Well today starts 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week until November
10th. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and pray that the
treatments can give me a solid chance at a wonderful, extremely long
future with the people I love! If you are at all interested in or able
to help with transportation to and from Philly, please PM me :) !
If you would like to donate to help me with my medical expenses here is a link to her Go Fund Me site. Enjoy your weekend and keep those prayers coming!
Thank you all,
Devin
Devin and Owen
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
Update 9/18/2015
Things are still going well. Tuesday we went to Upenn for Devin's radiology appointment. They did a CT scan and made the mask she will wear during the treatments. It conforms to her head/face and is marked to help guide the radiation. It also holds her head still. I am amazed how well she tolerated it as I know I couldn't have. The whole thing took about 45 minutes. Then we made her appointments for the 6 weeks and headed home. The first week of appointments as pretty ugly as they are all evening appointments but after that the next 5 weeks are late morning early afternoon. She will not start radiation until September 29 (after the Pope leaves Philadelphia) and will finish on November 10th.
Thursday Owen and Devin went in to see Dr. Canaday as she had started to develop a small infection again last week. He was very pleased that the antibiotics are doing their job and all looked good. He will see her again in November near the end of radiation to plan the next (hopefully last) surgery.
If you would like to donate to help Devin with her medical expenses here is a link to her Go Fund Me site. Enjoy your weekend and keep those prayers coming!
Hugs,
Rose
Thursday Owen and Devin went in to see Dr. Canaday as she had started to develop a small infection again last week. He was very pleased that the antibiotics are doing their job and all looked good. He will see her again in November near the end of radiation to plan the next (hopefully last) surgery.
If you would like to donate to help Devin with her medical expenses here is a link to her Go Fund Me site. Enjoy your weekend and keep those prayers coming!
Hugs,
Rose
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Update 9/9/15 - No More Trach!
Hi all,
Another good day at Upenn! First stop was with Lauren the speech therapist who was VERY happy with Devin's progress. She ok'd Devin trying more food with texture and will see her again in 2 weeks. Then it was on to Dr. Weinstein who couldn't have been happier about how she is healing and the progress she has already made with her speech. The best news was that he took the trach out! They say it should heal very quickly.
We stopped on the way home to celebrate with some yummy coffee drinks.
When we got home Dr. Lin's office called. She has an appointment at Upenn on Tuesday to get all the prep work done for the radiation to begin. She should get going in about a week and a half from Tuesday.
Hugs,
Rose
Another good day at Upenn! First stop was with Lauren the speech therapist who was VERY happy with Devin's progress. She ok'd Devin trying more food with texture and will see her again in 2 weeks. Then it was on to Dr. Weinstein who couldn't have been happier about how she is healing and the progress she has already made with her speech. The best news was that he took the trach out! They say it should heal very quickly.
We stopped on the way home to celebrate with some yummy coffee drinks.
When we got home Dr. Lin's office called. She has an appointment at Upenn on Tuesday to get all the prep work done for the radiation to begin. She should get going in about a week and a half from Tuesday.
Hugs,
Rose
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Update 9/6/15
Good Morning All,
It's been a busy week with all good news so here goes!
Wednesday we went to see Dr. Canaday and he was very pleased with Devin's healing and her speech! She is talking like crazy. He said she is "setting the bar really high" and is "miles ahead" of where they expected her to be. He cleared her for radiation but said after radiation there will be another surgery to continue to repair the inside of her mouth. It seems he didn't have time or tissue to rebuild the floor of her mouth and that is why her tongue is tethered to her teeth. He will take another skin graft and rebuild the floor of her mouth and then untether her teeth. Devin is looking forward to having more freedom to move her tongue which will improve her speech and eating ability. She was also cleared to drink and eat pureed foods so is enjoying "tastes" again.
Thursday was the trip to the oral surgeon and he to cleared her for radiation and gave her a prescription for some tooth paste to help protect her teeth.
Friday she had visitors! Two of her professors from Misericordia came for a visit. She totally enjoyed the visit and hope they come back again!
Yesterday her college roommate Courtney came to visit from South Carolina! We always love to see Courtney! She's was here for the night and then moving on! We have so enjoyed having her here and hope to see her again soon. Uncle Spencer and Andrew also got in last night on their way home from their annual camping trip. Wonderful to see them and they loved seeing Devin up and around!
