Well the adventure continues. Last monday Pam had some labs drawn that by Wensday had the Oncologist concerned that we needed to get some chemo started. Initially we were going to try to get this done at home. It was however going to be difficult  so we decided to get things started at the hospital. Sort of glad we did. Friday was a miserable day for Pam; very nauseated and it took a lot of drugs to keep her comfortable. This only succeeded in making us miserable since she was stoned. Well the doctors decided that despite the fact that CT scan seemed unchanged the GI doctor rescoped her and found that her stomach was not emptying. They could not decide if the emptying problem was mechanical versus functional. Mechanical would be bad and complicated to deal with. Functional would be something to work with. So another day in radiology for Pam and an NG tube. Despite another day of testing a mechanical obstruction was not absolutely ruled out. They started her on some meds to stimulate her gut. Over the next few days she made some real progress. Her mobility increased. Her nausea was minimal. Need for pain meds was decreasing. Eating better but it will take some time to catch up from the last 6 weeks. Your prayers and support have been life saving for all of us. We also had a wonderful visit from Pam's family. The infusion of family and humor was timed perfectly. Kendal and Scott are and will also be home this week. Mama D is coming next week.

Livin' Large... and Headed Back Home!

With summer drawing to an end in a few weeks, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to share some fun photos from a great summer weekend I got to spend with the Ds. As you probably know, the Dedinskys have a home away from home and that is their fabulous houseboat on Dale Hollow known as the “Pirates of the Meridian”—a play on their Meridian Street home address! Attached are some fun photos from that weekend, which was just prior to Pam’s first stay at the hospital just over a month ago. It was so relaxing and truly a wonderful and special getaway weekend.  I totally understand why they try and get down there as often as they can.

 

Pam and Greg have some colorful and fun houseboat neighbors and the one who particularly stands out to me is “Kurt.” A ‘good ole boy’ from Kentucky, Kurt enjoys life especially when there is some “moonshine” around.  When I asked Kurt how he was doing one day, he replied, “I’m livin’ large!” Wow, what a great answer and more importantly, what a great attitude towards living your life!

 

Since that weekend, Pam has definitely hit some bumps in the road on her journey to healing, which was shared in an earlier blog. As I write this she is on the last day of her second stretch in the hospital. She headed home today!—YEAH!  Even during her hospital stays, she continued to smile despite the pain and hasn’t lost that unique Pam sense of humor and has been heard to still say, “Are you kidding me???”, one of her classics.

 

Pam and I have discussed faith and what a gift it is. Last week we shared an extra special time. I was organizing some magazines for her and came across several prayers that were special to her, including some that she had only recently received from family and friends. I read each one of them to her and her face absolutely lit up and she told me how much reading those prayers help her. Please continue to pray for Pam and her family…and send her a special prayer.  Those prayers are working as she had a positive CT scan today and will, in fact, be going home tomorrow.

 

My dear friend does have a strong faith and is surrounded by an incredible family who loves her so much. I’ve had the gift of seeing Greg, her beautiful daughters, Pam’s mother and sisters help care for her the past week at the hospital as her pain lessened, she gained strength and her appetite came back allowing her to return home.  Yes, Pam is “livin’ large” based on the love of God, the love of her family and friends, and the special way she has touched each one of our lives.

 

Thank you, Pam, and can’t wait to see you livin’ large back on Meridian Street and back down at the Pirates of the Meridian. Please say hello to Kurt for me. J

 

Love ‘ya-

 

Kim Graham Lee

(aka., Dr. Mama Lee)

 

Empty-Nesters (As told by Ellie)

Friends and family,

As I am off to school on Wednesday, I thought that I would write a blog entry before my family ships me off!

As you can tell from the previous post, mom hit a bit of a rough patch last week.  Many calls came in with concerns; however, I think that the pictures maybe made mom look a little worse than how she felt.  The beginning of the week in the hospital was a tough battle.  But, I think that mom handled it as gracefully as Ryan Lochte losing the gold to Michael Phelps; head high, looking good.  In leu of the olympics, this process has been more of a marathon, as last week was a 100-meter huddle sprint!  Man, I really love the olympics.  And as the olympics kept us entertained in the hospital, so did the countless phone calls and visits.  Everyone's prayers have kept mom fighting as hard as she can since day one.

