is healed it won’t even seem any different. There is a possible need for radiation when I’m done. If all the margins are clear, no sign of disease anywhere on any of the edges, then he said he would be reluctant to recommend radiation. I just found out this time that you have a lifetime maximum amount of radiation you can receive. But, if it is positive anywhere I will definitely need more radiation. Chemo is unlikely since it is only moderately helpful with this kind of cancer. My neuroendocrine cancer is intermediate. The high grade kind responds well to chemo and the low grade kind doesn't respond at all. So I'm somewhere in the middle and we just did chemo and stuff still came back.


So after talking to Dr. Cameron-who by the way bears a remarkable resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite-we have decided to schedule the surgery. We can't do this until the office manager returns next Tues. They said that he is working about 2-3 weeks out at this point. I'm hoping to be all done and home healing before Thanksgiving. It will be interesting to see how it all works out this time. I know God will organize it all out perfectly.

Prayer Requests:
-That the margins are all clear on the tissue that is removed.
-That all the child care gets covered without too much hassle.
-That our family is drawn closer together through it all.
-That we are all drawn closer to God too!
-That we do not get discouraged and keep hopeful attitudes.
-That God will use us in the midst of this trial.


Thanks you so much for all your faithfulness to us all through it all!!
Lots of love and blessings, Peggy

10/19-Giving it to God

Hi Guys,

I have been needing to update this blog for days. I have been busy with just normal life and the new added twists too. The doctors wanted me to do a PET scan too. This would somehow help them to determine exact locations of these new spots. So I did this scan last week. I happened to have an appointment set with my primary doctor Dr. Kerr. I had him copied on the report so I knew he would be able to give me the info. from the PET scan. He talked to Dr. Rigberg(my oncologists) who had talked to Dr. Lum (my radiologist) and they agreed that radiation would be the next course of treatment. All the new spots are outside the area that I had radiation on earlier this year. Then Dr. Kerr proceeded to tell me that he strongly recommends that I set up an appointment with Dr. Cameron (My UCLA surgeon) and see if he could just remove these spots altogether. Dr. Kerr said he wants to take the aggressive approach and get to CURE! I said Me Too!! Am I throwing out enough Dr. names at you???

Both Larry and I talked at length about this and we agreed that seeing Dr. Cameron would be a good idea. So, I have that appointment set for next Fri. I thought that was amazing enough in itself because last time it took 6 weeks to get an appointment with him. I prayed to God if this is the right course please let it be sooner than the last 6 week wait. An sure enough it was. Last time all the test were old and needed to be redone. So thank-you Jesus for that!! Last time he saw me he had me in the next week doing surgery. So, please pray that this is clear to us. Dr. Kerr said this surgery would be way less invasive and I would heal up much quicker! They would not need to open up my sternum this time. They might even be able to remove the spots with some kind of a scope thing.

Thanks for all the great prayers. We have been experiencing peace through it all. We have had moments of challenge, but we have been able to overcome that. Keep the prayers coming. We will have schedules to work out with the kids. Also, of course, all the decisions we need to make and prayers for complete healing. I just want to be a light to others of God's great love. Hoping I can let my light shine wherever I go. Thanks again and again for the prayer support you give to me and my family.

The kids are doing great! Lexie even got "Peacebuilder of the month" in her classroom this past month. It's a big deal at their school where they have an assembly and the principal announces the kids chosen. We are so proud of her. Trinity was move up from kindergarten to a new K/1 class. She was observed as being ready for a little more challenge. We are so proud of her too! She is doing great in this new class! Joshua continues to thrive in his pre-school class! He is making lots of new buddies!! We feel so blessed to have the kids that we do! They truly are gifts from God!

Lots of love to you all!!! Peggy

10/5-Thankful

Hello All,

I had my octriotide scan on Wed. This scan is specific to Neuroendocrine Tumors. The isotopes they inject uptake to the neuroendocrine tumor areas. Dr. Rigberg my oncologist reviewed the results of the scans with Larry and I yesterday. I was thankful to see that they were not picking up any other problem areas other than what was already discovered with the cat scan a couple weeks ago. Dr. Rigberg is a very thorough kind of Doctor. He showed us the May cat scan and the Sept. cat scan. We could see the new tumors in the Sept. scan. They are 2 and 3 cm right now. One is right behind the ziphoid process which is at the end of the sternum. This one is right by my heart. The other one is close by but going more toward my liver.

