Ok, well I guess I dropped the ball last month when I started to update the site and got only halfway done. Hmmmm. I seem to have loaded my plate pretty full this year. Anyways, mom is doing well. We met with Dr. H last month after the scan results. He was fabulous in getting mom into another agressive round of war. She finished 12 radiation treatments (I think that was the number) and then started a new chemo last month. Naturally she tolerated both extremely well, you know...go to treatment, go to work, etc. Dr. H confirmed that there had been a little progression. A new spot on her spine and one on her neck and then some teeny tiny enlargening of one spot on her lung. Her hips still look pretty crappy but thats b/c of all the damage. He seemed thrilled with the way she looked and felt after 1 year. I can't believe its been a year already of us dealing with this but it has. So at least we learned we can do it and can continue for as long as we can.
Last week was a bit rough for mom. She had a pretty bad bout w/ pain all week. Her hip kinda went out of control. Because of that she was going in to work a little late and coming home early towards the end of the week. She was not a happy camper and of course the amount of pain she was in had all of us on edge. I believe it was Thursday night that I dosed her w/ 2 800mg of ibprophen. She FINALLY got some relief and then I went into anxiety attack mode thinking I had overdosed her after reading about that dosage on google. It was quite comical b/c I kept trying to wake her repeatedly every few minutes and she would snap at me for waking her up b/c the point was for her to get some good sleep. The fact that the ibprophen was working better than the percocet helped us believe it was inflamation as opposed to cancer growth. So it has lightened up considerably. Mom has been behaving and really taking it easy per her Drs orders. Today was the first day we let her drive, and she went to work promising that she would come home before she wore herself out. Next week she is meeting with some Drs at Emory. They are orthopedic oncologists. We are looking into something called cementplasty. They can inject a cement like substance into malignant bone to keep it from fracturing and to reduce the pain.
So she has her 2nd round of her new chemo next Tuesday and then another one 3 weeks after that. Then she will get another scan to see if its helping. So April will be full of good reports I promise. Its kind of mind boggling to think how far we have come. The one thing her Dr said was that she is either the same if not better than she was last year when he first met her. How fantastic is that. He was quick to say that things can always change quickly b/c that is the nature of this beast we are dealing with but that mom is still in an elite 5% of those that a) can't tolerate the chemo even though it works b) that can tolerate the chemo but it doesn't works and c) those that can tolerate and have chemo that works!!! MOM is C!!!! Again we realize how lucky we are.
I promise I will finish the update to the site. The website that I had the slide shows downloaded from closed so I have to find and make new slide shows. Also my personal computer is currently on hospice so I am limited to time I can retrieve and save pictures. Soooo now that I am catching up on things and making some free space on my life plate I will update and beautify the site again.
I want to thank those of you that have donated to our Relay for Life Team. Susan's Turquoise Peace Signs is rockin it. Relay is May 11th so there is still time to donate if you want to. Thank you all for all the love, support, friendship, cards, calls, emails etc.
Yay, its a new year with new hope and even more powerful positive energy. The holidays were fabulous. The kids were hilarious and exhausting for all of us! Mom continues to go about her days as Superwoman! Her and dad and seriously like the "Incredibles". I remember back when all this started (almost a year ago already) and Dr. Hamrick told mom that fighting this would be a fulltime job. Well mom has one hell of a work ethic. She throws her bloodwork tests and chemo treatments into her regular scheduled day kinda like you would an oil change on your car or a team meeting at work. She is the ULTIMATE BADASS! I'm not saying she is 100% 24/7 but ummm who is. When she gets down on herself for wanting to just lie around and sleep or rest I try to reasure her that if I would be right there too if I wasn't cleaning up after my 2 tornados and having to be responsible. Plus I'm all about reminding her that all her new aches and pains and stiffness are probably b/c she is "older" and not b/c of the cancer! LOL. As always I'm probably right!
Dad is pretty much rockin his new knee. He has amazded his Drs and rehab people too! He is back to work fulltime (WHEW). That made for a long winter break for me I must say!
All in all, things here are still the new normal that we discovered last year. Our lives are good. Me and Phillips house is really taking off this past month and our ETA for moving is late March. Its going to be fabulous but sad too. The 6 of us (mom, dad, Phillip, myself and the boys) have had such a greath rythem going for the past 18 months, it will be hard for all of us to not see each other every morning and every night (like the Waltons). Plus I'm kind of addicted to keeping a close eye on my momma and making her french toast at 9PM or sharing icecream with her!
