Thank you

As most of you know, Mama went home yesterday at 3:20 pm. She had been in pain, but she was asleep all day yesterday and wasn't in any pain. She went quickly and peacefully.

Mama was very specific about what she wanted. She wanted to be cremated; she wanted her funeral to be on a Saturday, no matter what day she passed; and she wanted a birthday party after her funeral, to celebrate her new life.

Mama's funeral will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Conway, SC) on Saturday, October 10th at 11:00 am. Her birthday party will be held following the service in the church parish hall.

Her obituary will be in The Sun News tomorrow, and will also be printed in the Horry Independent.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Pancake Breakfast

The pancake breakfast was a huge hit! Thanks go to the Thomas' and the Benson's for planning everything. Thanks to everyone who helped, and to all who came. It was wonderful to hear of how many people were there.

As you may know, Mama does not have much time left here. We're spending all of our time with her, as you can imagine.

Keep praying!

Back home

Mama came back home from the hospital today at around 11. Dr. Sasser informed her that she was not feeling weak and tired due to lack of blood-just from the cancer. She actually didn't even need any blood yesterday, but Dr. Sasser decided to give her 1 pint since she was already at the hospital. She is still extremely tired and very weak.

In the hospital

Today, around 11 a.m., Mama went in to Conway Medical Center for a blood transfusion, which she had asked for. After several mishaps (misplacing her blood, having to draw blood for labs again, etc.) they were finally able to start pumping 1 pint of blood into her around 4 p.m. She finished that pint a few hours later. Mama did not talk all day. She feels extremely tired and weak. She has spoken a little since her blood has finished. She told me, "I just didn't have the energy to talk." After consulting with Dr. Sasser, she is being kept overnight, just for safe keeping. Dr. Sasser wants to review her blood work and liver enzymes with her tomorrow morning.

Please pray for strength!

Update

This evening, Dr. Sasser came and visited with Mama to update her on some of the blood work she had done last week. Her levels have lowered significantly, but she is firm against doing any more chemo. Dr. Sasser believes (with support from research that has been done) that patients who receive long-term palliative care can generally live longer than if they did more treatment. With more treatment, Mama could only expect another 3-6 months, and she doesn't want to be suffering from the side effects of chemo during that time. She does not want to disturb the peace that God has given her, so no more chemo.

Yesterday, Mama was able to get out of the house and head to one of her favorite spots- Target. Even though it wore her out, it was well worth the trip to get her out of the house. She's still just hanging out at home-her nights are better than they were a few weeks ago, so that's an improvement. We're just taking it day by day.

Just hanging out

Nothing major happening here at home. Mama's been relatively ok the past couple of days. Not extremely bad, not extremely great. Sunday, Mama was in a lot of pain because she couldn't really go to the bathroom, but we've finally gotten all of that straightened out. If you're local, a pancake breakfast fundraiser has been planned for Saturday, Sept. 26th from 8-10 at the Beef O'Brady's in Conway. Tickets are $6 a piece, and you can see Kelsie, Gene, or Elizabeth to buy them.

Keep praying!

Prayer Walk

THANK YOU!!! The prayer walk was a great event! There was probably 40-50 people that came out- so terrific to see just a fraction of all the wonderful people who love our Mama! If you came, you know how great it went. I'm excited to see who wins the raffles and how much money was raised! When I told Mama afterward how great the walk went, she started crying! I asked her what was wrong and she said (through tears), "I just feel so loved. I don't know how to thank everyone." So needless to say, she is so appreciative for everyone's love, generosity, and prayers. She says that she feels the prayers all the time, so keep them coming!

Prayer Walk and Fund Raiser for Lori Pharr Please join us THIS SATURDAY!!! Men Women and Children are invited. Location:Conway Marina Park Time:7:45AM Saturday, August 29th

Please come out and show your support... there will be refreshments afterward...

Back home!