The next step is to wait for the two doctors to confer with each other. Dr. Rigberg wants to make sure that these new tumors are indeed outside the port of radiation from my last treatments. If not, he mentioned a possible need for more chemo. Dr. Lum seemed fairly certain this is not the case. I see Dr. Lum next Tues. Hoping to have more information by then.

It has been a little tough emotionally with all this. We are not sure why God is allowing this to continue. But, we know that He knows why. We trust God and we know He is faithful. Pain always teaches us how to be more compassionate. Look what Christ Himself endured for us. We have a compassionate God!!

Also we do have an issue with blue cross our insurance carrier. A lot of my doctors are dropping them. If I continue with an out of network doctor we will get hit with much higher doctor expenses. So please just add that to the prayer list. I know God will work it all out somehow.

Pray for all the family. The kids seem to be just going with the flow. We talk about it all with them so they know what's going on. Pray the just give it all to the one who can really heal and comfort!!

Thanks for all that you all do!! Lots of Love, Peggy

9/24-Hope

Hi All,

I had my regularly scheduled CT-scan last week. They are checking me every 3 weeks. I wasn't able to set up to meet with Dr. Rigberg my Oncologist until next Thurs. I happened to have a post radiation check up the Dr. Lum today. So he was able to go over my Ct. Scan with me.

It looks like there are some new spots that have developed since my scan 3 months ago. It's just below the radiation field on my chest. Everything in the radiation field is clear. This is good to know, this means that the radiation did it's job. Both Dr's talked and they agreed that radiation will most likely be the best course of action and no chemo. I do have to do another octriotide scan to make sure that this is all that is out there right now. Both Dr's feel that it is most likely all they will find. So I do not have any of the new course of radiation confirmed or scheduled yet.

I am praying that they find nothing more or just plan nothing at all. My God is a healer and I know He can heal me head to toe. Thanks for all the prayers and support.

We love all of you!! Peggy

8/30-School Days

Hi All,

It has been too long again since I have updated my blog. No good reason really. The girls have finally started school this past Monday. Trinity is officially a Kindergartener. She really loves it!! Lexie is in the third grade and they are both at our local public school, Rio Del Norte. Joshua will start PreK next week at Our Redeemer preschool where the girls both attended. I will for the first time in 8 years have a couple hours to myself two days a a week. Hooray!!

I have been feeling pretty good with my health lately. I am getting back into my old excercise routine and feeling ok. For a while there it would really burn me out. It would take away all the energy I had for the day. But I feel good now. I saw Dr. Handley the Pulmonologist this week. We waited 6 weeks and did nothing. And nothing looked worse. Hooray!! So, they tried antibiotics and steroids and that did not make it go away. And they did nothing and it did not get worse. So he feels pretty comfortable that the spot on my lung is just a scar from the radiation. Thank you Jesus!!!

Thanks for all the prayers. Please if the Lord puts it on your heart, lift up my dad in prayer. His heart needs some major work. Being a parkinson's patient it makes it very tricky to do the by-pass surgery that he really needs. So He will be going in tomorrow for a less invasive angio-plasty(roto-rooter) and have some stents put in. Pray with me that he does well with the procedure and his safely home by Saturday as planned. God knows all the rest of the technical stuff!!

Thanks so much for all the love and friendship, Peggy

7/9-Feeling good!

Hello,

Summer is moving along just fine. We are all getting used to a more relaxed schedule. We already had our Church's VBS program called Summer Slam. The theme was Treasure Island. It was all week long and the kids had a great time and learned lots of great stuff. We also had lots of our AZ relatives out for the 4th of July celebration. We spent a really fun day up in Santa Barbara playing at the beach, eating, riding bikes & scooters and of course watching the fireworks. We are doing the library on Tues. and Park Day on Wednesdays so far. Also, we will be going for Forest Home at the end of the month for a week with Jeff and John's families. We are all looking forward to our official family vacation.

