A Perfect 2010 so Far

I have started the New Year with an excellent report. I had a PET scan in January and there was no evidence of disease, or the way I word it is that NED is still my BFF (best friend forever). In addition to my great PET scan, I also had my best tumor marker result yet, which was 13. I could not ask for a better way to start off 2010, except if the Minnesota Vikings would have gone to the Super Bowl, but oh well. I had to throw that one in. The rest of my labs were good as well. Now I can rest and not worry until my next round of labs, which will be at the end of March. I’m suspecting that my next scan will be in May unless something is of a concern between now and then. I get very anxious and irritable each time I have to have labs and scans as reality sets in for me that yes I do have an incurable disease, but I must think nothing but positive and that my outcome will be nothing but the best news. It’s like a rollercoaster ride; I have my ups and downs. But of course who doesn’t have those moments in life. But thanks to my awesome support system, they see me through those going down times and that helps me get back to the top again:-) What would I ever do without all of you?
The boys are growing like crazy. Griffin is almost 18 months and still not talking much but is a master at nonverbal communication. At least he can communicate with us one way or the other and we can meet his needs for the most part. Brock is starting to be a great helper with caring for his little brother when needed and becoming still so inquisitive every day. He enjoyed a day ice fishing with dad on the big Mille Lacs Lake, his choice. He enjoys watching the fish on the camera and of course reeling them in. We all enjoyed a nice weekend with my side of the family in Minneapolis last weekend. We did some window shopping, eating and swimming at the pool. The boys enjoyed that part of the weekend the best. Good exercise for all. Looking forward to spring and noticing that daylight is becoming longer and longer everyday so we are getting there slowly. I’ve attached some pictures for you to enjoy.

Inspirational October

It’s time to update again as I have visited my new oncologist a couple of weeks ago and had my blood work drawn for my usual tests. My blood work was all normal, tumor marker was 17.9. My liver function tests were a little higher then what they normally are, but still in the overall normal range. I was a little nervous on what my tumor marker was going to be due to that, but concluded that since I was on tamiflu for 10 days that is what contributed to my higher liver counts. The boys had influenza the first week in November and their pediatrician thought it would be smart for me to be on that for a precautionary. She’s so awesome, not only does she care for my children’s health, but mine as well.

I will not have another scan until January, which I will have a PET scan. I will be having a scan every 4 months and will alternate between the PET and CT scans, unless of course they need to have a better explanation if something looks concerning, then I may have both. But hopefully that won’t need to happen. Other than that my new oncologist will continue with the Herceptin and the Femera as prescribed by my previous oncologist. Overall I thought that he was good. He listened to my concerns, answered my questions, as I always have a lot of those each doctor visit. I requested that I have a colonoscopy done soon due to my family history with polyps and colon cancer. I was planning on having one after Griffin was born, but of course some other issues took priority. I will be having that in the middle of December.

I had some very inspirational weekends in October. Stacie, my mom, and I attended the annual Surviving with Style in St. Cloud. It is a fundraising event for the St. Cloud Breast Center. They have a nice lunch, silent action and a fashion show that has breast cancer survivors and their families model some winter fashions from the local department stores. Last year I was given free tickets to go. This year I thought that I would give back and go again. It was a lot of fun and met some breast cancer survivors that were my age, which was nice for me and also for them too. The following weekend was the breast cancer walk, Making Strides against Breast Cancer in St. Cloud. It was a cold, snowy morning, but we all had fun and I believe that there was around $35,000-$40,000 raised. A big thanks to all of you who donated to my team and we are looking forward to next year. I also attended the Woman of Faith conference in St. Paul. I recommend this to anyone who feels that they need a little push in life to attend or if you just want to bring yourself closer with your faith. I will be going again next year and I thank Stacie for inviting me to attend. It was a lot fun and to experience such a range of emotions in a short amount of time, from crying to laughing so much that you are crying, I loved every moment of it. The highlight of the weekend was seeing Steven Curtis Chapman sing and talk about how he and his family have dealt with the death of his daughter. It’s amazing how everyone deals with tragedies in their life and what they make of them. We all have struggles in life, but it is how we deal with them and what we make of them is what matters. That is my motto at least. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and thanks again for all the support you have given my family and I throughout the last year. We are truly grateful for all the wonderful, caring people that we have in our lives. We love you all and here’s to another new year of living life and living it CANCER FREE:-)!



