Hello! It's LYNN again with my medical update. I have been steadily recovering since my 2 week check up and yesterday's appointment was on the 3 week post surgery date. Seems likes months already, not weeks. Yes, all agree I have been very impatient with my recovery progress even though I guess I do know I am ahead of schedule at this point. We met with Dr. Choong, the medical oncologist, yesterday and in addition to discussing what the chemotherapy schedule would be, they also added a new update to the previous pathology report we had received during our last post surgery appointment. They let us know there are a number of additional lymph nodes involved/cancerous that are in locations near my heart and other vital organs which made it impossible to remove them during the surgery in which they removed my lung. This means that I will also need to have radiation therapy for six weeks following my recovery from chemotherapy.
My chemotherapy schedule will start on Friday, February 13th and will be ONE day of chemo every 3 weeks, and I will have 4 total treatments. That will take me out to Friday, April 17th which will be my final treatment. I will then be off a few weeks at the perfect time to attend Danny's graduation from Regis University in Denver on Sunday, May 3rd. After that, we will start the six weeks of radiation which would continue daily until just about the middle of June...and we now know that these things can always change. So our current saying, "Is it what it is". And that is how we are handling each new challenge we are given, "We'll deal with it".
There were 2 unexpected bright pieces of information we received during our appointment, there is a very good chance that I will NOT loose my hair during my specialized type of chemotherapy and I will continue to be able to have my NIGHTLY glass of RED WINE!!! LIFE IS GOOD!
I think I will be returning to work, on a part-time basis starting next week. I am still not allowed to drive so my work will be limited to what I can accomplish in the office. And I am exhausted by mid-day and need my naps right now. But I know I need to get out of this house on a regular basis. A couple of other things I have learned, my one lung will expand and do some of the work of the one I lost, but this process takes about two years to complete so I have to remain SOMEWHAT calm during all these very exciting MU basketball games because I run out of breath quite quickly right now. And this BELOW 0 weather has also been very difficult when I try to catch my breath or even take ONE breath outside. As the weather and I improve, I hope to get back to a little bit of social life outside my house in the future. I do need to stay healthy but haven't moved to the 'blue mask' idea yet.
I am thankful for all the people at Froedtert who are taking very good care of me. I am also thankful for all of you sending me card after card, and note after note, email after email, helping me to keep my positve attitude of gratitude. I thank God everyday for all that I have been given and ask for your continued prayers that I can accept and cope with all that I need to in the upcoming months and years.
I will probably not add another posting until after the start of my chemo on February 13th. A number of friends have responded that they were unable to post comments on this blogspot. I have changed the settings so see if it is easier now. For those of you who don't have it, my personal email address is lynnsteinle@aol.com PLEASE understand that I cannot respond to each and every email I receive, I am having a hard enough time trying to keep up with THANK-YOU cards and don't know if I will ever finish the ones on which I am behind!! BUT each and every piece of correspondence lifts me and my spirits so please keep up the communication on your end if that's not too much to ask!! I have not needed meals at this time but thank you for all the offers. Your words, thought and prayers have kept me feeling fantastic and they are what I need right now, and it's easier than cooking, right?? As I have needs arise in the future, I will let you know. I love you all!!
Lynn
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
I AM BACK!!!
Words on paper cannot express the gratitude I have for all that has been given to me, not only over the past two weeks during my recovery, but in my lifetime. That gratitude for life and all of you has been the focal point throughout my healing.
Thanks to each of you for the flowers, and the food (awesome chicken noodle soup), the toys, trinkets and tiara, the poems, books, magazines and movies, and one very special angel pocket charm. I am interested in knowing more about the gift and giver-ANONYMOUS-of the cross of St. Benedict??? Tim said he is sworn to secrecy or the prayers that come along with it will be voided??? Very intriguing.
Most of the “things” I have received are not “things”. I want each of you to personally know that every single prayer said, offering made, and sacrifice given-up has been an aid to me in my healing process. I have felt each one!
Thanks to each of you for the flowers, and the food (awesome chicken noodle soup), the toys, trinkets and tiara, the poems, books, magazines and movies, and one very special angel pocket charm. I am interested in knowing more about the gift and giver-ANONYMOUS-of the cross of St. Benedict??? Tim said he is sworn to secrecy or the prayers that come along with it will be voided??? Very intriguing.
Most of the “things” I have received are not “things”. I want each of you to personally know that every single prayer said, offering made, and sacrifice given-up has been an aid to me in my healing process. I have felt each one!