Well that's it for this week. Busy huh?!?! We will be heading back to Philly on Wednesday to see Dr. Weinstein and the Speech Therapist. I assume that we will hear from the radiation oncologist next week as well to schedule the mapping. I think we probably will get going with radiation in the next 2-3 weeks and then on to the next surgery. It will be a very busy fall! At least the ride to Philly will be pretty as the trees change!
Thank you again for your prayers! If you would like to donate to help Devin with her medical expenses here is a link to her Go Fund Me site.
Hugs,
Rose
It's been a busy week with all good news so here goes!
Wednesday we went to see Dr. Canaday and he was very pleased with Devin's healing and her speech! She is talking like crazy. He said she is "setting the bar really high" and is "miles ahead" of where they expected her to be. He cleared her for radiation but said after radiation there will be another surgery to continue to repair the inside of her mouth. It seems he didn't have time or tissue to rebuild the floor of her mouth and that is why her tongue is tethered to her teeth. He will take another skin graft and rebuild the floor of her mouth and then untether her teeth. Devin is looking forward to having more freedom to move her tongue which will improve her speech and eating ability. She was also cleared to drink and eat pureed foods so is enjoying "tastes" again.
Thursday was the trip to the oral surgeon and he to cleared her for radiation and gave her a prescription for some tooth paste to help protect her teeth.
Friday she had visitors! Two of her professors from Misericordia came for a visit. She totally enjoyed the visit and hope they come back again!
Yesterday her college roommate Courtney came to visit from South Carolina! We always love to see Courtney! She's was here for the night and then moving on! We have so enjoyed having her here and hope to see her again soon. Uncle Spencer and Andrew also got in last night on their way home from their annual camping trip. Wonderful to see them and they loved seeing Devin up and around!
Well that's it for this week. Busy huh?!?! We will be heading back to Philly on Wednesday to see Dr. Weinstein and the Speech Therapist. I assume that we will hear from the radiation oncologist next week as well to schedule the mapping. I think we probably will get going with radiation in the next 2-3 weeks and then on to the next surgery. It will be a very busy fall! At least the ride to Philly will be pretty as the trees change!
Thank you again for your prayers! If you would like to donate to help Devin with her medical expenses here is a link to her Go Fund Me site.
Hugs,
Rose
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Update 9/1/15
Hi all,
Devin has been making steady progress since returning home last week. She is healing and talking like crazy. We plugged her trach this weekend so we are really hoping they will remove it next week. She has had enough of it.
Today was the first meeting with the radiation oncologist Dr. Lin. We really liked him. We met 2 other members of the team and look forward to meeting the rest of the team. They talked about all that needs to be done before we can get started. Most important is that Devin is healed enough. The radiation will be 5 days a week for 6 weeks and they will treat the mouth and the lymph nodes on both sides of her throat. It looks like it will be the end of September before we are ready to begin treatment.
Tomorrow we go back to Dr. Canaday to check on the infection and see where we stand. The wound care nurse who came today was very pleased so we are hoping for good news tomorrow.
Thursday we go to the oral surgeon as they want any dental work done before they begin radiation. After that appointment Devin will have a CAT scan of her chest just to be sure all is ok.
Thank you again for your prayers! If you would like to donate to help Devin with her medical expenses here is a link to her Go Fund Me site.
Until next time,
Hugs,
Rose
Devin has been making steady progress since returning home last week. She is healing and talking like crazy. We plugged her trach this weekend so we are really hoping they will remove it next week. She has had enough of it.
Today was the first meeting with the radiation oncologist Dr. Lin. We really liked him. We met 2 other members of the team and look forward to meeting the rest of the team. They talked about all that needs to be done before we can get started. Most important is that Devin is healed enough. The radiation will be 5 days a week for 6 weeks and they will treat the mouth and the lymph nodes on both sides of her throat. It looks like it will be the end of September before we are ready to begin treatment.
Tomorrow we go back to Dr. Canaday to check on the infection and see where we stand. The wound care nurse who came today was very pleased so we are hoping for good news tomorrow.
Thursday we go to the oral surgeon as they want any dental work done before they begin radiation. After that appointment Devin will have a CAT scan of her chest just to be sure all is ok.
Thank you again for your prayers! If you would like to donate to help Devin with her medical expenses here is a link to her Go Fund Me site.
Until next time,
Hugs,
Rose
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