I finished my tapering dose of Prednisone. I saw Dr. Handley last Thurs. The new x-ray didn't show any changes in the spot on my lung at all. He asked how I was feeling and I told him that I definitely do not feel worse. And as for better, well I never really felt that bad to begin with. He said I never looked that ill either each time that he has seen me. So We are going to just watch things over the next six weeks. If things get worse sooner, I will call. The spot may just be a scar as I have mentioned before. They just want to make sure it is not some other kind of infection going on.

Thanks for all the recent prayers. I am happy to be feeling better.

Lots of love to all, Peggy

6/13-Prednisone

Hi Friends and Family,

I saw Dr. Handley today. It's been 2 weeks and I just finished my last of the antibiotic today that I was taking. I got a chest X-ray first. Dr. Handley was able to compare that with my last CT scan. He said he did not see any changes. When he listened to my lungs he did hear some rattling from both lungs. I don't feeling any worse and even a little bit better. He was able to rule out Valley fever and a couple other lung problems from the blood test I had done. So this leaves me with Radiation Pneumonia. Since the lungs are sounding worse I need to treat it with the prednisone steroid. I will take a dose that tapers down until it is done. Then I will visit the Dr. in 3 weeks and do another x-ray and a breathing analysis too. So right now I am praying for all the side effects to be null and void in me. I believing for it to do it's job and nothing else. This steroid is meant to treat any inflammation in my lungs. Thanks for praying with me through this new little mountain I have to climb. All and all we are doing good. Lexie finishes 2nd grade on Friday and Trinity is graduating from Pre-School tomorrow. We are all looking forward to a fun Summer.

Blessings to you all!! Glory to God!!!!

Love, Peggy

5/31-Pulmonalogist Appt.

Well Wed. I went to see Dr. Handley my new Pulmonalogist. It used to be Dr. Paladino, but he moved back to NY. He seems like a great Dr. He was brought up to speed about everything and then listened everywhere to my lungs and didn't hear anything concerning. He said it all sounded clear. He was concerned about the shading in the upper left lung( which was in fact a radiation port) and the pain I have been feeling with a deep breath and the tiredness. He didn't want to start the prednisone without first running a blood test and also check for valley fever too. So he has me taking an antibiotic called Biaxin for 2 weeks. It is used to treat just regular pneumonia. So, after 2 weeks I go back to Dr. Handley and get an X-ray and another check-up. So, if the Lord brings it to your mind to pray, please pray that this antibiotic works and I do not have to take the "Stinky Prednisone" as my wonderful friend Julie O put it in the last comment field. All this must sound all to familiar to you dear Julie!! Thanks for all the prayers!! Thanks to everyone!! I love you All!! Jesus is my healer!!

5/29-Scans and More Scans

Hi All,

Sorry I took so long to write back about the results of all the 6 week post treatment studies. It's been a little crazy with Dr. stuff and we went to visit family in AZ for memorial weekend in the middle of it all. It was a wonderful time in AZ visiting Larry very fun family!!

First of all Dr. Rigberg called me Tues. after the Monday CT scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvis. He said I had a condition in the small bowel that showed part of it going into itself, like a telescope, he described. So he set me up for a barium study on Wed. to check closer in that area. And, thank-you Jesus, it showed all looked back to normal. Also the CT scan showed that my left lung looked like it was showing some shading. It could be scarring from the radiation or another condition called Radiation Pneumonia. He asked if I had a fever or if I was short of breath. I was not. While in AZ I started to get a low fever in the 99's and low 100's with achy joints and pain in the lungs with a deep breath. So I called Dr. Rigberg and he told me to take an anti-inflammatory Aleve. He said if I get short of breath and start to run a fever over 101 then go to the ER. I thankfully did not need to do this.

Today I had a scheduled appointment with Dr. Rigberg to go over the study results in detail. The bone scan for my hip all looked just fine. If I keep getting pain in my hip I need to do an MRI on the hip next. Also the MRI on my brain was all right with no problems. Probably just allergy related headaches like I suspected. Dr. Rigberg is ultra thorough. Back to today. Dr. Rigberg listened to my lungs. Didn't say anything sounded bad or good. Asked where the pain was specifically when I took a deep breath, my lower right back and whole lung area. He wanted to rule out a pulmonary embolism. This is a very serious thing I guess. So he sent me to get another scan right away called a CT angio gram. It was basically to get a closer look and the arteries in the lungs to make sure there are no blood clots. Since no one has called me telling me to get right to the hospital here 4 hours later, I think it is safe to assume I do not have that in Jesus name!!

