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The chemo thread

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amother

Tue, Oct 04 2011, 4:03 am

amother wrote:

I gained a lot from reading these postings, so relevant to the aseres yemai teshuva. How, I wonder, can you daven when there is SO MUCH at stake? (I was there once, but in the "right" percentage)
You are a beautiful person. May Hashem give all of you strength. My your brother have a refuah Shleima.

But how can you not daven when there's so much at stake? It's the only thing that I can do to help. And it does help.

Thank you.

~Tiffany

amother

Sun, Oct 09 2011, 6:43 pm

Rosh Hashana:
Radiation,
High dose chemo,
Not much fun.
Chaim Dovid said,
“At least for Succos
I’ll be home.
It will be fine.”

Then came fever,
Antibiotics,
Back in jail
Once again.
From this morning
Until Friday,
Which is Succos,
Yes it is.

We keep planning,
But Hashem,
The Master Planner
Up Above,
Has His Own plans,
As He shows us,
Though we can’t
Understand why.

Chaim Dovid's white blood count is 0.1, and they're expecting it to drop to 0. He is unable to fight his infection on his own. He needs our continued Tefilos. His name is Chaim Dovid Ben Necha.

Thanks.

~Tiffany

karen berzon

Mon, Oct 10 2011, 4:50 am

Tiffany, I keep davening for Chaim Dovid, and have had my kids say Tehillim too. BE"H I hope to get to the Kosel soon and daven for him there as well. BE"H Looking forward to hearing good news.

amother

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 5:26 pm

Just a quick update:

Chaim Dovid was planning to be home for Shmini Atzeres and then go to the hospital on Simchas Torah to begin his next round of chemo. However, as my mother was Bentching Licht on Shmini Atzeres, he realized he had fever again. He went to the er and was admitted to the hospital. He had a catheder in his chest for his stem cell transplant, which is also used for all of his IV's. It was infected, so they had to remove it. They will have to do surgery to put in a new one this week, since they have to start the next round of chemo by this Friday.

He also has a stiff neck, which is due to a blood clot in his neck. He's taking blood thinners in addition to the thousands of other meds he was on, and antibiotics.

They also found an infection in his chest that had to be cut open and stitched up on Chol HaMoed.

There is some good news too- his tumor markers, which is tested by blood work and shows how much tumor is left in him, were 8,000 before he began this high dose chemo. It is now a mere 58. B"H, B"H, the chemo does seem to be attacking the tumor as it should. But he's having a lot of complications from it and this is only the first of 3 rounds of chemo. They will do all 3 rounds even if the tumor markers reach zero beforehand, and each round is harder and harder to live through.

Thank you to all who keep davening for him. Anything you can do in his Zchus is greatly appreciated by the whole family.

~Tiffany

seeker

Mon, Oct 24 2011, 8:42 pm

Thank you for updating. I am praying for him all the time and was especially thinking of you over yomtov. So glad to hear tumor markers are down and hope the complications ease up!

sarahd

Tue, Oct 25 2011, 2:56 am

Ditto. May we hear good news coming up.

amother

Tue, Oct 25 2011, 11:46 am

On Rosh Hashana it is written,
And on Yom Kippur it is sealed;
Which people are going to get sick
And which others will be healed.
How many will be born this year
And how many will pass away,
Who will live a nice long life
And who will die today.

Hashem, please tell me, I want to know,
What did You write in that book of Yours?
What lies in store for my family?
For our frantic Tefilos did You open Your doors?
We want to be written in The Book of Life;
Our whole entire family.
We want to be here to greet Mashiach
And live in peace and harmony.

But if You pull one person away,
Our family is no longer complete.
The life we’d have won’t be the same,
Not what I call a life that’s sweet.
Please, Hashem, I beg of You,
Don’t plan for my family any thing hateful.
Please shower us with only the best,
And to You, Hashem, I'll be eternally grateful.

~Tiffany

amother

Thu, Nov 03 2011, 10:51 am

how is he doing?

amother

Sun, Nov 06 2011, 5:26 am

Thanks for asking. He had his second round of chemo last week, and his white blood count was expected to reach zero on Friday or Shabbos. By some miracle, he made it through Shabbos at home without incident. Nobody can really go over to visit, in case of the slightest germs, but he made it through Shabbos.

