2010 Last update

Here are just a few pictures from 2010. We had a great year together as a family this year. We hope everyone else had a great year too.

I started the year on chemo then was able to stop have surgery go back on maintances chemo and then back to chemo treatment a new kind.

Currently I had my 5th round of chemo on Dec 17th. I have had a few reactions...rashes, bumps, aching hips and back, and a few unmentionables. Nothing that hasn't been managable. My last treatment for the set is the week of my birthday. Luckily not on my birthday. Then in Jan I will have a PET scan to see what is going on. I had a CT scan in Nov. It said that my lymphnods are stil swollen and there was something in my liver. So we will know more in Jan/Feb.

I just want to say thank you for all the kindness our family has received over the last three years. I don't think I can say that enough THANK YOU. Again hope everyone had a great year.

Just for Fun

Nov Update

I am doing well on this chemo. Still not alot of side effects. I still haven't gotten my numbers back from my blood work almost two weeks ago. I had a CT scan this last month. The Doc says I am fine. The scan report says I have spots on my liver and that my lymphnods are still good size. They also suggested I have a PET scan. So who knows what is going on. We shall see what time brings.

We had a great Thanksgiving with Ryan's Family. His grandma and grandpa David where here. We spent alot of time playing cards. It has been a while since we have played cards. We all had a good time. Hope everyone else enjoyed their Thanksgiving Holiday. I was hard to send the kids back to school after a week off.

update/talks

Time for an update says my mom. So here it is. I have had the second round of chemo. I will be receiving my third round this coming Friday. Then a few weeks after that it is time for a scan. My numbers went up but less then 10 that is good news. I have only had 2 small easy to handle side effects. I haven't lost my hair yet and I have been able to keep up with my family and their activities.

Just a couple of months ago I was asked to speak in church and a few weeks ago I was ask to speak at a fireside. For those of you who don't know what that is it is a mtg where people gather at the church to listen to a speaker and to be taught or strengthened in the Doctrines of the church. I have been working on that for the last few weeks. I will be giving this talk on Sunday. Anyway through preparing for these two talks I have been reminded of the blessings and miracles that have occur ed in my life. I can't say I love to get up a speak but I do love the chance I have had to learn, study and be thankful for all the blessings I have received in the last three years. I know that with out my faith in my Heavenly Father and in his son Jesus Christ that I would not be here. Thank you so much to those who have blessed me and my family with your service and your comments and words.

No New News

O.k. so just to update. Nothing to really update. I had treatment on Friday the 27th of Aug. So far no side effects. I was tired on the 3 and 4th day after treatment and one other side effect. So really no issues or side effects happin yet.

What's Happening?

I had the CT scan. It showed cancer in all the lymph nods in the lower part of my stomach. The largest one is 3cm and a normal lymph nod is 3mm. There is also a 7cm mass of fluid. They don't know if it is cancer or just something left over from surgery. Either way the numbers are up and so the doctors have decided to start chemo again.

I have my first infusion of the new chemo today. Just like all the other times I will do three rounds and then a scan then three more rounds and a scan. We don't know for sure how many rounds we will start with 6. I will have chemo treatments once every four weeks. This is a slow acting chemo so the chemo treatments are spaced four weeks apart. I should be getting a scan again in Oct or the first of Nov.

I am on Doxil (Antineoplastic Agent, Anthracycline), Cytoxan (Antineplastic Agent, Alkylating Agent) and Aromasin (not an infusion just a hormone replacement. There are some really different side effects with these two drugs and some the same. We will wait and see what they bring to me.

I am so grateful that I didn't have to do chemo through the summer. I was able to enjoy my kids this summer. I have to say I am sad summer is pretty much over. My kids just keep getting older and bigger. I am sad it just means less time before they are gone. I hope they will always remember all the fun times and not all the fighting. I have been truly blessed to be able to continue to watch my kids grow up. I am thankful to my Heavenly Father and all of his many great blessing he has given me. Thank you to all of you that continue to pray for me and my family. I know that your prayers and mine are being answered. We have seen many miracles happen.