Today, around 11:45, the wonderful TransMed people came and loaded Mama up. After successfully getting her back home, a Hospice nurse assessed her to make sure she was comfortable after being transported. She's settled into her new hospital bed quite nicely. It's important that we keep rotating her as much as possible in order to prevent bed sores and such, so we move her as frequently as we can and as frequently as she feels she can. We know people want to come visit and we are so thankful that they do, but please try to keep it inbetween 9-10 am or 2-3 pm. We appreciate everything everyone is doing for us! Keep praying!

Coming Home

Tomorrow (Wednesay) Mama will be coming home from the hospital. Not sure what time, but definitely tomorrow. Today, Hospice brought over a bunch of equipment- a hospital bed, oxygen tank, etc.- basically anything that Mama will use or might need to use in the future. After discussing with Dr. Cody and Dr. Sasser, we've decided that will not continue chemo because it will only further damage her liver. And as Mama said, "I am not going to do something that will further damage my body." So now, we're setting Mama up to be as comfortable as possible at home. If you haven't seen her yet, know that she is so at peace with the things to come. It makes everything so much easier. Keep praying!

This morning, around 7:30, Daddy took Mama to the ER at Conway Hospital, per Mama's request. Nothing serious, just a lot of discomfort. Thankfully, she was the first patient at the ER, so she didn't have to wait. The put an IV into her to put Lasiks in her to reduce the swelling. A little after 12, they admitted her to a room. She's been admitted with pneumonia, but the nurse said her lungs were clear, so we don't think it's a very severe case. They're pumping antibiotics into her for the pneumonia. She is glad to be in the hospital so that she can rest and be taken care of properly. So far, she's asked to not have any visitors so that she can sleep a lot. That might change tomorrow though. We'll keep you updated : )

Update on things

Ok. So lots of doctors appointments this week. One every day actually.

Monday: Trip to Dr. Cody's to see about some swelling on the stomach. The swelling wasn't anything to be concerned about, but Dr. Cody expressed to Mama that she wasn't 100% sure about the new diagnosis.

Tuesday: Back to Dr. Cody's for chemo, but no chemo was actually administered. Dr. Cody informed Mama that with the neuroendocrine cancer there are two types: fast and slow growing. Unfortunately, she has the fast growing. Dr. Cody has conferred with Duke and M.D. Anderson and has been told that there are only 3 types of chemo drugs for this fast growing neuroendocrine cancer. One of those drugs has a risk of further damaging her liver. And being that this cancer is so rare, the 3 drugs are somewhat older and offer rougher side effects- hair loss, vomiting, etc. So overall, Tuesday didn't exactly bring good news.

Wednesday: Back to Dr. Cody's to starts the new chemo. After being pumped with a little bit of steriods, antinausea drugs and some saline, the new chemos were administerd. So far, no bad side effects- thankfully. Also, the oncologist's nurse practioner came up to Mama today and said, "You know you're already a little miracle. Never have I seen someone with such a poorly functioning liver that is operating so well!" So thank God for that! Also some good news, Dr. Cody is conferring with a neuroendocrine specialist at Stanford and Johns Hopkins about Mama's cancer- seeing if they offer any kind of specialized treatment or clinical trials, etc. So hopefully we'll hear more back from them soon.

Mama is still in good spirits and is so thankful for the help that we have been receiving.

Also- if you are local and close to us, PLEASE join us Friday (August 14th) at 7 pm for a prayer vigil. The vigil will be held at Calvary Chapel, which is on the frontage road right off of 501 heading into Myrtle Beach. The building where Jammin' Leather used to be is the location you'll look for. Please come if you can!!

Keep praying!

Unfortunately bad news today...