Stacie, my mom Linda, and I at Surviving with Style


The survivors at the Making Strides against Breast Cancer Walk


Team Fight Like a Girl




Stacie, my mother-in-law Cheri and I at Women of Faith Conference

Team Fight Like a Girl

I am happy to report that everything was normal with my scans and there were no concerns this time around. My MUGA scan was a bit lower then last time with a score of 63%, but still above the 50% that we want to be at. The CT scan showed the same liver lesion that was seen before, no change in size and some air that was still in my abdominal cavity from my surgery. The surgery went well. I just have a little tenderness here and there. It seems that I am starting to get more hot flashes, but I will have to learn to deal with that. The biopsy report from my ovaries was that they were normal, functional ovaries with cysts. I am now on Femera, which is a hormonal drug that I take orally everyday. I will continue with the Hercepitn every 3 weeks. My bloodwork was good as well, platelets a little low, but nothing to be too concerned about. My tumor marker was 16.4, so that is in the normal range as well. Looks like the drugs continue to do the job on keeping the cancer away.

I would like to invite everyone to join team Fight Like a Girl for a breast cancer walk in St. Cloud on Saturday, October 10th. Here is the link to register and I require everyone who wants to walk to donate $10.00 and also to ask family and friends for donations as I have a team goal of $100.00, but I think that we should have no trouble meeting that goal. If you are unable to join us, you can donate to the team and that will go towards our goal, even if it's only $5.00 every little bit helps. Here is the link and I hope it is easy to register or donate.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?sid=55931&type=fr_informational&pg=informational&fr_id=20209


Also if you would like to purchase some Fight Like a Girl apparel here is the link for that.

http://www.signifypromotions.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=PINK

I couldn't get the link to copy right so just highlight the website, copy & paste it in the address bar.

Oophorectomy

I am scheduled for an oophorectomy tomorrow morning at 8AM. Feeling a little anxious and irritable as I am not sure what to expect for surgery or after. I know that it will all go well, but nervous about being put under for the first time and what will I feel like afterwards. The tamoxifen that I take is suppose to put me into menopause, but I still have some estrogen in my body, so having the ovaries taken out will definitely put me into menopause and that is my worry for the after effects of this surgery. Although I think that my body has been preparing me this week as it seems that I am having more hot flashes then normal the past few days. I will be taking a few days off from work as they are doing it laparoscopically, so not much down time when the ovaries and tubes are removed this way. If all goes well I should be on my way home by noon tomorrow. My mom is one the way up to help with the boys this weekend and they are excited to see their grandma and spend time with her as one is still up asking when will she be here.

I will start a new drug called Femera shortly after my surgery. This is another hormonal therapy drug that is for post menopausal women. The tamoxifen that I am taking is for pre menopausal, so I will no longer be on that. Unfortunately on Monday I have to have my bloodwork, MUGA scan and CT scan done in order to continue my Herceptin treatment. I never look forward to this time. If only I could freeze time. I had an appointment on Tuesday and they would not give me the Herceptin as I have had 3 treatments since my last MUGA scan and they want to make sure that my heart is staying strong since I am so young. I feel that I'm in good care when they take precautionary steps such as that. I will meet with the oncologist on Wednesday for the results and will then have my Herceptin infusion if all is well after that.

We had a great time on our vacation in Branson. What beautiful country and we had great weather while we were there to enjoy our time off from everyday normal life. The boys both celebrated their birthdays while we were there. I can't believe that Griffin is already 1 and Brock 4. Time flies. When I got home, it seemed as I was thinking back to what we were experiencing a year ago from that time, all the worries, the unknowns, and fears. I did not sign up for this, but I think that I have been a team player and what I have experience has made a difference in my life. I don't sweat the small stuff anymore and in general enjoy everyday things in my life that I used to take for granted, which we all need to do, as no one knows what lies ahead of them. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes for tomorrow.


Griffin enjoying his birthday cake


Brock swimming at the pool in Branson

A sigh a some relief

It has been a stressful 2 months since my last update especially in the last two weeks. I did not want to update until I had all the facts straight, so here it goes.

I had a MUGA scan at the beginning of the month along with a CT scan and my normal blood work that they check. MUGA scan was 67%, which was up from last time, blood work was all in normal range,but the CT scan showed one spot on the liver measuring 10 mm. I was very upset when I was told this, although it was not confirmed by the CT scan that this was a cancer spot, it was a spot that was suspicious and needed to be looked at better, so I had an ultrasound the next week. That did not prove anything either, but my oncologist thought that it was nothing to worry about, but given my history I should do a PET scan, so last Friday I had that done. Monday morning I received a call from the nurse that before my appointment with the doctor on Tuesday, I needed to have my left ovary looked at again. If you recall I had that show up last CT scan as a cyst, but this time it lit up on the PET scan, but the liver did not. So the rollercoaster ride continues. I had an ultrasound on the ovaries and uterus. This did not prove if it is a cancer tumor on the ovary or a hemorrhaging cyst. Whatever it is ,it has grown since April by 2 cm. So the oncologist has recommended that I have the ovaries removed soon and since we are at it, we might as well get rid of the uterus. There is a good side to this decision and a bad. The good, hopefully no more of that darn estrogen in my body, as this is what has fed my cancer and I will have more treatment options available to me. There are a lot more hormonal chemotherapy drugs out there for post menopausal women then pre menopausal and a couple of these drugs work very well with Herceptin. So my chances of long term survival will go up, yeah. Now the bad, I will officially be a 50 year old in a 29 year old body, oh well if it saves my life its all worth. So next Friday the 31st I have an appointment with my ob/gyn doctor the same one who I saw when I was pregnant with the boys and he will be the one who will do the hysterectomy. But in the meantime we are looking forward to our planned vacation to Branson, MO with Bryan's family the 2nd week in August. We can't wait.

