Jen Update (from 14 Dec)

Hi Angels

By now I am sure you are all  right in the thick of Christmas shopping, and counting down the days till Santa's visit.

The Killingers are too - especially Heidi and Amber, who have been such good girls this year that they are guaranteed to get a pressie or two from Santa.

Jen's had a tough time again, dealing with the side effects of the 3rd round of chemo. Thankfully the last round of this drug is next week, after which she will get a much needed 3 week break before the next cycle.

For those of you keeping track of dates, from 10th Jan she expects to start weekly cycles for 12 weeks - through to 27 March.

Jen, Will and the girls are moving to 7 Wallaroy Rd Woollahra this weekend, were they will stay until their beautiful new home is ready for them. We are excited about having them come and stay with us, and they are looking forward to moving too.

Rob, I and the kids are heading away today for 3 weeks, so I will be back in touch in January.

All the Killingers, Kovacs and Stantons hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and HEALTHY 2012.

Love

Cathy

Checking In

Hello Angels,

Well it has been quite a couple of weeks...... Jen had her second dose of chemo on 22nd November - the same day as her Mum turned 70 - and her new niece - Ruby Kovacs - arrived in this world - fourth child of Andy and Kirsty. As ever, Jen really doesn't have time for all this treatment! 

There was great hope that she wouldn't feel as horrible as she did post first round, but unfortunately despite trying anti-nausea bracelets, changing medication and accupuncture, by day 2 the side effects were ever present and she was in no mood for anything other than sleeping.

Before Will embarked on his new job with UPM, Jen, Will, the girls and Will's parents had a change of scenery and headed to Magenta Shores, courtesy of Bev and Phil Stanton, for a few days in the sun. It was lovely for Jen and Will to have Linda and Bill there to share the childcare/Jen care. Thanks Linda and Bill!

 

Then they migrated back to Sydney, where Jen managed to squeeze in a special birthday, and Will started his new job.

I saw Jen today and she was back to her old self  - feeling and looking wonderful, and the life of the McFarlane Christmas Party at Watson's Bay.

Thanks to Mon, Bec, Treen and Leanne who were a great help this week.

Also welcome to Chelsea - Heidi and Amber's new nanny - who has been a godsend for Jen and Maryanne (the old nanny) this last few weeks. This of course means Maryanne now has no excuse not to be spending 100% of her time finishing Jen and Will's reno...and Steve can get back to golf!

For those of you checking off the chemo rounds - Round 3 is on Tuesday 6th and Round 4 Tuesday 20th Dec.

Remember, Jen doesn't like using the phone in the post chemo haze - but she would love to get any message you choose to leave - text or email.

Jen and Will will be holidaying in Woollahra from 17 December until reno completed. Looks like Christmas will be a quiet affair, but if my calcs are right - Jen will be feeling in a partying mood for NYE (Pip and Katy - maybe you could resurrect the crowns).

All the best to you all, as you prepare for Christmas. Apparently it is a time for 'patience'. So hold that thought as you fight for the last Barbie Dreamhouse (or equivalent) in the shops the next few weeks.

Love

Cathy

Shhhhh

in a wisper.....hi angels, don't forget it's Jen's birthday tomorrow and it's a BIG one!

Hi Angels,

Jen has just come out of her first 'chemo haze'. It took a little longer than expected to recover from the first round - about 10 days - but I can report that for now she feels great! During her recovery she doesn't much feel like doing anything, and particularly not keen to talk on the phone, so please keep that in mind.
Jen says the  after affects are a cross between morning sickness and a bad hangover. That should allow all of you some sense of the feeling.

Jen and Will just spend a wonderful weekend at Will's best mate's wedding which was held at Mollymook. Aside from the wedding, there was visits to the beach, whale spotting and hot tubbing - surely all good therapy!

For those of you tracking the treatment dates, the next round of chemo is due on 22nd November, then every 2 weeks for the next few rounds.

A special thanks to those of you who have been able to help Jen with kids play datses, meals &  even freezer storage, amongst other tangibles. And to those of you who live far away and are equally as helpful with stories of hope, and love and prayers.

Until the next instalment.....

