HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - Building a Freeway of Love for Courtney

bejuce · 01-25-2012, 12:37 AM

Jay just posted this update:

"
Progress

Not much news to report – we are waiting on some test results from Courtney’s cerebral spinal fluid. One working theory is that she has an infection in her spinal fluid which is causing the neurological issues.
Courtney is hanging on strong. She's winning the hearts of everyone in the ICU, and has the best medical team in the world.

I want to relate an anecdote of how Courtney is fighting back. She hasn’t been very verbally responsive – she doesn’t reply to many questions, although she gives you the occasional terse “yeah.”

And so, the nurse asks Courtney: "Courtney, did you swallow your pill?" No reply from Courtney. Not even acknowledgement that a person is in the room.

Again, the nurse asks much louder "COURTNEY, DID you SWALLOW your PILL?"

To whit, my wife yells back "WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?!?!?” I cried laughing. The nurse just smiled.
Today was a special and moving day with immediate family. I’m just wrapping some special evening hours – I offered to read Courtney all of the emails and CaringBridge posts that have been pouring in. With her cute “yeah” of approval, and using Pandora on the iPhone to play some mellow piano jazz, I proceeded to read Courtney your messages… OK, I only made it through 30% of your messages… we paused a lot so I can confirm that she was enjoying the stories (which received several “yeahs”), but I pledge to continue reading them to her every evening.
Since we haven’t determined the exact cause of the problem, we take each day at a time."

01-25-2012, 12:37 AM	#13
bejuce Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 510	Re: Building a Freeway of Love for Courtney - TONIGHT! Jay just posted this update: " Progress Not much news to report – we are waiting on some test results from Courtney’s cerebral spinal fluid. One working theory is that she has an infection in her spinal fluid which is causing the neurological issues. Courtney is hanging on strong. She's winning the hearts of everyone in the ICU, and has the best medical team in the world. I want to relate an anecdote of how Courtney is fighting back. She hasn’t been very verbally responsive – she doesn’t reply to many questions, although she gives you the occasional terse “yeah.” And so, the nurse asks Courtney: "Courtney, did you swallow your pill?" No reply from Courtney. Not even acknowledgement that a person is in the room. Again, the nurse asks much louder "COURTNEY, DID you SWALLOW your PILL?" To whit, my wife yells back "WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?!?!?” I cried laughing. The nurse just smiled. Today was a special and moving day with immediate family. I’m just wrapping some special evening hours – I offered to read Courtney all of the emails and CaringBridge posts that have been pouring in. With her cute “yeah” of approval, and using Pandora on the iPhone to play some mellow piano jazz, I proceeded to read Courtney your messages… OK, I only made it through 30% of your messages… we paused a lot so I can confirm that she was enjoying the stories (which received several “yeahs”), but I pledge to continue reading them to her every evening. Since we haven’t determined the exact cause of the problem, we take each day at a time." __________________ ER+ (30%)/PR-/HER-2+, stage 3 Diagnosed on 02/18/09 at 38 with a huge 12x10 cm tumor, after a 6 month delay. Told I was too young and had no risk factors. Found swollen node during breastfeeding. March-August 09: neo-adjuvant chemo, part of a trial at Stanford (4 DD A/C, 4 Taxotere with daily Tykerb), loading dose of Herceptin 08/12/09 - bye bye boobies (bilateral mastectomy) 08/24/09 - path report shows 100 % success in breast tissue (no cancer there, yay!), 98 % success in lymphatic invasion, and even though 11/13 nodes were still positive, > 95 % of the tumor in them was killed. Hoping for the best! September-October 09: rads with daily Xeloda 02/25/10 - Cholecystectomy 05/27/10 - Bone scan clear 06/14/10 - CT scan clear, ovarian cyst found 07/27/10 - Done with Herceptin! 02/15/11 - MVA-BN HER-2 vaccine trial 03/15/11 - First CA 15-3: 12.7 and normal, yay! 10/01/11 - Bone scan and CT scan clear, fatty liver found now on Tamoxifen and Aspirin