So this morning I (Elizabeth) took mama to Coastal Cancer Center for a regular check up and some labs.. Her levels were elevated, and her resting heart rate was high... Her anemia was a little low, and she got a shot today for that to help build up the red blood cells. She got a saline drip also to help with the hydration and hopefully help detoxify the liver somewhat but mostly for the dehydration. Unfortunately the nurse practitioner was the only doctor she saw today, and has explained to us that Conway hospital sent her pathology reports to Duke, and Duke sent a report back stating that she now has a new type of cancer.... The new cancer is harder to fight and is more rare.. its called Neuroendcrine carcinoma of the colon with liver metastases. The neuroendcrine cancer just happened to find an unfortunate home in the colon, so basically its never was colon cancer to begin with. Doctors aren't sure where the cancer really began or how long its been living... So this cancer is definetely worse. The chemo she is taking now is going to be the same and hopefully in the near future they will add another medicine to the regime, Duke would do the same chemo there as they will here. The doctor prescribed some medicine for uric acid because her liver is just not working properly right now and there is a lot of acid and toxins hanging out. Maybe she can get into clinical trials at a cancer center, but Dr. Cody will be researching this very thoroughly. She is very weak and tired, and physically she cant do much at all. We need prayers now more than ever and we truly need a miracle! PLEASE PRAY!!!

So far ths week...

On Monday we went to the Oncologist and went over my plan of care for the chemo treatments. It was a lot to take in, all the drug names run together after awhile, but the basic rundown is a 5 drug combo called 5FU that is given through my chest in my medi-port. I stay at the Oncologists for about 3 hours to get that, then am sent home with a pump that gives it to me for the next two days. On the third day, I go back to the Oncologists, they remove the needle in my chest, flush the port, and I'm done for 2 weeks. During days two and three, there are pills for me to take to hopefully prevent breakthrough nausea. So far, not one bit of the nausea has occurred, so I guess they are working. There are two other RX's to take after the treatment stops in case there is any nausea. The Nurse Practioner for my Doc. is awesome and she said she is determined that I will not be sick from this. Once we finished the the Plan of Care I was waiting for the car to come around and get me because I was too weak to walk to it. The car came, I tried to get up, but collapsed instead. Nasty bruise on the right elbow. I of course, got really mad, declared that all of this was total BS and was crying! The Doctor then said, go to the hospital, get typed and crossed, you are getting a transfusion, so we did.

Tuesday-All day at Conway Medical Center with some good ole A+ pumping into my veins. I had no idea what a slow process getting a transfusion was, but I was able to rest, they fed me, and took good care of me, and I do feel a little stronger today (Wed.)

Wednesday- Back to Oncologist at 1:00 to remove needle and pump. Home to rest (lots of this is required). Next Tues. back to Oncologist for labs to see how I reacted to Round one. Blood levels are the determining factor in all of this, so we'll see. I can say that I feel less "out of it" mentally, and a little stronger. When the liver is not working properly toxins build up in the body causing all kinds of stuff to happen. I am a little jaundiced still-eyeballs are yellow, peepee looks like tea, resting heartbeat is still in the 90's but was up to 132 at it's highest. It's hard to feel good when you are gasping for breath while laying down. I think between the chemo and blood yesterday, these two things have helped a lot. Of course, all of the prayers are what really matters and I thank all of you for those.

I'll most likely update again after Tues. lab resluts to fill you in. Pray hard everyone-this HAS to work.

Love ya'll!

A good Saturday

God blessed me with enough energy to accompany Kelsie and Gene to the College of Charleston for Kelsie's college visit. It doesn't take much energy to ride in the car for two hours, but the process of showering, and getting ready is absolutely exhausting right now. I figured the extreme fatigue and rapid heart beat were a result of anemia. While I am three pints low, the culprit is in fact my liver, which is not filtering toxins like it should, so it's causing these symptoms. The Doctor gave me an RX for some hideous powder that I'm supposed to mix with water and drink right away. I tried, but one sip made me gag. Maybe I'll try it with juice and see if I can do it. Basically, it was like trying to drink the beach.

