August 31

A week has gone by since I had the cytoxan. I remember as the nurse was hooking up the IV, I watched her but on extra plastic clothing and mentioned to her that it looked like she was handling poision. I told her I mentioned the cytozan sounded like poison in my email and she said it is but of course it was going to help me. I was only knocked out for the day and they keep me on Dex for three days after. I didn't fill sick at all and was wishing I could go to work. I go in everyday to take blood tests and receive the G-CSF (nueprogen) to build up my stem cells. The dex they gave me kept my energy level high and kept my White blood cells high. Once the dex wore off, my white blood cells will drop to almost zero and I have to stay away from everyone until they build back up. If I get sick right now and run any type of temperature, I call the clinic and head straight for the hospital. When they begin to rise again, I will be put on an apheresis(means to withdraw) machine that will circulate my blood through and remove the baby stem cells. This process will take 2-4 days and could take up to 6 hours. Then I will be free for several weeks while by body stabilizes for the next round of chemo. The doctor put it like this, the chemo I received the last few months was like a ruler tapping on my body. Cytoxan was like getting hit by a bat(which I believe because I definitely had a headache). Mephalan(sp?) is like a bomb. I ask you to pray that I don't get any infections these next few days and the process for stem cell collection will go well. Pray God continues to work in my heart to be his servant and to stay in his word. He has put my doctor on my heart and I pray for her often(She reminds me of myself, she works too much). Its hard not being in the store and help people with their needs but I got to remember Gods plans are always bigger than mine and If I want to work their till retirement, He can help to heal me completely. I hope to continue to inspire those around me and help remind them that God is always the blessed controller of all things. Praise God.

Update from Becky - August 24th

Its August 24th. Just got back from the Mariners game. For those of you
who didn't know, I won tickets at SCCA last week for this game. My doctor
had scheduled my chemo to start today but I told her she needed to change
it because I was going to the game. Boy, am I glad I did. It was a great
game. Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1. Lopez and Griffy hit home
runs. The seats were amazing. They were club seats on the right field
line. Enough of the game.
Tomorrow is my first round of Chemo, cytoxan, I will be at the clinic at
7:45 until 7 or 8 at night. This is getting my body ready to harvest my
stem cells. My doctor said that it may be difficult to get enough stem
cells for two transplants because of how long I was on the previous
treatment. They have learned Revlimid makes it hard to produce enough stem
cells. I was on that since March. Pray this isn't going to be that way for
me. That my body will bounce back quickly after the cytoxan(definitely
sounds like a poison). If my body has difficulty producing the stem cells,
the time on the machine to retrieve them may be longer which could cause
me to have transfusion during the process.
The rest of the week will involve blood tests and giving me nueprogen,
which is the G-csf, growth-cell stimulating factor. Thats all I know so
far. I won't know the rest of my schedule until sometime during the end of
this week.
God Bless and thank all of you for the many prayers that are going up for me.
Cards and notes are great. My address is 1200 Boylston Ave. #305, Seattle,
WA 98101. Found out the fresh flowers and plants are very bad. They can
carry bacteria.

Becky

Update from Becky - August 19, 2009

Well I saw my doctor today. Here is wants up. Thursday I will have the
Hickman placed at the University of Washington Hospital. I will definitely
be out of it that day. Tuesday we will start the cytoxin, chemo that will
wipe out by body and Wednesday they will give me G-something something to
enchance the growth of my stem cells. The biggest concern she has is that
I may have difficulty in getting the 10 million stem cells needed for two
transplants since I was receiving treatment for so long. Normally they try
to get you in sooner after treatment begins like she wanted me in last
Jan. or Feb. but that wasn't possible. I may need more transfusions
because they will probably have to take more blood out of me. So, for
about 2 weeks I will go in have a shot of nuepragen, another stem cell
enhancement, and be hooked up to a machine that will take out my blood
which through the process will take my stem cells and return the left over
blood to me. If my stem cells are low, I will have to stay on the machine
longer than most and this is where I could lose too much blood and may
need the transfusions. The good news is the myeloma cells dropped in my
bone marrow down to .9% from the 80-90% at diagnosis. Bad news is that
they found more bone lesions from the MRI. I asked if my hips were part of
that because I have lots of pain in my hips. At night, in bed I have to
constantly roll over until I don't feel any pain. Ron always tells me I
waddle which I knew because my hips hurt. They found lesions in my hips,
on my L2 lumber, and my neck along with the original ones on my skull and
right femur. So, I was definitely stage 3 at diagnosis. The reason for the
transplant is to stop the growth of these lesions and wipe out the myeloma
cells.

My prayer is that they will get plenty of stem cells quickly with little
problems and I don't need any transfusions. The treatment will wipe out
the rest of the myeloma cells and stop the growth of these lesions and I
will bounce back quickly.

Remember the joy of the Lord is my strength. God will be gloried as He
gives the doctors wisdom in all they do. God be praised. Amen

God Bless and love you all for your constant prayer and concerns.

APRIL 2009: Letter from Becky

Dear Family and Friends,

Many of you already know that I have been diagnosed with cancer this last fall. My cancer is a rare bone marrow cancer called Multiple Myeloma. The treatment plan for this cancer is chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant within a year of diagnosis. I was sent to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in December to discuss the bone marrow transplant and all that is involved with it. My transplant will be at the Fred Hutchinson Research Hospital which is known worldwide for its ground breaking research and successful transplants. My bone marrow transplant will involve using my own stem cells, so no donors needed.

I received a booklet explaining that I will be an outpatient to SCCA for 2-6 months depending on how I respond to treatment which would require me to live within 30 minutes of the center. I also will need to have a caregiver 24/7 to live with me. They suggest in this booklet to begin fundraising money for living expenses in Seattle.  They recommend raising 25,000 to 30,000 dollars before the transplant to cover these expenses and/or medical expenses not covered by my insurance. I have been given a list of possible places available to live. There is even an RV park close by if anyone is able to donate the use of one that has at least two beds.

I am asking for any type of donation you are able to give.  My son (James Philipsen) opened a donation account at Wells Fargo Bank in Mt. Vernon called the Becky Voelkel Benefit Donation Fund which you can directly deposit into or send directly to me. We are able to give tax deductible receipts for any donations sent to us through the mail.

Thank you for your consideration and any help you can give.

                                          God Bless you, 

                                          Becky Voelkel, (Sharp, Philipsen)

                                          Joy of the Lord is my Strength, Amen!

Please send any donations to:

Becky Voelkel

45944 Baker DR.

Concrete, WA 98237 

P.S. I covet your prayers as I prepare for my transplant in August

Welcome and Purpose

Becky Voelkel a Strong Christian woman, Mother of seven and Grandmother of six, has always put people before herself.  Becky was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2008. This cancer is a very aggressive form of Multiple Myeloma that dramatically shortens her lifespan. So as her family and friends we are asking for your help. As you know doctor bills are very high and insurance doesn’t cover everything. We need to Raise a lot of money and don’t have much time. Please help us out and donate what you can, anything will help.  You can also donate at any Wells Fargo Branch into the Becky Voelkel Benefit Donation Fund. Thank You for your help

With this blog we hope to give updates on Becky's condition and connect those who want to support Becky during this battle against Multiple Myeloma. Follow this blog regularly to keep up-to-date with Becky's procedures and learn about how you can help. Thank you so much for your prayers and support.