Karla's Health Update - 7/26/08

Hi, All –

My fourth and FINAL chemo was last Tuesday! Hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray! I will still have chemo side effects for a couple of weeks and then more surgery decisions, but this part is done!!! It wasn’t as severe for me as it is for some people, but it wasn’t exactly fun, either. (I do try to see this whole thing as an adventure. Secretly, didn’t you always wonder what you’d look like with a shaved head?)

I had a few of the same old side effects these last two times – fatigue, finger blisters, fatigue, funny toenails, fatigue, bald head, fatigue, one short but painful infection, insomnia, fatigue, a little indigestion, difficulty planning, agitation, fatigue. Did I mention fatigue? This week, I found a couple of stray eyelashes on my face, but the rest seem to be staying attached. I slept all day yesterday and woke up this morning with a swollen tongue the color of a sheet of paper. It’s my compromised immune system. The on-call oncologist thinks it’s mucositis (not thrush, my own “Google-diagnosis”) and that it will clear up without a prescription.

There has been some FUN, too. Small blessings are huge!
My friend Nancy brought me her wig and hat collection from her 2007 cancer experience. I so appreciated the TLC and the “this-too-shall-pass” message her act of kindness represented. Wearing her wig, I was blond for a few days! I loved the style and how cool it was to wear in our 112-degree AZ temperatures. I found the same style at a good price in “ginger brown.” It will still be a few months before I have hair that counts for much. The next adventure: What kind of hair will I get? Will it be kinky-curly chemo hair?
Heather and Toby camped out at our house for a few days after my 3rd chemo. We watched movies, among other things. It was fun to set the table for “the original four” again. Dave came over at the end of the time and blessed us with some good technical advice.
I’m still exercising to Richard Simmons’ “Broadway Sweat.” I think my friend and colleague Brian believes I’ve lost my soul or at least my marbles. The music makes it fun, and I’m trying to really learn the dances, so it challenges my chemo-brain, too.
We went to a wedding in Tucson and spent a day with MaryAnn, Jack’s sister. This was our big vacation, and it was a special time.
My friend Doris—who was first my parents’ friend 60 years ago—just had cancer surgery. Her surgery went well, and it has been good to reconnect with her. She lives in Northern AZ, many miles from Phoenix. She came to Phoenix for surgery and ended up (I think!) in the same hospital room I occupied in April!
We are anticipating fun visitors from Colorado—the Millers—who will be housesitting for our friends and neighbors, the Frosts.
I was honored for 25 years of service during our Harvest Board meeting. I tried to thank Harvest staff and board for supporting me in this time, but mostly I blubbered with gratitude. The plaque they gave me was encouraging. It captures spirit, not position—that’s Harvest. I loved it. Read all the way down …
For 25 years of Christ-honoring service to Our Lord, to His Body, and to the Harvest Family through her many gifts – including:
Editing and Writing; Historian, Haiti Field Coordinator; Social Coordinator; Health Insurance Coordinator; Secretary to the Board of Directors; General Encourager; Keeper of Tribal Knowledge; “Mother Confessor,” and “Holder of the Fort during Challenging Times”

If I have to write a NOT FUN paragraph, it will be about research for the next steps. Either way, I will be having several more reconstruction surgeries soon. Of bigger import is the decision whether to keep my right breast or have another mastectomy. Much depends on the adequacy of cancer-detection methods with my hard-to-read tissue—and what insurance will agree to do. Doctors did not agree before. Please pray for wisdom and clarity—and joy through the decision process. (This assignment is only for those who truly believe in miracles!)

Here are some other OBSERVATIONS:
I was struck to learn from my cousin Sue that her mom—my dad’s sister—discovered cancer in her left breast at age 61. That’s my story! Certainly, I thought, I can’t have been programmed that closely! Twenty-five years ago, discovery and treatment were not as good as they are today, and my dear aunt lived only a few years without chemo or radical surgery. I have a profound sense of gratitude to the generations who went before me—and to those who made medical advances that benefit me now.
One of my chemo IVs was originally charged at $2700, and the other $3600. That’s for one afternoon. There are plenty of other things in the same list- it’s a $7000-$8000 afternoon, I guess. PTL, my insurance company negotiates the costs and also appears to be covering all of my chemo!!!! But what would I do without insurance? What would anyone do? Here’s more … When I asked the nursing staff where they were all getting their great-looking lunches (I was hungry), they told me the drug reps feed them 3 out of 5 days every week. I don’t think there’s even any competition for the chemo drugs I take. The staff is nice and I’m glad they have job perks, and they even gave Jack a “free” pillow and a few pens with drug company names on them, but I think I’d like to see cheaper drugs.
On the way to Tucson and back, I took a CD of great hymns, a gift from my cousins Ken and Vicki. Jack and I discovered that it is impossible to sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” without crying. (“Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” Just too true!)

Thanks, friends and family, for your faithfulness unto me/us, too! Jack and I send our love!

Love,
Karla





Blessings,
Karla
Karla Tesch
Editor / U.S.-Haiti Coordinator
Harvest
www.harvestfoundation.org
602-258-1083