What number of scan is this one?

Just a quick note. Had blood work done yesterday. Saw one of Dr.'s Assitants. My CA2729 number is 267. So it isn't up to much but it is up. So I will be gettin a CT scan on Monday and then I will see the Dr.'s Assitant again on Wednesday. Not sure what we are going to do hope they find the cancer in the CT scan.

Hope you don't mind!

I hope you don't mind but I wanted to put some pictures of the family.

wHAt Up?

Pictures: the one with no hair was taken in October and the one with hair was taken today.

Well I have heard how are you doing or how are you feeling a lot lately. I must not be doing a very good job of updating. Spring and summer are very busy for us. I think I have already told you that but it is very ture. Most of my time goes to the kids and there activities or just having fun together and I manage to fit in a few more things here and there. I find it harder to get to the computer and update. I am doing well and feeling great.

A few things have happened since I last updated. I recovered from my total hystorictomy really well. I was really only down for a week or so. I tried to be good about staying down and not lifting. I didn't make it the full six weeks without lifting over I think it was 10 pounds or staying down.

I was really excited after I went back and saw Dr. Muntz(Dr. that did the surgery) and talked to Dr. Malad (Dr. from Pheonix). They said that I would just need to do maintance chemo but that everything should be good now. FYI they hadn't seen my CA2729 numbers yet. I was so excited I told my kids I was done. I had never told them before that I was done because I never really thought it was over. I truely believe it was over.

When I saw Dr. Rado he informed me my CA2729 numbers went down but not that much. He also told me that I still had cancer in my pairatenial. Meaning the cancer that was floating could attach to the bowls or the lining of my stomach or whatever was left in there and start growning again. But for now he agreed to just do maintence and watch the numbers. Before surgery the CA2729 was 296. After surgery with the huge tumors being removed the number went down to CA2729 148 so in half. Then the next blood test or CA2729 was 214. That test was on the 16th.

So the Dr. wants to wait for one more blood test to see if it will go up or level off. If it levels off we will just keeping doing the maintence. If it goes up we will start scanning and try to find it and treat. Next blood test is the 5th or 6th of Aug.

So stay tuned who knows what will happen next.

Found Picture!

Surgery update and cont. treatment

I did this update back in May after having my ovaries and uterus removed. Mom said this one never showed up so I am posting it now. I think it didn't get posted because I was going to add a picture of the tumors but I couldn't get the picture scanned in the computer. Going to do another update.

So again I have been informed that I need to update me blog.

CTCA in Phoenix suggested that I look up a local doc to do the surgery while we waited to hear from CTCA in Chicago. So a friend recommend Dr. Muntz in Seattle and Northwest Seattle. I gave them a call and they said they could get me in May 12th for surgery. CTCA(chicgo) got back and said they could do it the end of June. So I am sure you can guess what I opted to do. Yep, we went to Seattle.

So last week I had my tumors removed. The tumors were the size of a tennis ball or as the doc said the size of his fists. The normal size for ovaries is the size of a walnut. There were two tumors one on each side. I am trying to get the picture upload cross your fingers.

The surgery went really well. They got everything out but one of the ovaries(tumor) was press up against the wall of my stomach. So doc scraped as best as he could. He said he couldn't guarantee that he got it all. So I will be doing a few more rounds of chemo. Doc didn't do a chemo wash. He said those were for people with ovarian cancer. I didn't have ovarian cancer it is or was the original breast cancer. So this means chemo again. The doc sent the tumors to two different labs to see how the tumors would react to different chemos. This will help us decided which drugs we will use for treatment. I am hoping for only three rounds of chem. We will have to see what they say the results come back the middle to end of June. This will be the first summer that I have had to do treatment.

