Genetic Consultation Update

Thought that I would give an update on my genetic consultation that I had on Monday. Before Monday, I had a phone visit with the nurse and gave her my family history, which I'm sure she had writers cramp from all the relatives that unfortunately have had cancer. They wanted all that information before my appointment to look at the pedigree of what could be going on. They think that there is definitely a genetic cancer(s) occurring in my family, mainly on my mom's father's side because of all the cases and how young everyone has been when diagnosed. She also told us about the two most common genes that are associated with breast cancer. BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, these are the two genes that I'm getting tested for now. If you are a carrier of either one of these, your chances of a recurrence of breast cancer are higher then if you don't have the gene, you also have a higher chance of getting other cancers, especially ovarian cancer. The main reason why I wanted to get the genetic test done is to help decide on what surgeries may be best for me when the time comes. If I should get a full mastectomy or hysterectomy, etc. It will also benefit the boys and my brother to know if I'm a carrier because they also could be one too. I called my brother that night and told him that if I did test positive that it is suggested that he go and get yearly mammograms and do self breast exams every month. Of course my husband being the comedian that he is said try explaining that one at work. We have to make some humor out of the bad, right? I will have a follow up in January when the results come back. When I went to go give my blood for the test the lab technician said it was her lucky day because I was number 3 for having their blood drawn for that specific genetic test. I told her that we were the ones that were not so lucky to be having this done.

I will have a PET scan on Christmas Eve, so I hope that they will let me know by the next week on what the results will be. I am sure that there will be no tumors, but you never know with this sneaky disease. My tumor markers seem to be a good indication for me and that the chemo is working and the caner cells continue to disappear. I was suppose to have my next Herceptin chemo on New Years Eve, but my oncologist will be gone that day, so since I am only on Herceptin now, he said it would be fine to have it pushed back one week, so my next infusion will be the 7th of January.

I am posting a couple of pictures of the boys. Brock and I made a gingerbread house, of course Brock wanted to eat it as soon as it was finished. It was fun making and eating. Griffin had his 4 month checkup yesterday and he's as healthy as can be. He was not a happy camper with getting shots though. At least dad was the one holding him and not me, so you can guess who is not his favorite right now.







We are getting ready for Christmas and of course Brock is looking forward to what Santa will be bringing him this year. I'm looking forward to spending time with our families and just cherishing the moments that we will have. Merry Christmas to everyone!

One more note, I've decided that Stacie is no longer allowed to write on my blog anymore and I made sure to let Santa know that she was naughty and not to visit her this year. LOL.

Employee of the Year 2008!

One more post from me before Nicole revokes my permission to get on here:)

I know Nicole would never willingly share this but she deserves the recognition. At Saturday night's Christmas party for work she received the Employee of the Year award! She wasn't able to be there because of her nasty chemo side-effects but she did receive a standing ovation. She also receives a $500 bonus, extra day of vacation for the year, and a trip to Mexico over Valentine's Day! I don't think she felt she earned the honor at first because she thought anyone would do what she's been doing. But, no, not many people could have a baby, be diagnosed with cancer, return to work a week early, start chemo the next week and continue working throughout her treatment! There is no doubt that she is extraordinary and has every right to win this honor!!!! So, congratulations!

On a not so happy note, please remember Karlye in your prayers. There was a picture of Nicole and Karlye with their bald heads posted on this website a few months ago. She is my cousin's 6-year-old who has been battling Ewing's Sarcoma for the past few years. She spent all of October in the hospital undergoing a bone marrow transplant following a relapse of her cancer. A follow-up CT scan yesterday showed a lung tumor that has tripled in growth over the past 12 days. She has had an extremely difficult 3 months.
Her website again is www.caringbridge.org/visit/karlyedeutsch.

A Chapter in Treatment Is Done!

I'm back! It's Stacie doing an update with Nicole's permission.

Things have been going really well the past few weeks. The kids have, for the most part, been healthy. Griffin is now 4 months old and has already rolled over a few times. He is smiley and happy and he loves to sit back and observe everyone around him. The best part is that he is sleeping all night! This weekend, he slept almost 11 hours straight.