It is such a gift to be sitting here looking at “MY CANCER ROAD TRIP” as I have been calling it…looking back through the rear view mirror with my surgery becoming smaller and smaller. Looking straight ahead and coming up fast is my chemotherapy. Please continue the prayers that there are not many nails on the road causing flat tires, and that I don’t run out of gas before I reach the final destination in my drive toward cancer freedom.
And finally, the technical “stuff” about my surgery and future treatment. Not any surprises during surgery except they did find more lymph nodes involved along my sternum which were removed successfully. Also, they initially thought my cancer was the squamous cell type and it is actually the non-small cell adenocarcinoma type which is the type more often found in people who do not smoke.
Nothing found during the surgery will change my treatment course which includes chemotherapy once I am sufficiently recovered from surgery.
As I continue to recover over the next few weeks, I look forward to reconnecting with you all. But until then, my primary “job” continues to be healing, resting and staying healthy enough so I can get this chemo stuff started and finished. The majority of our blogs are most likely past but I will add a few once the chemo process starts.
I love you all very much!! God is good all the time. I am good, too.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Wonder of Wonders....
Dearest family and friends,
If this is a little "over the top" I'm sorry but I have my roommate home tonight. My tenure appears to have come to an end as the beautiful Mrs. Steinle has returned to the comforts of home today. She still has a long way to go and we do not know what the future holds as we have not received the pathology reports, but she will be sleeping in her own bed tonight and for right now we are holding onto that as tightly as we can. It is really good to be able to put this in the rear-view mirror. By the way, you are cautioned not to try this at home by yourselves…God has been working overtime and he needs a little rest.
Our praises to the staff at Froedtert…a world class facility in our backyard. Everyone was fantastic and I won’t embarrass her, but one lady in particular will have a special place in our hearts forever.
Thank you one and all (if they need a testimonial, I'm there!). We are forever indebted. Lynn and I are so very blessed to have such beautiful family and friends.
Our daily entries will temporarily end (unless you think I have a future at this) but we will update periodically as the journey continues. We will let you know the pathology results when we get them and the treatment plan for the future. We are thinking six weeks until chemo starts. Remember, no news is good news so if there is nothing here, it is good!
As I said, Lynn needs rest so please, no visitors. Also, it is very important to keep her as healthy as we can…since we have jumped into the digital age, maybe a web cam???
As far as flowers, I think everyone knows how much we love flowers but we don't know where to put them any more...everyone is way too kind...a donation to your favorite person or agency in need?
Pop the champagne, dance in the street…
God bless you all!
Lynn and Tim
If this is a little "over the top" I'm sorry but I have my roommate home tonight. My tenure appears to have come to an end as the beautiful Mrs. Steinle has returned to the comforts of home today. She still has a long way to go and we do not know what the future holds as we have not received the pathology reports, but she will be sleeping in her own bed tonight and for right now we are holding onto that as tightly as we can. It is really good to be able to put this in the rear-view mirror. By the way, you are cautioned not to try this at home by yourselves…God has been working overtime and he needs a little rest.
Our praises to the staff at Froedtert…a world class facility in our backyard. Everyone was fantastic and I won’t embarrass her, but one lady in particular will have a special place in our hearts forever.
Thank you one and all (if they need a testimonial, I'm there!). We are forever indebted. Lynn and I are so very blessed to have such beautiful family and friends.
Our daily entries will temporarily end (unless you think I have a future at this) but we will update periodically as the journey continues. We will let you know the pathology results when we get them and the treatment plan for the future. We are thinking six weeks until chemo starts. Remember, no news is good news so if there is nothing here, it is good!
As I said, Lynn needs rest so please, no visitors. Also, it is very important to keep her as healthy as we can…since we have jumped into the digital age, maybe a web cam???
As far as flowers, I think everyone knows how much we love flowers but we don't know where to put them any more...everyone is way too kind...a donation to your favorite person or agency in need?
Pop the champagne, dance in the street…
God bless you all!
Lynn and Tim
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Day 4...You won't believe...
Everyone,
Well, I was trying to figure out why there was a miracle happening in front of my eyes when it came to me…God had an emergency somewhere else so he said “I have to finish this first before I head on to other business.”
As you may have come to learn I do exaggerate a bit, but what has occurred in the last 24 hours can only be described as that…miraculous! Lynn got essentially a full night of sleep, the pain is by no means gone, but well managed, and she was literally up all day walking the halls, doing stars, doing her pulmonary stuff, doing her PT, ordering and eating full meals and joking and laughing. She even yelled at me because I forgot her phone so she could text her kids! She kicked her family out so she could watch “Ugly Betty” (I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was a rerun)! What an incredible day. They are talking discharge in the immediate future (tomorrow?) “She’s back”!!
