Day of Blessings

Today was a day full of blessings!! 

We started the day with many appointments and one of them was for Abby. We were afraid she missed her pictures and class picture. Well she did. But she was able to get her pictures and they were able to retake the class picture just for her!!! So exciting!!

We then went to the center and I had my counts tested and got my biannual shot to protect my bones. My counts came back and they were excellent!!! Yet another blessing, no blood transfusion!!!

So off we went to get lunch. We both got what we wanted and stood in line. The lady in front of us had a coupon for $1 off and she wasn't able to use it, so she gave it to us and we could use it!! Every dollar counts!!

After lunch I wanted to go to the Butterfly Boutique, which is a gift shop basically for cancer patients near the cancer center. There were 2 very nice ladies there and we started talking about this and that. I found a scarf that was just calling to me!! I touched it like 4 times and decided that I was just going to give in and get it. The one lady, Glo, was in front of me paying for her stuff. She asked to see the scarf so I gave it to her (to look at so I thought), and she added it to what she was buying!!! I couldn't believe that this sweet stranger was buying me a scarf. She said it was my "Get well present". She was and is such a blessing. 

I then went to my foot dr as I have been having a lot of pain. Well the x-rays show that NONE of the hardware has moved!! This is excellent news since I really can't have surgery. So I can take an anti-inflammatory and I will have to use my cam boot to help minimize the pain until I can have the surgery to remove the screws that are causing the pain. 

As I was waiting for my friend to bring me home I got a call from my hubby. The kids ALREADY got their first progress reports!! So here we go, how are they all doing?

 Robert- ALL A's!!!! I couldn't be prouder of him!!!!

Abby- A, 3 B's and 1 C. I am very proud of her too. This is the very first time she got letter grades!

Elijah- He has met all his benchmarks which is great!! He is struggling with his reading so he will be in a special reading group to help him. His teacher thinks some of it is that he is very shy. She said he is a hard worker, shares ideas, and he is kind and respectful. I am so proud of him. He will get the extra help he needs but he is doing a wonderful job being part of his class!!

My children are such a blessing!!! I praise God that I have them. God gives me the strength to get through all these treatments, their names are Robert, Abby and Elijah and hubby Bob!!!! 

So yes today has been a very very blessed day!!! God is very GOOD!!!

Psalm 118: 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. 

Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Philadelphia, PA

We decided to get a 2nd opinion once again, to make sure all our "ducks were in a row". We went to Dana Farber, in Boston, MA, last time which was fine when the cancer was in one spot. But this time I felt I needed more. More than just medical info. I needed more for the rest of me and not just the cancer part of me. I have seen CTCA's commercials on a ton so I figured why not give them a call and see. They were able to get me in quickly and they paid for all of our travel arrangements and our meals in the cafe at the center. All I can say is everything their commercials say is so so true!!! It is an amazing place and if they were here I would so be going there!! But there is no sense in traveling that far to get the same exact treatment. My dr is on board with everything that the dr down there said should be done so I am happy about that.

Ok so everyone has been waiting and waiting to find out what we found out. We found out where the cancer is. 

It is in a lot of places:

around the outside of most of my right lung

a spot on my left hip

a spot on my right pelvis

spots in my right chest and neck

spots in my left neck

on multiple spinal bones in my back

Places it is NOT:

Liver

kidneys

brain- due to some people's lack of belief this report said my brain is normal!! LOL

Treatment:

Chemo every 3 weeks

PET scans after every 3rd treatment to see how the cancer is responding

     - IF the cancer is not responding they will change up the chemo and keep going. My dr in Philly said that she has some out of the box ideas too. 

ALL of my drs said this IS treatable!!

It was an amazing trip that totally wore me out and then I had chemo yesterday so I am tired but it was a trip so worth taking. I am sure we will be going down there again, even if it is for a check up. I loved it down there. Plus on Sat I was able to see my Auntie Linda and Caroline. I was pooped but it was so good to see them. 

So this is the road ahead of us. God is in control as always and I am so greatful for each and every one of you that are praying, driving or watching the kids, or helping us out in any way. I couldn't have been blessed with a better support group than God has blessed me with!!!

"Come to me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" Matt 11:28. I try to lean on God for my rest every day and I pray that you all do too. HE and only HE will carry me through with His grace and mercy and the blessing of each and every one of you. I love you all.

Here are just some cool pics from the airplane. The first one is my favorite where you can see the sun beams coming down and we are between the sun and the clouds!!

"Sometimes the storm rages and God calms His child"

I can't believe it has been over a year since I have updated this blog. In the past year I was deemed in remission, and then not a month later I broke both bones in my right ankle. I was off my feet for 18 weeks!!! I still am looking at another surgery to remove some hardware that is causing pain.

We had a wonderful summer vacation and I was still trying to heal and recover but it was amazing. You can check out my vacation blog!