After going through a bit of an adjustment period, Brock is back to his old self. One of his new favorite activities is waking Griffin up from his naps! He knows more than any 3-year-old should know about many things. He's been busy helping his dad do things around the house.

Bryan is....Bryan! He's been working as much as possible. At home, he has several projects going on which occupy his downtime. This weekend he is putting in a few new bedroom windows. Hopefully that will take care of the drafts coming in! He is awesome with the boys and a great help to Nicole. Oh, and he did go pheasant hunting with Brad and Taylor a few weekend ago but they didn't come back with any birds. Ice fishing is being planned as I type.

Now for the birthday girl! Nicole had her 29th birthday on December 8th. I know she got a lot of birthday wishes on her facebook page which she set-up earlier this month. Overall, I am in awe of her patience and stamina! She was out there at 5am shopping on black Friday and kept going until 8 that night---with both boys! She has made it to work most days (even though she shouldn't have some of those days)! Her positive attitude is not an act. She is so thankful for life and everyone in her life. She is such a calm, patient and loving mother!

Here are the medical details. Nicole's tumor marker was down to 34.5 when she went in December 10th for her last chemo with the three medication combination. Beginning Thursday, she felt very drained. She spent most of the weekend in bed or lying on the couch. She did have nausea and vomiting this time. Thankfully, she will now only be on one chemo agent-Herceptin. She will get this every three weeks for the next year. Herceptin is supposed to have very few side-effects and they are very tolerable. Tomorrow she and Bryan meet with a genetic counselor to go over the family history of cancer and decide which genetic testing needs to be done for Nicole. On December 24th, she will have another PET scan. Be in prayer for no cancer to show up again this time! With falling tumor markers, I have nothing but faith this will happen.

We figure around Valentine's Day Nicole should be sporting a new crop of (very short) hair. I can't wait to see how it grows back! I'm guessing blond and wavy. Anyone else?

Keep praying for the cancer to stay away and for favorable results from the scan and genetic testing!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Two Little Indians (sorry that you can't see their feathers in the back)



My Little Turkey


Our family has many reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving compared to previous years. Like my mom has always said to me if you don't have your health you don't have nothing, which is very true. I'm so thankful for all my family and friends who have helped us deal with what we never saw coming 3 1/2 months ago. Life definitely means so much more now then it did then, which it should not come to getting a serious illness to make one realize that, not that I have always taken life for granted, but I just cherish it a little more now. I'm so thankful for modern medicine and what it has done for me to get rid of this cancer and I pray that it will stay away. I'm very blessed to have a family who has been there for us when we needed them to help out with the kids, housework, and just being there to listen and reassure that everything will get better, I'm just taking a little detour in my life right now. I'm also thankful for both Bryan and I to have employment at places that care and and appreciate all the support they have given us, that's including all of you at Coborn's in Milaca. I hope you all have had a great Thanksgiving and thank you to all who are reading this and all the support you have given our family in one way or another.

Unsuspected Thankfulness......

This is Nicole's Aunt Sandy reporting on the weekend.

Upon arriving at the Johnson home, Nicole and I engaged in a conversation about the surprising perks of having cancer. When a life threatening illness consumes every waking hour of thought and you go through the various stages of grief you begin to really open up your eyes and mind to those who surround you. She explained that she looks at people longer, making eye contact letting them know she really sees them for who they are. Also realizing that behind every face there may be unseen challenges in their lives, much like she is experiencing. She now takes time to notice the little things in life that we often overlook in our busy lives.

With chemo session #5 completed Nicole spent time this past weekend taking it easy, experiencing some nausea, upper back and neck pain, hotflashes, and fatigue. However she didn't spend as much time in the bedroom as she had with previous sessions. Her mom made sure she took her pain meds, anti nausea meds and other meds on schedule. Nicole's tumor marker test (which is the CEA-27.29) was 44.0, down from 61.9 last time. Wow at the time of diagnosis this level was 763!! The significance of Thanksgiving this year is truly realized by Nicole and all that love her.

