2/25-ER visit

Hi All,

It all sounds way more dramatic than it really is. I woke up at 3 am Saturday morning to use the restroom and found blood in my urine and a lot of pain from urinating too. So I call the Dr. and he says to go to the ER. I took myself so Larry could stay with the kids and they would not have to be disrupted. It only took a couple hours, which is quick for the ER, to find out that I had a UTI-urinary tract infection. I got some heavy antibiotics and pain killers. My oncologist Dr. Rigburg happen to be there checking one of his other patients and saw my name on the patient list. He stopped in my room. It was good to find out that this medicine should not interfere with tomorrows new chemo and radiation treatment. So all is still on unless I develop a fever. Which is unlikely at this point.

Monday at 9 am I get chemo. A new drug called Taxol and an old one called Carboplatin. Pray that I have no allergic reactions to this new drug. Pray for health, energy, no digestive problems, no mouth sores, no long term effects and peace! After chemo I go in at 11:20 to Dr. Lum to get my first radiation treatment. Pray for peace with this new thing and no discomfort with skin irritation, fatigue, heart burn and to keep up with the crazy schedule. I do radiation everyday Mon-Fri for the next 6 weeks. I only do the chemo on the Mondays. I have my Tues- Fri appointments set for 8 am. This way Larry will be able to get to work closer to on time. He will be with the children by himself getting them ready for school and stuff. Pray for him because he will be handling a lot of extra work with the kids in morning. I'm sure the busyness of it all will make the time fly.

Bless each and every one of you. Your thoughts, prayers, encouraging comments and support have been such a strength to us. That's for holding us up and helping us out during this challenging time. You have all made the ride so much less frightening. I see the hand of God in so many of you. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts!! I love you all!!

Peggy

2/16-Test Results

Hi All,

Today Larry and I went to Dr. Rigberg to get the results of all the tests that I had to do over the last couple of weeks. He said that all seemed pretty much the same and unchanged. This is good! The octriotide scan continues to show areas of concern. But, when he matches it up to the cat scan all appears well. The areas that show concern are right where I had the surgery and in the uterus. He doesn't seem that concerned since nothing is showing up physically on the cat scan. He did, however, recommend that I see my gynecologist and just make sure all is well with that area. Basically all will continued as planned. I start Monday the 26th with a new Chemo called Taxol and an old one called Carboplatin. Then I go within the hour to get my first of many Radiation treatments. The next 6 weeks will be very busy. But, that is the last of the planned treatments for me. I will be watched and studied after that to make sure nothing else shows up.

My Mom just shared an encouraging story with me last night. A women came into the branch where she works and over heard my Mom talking about me. The women volunteered that she is a cancer survivor. Back in the 70's she had cancer in two places the colon and breast. She did chemo for 2 years and radiation for 1 year. (I have only done chemo for 3 months and will do radiation 6 weeks.) She shared at one point that one night when she was all alone she felt someone put an arm around her and say "everything is going to be alright." She felt it was and angel, a messenger from God. And here she is 88 years old and free from cancer for 30 years. She told my Mom that she always felt that way, about everything being alright, before the angel came. And I feel that way too. I feel that God is going to keep me around here for many more years.

God Bless you all for your Love and Prayers!! Peggy

2/5-Update on New Phase

Hi All,

Couldn't get my injection today because of a problem with the medicine that was mixed. It didn't pass inspection so it is unavailable until a new batch is made and passes inspection. So this delays everything else by a week or two. I do have the injection rescheduled for next Tues. and the scan will be Wed. And then next Friday we will go over all the results. So the Chemo won't start up again until all that happens.

The light at the end of the tunnel is visible. After this 6 week phase of treatment I will just be watched to make sure nothing comes back!! Thank you Jesus!!! Hoping to grow some hair back for the Summer!! Who wants to wear a ski cap in the Summer??!!

Thanks for all the countless prayers!! I'm so blessed by all of you!!