In regards to the spot that they saw on the liver, the conclusion is that it was a scar from where they did the liver biopsy, since it was in the same exact location where that was taken place at. Like I told the nurse when she said that the liver did not light up, you can have your ovaries removed, but not your liver. I continue to get my Herceptin infusions every 3 weeks and I will have a another CT scan in September as a precautionary scan to make sure everything is still good.

As many of you already know, my dad passed away at the end of May, due to pneumonia and an infection in his colon. It was hard, although I had 16 years to prepare myself for it as he was in a motorcycle accident and has been in a nursing home since then. He had a brain injury, but he knew what was going on all that time. Before he died I told him that he did not have to fight anymore, but at the same time I was thinking that his strength has taught me to fight for my life no matter what the battle may be, as we all have a fight in our life, some are easier then others, but everyone is fighting for something or against something in their life. Which leads me to my next stressful event, my mom had surgery on her colon. She is a 22 year colon cancer survivor, but due to her surgeries she gets adhesions built up in her intestines and had a blockage occur. So after 3.5 hours of surgery last Friday they removed the blockage in her small intestine and she is on the mend now which I am grateful for and so is the rest of our family.

I hope that these next two months bring good news and I remain cancer free. I will update after my appointment with the ob/gyn doctor. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer, can't believe it will soon be August. We went camping in June and I posted a family picture of us. We all had fun and these are the moments in my life that I am so grateful to have.

I AM A SURVIVOR

I had my MUGA last week. I thought that I had it this week, but was mistaken. My refraction rate was 65%, so it went up compared to last time. Yeah!!! I think if I get some cardiovascular activity in it helps. Sometimes that is hard for me, but with summer here and nice weather, I don't think that it will be a problem to get outside and exercise a bit. My next appointment will be my herceptin infusion next Wednesday and another one 3 weeks after that. I think that I have another CT scan in July before seeing my oncologist for the last time before he leaves the clinic. Then I will need to choose someone new. I am nervous about this, but excited at the same time to have another opinion on my care. So as long as everything is quiet I probably won't update until then.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me in this journey. It is getting closer and closer to it being one year since my diagnosis and boy have I come a long way. In the beginning a little part of me thought that I would not be here typing this to you, but instead I'm cancer free and kicking its butt. There are so many survivor stories out there and I just have to keep reminding myself that yes, I am a SURVIVOR and yes I will keep winning this battle. Of course not without a little help from my faith, modern medicine and of course all of you out there cheering me on. I love you all.

A Successful Race for the Cure

Team Nicole successfully finished the Race for the Cure on Sunday. It was AWESOME and very inspirational to see 50,000 people come out on Mother's Day to raise money for breast cancer. I was emotional as many others were too as we were walking to the starting line, but as the race went along it got better. Hearing the song by Melissa Etheridge, I Run for Life, is what did it in for me. If you have never heard the song, I'm sure it would bring you to tears as well. We all wore our own t-shirts that we received many comments about. The girls wore Fight like a Girl and the boys wore Fight for your Girl t-shirts. I had a wonderful weekend spending time with my mom, my brother and his family and my aunt Sandy along with her family. All whom came up on Saturday and we spent some quality time together at pool at the hotel. Brock has successfully learned how to swim with a life jacket on, very exciting for him. The Nelson family (Bryan's sister Stacie's family) met us at the race on Sunday morning. All together we had 18 people on our team. I hope next year that I can double it, so all of you reading this better mark your calenders for Mother's Day next year. It will be a tradition from now on for my family to walk this. Although my husband suggested every other year, as he is a fisherman and this of course is on opening weekend. Guess who will win that argument:-)

Today I had another Herceptin infusion along with seeing the endocrinologist in regards to my abnormal finding on my pituitary gland. She said that she thinks that it is nothing serious. My bloodwork was normal and I have not had any other issues that would be related to my pituitary gland not functioning properly. I will follow up in 6 months, so I will have another brain MRI in November to make sure nothing changes. That of course was excellent news! I have another MUGA scan coming up in 2 weeks. Hoping that my heart will continue to stay strong so I can keep receiving the MIRACLE drug. I've posted some pictures from our wonderful weekend.


Team Nicole


Grandma Linny and Brock walking


Look at all those people!


Bryan and Griffin



Brock swimming