I am not pretending there are not going to be “issues” that we are going to have to deal with, but clearly this was a huge hurdle and Lynn has almost cleared it (I’m also good at clichés).
Although Lynn will be home soon and I’m sure everyone is dying to see her, she still can’t have visitors. She has made great strides, but she still has some healing to do and she needs her rest. We will talk about care for her when she comes home, but we will address that in a few days.
We cannot say thank you loud enough or enough times. Although I’m pretty good at Cannon Law, I’m a little weak on Scriptures... but I'm sure it's there someplace...Heal the Sick…you all can take credit for what has occurred! God bless you all! Also, big hugs to the "Angels" who have taken care of her at the hospital...
Love to all of you,
Lynn and Tim
Well, I was trying to figure out why there was a miracle happening in front of my eyes when it came to me…God had an emergency somewhere else so he said “I have to finish this first before I head on to other business.”
As you may have come to learn I do exaggerate a bit, but what has occurred in the last 24 hours can only be described as that…miraculous! Lynn got essentially a full night of sleep, the pain is by no means gone, but well managed, and she was literally up all day walking the halls, doing stars, doing her pulmonary stuff, doing her PT, ordering and eating full meals and joking and laughing. She even yelled at me because I forgot her phone so she could text her kids! She kicked her family out so she could watch “Ugly Betty” (I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was a rerun)! What an incredible day. They are talking discharge in the immediate future (tomorrow?) “She’s back”!!
I am not pretending there are not going to be “issues” that we are going to have to deal with, but clearly this was a huge hurdle and Lynn has almost cleared it (I’m also good at clichés).
Although Lynn will be home soon and I’m sure everyone is dying to see her, she still can’t have visitors. She has made great strides, but she still has some healing to do and she needs her rest. We will talk about care for her when she comes home, but we will address that in a few days.
We cannot say thank you loud enough or enough times. Although I’m pretty good at Cannon Law, I’m a little weak on Scriptures... but I'm sure it's there someplace...Heal the Sick…you all can take credit for what has occurred! God bless you all! Also, big hugs to the "Angels" who have taken care of her at the hospital...
Love to all of you,
Lynn and Tim
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Journey:Day Three
Everyone,
The good continues to outweigh the bad (kind of because this overall is not fun). Lynn has almost all off her “tubes” removed and she pooped! I know I’m going to be in big trouble for that, but anyone who has been in the hospital understands how important that is! She is up and even did some stairs today. PT and pulmonary therapy continue to work with her. She is making huge strides. Again, overall a good day.
She still has pain and it rips my heart out to see her in such pain. She is so petite and her blood pressure is low to begin with that she is limited in the amount of pain medication she can receive. She really has not had “a good night’s sleep”. The staff continues to work and the pain level is better, but still an issue. Lynn gets an automatic pass to heaven because she is in purgatory right now. She also had a heart issue today. Because of the changes in her anatomy, the heart has to become accustomed to the new setup and there are some arrhythmia issues, but they caught it immediately and addressed the problem with medication. It appears to be an issue that is controllable as her body becomes adjusted to the new gig. Three steps forward, one step back.
We wish we could chat with everyone every night to personally thank you for all you have done and given to us, but time doesn’t allow. Also, we don’t mean to send the wrong message by asking you to not visit, but she is exhausted (and I want her all to myself).
Thank you for the continued love and support. We feel it every minute!
Our love to all,
Lynn and Tim
The good continues to outweigh the bad (kind of because this overall is not fun). Lynn has almost all off her “tubes” removed and she pooped! I know I’m going to be in big trouble for that, but anyone who has been in the hospital understands how important that is! She is up and even did some stairs today. PT and pulmonary therapy continue to work with her. She is making huge strides. Again, overall a good day.
She still has pain and it rips my heart out to see her in such pain. She is so petite and her blood pressure is low to begin with that she is limited in the amount of pain medication she can receive. She really has not had “a good night’s sleep”. The staff continues to work and the pain level is better, but still an issue. Lynn gets an automatic pass to heaven because she is in purgatory right now. She also had a heart issue today. Because of the changes in her anatomy, the heart has to become accustomed to the new setup and there are some arrhythmia issues, but they caught it immediately and addressed the problem with medication. It appears to be an issue that is controllable as her body becomes adjusted to the new gig. Three steps forward, one step back.