I was told that I need to rest for the first 6-8 weeks. I am trying not to do to much. I am sure you all feel the same at this time of the year. For our family it is a really busy season so to rest is really hard. I did really well the first week with the help of friends, family and the kind people who brought dinner in for us. A huge thanks to those that kept our kids for the week of the surgery.

I have an appointment with Rado, CTCA and possibly Dr. M in a few weeks to decided on treatment. Hoping to be done with everything forever by the end of summer.

The gOOd, The bAD and the UglY!!!

O.k so I thought I would update some information about my trip to Phoenix. I am still here I don't get home until tomorrow. It was the best flight coming here yet. No one talking my hear off. I got to read my book and it was only a total of 4 hours from start to finish. Well five if you count the hour wait before the plane took off from Pasco. I got here safe and everything was on time planes and ride. So that is the good news and maybe a little more later.

So I saw Dr. in Phoenix. He had a lot to say and we talked about a lot of different things. I am only going to give you a shorter version. Dr. ordered a CT scan and a bone scan. And is going to put me back on Herceptin thank goodness. So I did both test today and received my infusion or Herceptin. This afternoon I got a call from Marci. She is my patient advocate. Here is what she said to sum everything up that happened and where and what we are doing.

I am waiting to go to Chicgo to have them do the surgery and chemo wash. They just respond back to CTCA here in Phoenix. They dodn't carry the same insurance in Chicgo but luckily the except my insurance. So now we are just waiting for them to except me medically. Meaning they go over my records and make sure I am a good candidate for the surgery. So hopefully soon they will here from them. We will see. In the mean time I am going to look into going to Seattle too for the surgery. So we will see who can get me in the fasts.

The CT scan this time definitely shows no blood clot. So I will stay off Lovanox(blood thinner). It also showed that there is a very, very small amount in the lymph nods in the stomach. all good news. But....o.k. here is the bad. It shows the tumors have gotten bigger since January. So the sooner we can get the surgery done the better.

My bone scan has been done but the results aren't in. I just finished the scan at 3:30 this afternoon. I told them not to call if there is nothing wrong but to please call if there is something wrong. The Bone scan is for putting me back on Zometa. The bone building infusion.

I don't think I said anything about the CA number. He ran a CA15.3. It is a little different than the CA2729. Still the numbers are going up they were 153.

Like I said there was a lot of thinking, talking, calling, verifying and scanning. In the end I had a CT scan, Bone scan, Herceptin and blood done.

We are waiting for the surgery at this point then we will move from there. So for now again a waiting game.

What's New?

So this is what my kids looked like about 8 pm every night during spring break and also now that baseball season is in full swing. I love that they get fresh air, exercise and of course are worn out and sleep so well at night.

Anyway thought I would try to do a quick update for those that are still reading. And for those that don't like to read so much info. The short of it is I am going back down to Phoenix this week for a second oppion. I finished chemo. It wasn't working anymore. So we need a new plan.

For those that want a little longer version. I finished chemo on March 8th. Received orders for a CT scan and to come back to go over them. When I saw the Dr. he said it looks like no cancer to him was left. Of course they didn't compare the last CT to the new one. They did have the last CT scan it was done down at CTCA(Phoenix) but they didn't use it I don't know why. Dr. said he could order a pelvic ultra sound and see if their was any cancer. So I had the ultra sound. The ultra sound says I still have cancer. I still haven't seen Dr. since ultra sound. They couldn't get me in for four weeks. So I am spouse to go back this Thursday to see what he says. I also leave for Phoenix on Thursday. I will see my Dr. there for a second oppion. I am hoping they will send me to Chicgo to do the surgery (take out the ovaries and the tumors) and do what they call a chemo wash. When I talked to them last week they were going to get started on the paper work for going to Chicgo.

I also saw Dr. Kris who said that he thought it was a good idea to go back down to Phoenix. So I called Wednesday right after I saw him and made an appointment to go back down to Phoenix.

My numbers have almost double in the last few weeks. CA is 200.

