4th CT Scan and 15th Round of Treatment

Treatment started with my 4th CT scan. The CT results look the same as the last scan. Still good news according to the doctor. The doctor continues to be happy with the results. 

I am still on the 3-week plan for chemo treatments. Next one is Jan 19th. This treatment my kids were out of school for Christmas break so I brought them to the Huntsman to see what I do. They met the doctor and some of my nurses. 

Tanner and Kenzie were the only ones allowed in infusion. You have to be 14 or older to come in.

 Started that day at 8am and was finished around 4pm. Long day!! I have started taking herbal medicine in addition to chemo. It has helped my immune system and makes me feel better overall. Grateful to have family and friends cheering us on during this trial!! I am staying positive even though cancer SUCKS!! -Jenna

Round 14

There isn't really big update about Jenna this time around. She had a treatment last Thursday. She passed around little goodies to all the nice nurses and her doctor. Her treatment went by really fast as we all chatted about Christmas, vacations, and our families. Kelly (Jenna's friend) came to visit as well.  When we left they had some ladies playing Christmas music on their violins and another lady was playing the piano. Jenna really enjoyed the violins.

I kind of covered what is going to happen next time in the last post. She is waiting four weeks to go back again so she will go right after Christmas. She will be getting a CT scan before her treatment to see how things are going. That's the update for now. She is still hanging in there and seems to be doing pretty well still. 

Round 13

I feel like it has been awhile since I posted.  Jenna had another treatment last Thursday. She had a few new people help her out this time. I don't think she liked it too much. For starters she had a new girl put in her port and she said that that hurt more than anything she has gone though with this whole process. Even more then getting the fluid drained from her stomach. 

Then she met with her doctor and they decided that Jenna wouldn't be coming back for four weeks this time because if she did three weeks it would land right on thanksgiving and nobody wants to do that. She will also have another four week break after that because if they did three again it would land on a holiday (Christmas). Right after christmas she will go in for a treatment but before that she will have another CT scan.  Jenna also got a new scheduler lady and it took her a few days to figure out Jenna's schedule. I am not sure she has it all done quit yet.

Other then that her treatment went as usual and everything seems to be going pretty good still.

On a side note a friend of mine sent me a link for a spa that was offering free service for cancer patience.  They offered pedicures, facials, and massages.  I asked Jenna if she was interested and she said, yes! So we went and I went as her care giver. I thought it was a really neat thing they did. 

Thanks for all the love and support!

Huntsman 5K

I just wanted to write and say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who donated to the cancer research.

My team #jennabstrong

 It felt good to participate in the Huntsman 5K, giving hope to generations! Thank you again for the support and donations!!

Round 12

This time I was able to be with Jenna right from the beginning. She starts with getting her port accessed. Then she see another nurse who takes her vitals. Next she sees her doctor and they talk about treatment. Then she waits for a bit and goes up to get her treatments. But this time, she only saw the nurse that accesses her port and then got her treatment. I got to go with her while the nurse (one of her favorite nurses) assessed her port.

I was really interested in seeing how it worked. The nurse cleans it off and then she gets the port and pokes it into Jenna as fast as she can otherwise it would hurt. Jenna said it used to hurt but now she doesn't really even feel it.

Jenna didn't meet with her doctor this time. We (Jenna, Darren, and I) just waited and chatted with Scott and Kelly until it was time to go to Jenna's treatment. Scott and Kelly had to go. Nothing has changed with Jenna's treatments. She is still having the same three treatments right now. Lately Jenna feels pretty other than right after her treatment, when she still gets pretty tired and a little sick. As of right now, things are going pretty well!

Round 11

Now that it has been over a week since Jenna's treatment, I have left you all in suspense about her CT scan. She arrived at the Huntsman at 8am for her CT scan. After that, she met with her doctor to review the results. Things are going well: the spots on her liver and her tumors are continuing to shrink! Her CEA (carcinoembyonic antigen, a GI tumor marker) levels are back to normal at 2.4 ng/ml--previously they were 100 ng/ml. That is some really great news!! She and her doctor decided that she will be doing her treatments every 3 weeks. That way, she will be able to enjoy the holiday and not have to be so sick.

She received the same treatment as the last couple times. Jenna's friend Kelly came to visit again, so that was fun and made time go by much faster.

Jenna is grateful to be here everyday! She is also very grateful for all the thoughts and prayers of those around her! She is fighting because she has lots to fight for!!

Seattle

Jenna went to Seattle with her two girls to see the "Final Five" Olympic Gymnasts perform.

They also enjoyed some of the other things in Seattle. Such as the Gum Wall,

Pikes Market Center,

and the Ferris Wheel. The ferris wheel wasn't Jenna's favorite thing. 

They did lots of walking to see all of the sights. Jenna said she was surprised that all of that walking actually made her feel better.

She enjoyed her little getaway with her two girls!