Back to College of Charleston-it's beautiful. If you've never been to Charleston, SC, you must go. The only tough part of the day was Gene pushing me on the tour in a wheel chair over old brick sidewalks buckled with centuries old oak tree roots. He did the best he could, but there were a few scary and painful moments. I slept in the backseat of the car of the way home to recover.

Chemo starts Tuesday around 8:30 a.m. and I'm scared and excited at the same time. This cancer crap needs to start dying ASAP, and hopefully the liver will begin functioning better with it. I'm a little jaundiced right now (most apparent in the eyes). I'm sick of feeling so tired. Please continue your prayers of healing for me and my family. They are working hard and being awesome, but I really don't like being waited on (all of the time, anyway:) )

I'll update after treatment one. Peace y'all.

Back from Duke

Mama and Daddy just got back from Duke. She didn't make the requirements for the clinical trial, but that's ok. The doctors at Duke just ran a bunch of blood work- billiruben tests, liver enzymes, etc. If her billiruben levels had been low enough she would have been eligible for the trial. However, it's a blessing is disguise- there were some pretty severe, long-lasting side effects that would've come with the trial; and the experimental drug that would have been used on her has never been tested in humans before. Anyways, the doctor at Duke recommended the exact same type of chemo that Dr. Cody (the local oncologist) recommended. The only extra thing the Duke doctor recommended was the experimental pill. She should start chemo here at home next Wednesday unless the doctor wants to start her earlier.

Chillin on a Sunday afternoon

Hello everyone-
Not much to report, just resting and taking the days as easy as possible. Fighting Iron deficient anemia right now and it is tough, and takes time to correct with supplements. I also have a pretty rapid pulse right now, so I feel tired easily and out of breath. According to different web sites, this is a side effect of anemia. The Oncologist told me that I might need an IV bag of Iron if the pills weren't working, so we'll see this week when I go back. Still struggling with some Acid Reflux which is a new development since the colon surgery. Eating, one of my former loves, is not really much of a friend right now. No appetite and not sure what I can eat that won't bother me. Hey, at least I've lost a few pounds-I sure did need to!
Our youngest, Kelsie has been away for a week on a mission trip to Asheville, NC; she should be home soon. I've really missed her.
Just a few more days and we are headed to Duke Cancer Clinic to meet with Dr. Michael Morse, MD. He is in a practice that specializes in GI cancers. Praying hard for some clinical trial to be open so that treatments can begin. I feel like we have already waited too long to get this mess started. I certainly don't want to make a comfy home inside my body for this evil disease. Even if there is not a clinical trial open right now, I hope to start treatments next week. I'm not sure how I'll tolerate those, but with God's grace it will go well.
That's it for now. I'll update after the Duke visit. Lot's of prayers for healing, ya'll. I'm planning on a miracle!

Good News!

Hey everyone-
I realize it's been a few days since I've updated, but there hasn't been anything going on except me resting at home.

On Monday I had a PET scan to see if there was any more cancer anywhere in my body. The test itself was fine, but the unknown is hard. So, I've waited.

Today, I went to the Oncologists office and talked to her for the first time. The good news is that there is no cancer anywhere else in my body except for the liver-which we knew. I think this is great news, and an answer to prayer, for sure.

The Doctor said that I could begin chemo next week and that in about six weeks we would start some targeted therapy directly at the liver. She also said that Coastal Cancer Center is affiliated with MUSC and Duke and that if wanted to get into clinical trials she would get me into one. SO...I have an appointment next Wednesday at Duke! Another answer to prayer, especially that I was able to get in so quickly. We don't know if there are any open clinical trials right now, but if not, then I'll be in the rotation for the next one and will begin chemo here until the trial begins.

I feel so relieved to have spoken to Dr. Cody, I really like her. She has told me that my cancer is treatable, and that there is a chance that it is curable. Of course, no one knows how I will respond to the treatments; there are some cancers that are genetically coded to NOT respond to any treatments. I am in constant prayer for healing, and I know that by Jesus' stripes, we are healed.