Today he has an appointment for bloodwork and hydration. On Sundays, the regular place where he usually goes is closed, so he goes to the outpatient area instead. Last time he went there was the day after Yom Kippur, also when his blood count was 0, and they told him he had fever and put him in the hospital for a week. We're hoping for a better outcome this time.

But most of all, what I want to find out is whether his tumor markers have reached 0 yet. Because once they reach 0, he's kind of in remission already, even though he has another round of chemo to get through.

~Tiffany

amother

Sun, Nov 06 2011, 7:04 am

New update- He never actually made it to his appointment. He went to the hospital with fever sometime before the appointment.

~Tiffany

amother

Mon, Nov 07 2011, 5:19 pm

As Numbers Rise and Fall

Numbers going up and down:
White blood count is down to zero,
Causing fever to go up.
The hair count on his head is zero,
As is the number of times he has smiled today.
The number of coughs is rising,
And the amount of times he throws up.
His heart rate keeps going down,
So he has to stay in bed.
Blood pressure was way down,
So they called my mother in a panic.
She came running to the hospital,
But it turned out to be a faulty blood pressure machine.
As we count down the rounds of chemo,
The number of complications keeps rising.

However, there is one number
That is keeping our spirits up.
The tumor markers have reached 9.5,
Which is considered normal.
(Anything under 15 is fine.)
It is with great pleasure that I get to say,
“Good riddance, scary cancer!!”
Now if only we can get through the rest of the chemo-
With zero incidents, please.

~Tiffany

sarahd

Tue, Nov 08 2011, 3:30 am

Amen, amen, amen. May we hear only good and positive news.

amother

Wed, Nov 09 2011, 11:08 am

Amen! Thanks.

~Tiffany

amother

Wed, Nov 09 2011, 6:05 pm

Update: Chaim Dovid was moved to the ICU because his heart rate was very fast and his blood pressure was very low. Please continue to daven for him.

~Tiffany

amother

Wed, Nov 09 2011, 8:41 pm

Ouch for the update. Saying tehillim and praying for him daily. Hope to hear better news soon.

karen berzon

Thu, Nov 10 2011, 3:28 am

Tiffany, I continue to daven for Chaim Dovid. Awaiting a good news update that you will hopefully be able to post ASAP.

amother

Sun, Nov 13 2011, 6:05 pm

Thanks for your Tefilos.

Chaim Dovid was released from the ICU on Friday, and he was supposed to come home from the hospital today. However, he has fever again, so he's still there. Also, he has been having pain in his hip since Shabbos, and he can't put weight on it. They did an MRI today, and we get the results tomorrow.

~Tiffany

amother

Sun, Nov 13 2011, 6:11 pm

I just wanted to let you know that I had a stem cell transplant two years ago and counting, b'H.
I had high fever for days, and they couldn't figure out why. I am fine now, b'H.
I hope your brother has a refuah sheleima b'karov!

amother

Sun, Nov 13 2011, 6:18 pm

Thanks. They can predict how many days after the stem cell transplant he will get sick, and which day he will get better. They did not predict that he would get fever again last time, when his port got infected. Today's fever was also unexpected. It's annoying for him to be stuck in the hospital longer, and it makes us nervous. I wonder if it's related to the pain in his hip.

~Tiffany

amother

Tue, Nov 15 2011, 9:02 am

I Want to Know

I want to know the reason and the rhyme,
Why we’re stuck in Galus such a long time.
You look and see Your children in such pain,
We want to be redeemed now once again.

Hashem, I once heard an interesting rumor,
That the reason we must stay and deal with this tumor,
Is You’re waiting for Your people to repent,
So more can benefit when Moshiach is sent.

But Hashem, as long as we’re stuck in Galus over here,
More people are turning off year after year.
Our level of Tumah is high like in Mitzrayim,
You’d better take us now to Yerushalayim.

Complications are continuing to take their toll on our family. Chaim Dovid is having a biopsy on his hip now to see what's causing the muscles to swell up. If it's an infection, he'll need to be on antibiotics through IV- FOR A FEW MONTHS. He would be home, but he'd have to go to the hospital once a day, including Shabbos, for antibiotics. Sounds like a blast.

In the meantime, my other brother (age 19) came home from yeshiva on Friday with stomache pains. He had an ultrasound yesterday, but they couldn't find his appendix. They did bloodwork yesterday and he's going back for more bloodwork and maybe a CAT scan today.

Please continue to daven that things ease up for both of my brothers.

~Tiffany

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