Love you, Peggy

2/5-Next Phase of Treatment

Hi All,

Here is a quick update to let you know what's coming up. This week I'm getting scanned a bunch. It's part of the re-study that the Doctor is doing to see where we are at now. Pray all is well and that I am not in any way being harmed by all this scanning. I go tomorrow for a Cat-Scan. I go Wed. to get an injection for a Thurs. Octriotide scan. And Friday I go back to Dr. Rigberg to go over all the results. Then he has me tentatively scheduled to start Chemo with Radiation on Monday the 12th. I will go in at 9 am for Chemo. This should take about 2 hours. Then I will go to Dr. Lum's office and get radiation within an hour of the chemo. Then Tues. through Fri. I will only do the radiation. This will continue for 6 weeks total. Some of the radiation side effects you can start praying for are tiredness, heartburn or reflux (since it will be right by my esophagus), sore throat. Mostly please be praying about the long-term effects of all of this. Being such a radical treatment it could possibly cause other problems down the road. I would appreciate prays against anything at all like that.

The family is doing great through it all. Thanks for praying about that too. This next phase of treatment will be a lot to juggle with the kids. I have some friends lined up to help with the Mondays. And the Tues. - Fri. routine will hopefully be early enough that Larry will be able to fill in for me. The radiation is a pretty quick process from what I understand. I takes all of twenty min. if that. I hope!

May the Lord bless you all abundantly!! Lots of love, Peggy

1/23-Got Tattoos?!!

Hi Everyone,

Well today was exciting. I got my first (and hopefully the last) tattoos ever! Just 3 little tiny dots that look just like blue freckles. One on my chest, by my scar. And the other two on my two sides, almost in my armpits. It really does sting and I can't imagine doing that on purpose. But hey, some people enjoy--being art!!

We met with Dr. Lum today. What a great guy! He is the only Christian Oncologist in the county. He has seen lots of miracles happen and gives the glory to God! How awesome is that?? My case is not typical. So he will be doing extra scans and things to get things set up just right. He assured us that is a safe process and will help to remove the microscopic cancer and help to prevent it from coming back.

This won't start up for another 3 weeks. I get a ct scan on thurs. to help Dr. Lum study out the exact path of radiation. I will undergo other scans and tests in between time too to help Dr. Rigberg see where we are at now. Just keep praying that all is clear or even improved!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you all soooooo much!! God has so very blessed us with such a great support network!! We love each and everyone of you so much!!

Love, Peggy

P.S. Also please pray for health in the Wolf household. The kids have all got this virus that has been hanging out a good week now. Pray Larry and I do not get it.

1/20-Round 3 Complete

Hello Again,

Just wanted to update everyone on how the week went. I did pretty good. I did have trouble one day with getting a vein. They did have to poke me 3 times before they found one that would work. On the last day of the treatment I had a little bit of swelling were they put the needle in, but it wasn't too bad and it resolved itself quickly. Thanks for all the prayers. I know that God is so getting me through this.

I go next Tues. to meet with Dr. Lum the Radiologist who will do the radiation therapy. I have heard from a friend that he is a Christian. That will be nice. I will not be getting started on the radiation until a month goes by. I need to heal from this recent treatment first. I might be getting my markings in place though. These are permanent markings like little tattoes to mark where to radiate. Should be interesting.

Again thank-you for all your kind words and prayers!! These are priceless to me!!

Lots of love, Peggy

1/14-3rd Round

Hi All,

I'm getting ready to go in tomorrow for my third round. Dr. Rigberg said after this round we will do a re-evalutation. The really good part here is I don't have to do a 4th round from what it looks like. The bad part is I have to do another Octriotide scan. Yuck! The scan itself is no big deal. Just the cleaning out of your system that they ask you to do prior is the unpleasant part. But, whatever it takes to get to the end of all this. Right?!!

Then, and I am not exactly sure how soon, I will start doing the Chemo/Radiation combo treatment. I will do Chemo every Monday for 6 weeks. It will be a lower dose of chemo drug but will take about the same amount of time to administer. Then I will go right after to do radiation. And I will do radiation Mon. through Fri. He said the Radiologist might want to do that part for 8 weeks. I will have to meet this new doctor and find out all the other details from him. Just taking it all one step at a time.

Please pray as God leads you. I have been doing really well for the most part. Things to continue praying for...Energy-no anemia, no fatigue, no mouth sores, no nausea or other intestinal issues and no issues with my veins this time. I think my veins are getting tired of all the poking.

Thank you all for your faithful friendship and faithful prayers and support!! It has made this trying time really an amazing time watching God's people do their wonderful thing!! This can be such a lonely time for some people. I have felt so surrounded and loved. I really don't feel like I am going through this alone at all!! You are all such amazing and lovely people. I love you all so much!!

