Pic from Kathleen's childhood

Okay, okay, it's an inside joke (ask an O'Mara)...

Here's the real photo...

O'Mara Christmas pics

Hi Everyone:

Here are a couple of photos from the O'Mara family Christmas Eve gathering. If anyone has pics from the Callahan Christmas (particularly any featuring Kathleen), please send them to me at omara_croft@yahoo.com and I'll post some.

Love,
Brian

Photo from Joe/Amiee visit

Hi Everyone:

As promised, here's a pic from a recent visit by Joe, Amiee and Owen to Kathleen's home; most of the photos didn't turn out very well, but this one was pretty nice. Christmas pictures are coming soon. Kathleen is still in a fair amount of pain that at times still breaks through the meds given for pain management. She had her hip checked the other day; the docs say she's experiencing some bursitis (not pleasant, to be sure, but better than cancer.)

Love,

Brian

FYI

Just a quick note: if you click on the photos in this blog, they should expand into full-size photos. You may notice that Kathleen looks especially mean when enlarged. Approach with caution.

Love,
Brian

P.S. Kiddo -- you may be going through a rough patch, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop slingin' it.

A busy social schedule

Hi Everyone:

Kathleen has been maintaining a pretty heavy social schedule these days. She went to the airport with us to pick up Devin and Colin (and yesterday went to the airport again to pick up Matt), hosted Joe, Amiee and Owen for a visit over the weekend (I believe I'll have pictures soon), had dinner with us and seems to be pretty much always on the go. The photo with Val was taken on Saturday night.

Kathleen received the two meds yesterday that we described in an earlier post; the plan was for her to receive them earlier, but one of the meds wasn't available. She said that the only side effect was some dizziness. Let's hope these drugs work wonders with Kathleen, particularly on the pain management front.

Kathleen has an appointment today with an orthopaedic surgeon to discuss the ongoing discomfort in her hip. If there's news from that, we'll be sure to share it.

Love,
Patty & Brian

Kathleen is visiting Patty & Brian

Hi Everyone:

Kathleen's been visiting with us for the past couple of days. She joined us on our trek to the airport tonight to collect Devin and Colin (an ordeal, since their flight was delayed by three hours). She's still feeling fairly significant back pain. This photo was taken tonight...evidence that Kathleen does, in fact, read her blog.

Love,
Brian

A bit of better news

Hi everyone:

Kathleen just called. Don just got off the phone with the oncologist. The pain in Kathleen's hip is NOT cancer. The doctor suspects it may be a mild tear or pulled muscle but nothing major. Whew.

Love,
Brian

New drugs

Hi everyone:

Kathleen underwent an MRI of her right hip this morning to determine whether the "spot" they found there is yet another incidence of the spreading of her cancer. She has been experiencing a fair amount of pain in her hip (as severe as the pain in her back), so it's worrisome. She expects to have conclusive answers within 48 hours.

She will be starting on two new drugs. One, Zometa, is an intravenous treatment administered every 3-4 weeks; it is designed to protect the bones against abnormally high levels of calcium sloughing out of the bones and into the blood, which often occurs with those who have cancer in their bones. The second drug, Faslodex, starves cancer cells of estrogen in postmenopausal women; this is particularly true of cancer that has originated in the breast. By preventing the cancer from attaching to estrogen, the progression of cancer may be slowed. Faslodex is typically prescribed to women who took tamoxifen and still experienced a recurrence of cancer. Some women actually realized a reduction in tumor size from this drug. Faslodex is given by injection once per month. The only real downside from what we've read is that the body develops a resistance to the drug, typically in about 18 months.

We'll post again as soon as we hear more.

Love,
Patty & Brian

Thoughts for Kathleen -- First Post

Hi everyone:

We (Patty and Brian) have started this blog, much like the one Brian maintained for Patty, to keep everyone up-to-date on the status of Kathleen's medical condition. In simplest terms, the breast cancer that Kathleen battled with some success years ago has now metastisized (spread to) the full length of her spine, and we suspect also into one hip. Sadly, this is an incurable illness, and one that tends to spread to other parts of the body...but Kathleen is one tough cookie, so if there's anyone who can knock it back, it's her.

Please pop back here from time to time. We are hoping to set up a bank account as a slush fund, to help with meals and house cleaning. When it's in place, we (and, ultimately, Kathleen and kin) will be grateful for any help anyone can offer.

As you may expect, Kathleen, Don and their kids will likely have a 2009 that will be none too pleasant. Kathleen is already experiencing considerable pain, and even some hardcore pain management, while offering some relief, is not completely controlling the pain. Still, we spent the entire weekend hosting Kathleen, and she smiled, and laughed, and took digs at me, as is her wont, and never complained even though the pain was sometimes written all over her face.

Please keep Kathleen and her family in your thoughts and prayers, and also feel free to post comments to Kathleen. I'm sure she'll be checking often.

Love,

Patty & Brian

P.S. Love you, Kiddo.