So baseball has started. That to me marks spring is here. To bad the last two games have been freezing cold. Granted one was at 9am and the other at 7PM at night. I am hoping the warmer weather is just around the corner.

Just thought I would give you a quick update. Finished my second round on the new chemo. Must not be doing anything because the numbers went up again on the cancer tumor marker (called the CA2729) it was 105. Five weeks ago it was 79. So today I had a CT scan. I see Dr. Rado next Thursday. At that time we will decided on a new treatment. So until then we wait.

Hope everyone enjoys their spring break. I can't wait!

That time again... for an UPdAte

No I do not have hair. This is for Debbie Ashton. I was thinking that I had uploaded pictures of my hair growing back from the last rounds of chemo but after talking to Debbie Ashton I guess I hadn't. I never really got any good pictures with my hair growing out. I think that is why I didn't post any pictures.

Things have been going great since I have started doing treatment here again. CTCA isn't returning my calls. So I am not sure if I will be going back there. I had hoped we could communicate and work together. It seems to be working out really well right now so that is great news.

Had a Dr. visit last week they were going to change some things but decided to leave things the way they are for now.

So I am getting Chemo 3 Mondays in a row and then just Herceptin on the other two Mondays off of chemo. I am getting neupegeon (for white blood cell counts, white fights infections) everyday during treatment and the week after treatment. I also am getting the Lovenox(blood thinner) everyday. I started the 2nd round of treatment yesterday. I am still feeling good today so I thought I should update now.

I am looking forward to baseball season hoping for warmer weather this year. Both Cole and Carter are doing baseball this year and Kamden is enjoying dance but thinking maybe it is time to do something else after just more than 4 years of dance. She thinks she wants to do soccer in the fall.

Cant Wait Until Summer!

Hospital Visit

Ok I guess it is time for an update. Two Sundays ago I was in Phoenix for the second dose of chemo for the first round. Remember each round I have three Mondays of Chemo and then two weeks off. After that it was quite for a few days then by Friday I had a fever. And then by Saturday I was in the emergency room. They run a few test and some blood work. They weren't sure what was wrong. They thought it was a virus but with the extremely low white and red blood cell counts I couldn't fight anything off. The er doc called Phoenix and asked them what they wanted to do. At this point I had no fever because I had taken Tylenol before going to the ER. So Phoenix said send her home and if her fever comes back tell her to come back to the ER and get an antibiotic. Likely I had an awesome ER doc. She said I don't feel good about letting you go home. She was sure the fever would be back. She asked if it would be ok to call Dr.Rado and see if he would admit me. Within a half hour my fever was back 104. She talked to Rado he said he would see me on Monday but he was out of town and couldn't admit me today. He said see if the Hospital Doc could. So she had the hospitalised admit me into the hospital on Sat afternoon. They gave me fluids and two antibiotics (every 6 hours for 3 days). Then on Sunday they also gave me 2 pints of blood and another nuepegeon shots along with my blood thinning shot Lovenox. Then on Monday I saw Dr Rado. He asked me if I wanted to go ahead with the third dose of chemo for round one. He said that all the numbers looked good. So I called Phoenix and they fax all the chemo info over and I was able to get chemo and stay on track with treatment. I was able to come home from the hospital on Tuesday. Dr. Rado has agreed to give me treatments here and all the shots so I don't have to travel back and forth between treatment. We still need to see how the Docs in Phoenix feel about the changes. I feel better about not traveling so much. I now have two weeks off from chemo. A break before we start another round.

Back Again

Well last Monday I came back to the CTCA(Cancer Treatment Center of America)to find out what my treatment would be. If you remember the last chemo they were giving me dropped my platelets and so we had to wait for them to come back up. So that I could do treatment again. Dr. wasn't sure what meds or chemo to give. So by Wednesday the following week my platelets were up. He recommended a pill form of chemo. I would take it every day for two weeks and then have a week off. That would have been o.k. but pills go through the pharmacy. I would have to pay $400 every two weeks for the chemo pills. When they give me chemo through my port it is covered %100. So I asked him if we could talk about what to put me on when I came out on Monday. Which was last Monday. He said that would be fine.