God Bless each and every one of you, Peggy

1/4-Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to all!! I hope and pray this year holds many great and wonderful things for all. I am personally praying for a year of good health for the family!!

We had a wonderful trip to AZ. We rang in the New Year with Larry's family at his brother Randy's house. And yes, even Josh stayed up to midnight and beyond!! We all had a great time. We were all pretty tired after that though!! We are all home safe and sound now.

I got my blood checked at Dr. Rigberg's yesterday and he said it looked really good. I have my next round of Chemo set up for Jan. 15th, 16th and 18th. That's a Mon. Tues. and Thurs. I continue to feel pretty good through it all. I'm praising God for this!! Thanks for all the faithful prayers!!

Many, Many Blessing to you all this New Year!! Lots of Love, Peggy

12/27-We're going to AZ!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for all the great prayers!! My counts were good and the Dr. released me to go to AZ. We just found out this AM. The kids would have been so disappointed if we were unable to go. For them, this is better than Disneyland!! We are all excited to be going. I hope they let me in though. Being sick I was unable to do my traditional baking. So we will be arriving Sans Cookies and Carmel Corn. Yikes!!

I have been fighting a cold since 12-23, Christmas Eve Eve. I woke up feeling really horrible, headache and cough. The headache went away the next day but the cough was so bad that it made me throw up. I think my gag reflex is just more sensitive right now. But this has now turned into laryngitis. Basically I feel better but sound awful. I still have this cough but it is much less than it was. I went to my primary Dr. today to make sure I was ok to travel. He said that was fine but to rest and drink fluids like any good Dr. would tell you to do. I thought this cold was worse for me because of all that I am going through. He said that I was going through it in a normal way. It just so happens to be a 7-10 day kind of cold.

Having this cold has actually made me sick looking, sounding and acting. Funny how colds do that. But at breakfast the other day Trinity (our 4 1/2 year old) looked up at me real sad like and said "Mommy, I don't want you to die. I don't want to have to get a new Mommy." It's amazing what must go through these precious little ones minds. As serious as all this Chemo stuff is, I haven't been all that sick. I have been mostly normal. So being sick looking for real frightened my daughter. We explained that I was just fighting off a normal cold. She seemed good with that.

We all had a wonderful Christmas together as a family. I hope all of you did the same. It is such a special time of year to build new memories. We did lots of that this season. Thank you again and again for all the support through prayers and gifts and kind words and encouragement and everything. God is so good and it is so good to be able to say it and to really mean it!!

Lots of love and Happy New Year!!! Peggy

12/20-Round 2 Complete

Well today was the last of round two. Tomorrow I go in for my expensive Nulasta shot. God has been overwhelming us with financial blessing surprises to help cover the cost. Also we may be able to get relief from some institutions that aid in high co-pay costs. We are applying for those right now. God is totally providing and has removed that worry from us completely. Thank you all who have helped!! We are truly blessed!!

I feel pretty normal for the most part. Thank-you Jesus!! I have had a little nausea like the last time. But this time I feel I am managing that better with the meds they gave me to help with that problem. That is definitely better this time. Today I had a little problem with the vein they were using to administer the chemo. It shut down and started to infultrate the tissue. It basically started to hurt and swell up. But we took care of it quickly with removing it and putting ice on it and switching to the other arm. It feels fine now.

Things to pray for: That my white blood stays good, nausea under control, no dry mouth or mouth sores and lots of energy. I go in next week to check my blood and if all is well we can take our regular trip to AZ to see Larry's family and do Christmas and New Years with them. If levels are not good I may need to stay home. Dr. Rigburg wants me to be safe to be around others and not get colds and things too easily. I hope that makes sense to you to help you pray. The prayers of the saints have been totally priceless to us. I am amazed at God's hand in all this. I really do not feel like I am going through anything as major as I am. I mostly get reminded when I look in a mirror. Thank you so much for all the prayers!!!

A very Merry Christmas to you all!! Blessings abundant to your New Year!!

Lots of love, Peggy

12/12-2nd round

Just wanted to let everyone know that my next round of Chemo is on Mon-Tues-Wed the 18th, 19th & 20th. Please keep the prayers flowing. I feel so overwhelmed at the outcome of the last round. I felt pretty close to normal. The hair will grow back so I am not all that worried there. Pray against nausea and vomiting, mouth sores, fatigue and low iron in the blood. Thank you all again and again from the bottom of my heart...I love you all so much!!