I am not in any pain, although my liver is swollen. I am anemic, so I have to take Iron and Vitamin C twice a day. She said I could eat what I wanted, but that some things might not taste good right now. My liver enzymes are good right now, which means that even though my liver is in really bad shape, somehow, by the Grace of God, it's still working.

That's it for now. I probably won't update anytime soon, since there's nothing going on. But hey, if you missed an episode of Barefoot Contessa on FoodTv, I bet I can give you the recipes. Watching waaayy to much tv.

Much love to all. Pray without ceasing!

Lori

Good day yesterday-thanks to my "driver" Janie, I was able to shuffle around Target for a little while. It felt soo good to get out and be with people, plus, I love me some Target. I'm feeling really good post surgery. No pain at all; in fact, since I've been home, I've taken one 5mg pain pill, and I split that in half; 1/2 when I got home, the other 1/2 when I went to bed that night. I hate the side effects of narcotics, so if I can get by without them, why bother?

So, I have my PT Scan on Monday at 2:00 at the Oncologists office. I must admit, I'm a little nervous that this evil thing has spread further, but at the same time, I feel God's presence so strongly, that I know that even if it has spread, he will care for me. On Wednesday of next week, I meet with the Oncologist for the first time. She came into my hospital room post surgery, but I was so out of it, she was just a blur. I do know that she told me family that my cancer is definitely treatable and possibly curable, so that's good news. Let's just pray that this is still the case after the PT on Monday.

I'm excited about a little trip to the mall tonight for a pedi. I can't bend that far for that long with a big incision right in the middle of my belly, so my sweet husband agreed that we could go do that later.

The incision is healing well, so the leak that I sprung on Wednesday was no big deal. I need my digestive system to regain some sort of normalcy, please. I've had a few bouts with wicked acid refulx and the old bowels are quite right (sorry, TMI). I wonder how long it will take for my belly to get right with a foot less colon? The surgeon says that just because I feel good, doesn't mean that I'm healed inside. What's taking so long?? I'm impatient, I need to wait, but it's hard.

Enough ramblings for now. Can't wait to go to church tomorrow, it's been three weeks since I've been and I miss everyone. We were on vacation for two of those weeks, and I was just home from the hopsital last week, and too tired and weak to go. Our good friend, Jason Collins is preaching tomorrow. He's in Seminary in Wisconsin, but home for the summer. It'll be great hearing his message. I'll post again Monday after the PT and then again after the meeting with the Oncologist on Wednesday. Keep up all of the prayers-I feel them. Love to all.

Hello everyone!

Well, hey, everyone! It's been a few days since my blog has been updated, so I thought I'd fill everyone in. Since I've been home I've been resting pretty well, although the phone is ringing a lot. I don't mind though, I know everyone is checking on me, and loves me. I'm feeling pretty good; no pain at all (Praise God). I went to the surgeon today and got the 20 staples removed from my incision. No pain with that either. I went and visited work for a few minutes, then headed home. Many thanks to my driver, Janie. On the way home, I "sprang a leak"! I guess the staples weren't really ready to come out, so back to the surgeon we went for bigger steri-strips and a big dressing. Still, no pain, but it was gross, and it scared me.

I wanted to write down three miracles that have occurred thus far in my journey.

1-The pain that took me to the hospital on Monday, June 29th was completely gone by the time I got into my room that night. No pain meds, nothing. The pain was gone. The pain was God telling me that something was wrong and that we needed to get to the hospital.

2-I have been working at the local Tech college for 2.5 years as a grant paid person-no benefits, no insurance, paid leave, etc. Just work, get a check. I have prayed and prayed for a full-time position, but God just kept telling me, Not yet. Well, it turns out, that because I am a "part-time" employee, there's a ton of flexibility with how much I can be away from work. If I were a full-time employee I would be very limited in the time that I could be out of work, and if my situation were to be really lengthy, I would have to be replaced. Not now, though. My boss said they would not re-hire anyone and that I could take as long as I needed to get well.