Cathy

Beautiful......Japanese Wishing Tree

In the Westpac Place Foyer for Breast Cancer Awareness Month - this beautiful tree made of pink origami cranes, in the Japanese tradition - 8000+ cranes, one for each woman at Westpac who is 'wishing' we find a cure for breast cancer.

How could we forget...laughter is the best medicine

Dear Angels,
With all that has been happening to poor Jen, we had forgotten that laughter is the best medicine. So thank you Meggie for her comment on her funny son Jack, for allowing me to have the first laugh of the week, and for reminding us (well me at least) how good it feels to laugh! Jen and Will (and Heidi!) have the best senses of humour of anyone I know. We all know that it was humour that attracted Jen and Will when they first met. Incase you don't know the story....Jen, Mon and Bec were holidaying in Byron and were trying to get into a restaurant that was closed for a wedding, so they headed to the pub instead. When a few boys in penguin suits turned up Jen had a laugh with them about the fact that they were the ones who had stopped the girls going to their chosen dinner venue. That ofcourse was Will's sisters wedding and he was the guy in the tux - standing out from the crowd in hippie Byron. Their romance has been filled with fun and laughter since day one. These last few weeks it has been hard to find the humourous side of life. But now, with all the diagnosis out of the way, and the cancer cut from Jen's body we are moving into the treatment phase with a strong plan (chemo every 3 weeks for 18 weeks starting on 26 October) and an end in sight - looks like late Feb.
So Dear Angels, I call on you to fill Jen's next few months with humour, like she has filled your friendship! If you have any funny stories to tell, please share them with us/ or directly with her, and remember that laughter is the best medicine.
Love Cathy

It's about you too...

Hi Angels, Jen's a bit 'over' talking about herself, so I thought I could talk about YOU tonight. It turns out big brother is watching, and I have just observed our 'Blog Stats'
Did you know...Jen's Angels are global - it won't suprise you that Jen has a  huge following in Australia (1472 page views), but Jen also has Angel's watching over her from UK, US, Belgium, Russia, Greece, Italy and Germany - so who are you? Maybe you could entertain Jen with the latest on your travels (is that you Aunty Teen?)
For the computer geeks, you will be pleased to know 56% of you are using Windows, 40% following via apple devises (desktop, iphone, ipad), and only 1% blackberry (remember those old corporate devises?)
Facebook is the biggest 'referring site' by far, so if you continue to resist the trend to social networking, maybe it's time to sign up?

Tomorrow's blog will be an update on Jen - she's off to see the professionals....stay tuned.

Jen's Next Steps on Road to Recovery.....

Hi Angels, Well the Dr came this morning and told Jen and Will that the results were not as good as we had hoped for. The cancer is aggressive and while they got everything in the breast, it had already spread to more of the lymph nodes than hoped. The outlook is still good and this is treatable but the treatment will be complex. Jen is waiting for a visit from the oncologist for more details. Jen will be home this afternoon and is looking forward to quality time with Will and the girls. Meanwhile, the organizing committee has been expanded to include.... Chief of Planning - Mon Ridley. If you want to help out, please let Mon know via mridley@urbis.com.au Master Builder. - Maryanne of course! She is flogging the tradesmen to get Jen and Wills's Reno finished. Jen is grateful for all your well wishes and is looking forward to your company as she beats this bugger. Keep up the prayers and messages,of love. Thank you all Cathy

More love letters to the lovely Jen

Can you pass on my best wishes to Jenny , pip has been keeping me in the loop. As you probably know she is away this week in Bali.   Tell Jenny Graham and I are thinking of her and sending her lots of love.   Love Cath Moore Hi Cath, I am glad to hear that Jen’s operation went well and that all goes well with the next steps to her recovery. Please tell me if there is anything I can do to help.   Lou Senior I thought about sending flowers, but I guess she may have a whole bunch of same.    Also thought about buying her a Peter Alexander nightie, but I think I will wait until I hear more.  Your Mother called about an hour ago, telling me about Jenny, and also about what the doctors report will be.  Cathy, I am computer non-savvy , so could you please forward this email to Jennys blog.   So precious that the Killingers kids and the Stanton kids can be together .   My love     Kay   That is great news Cathy. Please pass on my love and prayers to JK, Will and the two precious girls. Give Jenny a big ‘go jk go’ cheer from the Macquarie IR crew. We are all cheering for her!