We got home and were home a week or two when I started not feeling well. For about 3-4 weeks I was shuffled around to Drs and they all said it was just a virus inflammation in my chest wall. I finally called my plastic surgeon and discussed with him that some of the pain may be caused by scar tissue. At the same time he was going to take out my port as it appeared I was done with it. I saw him on a Wed and surgery was on Monday! 

Everything went great and for a couple of days I felt great. I then was having a hard time breathing and thought maybe I was getting pneumonia from the surgery. Friday I went to a walk in clinic and the Dr there had me transported by ambulance to the hospital.  

While I was at the hospital, in between tests, my surgeon called me. The pathology reports came back and one of the scar tissues that was removed was positive for the same strand of breast cancer as before. At first I sat there and then I cried and cried.

While I was in the ER they had to drain 1 1/2 liters off my 1 lung. They had to admit me as there was still a good amount of fluid in that lung.

Finally that night I was admitted to 8-1 which is the cancer floor of the hospital. It is a rather depressing floor, but the nurses are great!!! I loved mine!! I was in the hospital for 2 weeks and honestly it was mostly a blur as they had me on heavy pain meds. I did have a surgery where they drain the rest of the fluid and inserted talc to close the area between the outside of my lung to the pleura(thin lining that goes around your lung). This was so that the fluid couldn't build up there again from the tumors that had formed on the outside of my lungs. At the same time they put in a new port.

Speaking of the new port, it didn't even work!!! They had put it in angled or sideways or something!!!  So they had to do another surgery and put a port back on the original side!!! UGH, but that isn't even the worst of it. It feels like they left the non-working port still in!!!

Finally they discharged me and on that day I had my first chemo treatment and had to go back the next day to get my nulasta shot. I forget what the shot does but I have to get it 24hrs after I finish chemo.
Once I was done I was released home.

September 2012

All I can say is PRAISE THE LORD!!!

On Sept 6th (my late grandmother's birthday!) I had my last herceptin treatment. We were talking to the dr. and asked so when am I considered in remission and have the NED, no evidence of disease. She said I was in remission after this treatment and I have my NED!!!!! I am so excited to be done with treatments and on the other side of this very long trial.

I pray that I have learned what I needed to learn from this and that through this trial I would be able to help others who are faced with the words "You have Breast Cancer".

It has been a really long road, almost 2 years. There have been so many blessings that have come out of this. I am so blessed with all of the wonderful people that have supported me and seen me through this. God is so good. The one thing that has come out of this that I treasure the most is that I got my dad back.

I didn't have him around as a kid and always felt out of place and like something was missing. I have always wanted my dad around. When he heard I had cancer, he was there. He was there for my first mastectomy and he was here for my big reconstruction surgery. He has been here when I needed him the most and our relationship has taken off!! We talk every week now and are always making plans to see each other again. I can't even express how happy I am to have my dad back in my life.

I will still have to have more surgery for the reconstruction that was messed up from the infection, but that will be down the road a bit and should be a fairly easy surgery. I will be going back for check ups every 6wks for now. Eventually it will go to 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and eventually I will only have to go once a year, but that is a ways down the road!!

 Until then I will be LIVING my life and enjoying every minute I can. I am not just surviving now, I get to move past cancer and LIVE!!

I made a doll for my nurse as a thank you for all she has done and for being there for me in my darkest hours. She was amazing and surprised and couldn't believe that I made it for her. Gloria is an amazing nurse and she is a christian!! Here are a couple of pictures of her with her baby and her with me and the baby and then a close up of her sweet little Jaxon!!

  

  

Summer 2012

What a summer. It has been one thing after another after another.
As of my last post I was healing with the wound vac. June and July were filled with appointments and in July we had our church's VBS. It was so much fun but very draining!! The theme was the "Bug Zone". I had a blast with Richelle creating all of the fun snacks for the kids. The day after VBS was over Elijah asked God to forgive him of his sins!! It was amazing!!
Here are some of the fun VBS snacks we made and pics of my kiddos!!

                                                          Elijah is in the middle

                                 Robert reading one of the lessons they learned during the week.

                            Abby is 3rd from the left doing the motions to a song they learned

At the end of July I was having a lot of pain in my left abdomen. I was in pain in that spot since surgery but it was getting unbearable now. After seeing my surgeon he tried some antibiotics to see if it would subside. Of course that didn't work! The next step if the antibiotic didn't work was surgery.....again.

I was scheduled for surgery on Aug 21st, but due to the amount of pain I was in and that the antibiotic wasn't working, he moved my surgery up to Aug 14th. After surgery the dr. told me that he removed some scar tissue and we are hoping that that was the problem. He also closed up all the wounds and now I am healing once again.

I saw the surgeon last Friday and he took out about 1/2 the stitches. I will be going in 2 wks to get the rest of them out. I am healing pretty well. I am still very tired and can only do a couple of things before I am just wiped out. I am taking it easy and only doing what I can do.