12/7 - Bzzzz, Bzzzz

Well, today was the day...Peg said, "enough of this hair falling out, I want to shave it down". So she invited over a friend, LaQuisha to come and do the honors of shaving her head. All the kids gathered around to watch the "festivities" as mommy got a serious trim.

She is enjoying it, nothing to brush, nothing to comb, no hair dryers...and I can no longer say, when she complains about her hair, "well at least you have some". We are try to take all this in stride, and Peggy has been really positive and fun about this day. She is looking forward to saving on electricity, water, shampoo, conditioners, hair sprays, gels, creams, haircuts, weaves, etc.

She asked me to put some pictures up here, showcasing her new look and attitude. Josh got a buzz too, cause he was close by...

Oh yea, today is also the anniversary date of the surprise attack, December 7th...you know what I'm talking about right? The day I asked Peg to marry me, 11 years ago!

It's been a surreal week, to say the least. What a wild ride we are on, but hey, in the Bible, Job sure went through a whole lot more than we will ever know, so I guess we don't have a lot of space to complain!

Thanks for the love, prayers, and encouragement you all bring us daily.
Love Larry

12/5 - Changes Ahead

Hi All,

I feel so blessed to have so many friends that have been lifting me up in prayer. God has been amazing to me. My first two weeks in this Chemo experience have been better than I expected. I felt close to normal all of last week. This week has been a little rougher. I am experiencing a lot of hair falling out. I think I will have it shaved down by the end of the week. It is kind of messy to have hair falling out all the time. I feel ready for it. I have been blessed by a bag full of hats and scarves. A friend from Church would like to bless me with a wig as well. But really I don't feel like the wig kind of person and I hear that they are really itchy on bald chemo heads.

Last night I had my first round of really bad intestinal trouble. Not fun! But today I feel much better. I'm thankful for the Meds I have been given to help with that kind of trouble. Thanks for all the prayers and keep it up!! I am also so thankful for all the cards and encouraging notes I have received. I read them all and I get encouraged all the time. I am so blessed to know you all!!

With much love to you all, Peggy

11/26 - Update

Well Peg seems to be doing fine at this point. She has been feeling, maybe a little tired at times, but not enough to slow her down or stop a date night and movie for us on Saturday night! We went and saw Stranger Than Fiction, very intriguing and interesting movie, we like it!

Today she is going to get a bone scan, to check bone density? Not sure. On Tues, Thur & Fri this week she will get iron injections to help her low iron situation.

Thanks for all the prayers, we definately feel God's hand and direction on our lives and on her body. Many were amazed at New Life yesterday to see her looking so good and feeling so good.

Last week, someone provide all the funds to pay for her first Neulasta shot, what an incredible blessing!!! Keep praying for her strength, wholeness, no side effects and victory report at the end of these treatments.

We love you all!

Larry

11/22 - Update

Well Peg is in the process of getting her last treatment for this month. She has been feeling pretty good, although was experiencing so nausea last night and this morning. Her iron has been low, so they need to boost that through injections and oral. If you remember, she was having this same problem after the surgery, almost to the point of them wanting to do a blood transfusion.

For you who like to know specific terms, here are the two chemo drugs she is being given. Carboplatin and Etoposide. To combat the effects of the chemo drugs, she will need to take, once a month, a drug called Neulasta from Amgen. This helps rebuild blood cells. Only challenge is, IT COSTS AROUND $3,000 PER INJECTION! That is insane. Anyways, we found out that our insurance covers 70%, still that's like $800 per shot! wow.

Anyways, all in all, she has been feeling ok, and we are looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving weekend, with her family and my family.

Thanks again for all the prayers, encouragement and offers to help! We are praying for Peg to have minimual side effects, and to come through this process, very strong, and healthy! Love you all - Larry

11/20 - 10:25 am update

We are right now at the doctor's office...Peg has started the chemo drug and will continue for about an hour and a half. She is doing good so far.

He said all the re-tests, CT scans, blood work came back negative...which is great!

The octreotide scan did show a little elevated level which was consistent with the last test. He said the reading of these test are sometimes difficult.

All in all, at this point she is doing well...thanks the prayers...updates to come...