Tomorrow he has me seeing a pulmonary specialist to see what is up with the shading in the left lung. If it is an infection it will need to be treated with a serious steroid called prednisone. I really do not want to take this. I was reading about it and it sounds yucky!! I am believing for the Lord Jesus my healer to make this all go away. I am reporting this to all of you to believe with me in the Lords healing.

Thank you all for bearing with me for such a long update. I appreciate all your prayers and faith!!

Love and Hope, Peggy

P.S. Is. 53:5&6..remember folks, because of His wounds I am healed!!!!!!!!

5/21- 6 week Post check

Hi Friends,

Just a quick word to let you all know that I am feeling good and growing lots of curly hair back. It is very strange to have such curly hair. The Dr. warned me that it would grow back this way.

I saw Dr. Rigberg early last week for my 6 week follow-up. I had mention having headaches, but I was fairly certain that they were related to seasonal allergies. But, he is a very thorough guy so he sent me in for a brain scan and the regular CT scan of the chest and abdomen to check the regular spot. Also tomorrow I go for another bone scan because the ache in my left hip continues. I do not know what that is about. We will find out I am sure. Please pray it is all a bunch of nothing. I am so done with treatments and surgeries. Thanks so much for all the love and prayers!!

Lots and lots of love, Peggy

4/6-It Is Finished!

Dear Friends and Family,

I couldn't think of a more appropriate day to be able to use this title. What a wonderful thing Jesus did for all of mankind this day 2000 years ago. Because of His wounds, I am healed!! Thank you Jesus!!! Just yesterday, I finished my final cancer treatment! Hooray!!!

Monday I went to Dr. Rigberg and again my white cells were too low to do my last chemo. So I was able to forgo it. I do not have to make it up, so that was that!! Hooray, again. I think it was God's way of saying you do not need anymore! On Tues. the radiation machine was down so they did not treat me. So instead of being done on Wed. I was done on Thurs. They even presented me with an official graduation certificate. I was so happy, I even got a little teared up.

That is all the treatments that they have scheduled for me. I am going to just be watched from here out. I get my blood checked in two weeks to make sure my white cells are bouncing back. And in six weeks I go back to the radiologist to make sure my healing is going well. Right now I'm just looking forward to getting more energy and for my esophagus to heal. Swallowing has been painful. They said give your body about 10 days. They said with the swallowing to be careful because I will feel better before I am all better and some rough foods could re-injure my esophagus. Hopefully I will remember to take it easy there. Also, sometime in May they will restudy me again. I'm believing that God has totally healed me.

Thank you all for all the prayers and support you have given me and my family during this time of challenge. I feel this has been a total group effort. I have not felt all alone in this process by any means. I have felt so lifted up and loved. It has helped me, for the most part, just keep doing all the stuff I normally do. I'm looking forward to getting on with life with a little more energy now. Words cannot express how deeply grateful I am to all of you for all that you have done for all of us.

Lots of love and lots of blessings, Peggy

3/27-Week 5

Dear Friends and Family,

Hope all is good for everyone!! Today I was scheduled to have my 5th chemo. But again, he decided not to treat me. My white cells were up, but not enough for him to feel ok about treating me. It is fine with the Radiologist though. So I have stayed on track with my radiation. Dr. Rigberg said that right now that is the most important thing. The big chemo's I did in Nov-Dec-Jan are systemic and the radiation is localized to the area where the tumor was. They see a higher incident or cancer returning to the same area when treated with chemo alone. So the radiation is extra insurance that we are getting it all. The chemos that have been missed are just dropped and not delayed. They were mainly for enhancing the effects of the radiation. Next Monday will by my last chemo and only a half week of radiation. Hooray...then I should be done!! Other good news is that my scans from last week all looked good. I had a mammogram, a pelvic ultrasound and a hip X-ray. No problems appeared whatsoever. I know it's because God has healed me!! Thank you Jesus!!! Thanks so much for all the prayers and faith that so many have extended to me. It has built me up in my own faith seeing so many standing and believing with me!! You guys are the best!! I love you all so much!!

