October 22

Time for an update!

My mom, Karen T, was finally able to depart the state of CT to go down south to sunny Florida as Ceil continues to get better.  To state that her help is what got us through a tough time is the understatement of the year.  We couldn't have accomplished what we did without her and I will be forever grateful.  We'll see her soon as Ed and Kar come back before Turkey Day and stay until Santa comes but I believe beat him back to Florida (it's a little known fact that Santa, in fact, does not stay in the North Pole during the winter anymore.  With the price of heating and the Elves unionizing to get Obama-care, he's resorted to the possibility of shutting down the biz)

Like I said, Ceil is getting better.  I think it is definitely taking more time than we both imagined but at least the small steps are in the right direction.  She finished up radiation therapy last week so that ends her daily trip to Farmington. 

Since then, she has had another scan neck-down to verify no other tumors or lesions have developed which we are elated to let you know came back 100% clear.  In a couple of months they will do another MRI to check her head to see how the radiation therapy did.

Ceil is going to have another power port put in on Friday.  This will be used to give her herseptin (you will notice alot of mispelled words in my blogs - I'm not a Doctor.  Medicine names tend to get mispelled by me.  I don't feel bad though, the darn spell checker hasn't figured them out either).  The herseptin is used as a preventative drug to deter any cancer coming back in the future.  Ceil will get a 1/2 hour bag thru the port every third week.  The port just makes it easier due to Ceil's small, deep veins.

So all in all, a good post for you to go out and celebrate!

Thanks for checking in.

Vin

Been a while

Sorry it has been so long since the last post.  I have been in the middle of a move from Envoy to Village Mortgage...I know, can you believe I had to put work first for a while?  Like all moves, it was a little stressful but with the support of Ceil and my Mom, it went as good as it could.

Ceil update - PT over Today!!  OT over last week!!  Speech Therapy - as expected, that was the first thing she was done with...the girl can talk.  She also went to an eye specialist today that figured out why she was having issues with the mid-range sight and was able to figure out to correct it.  The guy...well, he's a specialist.  Highly recommended by Ceil.

I want to thank everyone for respecting Ceil's time at home to recooperate.  The rest and therapy has worked wonders and she has come a very long way in a relatively short period of time.  To throw in a plug - if anyone you know is in need of home health care or therapy, Salute Health Care was great to work with and Ceil will attest to that.  Thanks to everyone at Salute.

Ceil has been doing radiation therapy for the past two weeks.  She has one more week left.  She went back to UConn in Farmington as she did the last time she needed radiation for the original breast cancer.  The reason for the need for radiation is as you probably have figured out, the tumor removed from her brain did have traces of the breast cancer in it.  There were also a  couple of specs on the MRI outside of the tumor.  The tumor itself was verified to be completely removed from the MRI scan.  The Doc felt the best course of action to minimize the reoccurence in the brain was to do the radiation treatments.  Ceil has done exceptionally well through radiation.  It hasn't really knocked her out at all.  We hope this continues. 

We meet with her Oncologist on Friday to come up with the rest of the plan as to how to treat for preventative measures going forward.

We received the big box today filled with an afgan (spelled completely wrong!) and a book with the people that knitted the squares to make it.  Like all the support we have received, it was just another reminder of how much love there is for Ceil out there.  I let Carla know that it was absolutely the best thing I have ever seen in my life.  It really tugs at the heart strings and from the husband, thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to put that together.  It is huge, colorful and means the world to her.

I'm going to end this post with a copy of the letter that was in the package. 

Dear Ceil,

We hope this package brings you strength and the feeling of love.  This project was started for you when some of us heard that your blanket had gone missing at The Hospital for Special Care.  We knew we could never replace the one that was gone, but the idea was to make a new blanket for you.  One that would provide for you a feeling of strength and let you know how many people are rooting for your quick and full recovery. 

So we started knitting, and thinking about colors for yarn and although you are strong and tough, we searched for the softest materials to bring you comfort.  People all around Connecticut, New England and as far away as Florida knitted and shopped for materials for your new blanket.   Each yarn was hand chosen for you, and each square was hand knit for you.  Each square is as unique as your relationship with that person.  And even though each square was chosen and knit individually, they have all been sewn together, in the hopes of providing even more strength and warmth. 

The book was put together for you to see  what materials each person chose for you, and to have as a keepsake if you ever need reminding that we are all thinking of you, your kids, your family, and wishing you the best.  

With Much Love, Prayers and Warmth,

Your Family and Friends