Message from Jen to Angels

Dear Angels Thank you so much for all the emails, texts, cards, thoughts and prayers. And blog comments too! It is humbling to know how much everyone cares. I am feeling fine post operation and will be resting up in the hospital for a few days longer. I feel like I am in very capable hands here with the staff at the Strathfield Breast Centre I am so grateful that our girls are happy and in the wonderful hands of our family and friends and of course Will too. Will and I are so lucky to have so many generous people in our lives. Thanks again for all your kind wishes Please keep in touch Jen PS. And thanks to Cath for setting up this blog!

Update from Strathfield....

Hi everyone, we are sitting here with Jen. The Dr came early today and said He was very happy with his handiwork! He has removed the lump and the lymph nodes. She is sporting a small drain and a beautiful arm pillow to help with recovery. Stitches coming out tomorrow, and Dr will report back on Friday. Will and the girls were here this morning. The are all home tonight and Linda reports that all is calm there. Heidi is keen to make sure Mummy stays in the hospital till the Dr fixes her! The room here is filled with beautiful flowers and lots of laughter. Surely good tonic! Now, for all those of you struggling to post comments, Mon Ridley will soon post a comment with instructions! Jen will be posting a message soon, so stay tuned. Love Cathy

Messages of love to Jen from the Angels

Thanks for the update Cath! Jen and your/her whole family are in my thoughts thru all of this...
Nick McF

Thanks for the update. I am currently in Assisi Italy and have offered many prayers for Jen when visiting the numerous awesome churches here. Feel so helpless not being able to contribute from such a distant away. It appears that she is in good hands. Onward and upwards to a speedy recovery.

Kind regards

Christine Killinger 

Please pass on our love, prayers and best wishes to Jen and Will… and all of you!

Love N+N

So glad the op went well, Jen was in my thoughts today as were you all.
Lol
Clair x

So great that today's over and went well - fingers & toes crossed for some good results.

 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop - I just tried to post a comment but it kept asking me to select a profile to post with?? I kept trying so I'm not sure if I've made no comment or perhaps it's been posted 8 times!

 

Thinking of the Kovacs clan too.

 

Cheers,

Jane

So glad it all went well.

Pat and Sheila

All of the Malcolms have been saying lots of extra prayers today! Our thoughts are with all of you. I'm so glad to hear that the op is over! 

We are in noosa this week and I am having lots of flashbacks everywhere I go as I always do coming back here of the great girls weekend that we had up here with jen and co in 2004 I think it was...and of course jen bumped in to people she knew everywhere we went! Very funny! 

Lots of love and thx again for keeping us updated. 

Al xxx

Thanks so much for the update. I've been thinking about Jen all day.

Hope you are well.

Love, Leanne

Jen's Operation

Dear Angels,
Will just called. Jen is back in her room and sleeping after surgery. the nurse relayed a message from the Dr that the op went well. He will see her in the morning and provide more info.
Jen is in Room 16A at Strathfield Private. Visiting hour are 10am-1.30pm and 3pm till 8pm .
I'll let you know if she is up for visitors.

Will is with her now, chowing down on the asian dinner he took in.

Heidi and Amber are at Kovacs's fir the night after a fun day with Stanton cousins!

Thanks again for all your love and support . It is helping!

Love Cathy

Jen's Angels

Hi everyone, and welcome to Jen's blog!
We thought this would be an efficient way for Jen to communicate with you and for you to share the love with her, Will and the gorgeous Heidi and Amber.
Jen and Will are so appreciative of all the good wishes and prayers you have sent their way the last couple of weeks. Thank you also for all the offers to help with meals and childcare. There is a prize for the first person who offers to help with housework!!!!!
As you know, Jen will have a lumpectomy at Strathfield Private on Tuesday afternoon. She expects to be in hospital until Friday at least. The oncologist will then advise further treatment.
We will keep you all informed of progress. Don't hesitate to call me on 0411269545 or email ckovacs@me.com, if you need to.
Hopefully Jen will be a regular contributor to the blog and you can use it to send her messages of support.
Love Cathy