Keep praying and believing, God can do ANYTHING!!

Love, Peggy

3/20-Halfway

Hi All,

Just a real quick update on this week. Dr. Rigberg did not treat me with Chemo this week because my white cells were too low. But, they were not too low for Dr. Lum, so I have been on schedule with the radiation. I'm not sure if this chemo was just dropped or delayed. Please pray for my white cells to increase. Also, my hip pain went away and then came back on one day and left the next. Not sure what that is all about, but Dr. Rigberg ordered an X-ray for this Thurs. Please pray that is is all just nothing at all. Thanks so much for all your faithful prayers!!

Love and Blessings, Peggy

3/12-Moving Right along.

Hi All,

Hope this finds everyone doing well and healthy. Today I finished my 3rd or 6 chemo's and started my 3rd week of radiation. So at the end of this week I will be officially at the 1/2 way point. Hooray!! Everything has been going pretty good for the most part. However, I am experiencing some very normal side effects. I'm going to list these and let the prayers and Jesus do the work here.

I have been experiencing lots of itchy skin and red splotches. They are temporary like hives. No permanent rashes thank goodness. This is more annoying than painful. I have also been getting more irritation in the esophagus. I can feel the food going down like a big lump. But this too is not painful. If it does get to the point of being painful Dr. Lum said he could prescribe some pain medication. I am hoping to avoid this. On the outside, by the radiation area, the skin gets extra itchy and splotchy at times. I'm thinking this is getting more irritation too. I hear some people actually get blisters. I'm praying this doesn't get that bad. Also this past week I noticed a ache in my left hip joint. So I brought it up to Dr. Rigberg and was hoping it was somehow connected to a treatment side effect. But not so, he said to watch it and if it increases in discomfort I will need to get an X-ray and possibly a MRI. So please pray that is just something that is minor and going away quickly. The last thing to mention would be prayer for my white blood cells to increase. They have been on a steady decline. These are important in fighting things off.

All in all things are going along pretty normal. Larry has been doing a great job getting the kids off and going in the morning. They are enjoying the extra time with Daddy immensely. Larry and I had our regular "date night" last Friday. We got a chance to see the movie "Amazing Grace". What a great movie that was. If you enjoy history and very inspiring movies we recommend it highly. It's just so good to be out doing our normal stuff in the middle of all this crazy health issue season we are in. I attribute so much of that to all of you and your faithful prayers. I can tell you how many people bless us with comments, encouraging words, gifts, prayers and lots of hugs!! Thanks soooo very Very much! What an incredible journey and it helps so much to be surrounded by such wonderful support. Am I getting too gushy??

Thanks and I love you all, Peggy

P.S. Just remembered, it's been so hot lately that I decided to brave the very short hair look this Sunday at Church and today at the Doctor visits. It was just too hot to wear a hat. I got lots of positive feed back. I will have to get Larry to post some recent pictures for my good friends and family far away.

3/4-1 down 5 to go!

Hi Everyone,

I completed my first week of Chemo with radiation. Everything went just fine. The chemo is more than half less than what I was taking earlier. I had no nausea and no need for medicine to help with that. The radiation process is painless. You just lay there, they position you, they leave the room, I lay real still, I hear a buzzing sound for about 15 seconds. No flashing lights or anything. They move the machine to my side and do it all again. Then I leave 10 minutes after I walked in. It's all very quick and systematic.

Friday afternoon I started to feel achy and sore in my muscles. Sat. I woke up with a slight fever and more of the same. So Larry took over kid duty completely and I rested a lot. I feel better today. I think I picked up a bug of some sort. I know if I have a fever on Monday they will delay my treatment. So I am resting and trying to keep everything on track. I'm just so looking forward to being all done with the treatments. I'm still on an antibiotic from last weekend. Maybe that helped.

I hope everyone out there is doing well. Thanks for all the prayers. They mean so much and they are helping so much. Keep praying for good health and no side effects.

Bless you all, Peggy