Griffin is such a beautiful healthy boy and smiles easily. Brock carries on a conversation with you as if he were a 10 year old and his energy abounds. He readily and proudly displays his underwear designs, such as Diego and Spiderman. Potty training has been pretty much conquered, there was just a few set backs the last few months. Bryan is amazing, always catering to everyones needs and mixing in some welcomed humor.

Tom, Tangy, and Trayeton (Nicole's brother and his family) surprised us on Saturday afternoon. Grandma Linny enjoyed spending time with her 3 grandsons and celebrated the reunion of her family with some spectacular dance moves with Brock and Traeyton in the living room, what a sight!

All in all Nicole's treatment is on track. She has come a long way in a short amount of time battling this cancer and also has successfully hurdled a lot of the steps of acceptance when diagnosed with cancer. I think I'm safe to say how much we all admire Nicole's courage and attitude during this chapter in her life.
Aunt Sandy.

Nicole will post pictures that were taken this weekend when I send them to her.

Make Cancer Your.......

Well I have chemo #5 tomorrow. Can't wait to get these next two over with. It's just no fun when you start to feel good and then you have to start all over again. During this last week I have been kind of eating a lot, I told myself I'm going to enjoy food when I can. I just hope I can enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner and have an appetite and good taste buds, have to wait and see. Maybe we will have to celebrate a week later.

I will also have my bloodwork done tomorrow, and we will find out on Thursday what my tumor markers will be at. Let's pray that they are in the normal range and we can all celebrate!

If you are wondering about my title of my blog entry, I have to tell you the story about it and I hope none of you are offended. When my favorite uncle, Brian, (just a note he's all the nieces and nephews favorite uncle because at times he's just a kid himself and the winner of Best Anderson Kid for the last 5 years, I think), anyways when he found out about my diagnosis he called me said "Make Cancer Your Bitch", so I have taken his advice and making cancer my bitch. My aunt Sandy also bought me a hat that has this on it, so it has become one of my many mottos through this journey. You have to add humor and laughter to bad situations and in general to everyday life because I think it helps dealing with it.

I hope to update on Thursday with my results of my tests. And as always I appreciate all the comments, it's so nice hearing from all of you as you help me conquer this. I will try to get some recent pictures of the boys posted. Griffin is getting so big. He enjoys his big brother. It's so cute when Brock talks to Griffin, Griffin smiles and giggles, he will definitely be looking up to his older brother.

Genetic Consultation

Another week has flown by, where does the time go? I did end up staying home on Monday to rest for one more day, mother's orders. I agree though that I do need to take it easy and rest, so I won't have any set backs. I'm getting closer and closer to being done with my intense chemo treatments, only two more to go, then I will continue with the Herceptin until next August. I told Bryan that maybe for Valentines Day his wife may have some hair coming in, what a nice Valentines gift that would be for him. LOL.

I made an appointment that I thought I would never have to make this week. I will be having a genetic consultation in December. This will help in deciding what surgeries I will need done in the future. Such as having my ovaries taken out, or having a double mastectomy vs a lumpectomy. I'm sure I will not only get screened for the breast cancer genes, which is the BRCA 1 & BRCA 2, but also for other cancers, as unfortunately there seems to be a trend of cancer in my family on both sides. I joked with my mom when I received my forms that they wanted me to fill out with my family history. I have to include her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, and I told her that I only had 10 lines and I wasn't sure if that would be enough or not. It did state that an extra page could be submitted. Last year my mom was telling me about a gentleman that she met who had genetic testing done on himself because all of his family members have had cancer and I think most of them died at very early ages and he wanted to prevent it from happening to him. She suggested that I look into it at and she had a video about, I told her no thanks, I do not want to know my destiny, little did we know that the cancer was inside of me at the time.

I have my MUGA scan on Tuesday, so let's pray that my heart is still doing well, so I can continue with the Herceptin. I probably won't get my test result until my next appointment with the oncologist, which is on the 19th.

This is very long overdue, but I wanted to thank everyone that has donated to the benefit account. You are all so generous and thoughtful and we appreciate it more than words can say, it has helped out with medical bills that we did not anticipate to have, so thanks again to all of you.