Happy Halloween!

I've been meaning to update a couple of days ago, but it's been a busy couple of days. I had my 4th chemo treatment on Wednesday. My blood work was great, but my blood pressure was a little low, so they ran a liter of fluid during my infusion. It was a long day on Wednesday due to the pharmacy going live on their new software program, so they were a couple of hours behind. Bryan and I were ready to go home by the end of the day. Stacie, Brad and Noah (Bryan's sister's husband and son) came to visit us for a little while on Wednesday and entertained us. Brock and Griffin went to Uncle Shawn and Aunt Erin's house for the day and enjoyed playing with their cousins. It is so nice that they live only a few miles from the clinic that I go to.

On Thursday, I had to get my Neulasta shot and my blood pressure was much better. My tumor marker was at 61.5 after 3 chemo treatments, so it continues to go down, which we keep praying for. I hope it is <38 next time.

I will be having a MUGA scan on the 11th of November. They need to monitor my heart function every 3 months due to the Herceptin that I am on, since it can be damaging to the heart. Praying that my heart remains strong and we can continue with the "miracle" drug Hercepitn, since this is what is helping with my excellent response to the treatments.

My mom came up for the weekend to help out and we took Brock out trick or treating. He had fun with his mom and Grandma Linny. I will post pictures later of both boys in their costumes. Hope you all had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Follow Up

Wow, can you believe it I've made it to work four days in a row! I think that I will be able to accomplish a 40 hour work week. I had my follow up appointment yesterday from my hospitalization. The doctor took a urine sample and everything was normal, so the antibiotics must have done the trick. I will have chemo #4 on Wednesday, the 29th. Hoping I'm feeling okay on Halloween, so I can go with Brock trick or treating. Grandma Linny (my mom) will be here to help out for that weekend. Just when I start to feel good again I will have to start over, but I am halfway done for the intense chemo drugs. Praying that the next 3 will be no different then the previous treatments and they continue to kill the cancer cells. I will get my tumor marker blood test done again on Wednesday, so I'm looking forward to seeing where that is reading at, maybe it will be in normal range or close to normal.

I got a kick out of Brock yesterday when I went to my appointment, he was asking if the doctor spoke like Donald Duck. On Tuesday I took Griffin to see the dermatologist (Dr. McCormick for all you Gaul Dermatology girls) to help with his dermatitis and he likes to talk to kids like Donald Duck. So now Brock must think that all the doctors can talk like Donald Duck, what a card he is.

I've been wearing my PINK "doo rag" the last couple of days at work, my wig is getting to be very itchy. I don't mind wearing it for a short period of time, but after awhile it gets annoying. I have been thinking about going to go get another wig with a different style and color. I have never colored my hair before, so maybe when it does come back I will be bold and start experimenting instead of being plain and boring. See cancer can change a person to do things that before I did not think much to do. Don't worry mom I won't get a tattoo quite yet. LOL!

A Couple of Cute Boys

Griffin at 2 months old

Griffin and Brock

Brock at 3-years-old

I watched the movie, Living Proof, last night and was amazed at how long it took to get Herceptin approved. It seemed like there were so many things against Dr. Slamon (the oncologist who did the research and developed the drug). There were times where the drug company funding the research tried to stop supporting Dr. Slamon. He was very persistent and close to 10 years after discovered, Herceptin became FDA approved in 1998. The end of the movie was the best part. Dr. Slamon was jogging around a track and as he ran by, the empty bleachers began filling with women clapping and cheering him on. I believe it was symbolic for the thousands of women he's saved over the past ten years.

Here's an excerpt from an interview with him on mylifetime.com which I found very hopeful:

How has this drug changed women’s lives since its introduction?
Since the introduction of the drug, it’s had a dramatic response for the women who respond to it. Not all women respond, but the ones who do seem to do very well, and we now have long-term survivors in this subtype, which we never had before. In Bob’s book and in the movie, they talk about a couple of patients who really did very well, who are out now 11 or 12 years with no evidence of the disease. So we think it’s been very effective. That’s gratifying.

Here is a link for more information about the movie:

http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/movies/living-proof

I did want to share a Brock story from ER last week. We were hanging out in Nicole's hospital room around 3am and the lab tech comes in to draw blood.

She looks at Nicole and says, "How are your veins?"

Brock, sitting directly across from the technician, quickly pipes in saying, "Our beans are dead because they didn't get enough water and it got too cold outside".

The lab tech stared at him completely confused until I explained that he thought she was asking how his beans, not veins, were.

She still didn't think it was as funny as we did!

Before we left he walked over to Nicole's IV and asked her why they had to give her milk through an IV.

He was quite the little party animal for that time of night, and he kept us entertained with storytelling and "exercising". That was his excuse for running around the hallways. We'd tell him to stop and he'd say "I'm just exercising!"

Nicole's plan was to return to work today which I'm assuming happened since I haven't heard otherwise. She was feeling quite a bit better yesterday.