The visit from Trudy and Pam was definitely an interesting and special treat.  Those two always keep us laughing.  Another special shout-out to "Dr." Mamma Kim Lee, who truly has been a blessing for my family since my mom's diagnosis.  She is one amazing person and we owe her a million thank-you notes.

Onto better news!

This week, mom is back home almost in full force.  She continues to go to physical and occupational therapy on Mondays and Wednesdays to get motion and use back into her left arm.  She got a new, fancy arm brace that makes her hand look like Wolverine's.  AWESOME.  Honestly, I am a little bit jealous.  Past the cool new look, it allows mom better use of her hand by assisting her in gripping and holding objects.  Although she hasn't quite gotten back to her nimble guitar-playing hands, I assure you she will be back to strumming ASAP.  I know I can't wait.

Mom is going to be taking a break from treatment at the lake this week.  Hopefully she will get some needed R&R, since last week took a lot out of her, as well as the family.  We are headed down to Dale Hollow for a family vacation before we all part ways.  Dad will be needing extra prayers as he makes trips back and forth to pick up and drop off suburban-loads of people throughout the week.

I move in on Wednesday!  As excited as I am to start this new chapter in my life, I wish that I could stay home while my mom continues to heal.  She assures me that we can have Skype dates - I will be seeing her bald through my new macbook rather than in person - because chemo is the next plan for her fight!  She has dealt with it well in the past, as you all know - so we are very hopeful.  She will hopefully regain her strength back with the upcoming break in her treatment.  I have complete faith that your prayers have kept us going during this marathon.  I can't thank all of you enough.

Please Keep up the prayers!

God Bless,

Ellie (The last, but CERTAINLY not least)

p.s. because I am leaving this year, my parents will be empty-nesters... for those of you who live close, PLEASE, do not let my parents stay home.  I will send out cash donations to those of you who would like to help :)  JUST KIDDING!

p.p.s. Also...I'd like to add one more thought from Lauren's close-friend (and future NBA star), Errick Peck.  What a guy!

From Errick:


I took a visit to the Dedinsky household yesterday and as always, they took good care of me. I just wanted to leave a small quote on this blog to hopefully motivate you, show my concern for you, and let you know, Mama Dedinsky, that you are in my prayers. 

"The trials and pressures of life--and how we face them--often define us. Confronted by adversity, many people give up while others rise up. How do those who succeed do it? They persevere. They find the benefit to them personally that comes from any trial. And they recognize that the best thing about adversity is coming out on the other side of it. There is a sweetness to overcoming your troubles and finding something good in the process, however small it may be. Giving up when adversity threatens can make a person bitter. Persevering through adversity makes one better."


JOHN C. MAXWELL

Bumpy Road

Well we have had an adventure this week. Not a real planned one either sooo….how about a little background.
Since starting radiation Pam’s only real symptom had been fatigue and a worsening local sunburn. About 2 weeks ago she started having increased belly pain. We were initially able to control this pain with oral narcotics . Actually  we were able to go down to the boat. While there, Pam managed to explode a gel pack and get second degree burns on both forearms. You got to be careful in the meth lab. The following weekend we had a repeat performance of pain. Monday of this week after radiation we got a celiac nerve block and had very good results for 7 hours. The next day while at radiation we all noted the Pam had a definite  yellow hue: Jaundiced. This was confirmed by lab results. The concern was that the cancer was progressing. She was admitted to the hospital for hydration and testing. The tests showed that  biliary tree was enlarged suggesting there was an obstruction. Again the concern that the tumor was progressing. Today Pam underwent an endoscopic exam that was to accomplish 3 things. 1)get a stent across the obstruction (2) reblock the celiac nerves (3) evaluate if there was obvious tumor. One and two were accomplished. Number 3 was a bit more ill defined. There was no obvious mass but there was some fullness in the area of the bile ducts. And what does all this mean? The good news is that radiation is over. PAM “RANG THE BELL”. The plan moving forward is let her Jaundice resolve and then restart some systemic chemotherapy. What and how long is yet to be determined.  We are all doing better since Pam is better. If you have any questions let us know. We appreciate all of your love and prayers.