11/17 - Next Steps

Well Peg has finished most of the additional tests, the CT Scan, Ocreotide Scan, and blood work. She will be doing a bone scan in about a week. On Monday, she starts the chemo treatments. It will be Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday next week, that she will receive treatments. That will be it for the month. She will receive various injections of other drugs to combat the side effects and to keep her white blood cell counts up. We are hopeful that all the blood and additional scan, will not show any changes, that everything is still clean & clear in her body. We have a friend who has been through this an has had very little side effects in the process, so we are praying like she has, that these would be very minimal.

Many have already been helping with the kids, and wherever needed. Many more have offered to help in the days to come. We are very blessed to have such a huge, family of believers around us. This has been very difficult, emotionally draining and hard to comprehend. You tend to ask God a lot of questions. It either is going to drive you away from God or towards Him. Although it is not always easy, God has strengthened our relationship as a couple and a family, and strengthened our relationship with Him.

Sometimes you feel numb to other things around you, to the cares and concerns of others, to the job, the ministry, the goals and dreams. You wonder about the future, dreams, trips, plans, but if we aren't careful, we will get too inward focused and forget that we are here on this earth to serve Him, not ourselves. We are here to touch the lives of others, so they can come to the saving knowledge of Him.

And so, the journey continues.

11/13-Oncologist Appointment

Hi All,

We met with Dr. Rigburg today. It looks like I need to re-do all the test I did before to get my current baseline. They need to see where I am at today to get the right medicines I will be needing. He has me schedule to start Chemotherapy on Monday the 20th followed by Tues. and Wed. of next week. Normally they would do it Thurs. instead of Wed. but they are working around the Thanksgiving holiday.

I go tomorrow for a CT scan and Wed. for an injection for a Thurs. Octriotide scan at CMH (I did not enjoy this very much last time.) And before next Mon. I need to get some blood work done and a 24 hour urine collection done. Then the following week after Thanksgiving I go in for a bone scan at CMH.

Some of the side effects I am praying I do not get are intestinal troubles, fatigue, low Iron, mouth sores and hairloss. So you can be praying with us about this stuff.

Together Larry and I are ready now to go down this path. Thanks so much for all your kinds words of encouragement and prayers!! Thanks for all the help and offers to help. We will let you know as things happen how you all can help. Thanks for keeping my family covered during this time of unknowns!! We serve a mighty and very capable God. We give Him all the glory!! We are using this time to draw nearer to Jesus!!

Lots of love to all, Peggy

11/9 - 2nd Opinion Appointment

We were able to meet with Dr. Heaney at UCLA this morning. He is a very impressive and educated man. He not only has an MD but a PHD as well. He knows his stuff!! He was able to review all my information so far. He said that given the circumstances, with the tumor spreading to the lymph nodes and the levels on a KI 67 test, that he highly recommened the chemo and radiation that Dr. Rigberg (my local oncologist) had suggested. He order a few more tests like a bone scan and another octriotide scan and more blood work. I set an appointment with Dr. Rigberg to see him next Mon. the 13th. He will most likely want to get me started on treatments asap. Dr. Heaney did seem to think that waiting to start the treatments was ok because it has given my body more of time to heal from the surgery. Hopefully, I will tolerate the treatments just a little be better than I would have if I had started a two months ago.

Thanks for all the prayers. Keep praying I'm not out of the woods yet. I know God is by my side.

Lots of love to you all!!

11/2 - Another New Appointment

I had just gotten through just telling my 4 year old that she gets to sleep over at a friends house tonight when the phone rings. It's Dr. Heaney's office. Since he is just getting started at UCLA it turns out that they are not quite ready to received his patients quite yet. His credential paper work is holding up the process evidently. So they are needing to move my November 2nd appointment out to November 9th, next Thursday. I have been waiting 6 weeks to see this Dr. and I had 3 different places set up for each of the 3 different children to sleep over and stay with tomorrow. The kids are dissappointed that they don't get to do sleepovers now. But, thankfully all the places I had set up for tonight are all able to help me in the same way next week. I feel very dissappointed that I have to wait more time. It has already been really hard waiting as long as I have already. But, I know I can dig deep and just wait it out another week. Please pray that this is the end of the waiting and that this does not happen again next week. I'm also praying for this Dr. to have the wisdom and guidance from the Lord whether he knows God or not. Thanks so much for all the prayers!!!