Continue praying for no more infections and no more cancer!!

Back Home

Back home again, yeah!! I was discharged from the hospital this morning and it felt good to come home, although I have to admit I had a good hospital stay with wonderful care from all the staff and my student nurse from good ole SCSU was great. Keep up the good work Trisha!!

They are still thinking that I had a bladder infection and so far my blood cultures have been negative. They will continue to monitor them for the next couple of days. My blood work was okay today, my hemoglobin is the lowest it has been 9.2, but that could be due to having so much fluids pumped into me, so hoping that it will bounce back up. I feel good and not weak, so it isn't affecting me too bad.

Bryan did great with me gone and taking care of the boys. My mom came up on Wednesday night to help out, which we were thankful for that and happy to have her, but wish that it was under different circumstances of course.

I wanted to let everyone know about a movie that will be on Lifetime tomorrow night Saturday the 18th, at 8 pm. It's called Living Proof and it's about the oncologist who got the drug Herceptin, which is the chemo drug that I will be on for a year, on the market. Many say this is the miracle drug for many breast cancer survivors who are Her-2 positive. When I met with my oncologist the 2nd time, I asked him in regards to being Her-2 positive, which affects 1 out 3 women with breast cancer, if it was a good thing or bad because I knew having the Her-2 protein makes your breast cancer more aggressive then being negative. His response was 10 years ago I would have told you your prognosis is not good, but today with the drug Herceptin, your survival rate is 50% greater, so that was very promising to hear. So I'm looking forward to watching this movie and hope you will all tune in as well.

Thanks again for all the comments and cards I enjoy hearing from all of you and appreciate all the prayers. And in response to my Uncle Dave's comment, I wish I had been drinking Boone's, at least I would have a good excuse for getting sick in my car, but oh well. I don't think that you will get best kid this year because you admitted that you got sick in the car from drinking, naughty, naughty.

Unexpected Hospital Visit

Last night Nicole and I went to a class for women going through chemo. It taught them how to apply makeup and some neat things to do with hats and scarves. It was really fun.

On the way home, Nicole started vomiting. By 10pm she had a fever of 102 and felt very weak, shaky and continued to throw-up. I met them at Fairview ER in Princeton around midnight. They ran labs, did a chest x-ray and took a urine sample. By the time I left at 4:45am, her fever was up to 103. Her UA did show a bladder infection but her x-ray was clear and labs looked pretty good. They admitted her to continue IV antibiotics most likely until Friday. They took blood cultures and want to be sure they are negative before letting her leave.

The boys were with us too and I have some cute Brock stories to put on here but will have to do so later when I have more time. Pray for negative blood cultures and for her fever to subside. I'll update more later today.

Feeling Better

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Sorry for the long break between posts but I guess that means things have finally settled down (and that's a good thing)! Nicole was able to work most of Thursday and Friday after receiving her third round of chemo. Side-effects hit her hard on Saturday and Sunday though. She spent most of the weekend sleeping. Bryan and Nicole both caught a nasty cold which added to her misery. She had a lot of fatigue and aches again this time but was also nauseated quite a bit Sunday. The anti-nausea medications worked well though.

Bryan's mom, Cheri, was up this time to help out and just left this afternoon. Nicole did stay home today also but she sounded more energetic this afternoon when I talked to her. She plans on returning to work tomorrow.

On Friday, Griffin and Brock had their check-ups at the doctor's. Everything went well. Griffin is up to 14 pounds. He continues to sleep for 4-5 hours at a time. Hopefully that will stretch out more soon!

Here is a cute photo of Griffin that many of you may have already seen. I think he's looking more like Nicole everytime I see him!

This is a photo from last weekend. Spencer Hospital had a breast cancer walk and Nicole's mother-in-law (Cheri) and mother (Linda) walked together.

Chemo Buddy

I am going to hijack Nicole's blog back for a quick post. Today was chemo day and I got to be Nicole's "chemo buddy"! I just have to say what a beautiful, well-organized facility Coburn Cancer Center is. The staff was so friendly and right there anytime the IV pump started beeping. We got settled in around 9:30am and were finished by 1:45pm. The time flew by as we enjoyed magazines, lunch and lots of intriguing conversation. Ok, maybe it wouldn't be all that intriguing to anyone else, but it sure was fun! Nicole also had a lot of people wondering where the baby was. Brock and Griffin stayed at daycare today since Nicole also had her postpartum check-up after chemo.

Once I was in the van on the way home, I was laughing to myself about Nicole and her wig. It is really a great wig and you honestly can't tell it's not her hair. By the end of her treatment I think it was starting to itch. So she would grab it by the edges and wiggle it around her scalp to scratch. I started thinking that would be hilarious to do out in public-people would definitely be taking second (and third) looks! I can be so easily amused sometimes.