God Bless,
Greg

P.S.  Special thanks to ("Dr.") Kim Graham Lee for being with Pam every day as well as being our photographer!  We love you.

Below are some of her pictures...Enjoy!

 "Dr. Mamma Lee" checking Pam's heart

 Ellie and Pam in her room.

Pam has graduated from radiation!

  Dr. Lee again!

Those aren't suckers unfortunately! Thanks for stopping by, Becky and Julie!

Pam and Kaylin Post-Stent placement.  Smiling!

Dad and Lauren working on the blog.

Keep up the prayers!

"Grandma Pam"

Pam continues to amaze me! As she mentioned in her last blog, her journey has taken a new turn with radiation treatment the next 5 weeks to help her gain more functionality in her left arm. (In case you didn’t know, she is a leftie!) She started radiation therapy Thursday.

 It was a longer session than will be typical as they wanted to position her just right in the “linear accelerator” (pictured here—no, that isn’t Pam in it!) and all the necessary markings were on her body to ensure that the radiation was hitting the exact targets.  If she ever wanted a tattoo, she now knows what it feels like with the different black marker-like lines and circles on her upper body. We were laughing because one of the markings looked like a continuation of the pattern on the shirt she was wearing!

Pam was a real trooper laying flat on her back for almost 90 minutes, left arm extended, head tilted to the side, knees propped up and body completely still. Her back has been bothering her and I know she was really ready to be done though she never complained. Fortunately, treatment sessions will last only 15-20 minutes each day. She really likes Dr. Patel who is overseeing her radiation treatment. 

I also wanted to quickly follow-up on the news in her last blog about the latest Dedinsky addition. Pam is a “Grandma.”  No, while Kendal and Scott are high achievers, they didn’t work that fast! However, their gift to Kaylin for helping plan their incredibly beautiful and fun wedding was a miniature Golden Doodle, Louis. Kaylin informed me that his official name is St. Louis Ludwig II. Pam is crazy about “Lou” as you can see from the photo of the two of them below.

Your love, thoughts and prayers continue to give her strength. Keep ‘em coming. Thought I would close with something I heard earlier this week. The opposite of fear is faith and Pam is indeed walking by her faith! You inspire me, dear friend. Love ‘ya!

-Kim Graham Lee

Something New

Our last blog was SO long ago. In that time, we cerebrated a marriage, two graduations, and the continued success of chemotherapy to keep this cancer at bay! As many of you know, the weeks following Kendal’s wedding have been a bit harder for me. My abdominal pain has been more consistent but continues to respond to pain medicine. The bigger problem has been my left arm.  The pain is the worst two days after chemotherapy, and I have had significant functional loss. For example, it is very difficult to write so my girls have been having to help me pay bills. J

As a result, we have decided to hold chemo for a few weeks to do radiation to the tumors above my clavicle and under my arm. The thought is that those lymph nodes that contain cancer are pushing on the nerves that run in that area and control strength in the hand and arm. The goal of radiation is to shrink those lymph nodes. Meanwhile, I am also having a biopsy of one of the lymph nodes. We will send that tissue to a lab in Boston that tests tissue to find out what kind of chemotherapy the cancer is potentially sensitive to. With that information, we will resume chemotherapy after radiation.