We wish we could chat with everyone every night to personally thank you for all you have done and given to us, but time doesn’t allow. Also, we don’t mean to send the wrong message by asking you to not visit, but she is exhausted (and I want her all to myself).
Thank you for the continued love and support. We feel it every minute!
Our love to all,
Lynn and Tim
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
A Good Day
Dear family and friends,
If Lynn continues to make the progress she did today, my tenure as a blogger is going to be very short lived!
The day started off kind of bad as she continued to experience intense pain and did not sleep well. Her pain and lack of sleep lead to a very anxious and unhappy girl. The team at Froedtert would not quit. They removed her chest tube and went from the epidural to more traditional pain treatment. The medication began to work and as the pain diminished; her overall condition began to improve. She was moved from ICU to her own room. She was up in a chair for hours, began to eat (actually claiming to be hungry) and even though Lynn as teased me for exaggerating, she actually took a walk down the hall with her nurses. It was a joy to watch the day progress!
Needless to say, she was exhausted but really in a much better state of mind. We chatted quite a bit and she is content with where she is at. She was resting very comfortably and hopefully will sleep the night away. The staff has told us each day gets better so we are looking forward to brighter days. The road will have its bumps, but the Good Lord has been keeping His eye on Lynn.
Again, thank you all for the love and support you all have given to our family. We will hold this in our hearts always. HOWEVER, as much as we love you all, please no visitors. Lynn needs to heal and rest.
Love to all,
Tim
If Lynn continues to make the progress she did today, my tenure as a blogger is going to be very short lived!
The day started off kind of bad as she continued to experience intense pain and did not sleep well. Her pain and lack of sleep lead to a very anxious and unhappy girl. The team at Froedtert would not quit. They removed her chest tube and went from the epidural to more traditional pain treatment. The medication began to work and as the pain diminished; her overall condition began to improve. She was moved from ICU to her own room. She was up in a chair for hours, began to eat (actually claiming to be hungry) and even though Lynn as teased me for exaggerating, she actually took a walk down the hall with her nurses. It was a joy to watch the day progress!
Needless to say, she was exhausted but really in a much better state of mind. We chatted quite a bit and she is content with where she is at. She was resting very comfortably and hopefully will sleep the night away. The staff has told us each day gets better so we are looking forward to brighter days. The road will have its bumps, but the Good Lord has been keeping His eye on Lynn.
Again, thank you all for the love and support you all have given to our family. We will hold this in our hearts always. HOWEVER, as much as we love you all, please no visitors. Lynn needs to heal and rest.
Love to all,
Tim
Monday, January 5, 2009
Surgery @ Froedtert
Everyone,
I am not as talented as Lynn so you all are going to have to put up with me for a few days.
Lynn had her surgery today. It was an early and anxious start. (I HATE informed consent!)Without boring you with the details, it was a good day. Although her right lung was removed in it's entirety, she came through the procedure well. The surgeon wanted to err on the side of caution and with her pulmonary tests, the team was very comfortable doing that. They essentially found nothing they did not expect, but of course we will await the pathology results. There was a problem with pain management, but they also fixed the right "cocktail" so that she was pain free and resting (sleeping) comfortably. She is breathing on her own without the need for a respirator and her breathing and heart rate are all very good. All good stuff! The staff was outstanding! We are eternally grateful to all (as well as the extra attention we got)!
She recognized me (not s sure that is a good thing) but it was wonderful to see that smile and beautiful blue eyes.
Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. We are positive that is the reason things went as well as they did. BUT, we still have a battle in front of us so although there are others that may need your prayers, please keep us "on your list".
We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!
Lynn and Tim
I am not as talented as Lynn so you all are going to have to put up with me for a few days.
Lynn had her surgery today. It was an early and anxious start. (I HATE informed consent!)Without boring you with the details, it was a good day. Although her right lung was removed in it's entirety, she came through the procedure well. The surgeon wanted to err on the side of caution and with her pulmonary tests, the team was very comfortable doing that. They essentially found nothing they did not expect, but of course we will await the pathology results. There was a problem with pain management, but they also fixed the right "cocktail" so that she was pain free and resting (sleeping) comfortably. She is breathing on her own without the need for a respirator and her breathing and heart rate are all very good. All good stuff! The staff was outstanding! We are eternally grateful to all (as well as the extra attention we got)!
She recognized me (not s sure that is a good thing) but it was wonderful to see that smile and beautiful blue eyes.
Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. We are positive that is the reason things went as well as they did. BUT, we still have a battle in front of us so although there are others that may need your prayers, please keep us "on your list".
We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!
Lynn and Tim
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