Day 48 at Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Monday, July 7th 2014

Jeannene, Michelle and her boys came to stay the day with mom at Cancer Treatment Centers of America.   Mom is still in isolation due to her blood levels and platelets being so low.  As long as no one has any symptoms of any kind of illness, it is fine to visit her.  When we arrived, mom's mouth was crusted shut from the scabs sticking together.  I spoke with one of mom's nurses about getting her lips apart and she explained to me that they have to leave her lips alone because her platelets are so low if the scabs were to be picked at or pulled off she would bleed badly.  I asked if this would get better soon and she stated that it would.  

After we visited mom for a while we all went to lunch at the cafeteria together and then took everyone on a tour of the property.  I believe the campus really amazed Jeannene and Michelle as they were quite surprised at all of the amenities here at CTCA!

Once we got back to mom's room, Ms. Summer Baptist, 

Naturopathic Oncology Provider & Acupuncturist, came in to go over mom's supplements and to discuss which supplements will be added back to her daily regiment.  It was a pleasure meeting with Ms. Baptist and she was very thorough in discussing mom's needs and condition.

"I joined Cancer Treatment Centers of America because I wanted to be part of a pioneering company that focuses on integrative, innovative and patient-centered care. I wanted to join a team that works together to provide our patients and their families with high-quality cancer care and support."
                        - Summer Baptist, MS, ND, LAc

As Ms. Baptist was leaving, Mr. Stephen Jackson, Chaplain, stopped by to check on mom as he often does.  Mr. Jackson read a few verses from the Bible and Jeannene asked if he would have a group prayer over mom and the family.  It was touching to stand in a circle holding hands around mom as he prayed.  Of course many were in tears afterwards but his prayer lifted every one's spirits.

Even though mom was tired and not feeling great, she was very excited to see everyone.  Jeannene, Michelle and the kids put a smile on her face and that's very important through her inpatient stay here at CTCA.

It's always hard to leave

We headed home later in the day and Toni came up to see mom after work.  We have no idea how long mom will be staying here but as long as she is here we know she is in the best possible care!

The Charm of the Day
Praying Hands

Day 13 at Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Friday, May 23rd 2014

Today was our 13th visit to CTCA and we started the day in infusion at 10:00.  During mom's infusion appointment, Ms.Clare Whitlock one of the Chaplains came and prayed with us for mom's healing. There's so much love and support here at Cancer Treatment Centers of America! 

Today's schedule was very tight with our appointments running back to back so the infusion and radiation appointments ended up overlapping.  

To make sure we weren't late for mom's radiation treatment, the nurse said that we could take the infusion machine with us to mom's radiation appointment.  We had to leave infusion with the drips to get to radiation on time.  While mom was in radiation I met with our scheduler Ms. Kellogg to get an updated schedule of mom's daily appointment which changes almost daily.

Dad and I were taking a look at the model for the expansion here at CTCA when we met a woman that has been here for 8 weeks. Her name was Mrs. Singleton and when mom came out of radiation, she prayed with us.  I felt a bit overwhelmed by the faith and support we all share here at Cancer Treatment Centers of America.  Mrs. Singleton said they were going home today which is in Texas!  Another success story!

We headed back up to infusion so that the tubes from mom's port could be removed and within minutes we were on our way home.  Today was another wonderful day of excellent treatment and care.

The Charm of the Day is Faith.  Because Faith is what binds us together and surrounds all of us at CTCA!