The logistics of the radiation are as follows. I will get a total of 25 treatments over five weeks (Monday thru Friday.) The radiation will be painless, and the major side effect is fatigue. The fatigue will be cumulative so that by the end of the five weeks, I will likely be pretty tired. I hope and pray that I tolerate this new treatment as fluidly as the last six months of chemotherapy.                                                                

So much for the fun stuff. My hair is starting to grow back. Where the hell did all this gray come from? I’ll just call this chemo color. My cranial prosthesis (wig) carries the color for now. Ellie has joined the work force with a vengeance. She is now working as many hours as sleeping. I get the sense that IU will not come soon enough. For those of you who need an update on Lewis: he is one cute puppy. (This puppy was a gift to Kaylin for helping to plan the wedding.) He does have though one very annoying habit. Greg calls him the “Ninja Shitter.” We are finding pooh in rooms that no one has seen him in. But he is cute and that is what saves him. The big dogs are tolerating him better. Tally and Lewis play like puppies until Tally has had enough and then she just lays a paw across his neck. Game over.

The newlyweds seem to be adjusting well. Kendal was home this weekend to go to a wedding in St. Louis. She is a remarkable young woman. Her help and kindness are invaluable. I guess all the dirty diapers were worth it. Kaylin has remained busy . Lauren is going to have a minor surgery this week so we will be couch buddies for naps. Thanks you all for the continuing prayers, visits, phone calls, lunches, parties at chemo  (they had to put us in the back room because we make too much noise!)  Love PAM

Life Still Goes On

We have been negligent writing blogs the past few weeks (hence the deluxe edition today.) It is a busy time for the Dedinsky household! The girls and Scott were in Europe visiting Lauren the last ten days of March. They returned to wedding plans amid work (or perhaps work amid wedding plans!) The girls found the time to throw me a birthday party the day before Easter. The party was small (but loud) and a great opportunity to reconnect with longtime friends and celebrate with those who have been so supportive these past few months.

One of the biggest blessings this month so far was a visit from a friend who I met during Greg’s cardiac fellowship days. Roxy babysat Kendal and Kaylin when they were small while our husband’s spent nearly all their hours at the hospital training. We reminisced about those crazy days over wine recalling the days of “Stitch and Bitch” with other resident wives. (Neither of us ever managed to complete a knitting project but man could we do the other!) It was a quick but wonderful twenty-four hours before Roxy had to go home to Arizona, but we still managed to find time to hit up TJ Maxx fast and furiously - just like old times.

I completed my fifth cycle of chemo today. Our last scans about two weeks ago showed a small decrease in the size of the lymph nodes in and around my arm. The pancreatic tumor is unchanged from our last scan. We have elected to continue on course with the same chemo regiment for a total of six cycles. This puts us into May at which point we will need to make more decisions about the next step.

As for me, I need a nap earlier in the day than I did in January, but my side effects continue to be irritating but not debilitating. I have trouble with sensation in my left hand and arm but have no problems with strength. I guess my right hand is going to have to start doing some work for the first time in my life. The doctor thinks this loss of sensation is due to chemotherapy and decided to decrease the dose of one of my chemo medications by 25%.

One week from today we will have a wedding to celebrate! We got out our wedding video this past week. Damn we looked good despite the bad video quality of 1983. I eagerly await the arrival of family next week, and anticipate the house will need a thorough cleaning this weekend. Those tasks will be delegated to my wonderful children and husband as mom has cancer and shouldn’t be doing house chores. J I need to store my energy for the excitement of the coming week and the weeks after that when we will celebrate two graduations. I am thankful everyday that there are so many wonderful distractions in my life as I endure this challenge! Looking back to January when I was first diagnosed, we had no idea how I would feel this week in April. By the grace of God, I haven’t missed a beat.

I continue to count my blessings and try every day to embrace this road that the Good Lord walks with us.  Thank you for your continued prayers. I will end with a poem:

Look on the Bright Side

For every negative that consumes your happiness,

Affirm two positives that sustain you.

For every “should’ve” you wish you’d done,

Acknowledge something you’re glad you did.

For every loss that has altered your world,

Count from it something you have gained.

For every limit that has ever beset you,

Consider your possibilities.

You can’t always change the way things are,

But you can change the way you wish to see them.

Never stop looking

For the brighter side and beyond.

Eric T. Moore