3-My friends and family. Total love and service through Jesus Christ. I am so blessed.

That's about it for now. Things are good and as weird as it sounds, I'm excited to see what God & I will be doing in the future. I have friends coming to pray over me tonight and really welcome that. Please keep praying and I will keep everyone updated. The next step is a PT scan to make sure that there is no cancer anywhere else. Once that is done I'll meet with the Oncologist, Dr. Cody and we'll get moving.

She's home!

Mama is home! She's been here for about 2 hours now and she is so, so happy to be home. She didn't have any problems getting home or getting in the house. She even made it upstairs without trouble. She just took a shower, which felt good but wore her out. She's looking forward to recovering at home this week. She'll go back to the doctor either Tuesday or Wednesday to have the staples removed from her incision.

Keep praying!

Good news!

Mama will be coming home tomorrow!

Tomorrow she'll be running laps around the place!

Thursday, July 2nd

Today was much better than yesterday. Mama did not like the morphine she had been given as it made her very, very tired and she does not want to be like that! Instead they gave her Vicodin which didn't make her tired and helped with the pain. The nurse took her cathater out- something Mama was very happy about! Today she walked a bunch by herself! She said the pain was still there when she walked but that it was bearable. Dr. Ellis came by and spoke with her today and he was pleasantly surprised to see her looking so good and doing so well. He estimated that they took about 12 inches of her colon out. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better than today!

Incorrect time

The time on this blog isn't correct. The last blog was at 8:23 pm.

Post-op Update

Mama's been out of surgery for a while now. She's still very groggy and very sleepy- so she's coming in and out of sleep. She's feeling pain in her incision, but they have her on pain medicine, so hopefully it's helping. Tomorrow should be better in terms of pain, and hopefully some of the grogginess will wear off. Dr. Codye, the local oncologist, came by this evening and talked with her. She said the cancer on her liver is treatable and that the chemo isn't one of the more aggressive chemos and that her hair won't really fall out and that the side effects aren't that bad. Visitors and phone calls are welcome! Keep praying that we find the right doctor who can get this out of her!

Out of surgery

Surgery started at 1:03 pm this afternoon. A little before three, Dr. Ellis called Daddy & I (Kelsie) into the room to tell us how the surgery went. The doctors successfully took the mass out of her colon and resected it. Dr. Ellis said that the colon was reacting well to the resection. However, the cancer is on both sides of her liver and there on lesions on it. So with good news comes bad news, but we know that God is going to provide a miracle for us. Yesterday and today, Mama continued to say that all she wanted was for the doctors to open her up and find nothing there. Even though God didn't provide that miracle for us today, He is going to lead us to the right doctors who can get this out of her. Mama is now in recovery and will be back in her room soon. Continue to pray for a miracle.

Day 2

Today mama could have nothing but clear liquids until her colonoscopy... the doctor said the procedure would be anywhere from 11:30-1pm.... Finally at 12:45 the nurse came and wheeled mama down and the colonscopy didn't take about but 30 mins but she woke up during her colonscopy and saw the inside of her! Dr. Ellis came in shortly after she was back in her room, and He was explaining her surgery that is tomorrow (wed). Dr. Ellis said that the cancer has spread to both sides of her liver now... but the surgery will determine exactly whats going to happen. The oncologist should come tomorrow (wed) morning... hopefully! Continue all of the awesome prayers!

Day 1 of the horrible news

Today mama drove herself to the hospital and the Drs did all kinds of tests. They took lots of blood, did a ultrasound, CT scan and chest x-ray.... they completely ruled out her gallbladder. needless to say the doctors determined that she has colon cancer that has metastasized to her liver! She is in room 232 at Conway hospital....