Dec. 2004
This is an update to how cancer is effecting our family.

Since my sisters and my breast cancer is an estrogen positive cancer, we have both been on estrogen blockers. I have had to change from the Arimidex because the side effect were so bad they were causing me to be sick all the time. I am now on Tamoxifen, so far less side effects, but still having body pains and very tired. My sister was also on the Tamoxifen but we found in Dec. that the rib breakage she has had off and on for the last several months are due to the cancer returning in her ribs and spine. She had a CAT scan and there was nothing showing up in her internal organs. Praise God for that. She is having an MRI for further testing and when I know more I will place it here. Because the medical bills are going to mount up for her, Eddie and I are Praying about what we can do to help them. We will have info with a link here as soon as we know what we will be doing.

Update Jan 2005

The MRI came back that she has cancer in a few of her ribs and a few areas in her spine.  She will have surgery to remove her ovaries and when she is healed from that she will then have radiation.   

Kathy completed her radiation treatment. Everything went well.  She is still having painful times, but her spirits are high.  She will be doing the Relay for Life on October 2006.
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Below is the info that I placed on the site about our battles with breast cancer and when I was going through chemo treatments, etc.

Aug. 2003
Here is a pic of me and my bald head..... Ÿ ..... I was chicken before now to put a pic up, but since I am just not going to wear something to cover my head in this heat, I figured this is as good a time as any..... Ÿ .... Much Love to you all and a BIG THANK YOU for your Loving Support through all this ....... TTYS Ÿ

Hello,

I have been asked to place info on the site about our families experience with Breast Cancer, something that I am going through right now as well as the info about my Breast Cancer Fund.

My name is Rita Scheu and I was diagnosed on Oct. 15, 2002 with Breast Cancer after finding a lump that had been in my breast for some years now had changed about the middle of Sept. Breast Cancer has also effected my mother who is a 16+ year survivor of Breast Cancer and my sister who is younger than me had a right Mastectomy at the end of 2001 for Stage 2 Breast Cancer. Now that I have been diagnosed, we are now worried about our girls as their chance of getting this dreaded disease is about 95%. I have 2 daughters and Kathy has 1 daughter. We are teaching them how to check their breast and to get to know how the tissue feels so they might find a lump at an early stage. If you are a lady, please remember to do your self-exams at least once a month and if you are a gentleman, remind your wife to do so as well.

I was told that 4 out of 5 Lymph Nodes were involved but that was misread by the first Dr. and my Oncologist said it is 5 out of 6 Lymph Nodes involved that puts it in a Stage 2A Cancer. The cancer also has the HER2 Protein attached to it and I was told this is a protein that accelerates the cancer and gives me a higher chance of reoccurrence. Knowing that now I am thinking maybe that is why this long leg of the tumor was there and is why I have had to have a Mastectomy as well because they could not get it all out with the 2 Lumpectomies that I went through. ?? Not sure, just my thinking and from what I have been told is a good possibility. Thank You Everyone for your Love and Prayers they are very much appreciated.


I had 2 lumpectomies in Oct. 2002 and Nov. 2002. They were not able to get clear margins as the tumor has finger like areas coming from it. So we had to go the mastectomy route. On Dec. 20th, 2002, the mastectomy got rid of the Tumor. There was a problem later that afternoon where there was a hemorrhage at the mastectomy area and they had to go back in to stop the bleeding and rebandage the area. I lost over a unit of blood from the excess bleeding. There was no visible reason for the hemorrhage, but I have a wonderful sugeon and she got it stopped without further problems. Later there was a problem with the drainage tube and that caused much drainage into the new dressing, but that seemed to get better and when they removed the bandages it was ok. The next thing is to get the Port put in for the delivery of the Chemo drugs and that will be another surgery on Jan. 17. After that I think that the Chemo will start either last of Jan. or early Feb. I am having problems with swelling under my arm and on my side and am hoping to have the Dr. take a look at it while I am under sedation.


My first chemo treatment was on Feb. 6th and my hair started falling out pretty quickly. My sister came over to shave my head as the pain was so bad that I just wanted the hair off. She also cut her hair very short, but could not shave as her hubby did not want her to do that and that was fine with me. She now wares her hair very short and it is very becoming on her. I was not comfortable with my bald head and made me some hats, scarves and turbans to ware during the cooler times. At home I don't ware anything and get head massages from the kids and Eddie and who can grip about that ... :-) ... One day I was on the computer not long after loosing my hair and Eddie came home.  He as at the foot of the stairs and looked up seeing my shiny head and said "Hello Sunshine" ... smile ... I got so tickled and it made my whole week.  :-)
 

UPDATE March 2003

First 2 treatments were fine. I did get a little sick and stayed very tired. Find it very hard to eat many things and even when I do eat it is not easy because things just taste and smell bad.


UPDATE April 12, 2003


I have had 3 chemo treatments and the 3rd was on March 20th. It was really hard as the same day that I got my treatment, I also came down with a stomach virus that my hubby had earlier in the week. See what a little peck on the lips will get ya ... LOL!!!! ... Now on April 10th when I went in for my 4th treatment, the blood analysis came back and my white count was down enough that they were not comfortable in me getting the treatment. Dr. said that after I was so sick because of the stomach virus, he was not going to take the chance of me getting sick again. This means that I have to be careful not to get exposed to anyone that is sick because my immune defenses are down, so am staying at home mostly. Will go back Thursday and they will check my blood again and I Pray that it will be up again and I can get the treatment over with. I have 3 left. My finger nails started turning blue after the 2nd treatment, mostly effecting my thumb nails and that made me worry that I was going to loose them. Not so worried about that now because if I do many lovely people that have been through this said they will grow back just fine. Doing some herbal treatments with herbal soaks to help keep the tissue as healthy as possible. Still having pains that are very intense at times and some times I can not use my right arm much. That makes is hard to do a lot of stirring to make soaps and sundries, so my hubby, sister and girls help when I am up to making them.