Sept 6th (my late grandmother's birthday) will be my VERY LAST herceptin treatment!!!!! I am so excited to be finally done, but I am also dealing with some End of Treatment Blues. That will pass, but man it is no fun!!

With all my medical issues this summer we really haven't had a chance to go on any vacation. It has been really tough on the kids. They are very "needy" on the attention end of things. We do what we can but both Bob and I are very tired. We are planning on making it up to them next summer!!

As a last ditch effort to have a vacation, we are taking a long weekend trip to see my Aunt and Uncle in PA!!!!! I am healed enough for the trip. I will sleep during the trip and rest while we are there!! I can't wait to just get away!!!

I pray that God is bringing this chapter to a close. I am so ready to be done!!
I have learned this week that God's mercies are new every day and that He is my ever present help in need. Thank you Lord.

Recovery Spring 2012

I had no idea how big this surgery would be. Soon after I was awake, I was rolled into my room where I was greeted with my mom, dad and Bob! It was good to see them, even if I felt like I had been run over by a truck!!

The next day I was able to see my kids and my dad before he had to head home. I was sad to see him go but so glad he had been there.  Every day I saw Bob and the kids. My mom and Mary headed home the day after my dad. Again I was sad to see her go, but so so thankful she came down and that Mary had brought her.

A couple of days after surgery I started getting very high fevers of 102-103. They gave me antibiotics while I was there and 6 days after surgery I went home. I was still having fevers but the dr. thought I would do better at home. I questioned him but he thought this was best.

A few days went by and I continued to have the fevers. I called the dr. a couple of times and after a week home, I was readmitted to the hospital. They did blood work and other tests to figure out where the infection was coming from.  At that point I was put on IV antibiotics and kept in the hospital for another 4 days.

After all the testing they never did figure out where the infection was coming from.  I went home with IV antibiotics for 10 more days. It was really neat, I learned how to flush, hook up and unhook the IV ball to myself. As the antibiotic did it's job I felt better but my wounds got bigger. I was in a lot of pain too. I had a nurse coming every other day or so to redress my wounds.

Finally my wounds were clean and free of infection, but it had taken it's toll on my body. I had very large open wounds in 3 areas. I was then hooked up to the wound vac. It started on my tummy first and then gradually moved up to both sides.  After 2 weeks on the vac there are HUGE improvements in the depth and size of my wounds. Things are healing very well. In less than 2 weeks one side should be totally closed up!! The bad part is I will probably have the vac into mid July or later. Not how I want to spend my summer but "It is what it is" and I know that God is going to get me through this part too.

My surgeon said that he will have to even out things with another surgery and put on the finishing touches, so to speak. He said in 6 months and I told him "No!" There is no way I am going back into surgery in 6 months. We will see how I feel about things next year!!

"Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all thy might." Deut 6:5
"In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Prov. 3:6

Spring 2012

This spring has been full of challenges.

At the end of January we changed insurance companies, due to my husband's job change.  Because of this, the new insurance wouldn't cover my MUGA scans for my heart. Now I could only have an ECHO. Well we have no baseline for the ECHO so if they see ANYTHING irregular they have to do more testing to make sure that everything is really ok with my heart.  Don't you know they found an irregularity!! Surprised right??!! No. So I got to experience a nuclear stress test. This is like a regular stress test except they use a medication to raise your heart rate. This is NOT a fun test at all!!! I thought I was going to pass out from the medication but thankfully it was only for 30 seconds. For that reason the cardiologist has to be in the room when the test is done.

That test was done. Now I hoped to start back on herceptin, they can't give it to you if there is a question about your heart. Nope, I was to have a CT scan of my heart now because they couldn't see the whole heart. Doesn't sound too bad. But oh it is not fun either!! They have to get a good vein and force they dye thru your vein very very quickly to get the pictures of your heart. The first vein, yes I said the first vein, blew on the trial where they just used saline. Thankfully the 2nd vein didn't blow until the end of the test and they were able to get the pictures that they needed.  After all the testing they found that my heart was fine and I was able to start back on the herceptin. 

In March, I was diagnosed with a case of the shingles!! It was just one thing after another after another!! I just kept praying it would go away and I would stay healthy for surgery!! Thankfully the weeks and days leading up to surgery were healthy and busy with appointments but pretty uneventful.

April 14th my baby Elijah turned 5!! I can't believe how fast it has gone. We had a great party on his birthday and the next day my dad headed down to CT!! My mom and her friend Mary arrived on Monday. It was so much fun having both my mom and dad with me for the next surgery. We even got a bunch of family pictures done.

The next morning at the wee hours of the morning, my mom, dad and Bob took me to the hospital.  After I was prepped, everyone came in with me and we waited until it was time for the surgery.