Anyway, I was soooo excited to hear about Nicole's PET scan results! I was expecting shrinking tumors but to hear it was undetectable was nothing short of a miracle. It does happen in stage 4 but usually after many treatments and medication changes. For many, they can keep the tumors stable but will never see them completely gone. These results are the absolute best case scenario. I know your prayers were the impetus behind this great healing. Keep them up. He hears them all.

One last thing-if you're not sure who is posting what, check at the bottom of each entry and the "author of the day" will be listed.

Continued Drop in Tumor Markers

I had my appointment with the oncologist on Monday and he was very happy with my response to the chemotherapy that I'm receiving. We went over the first PET scan with the tumors that were lit up and then we went over the second scan and sure enough, they have all disappeared. It was nice to finally see the scans with my own two eyes. It's so amazing how your body can respond so quickly. I feel so fortunate that it is in my case because I read about many women where they chemo does not respond and they have to go to plan B. I am also thankful to have such an awesome oncologist who know what he is doing and is staying on top of everything.

I had my bloodwork done yesterday as well. My hemoglobin stayed about the same, so will have to try to get some iron in me. My ANC's and WBC stayed the same, but my platelets went way up in 320's, so I was happy about that. I was getting worried a couple of weeks ago when they kept going down and down and not going back up. I also had my tumor marker ran again. This will be done everytime before my next chemo and that was at 99.2, so it's still going down. YEAH!!! The normal range is <38.

I have my third chemo tomorrow and Stacie will be going with me, hopefully she won't be too bored. My mother-in-law, Cheri is coming up on Friday to help out for the weekend, expecting my bad day or days to be Saturday and Sunday, what a wonderful way to spend my weekend,hopefully it will be cold and rainy, so I won't miss out on a nice weekend. I will continue to have the Neulasta shot and that will be given to me on Thursday. The other good news that the oncologist gave me on Monday is that since I had a good response to that as well I will only need to go for my bloodwork on the day of my chemo, unless of course I have a concern. So I will only need to go to St. Cloud every three weeks instead of every week.

Back to work today and daycare for the boys. Brock is trying to get back into the normal routine again, but hopefully in another week or so it will get better. Griffin is sleeping much better throughout the night, he wakes up twice now and the second time is usually a hour before we need to get up to go to work, so Bryan and I are getting sleep at night in 4 to 5 hour periods, which is better then 2-3 hour periods. I can not believe how attentive he is at nearly two months. He's a smiley baby just as Brock was, that must mean that he likes us. Although Bryan thinks that he is more of a mommy's boy then a daddy's boy, but that's okay with me.

Thanks for all the recent comments and cards that I have been receiving in the mail. It's good to hear from some of you whom I have not talk to in a long time. I love hearing from you all and I feel bad that I can not respond to all of you individually, so at least with this I can tell you all at once that I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Dramatic Changes

Dramatic changes is what I was told this morning by my oncologist's nurse. She said that the PET scan showed NO CANCER, all was gone! I asked if that was normal after two rounds of treatment and she said no not usually, they expect the tumors to shrink, but not to have it all GONE. She was baffled, so we will see if my oncologist is as well. She said that the treatment will probably still go as planned because we want to be cautious. Someone upstairs has been listening to all our prayers. Now it just needs to stay gone!

I had another good day at work and I felt great. Next week will be busy with bloodwork and my appointment with the oncologist on Monday. My 3rd round of chemo is on Wednesday. I'm sure I will get the Neulasta shot on Thursday and the boys have their check-ups on Friday, so very busy. Again thank you for all the prayers and support! We are definitely kickin' some cancer butt!!!!

Oh It's Good to be Back

I had an excellent day back at work and it was felt soooo good to be back. My office was decorated with pink balloons, streamers and a beautiful bouquet of flowers, thanks to my wonderful co-workers. Many came to visit to see how I was doing and glad to see me back, which made me happy. I just can't thank everyone enough for all the support you are all showing, it helps me so much.

Brock and Griffin also had an excellent day at daycare. Brock had no problems getting up to go. I was a little worried about him since he was getting so used to getting up later then normal, but he was excited to go back to Valerie's. All the kids were at the door when we arrived to welcome us back. When I came to pick up the boys Valerie commented on what a good baby Griffin was and she had no problems. A sigh of relief for me. Makes the transition back much easier.

I have my PET scan and a MRI on my kidney done tomorrow, so praying for good results. I think that we will definitely see the tumors going down in size with the results of the tumor markers from 2 weeks ago. My blood work was good on Monday. My platelets were up from last week, but my hemoglobin was down a bit, but nothing that a steak or hamburger can't fix. The Neulasta shot that I got to keep my ANC's up is working still, so thankful for that. Overall I'm feeling really good and looking forward to my next appointment with the oncologist on Monday to see how many of those nasty cancer cells we put to death! Enjoying all your comments and appreciate all the the prayers you are sending, I think they're working, so keep them coming.