So we decided last week to go ahead and go back to my same treatment I had with Dr. Rado. I will (and did last week) receive through my port Abraxane and Navel. Then on week two which is today Abraxane I think and herceptin. Then the third week Abraxane again. So three weeks of treatment and two weeks off. I will come to CTCA on Sunday nights and come home Monday night or Tuesday for those three weeks. Dr. didn't tell me how many rounds. I think it is because he doesn't think it will work and that he will have to change the chemo. I am more confident than he is about it. The last chemo he was giving me dropped the CA numbers but the tumors didn't shrink. I haven't seen the dr. yet today. I will try and update if he changes anything.

Thanks to those that are helping with meals. It is so helpful to my family. I really appreciate the help.

Lost Post

O.k. really long story short. I spent awhile on Thursday morning updating the blog and lost the whole post. So I will try it again.

So Sunday we went for my fourth visit down to Phoenix for chemo treatment. Monday I had a CT scan and blood work done so I would be ready to see the Dr. on Tuesday. Tuesday I saw all my Dr.'s.

The blood work showed that my tumor markers went down again. The tumor number is around 260's. Three weeks ago they were around 400. This is great news.

The blood work also showed that my blood is still to thick. Not good for the clot. The numbers have been to low (thick) for a few awhile.

The CT showed that I still have a blood clot and it isn't any better. It also shows that the tumors on the ovaries and in the stomach (lymph nods) are unchanged.

The first thing the Dr. said was he wanted me off coumidian. My numbers have been unstable for to long. So as of Monday we switched back over to the shots. He wants the blood to be more stable for treatment and possibly surgery.

The second thing he said was that my blood work said my platelets were to low to give me chemo therapy. There isn't any thing the could give me to make my platelets grow. My body just has to have more time to make more. Platelets clot your blood. (This explains alot. I had been having blood in my mouth when I brush my teeth, blood in my nose and lots of bruising lately.) He said that was because of the low platelets. So no treatment this visit. He said I could still receive Herceptin.

We then talked about what he might like to do about treatment. With the tumor marker numbers being lower he said he knows that the cancer isn't spreading or growing but the scan also shows it really isn't shrinking. So he said he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He had two thoughts. His first thought is that because the CT is two dimensional that it wouldn't be able to show if the thickness is shrinking. He wanted to get together with the radiologist and see if that was possible. Then he talked to us about treatment. He said we need to wait for the platelets to come up. So I did blood work today and then I will do it again on Monday to see if they have come up. The doc will get back to me about what he wants to do about treatment on Tuesday next week. He can't decided whether he wants to keep doing the treatment I am already on or change. The treatment I am on he would have to lower the dose. I did a lower dose my first time and it didn't work or do anything the numbers went up. He can't keep it at the same dose because he already knows it will kill my platelets. But that is still a possibility. The second possibility would be to give me different chemo. It would be in pill form. I would take it once a day for two weeks than have a week off. I would be able to do that here but I would still go back for Herceptin and check up and scans every three weeks still. At the end of the chemo pill they would do surgery and take out the overies and do a chemo wash.

So again we are waiting for the blood work on Monday and Dr. to call us on Tuesday and let us know what he wants to do for treatment.

Ryan and I still kept busy at the facility while we were there. A couple of the days we walked twice during the day and the rest of the days I got my 30 mins of walking in. They asked me at the first visit to walk for at least 30 mins. Well I have a hard time finding time to do it at home plus the cold weather isn't enticing. The weather in Phoenix is so nice 75 this last visit that you can't help but to be outside. Ryan and I got a little sun.

Doing good

Ok just doing a quick update. Lots of new things going on in pheonix with treament. I will update everything tomorrow. For now I am doing great. I wasn't able to get treament this visit. But I am doing great no worries.