UPDATE July 1, 2003

I finished my treatments of Adriamycin, Cytoxan and 5-fu (ACF) on May 23, 2003. Was very sick at the last 4 treatments as aromas of any kind seemed to trigger my body senses and the aroma of the tubes, alcohol and other components used to administer the treatment would make me physically sick. We think that it was also because of anticipatory reactions to getting the treatment because I became so sick with the 3rd treatment. And boy is it hard if I run across those aromas in public. I will get away from them as quick as I can because my stomach starts churning. There are many aromas that I find hard to deal with still and I expect this might be a problem with my next treatment of Taxol. I will have Taxol for 4 treatments every 3 weeks and will start that on July 15 as they want my White Blood Cells to come up a bit more. I can do a lot more now and have enjoyed being able to handle things that were hard for me due to the treatments and also lack of strength in my right arm and side. Doing some light strength training to help get the strength back in that part of my body but still get very tired quickly at times.

Taste buds are still a real mess, even water taste strange. About the only thing that I really enjoy eating is anything with Mexican flavorings in the, as long as they are not hot as my mouth and esophagus are still tender even now. No sores, just very dry from time to time and spicy foods make it worse and I love spicy foods. Ice Cream, got to cut that out though, as it finds if way to my midsection LOL!!!! No fun gaining weight even thought the Dr. is not bothered by it... I surely did not need anymore weight ... but will worry bout that later. Oh and I do enjoy char broiled foods also and it seems that some that I have talked to going through Chemo had the same reaction with just loving having char broiled foods as well.

Headaches are still pretty bad and are happening much more frequently and that makes is harder and harder to think and write anything down. I will be going for an MRI brain scan on July 9th. They said this was routine just to make sure that there is nothing going on to cause them. Well write more later. -)

MRI came back fine, nothing there to say why these headaches have gotten so bad.


UPDATE Aug. 2003

After getting better from the ACF Chemo Treatments, the Dr. and I had decided to do the Taxol Chemo Drug because I was not comfortable with radiation. I took the first treatments on Tuesday July 15 and started having pain in my hips and knees on Wednesday evening. This progressed to sever pain all day Thursday. That evening I went to bed early, woke about 1 am having a slight problem with breathing, got up and went to the restroom and back to bed. The breathing got harder and harder, to the point that it took almost an hour for anyone to hear me and know that I needed help. 911 was called and they took me to the hospital. I was having a severe allergic reaction to the Taxol and it kept me in the hospital for 4 days. It is now August 15 and I am still dealing with some pain in my joints and a rash on my arms. Thank goodness I can make my own Lotions and Herbal Extracts because they are helping with the itching and the rash it getting better as well.


UPDATE Dec. 2003

It had been about 4 months since the allergic reaction. I still have the rash on the top of my lower arms, not as bad, but it just seems to be staying with me. The headaches that came on during this time become debilitating at times and the pains in my lower body and the soles of my feet still get so bad that it is hard to walk. Thinking this is part of the allergic reacting and the maybe the Estrogen Block that I am own. Next Dr. visit is mid Jan. and will talk with my Dr. about this then. Taking some different herbs to try and help, but have not found a combo that is working yet.



UPDATE 2005

Having horrible pain due to the Arimidex, headaches that would put my lights out, literally and body pain that was so hard that I sometimes could not move without screaming. Dr. took me off that estrogen blocker and has put me on Tamoxifen. Still having much body and muscle pain, but very little headache. Body and muscle pain gets so bad sometimes that it is hard to move, but I can move and because I refuse to allow it to put me down, I keep doing as much as I can.

Late 2005... Dr. finally found what has caused me to keep belching, GERD and that I also have 2 stomach ulcers, seems due to chemo treatments. Never had any stomach problems before that. Have such a sour taste in my mouth all the time and that makes food not taste so good. Sometimes the tummy calms down for a bit after eating, but seems to always come right back.



UPDATE 2006

The 2 ulcers and GERD gives me some bad problems at times. Makes is hard to work or enjoy anything when your whole body is feeling yucky and when food sometimes will not taste right or will not stay down. Meds are not working right all the time. Taking Ginger Root, forgot about that ... Thanks RJ for reminding me of that ... and it helps sometimes to keep down the belching and pain down. Dr. wants to do surgery, that is not an option for me because of the other problems that the surgery can cause. So I will keep taking the meds and working on natural herbal helpers as well. With Gods helps and some wonderful friends, I will find a combo that will help with relief and maybe healing as well.
Thanks to all my Dear Friends for all your Loving support.
{{{{{{{BIG HUGS}}}}}}}



Many thinks to those that have contributed to help us with the bills and all the wonderful Prayers, Loving Notes, Cards and Letters and gifts. I can not tell you how much of a Blessing you all have been to my family and myself. I will never forget the love shown to me by those that I have only had the privilege of meeting through communication on the net. I just goes to show how much heart that can be had for all of our Sisters and Brothers all over the world even when we can only talk with them with email messages.
{{{{{{{BIG HUGS}}}}}}}

May the ~A~ngels Up ~A~bove,
Guide you with Love. ~A~
Gods Blessing to You and Yours
Rita Scheu