In other news our Relay For Life Team (Susan's Turquoise Peace Signs) is about to kick it into high gear for fundraising. I found out at the Kick Off Party last week that the East Cobb Relay For Life is the 5th largest in the world and brought in the 3rd highest amount of money. The stories of the people I have met and the speakers I have heard are amazingly beautiful. There is so much hope even with the sadness. Its truly disgusting to hear how Cancer has had to be a part of so many lives. When I think about how many people I know that have either lost a life or fought it I get sick to my stomach. However its not until someone right in your face gets it and your day to day life is changed forever that it really really grabs you. After getting all revved up about fighting this beast at the Kick off Party I got home and read on facebook that a good friend of mine from way back when had put her husband in hospice and he was being given 2 days. He had officially lost his fight to pancreatic cancer! Such bullshit!
So my goal is to be as much a part of raising money to find a cure as I can! Our team will have our tax id later this week. If you want to donate just say the word!!!!
Thanks y'all as always for love, support, prayers, thoughts and friendship! We love you all! xoxox
Mom cooked Turkey Dinner all by herself!!!!
Dad carved the turkey all by himself!!!
"Momma and her cancer and Pa and his cane had just settled in for a winter of pain".
Ok so its been a while since the last update. Not much has been going on really until recently. We had Linda in town for a fabulous Thanksgiving! Mom has started back on a double threat of chemo (she is rockin it as always) and working and shopping and still cooking Sunday dinners! Nothing new to report from the Drs. I guess we have another scan in a few months again. We are just so good at going with the flo around here that nothing is really a big deal. We just don't have time for Cancer so we just let it sit on the back burner and melt away.
Dad JUST had a new knee put in last Thursday. He was supposed to have his other hip done back in November (I think? or maybe it was his knee that was supposed to be done in November and his hip in December. Anyhow... he had a little case of pnemonia back in November so that scratched whatever replacement he was supposed to have. He is clearly all healthy now since they did his knee. He is rockin the knee replacement too. He got home yesterday and was using the old man walker, today he downgraded to a freakin 8 foot walking pole (think something out of freakin Lord of the Rings???) So weird. Later this afternoon he downgraded to a regular cane. I'll be shocked if he isn't back at work by the end of the week.
I'm getting completely taken advantage of by my gimpy parents. Having to clean and heat up food and wait on them hand and foot. Mom is just playing along now that dad is sooooo incapacitated too. Its now a competition between them on who is worse off. DORKS! This week I get some relief efforts from Miami! Dean and Lisa are coming up for Christmas! They have no idea what kind of chaos they are walking into! 4 kids under 6, Toys galore, gimpy grandpa and chemo grandma, 2 super tired strung out mommas and 2 super tired
As for us (me and my mini family) our house is finally getting started. Phillip and I have our 1st orientation with the builder tomorrow and they will begin to pour the slab tomorrow too. yay!!!! Last week was exciting b/c for the first time in over 3 months something was done to our lot. The kids are getting pretty amped up about Christmas. Quinn turns 3 in a week and a half??? I don't know how that is possible. For those of you who don't know I have been writing a weekly article in our local Patch online. Its kinda fun! Its good practice for when mom kicks cancers ass I can write her book of success.
Scip and his family are doing just fine too! Scip just started a new job at Lowes at the PRO desk! Mallory just turned 1 and started walking. Caroline has a fabulous shoe and purse collection and Jenn somehow still has time to bake and cook dinner for all of them like every night???
Our Relay for Life Team is formed and will start raising money after the holidays. I will be posting all of our fundraisers on here as well for anyone who wants so show support! :) Last month we came in 2nd place for the most registrants! As captain I'm pretty happy about that. 1st place would have been ours handsdown if we weren't up against a freakin school! Oh well.
Soooo hope you all have the Merriest Christmas with your family and friends. I for one can't wait to start off 2012 kickin ass and takin name! My personal achievement list is filled with fun goals and A HOUSE!!!! yay! Love to you all! Peace Love and Happiness
Safe travels if you are traveling! Lots of love from us to you! Thanks again for your unwavering love and support this past year! Thats right, Feb. will mark a year since diagnosis! Crazy!
xoxoxox
Nothing says PEACE like Halloween pumpkin carving!
Ok so as always we never know where the day is going to take us around here. Between mom and the kids I have to stay on my toes just bouncing around waiting for something. So mom has been having that pain in what she thought was her ovary. Got the sonogram...showed nothing. So she emailed Dr H and he suggested yesterday that she go ahead and schedule her CT scan now instead of waiting till early Dec. So I found that out last night at 5. This morning she had her scan. This afternoon we got the results. Let me just say...Kaiser Healthcare rocks! Or at least when you have some sort of cancer they rock! Basically its all good news. She is stable in her bones, liver, adrenal glands and has had a tiny progression in her left lung and the center of her chest. Keep in mind that these "spots" are measured in milimeters, so progression is only 1 -2 mm's. Dr. Hamrick said that he would have prefered no progression but these are very tiny. She is going to go back on the big gun chemo on the 27th. Sounds aweful but she is so hardcore that it doesn't keep her down at all. Lets just keep hoping that it works! This one also shrinks the "spots". Her maintance chemo was just keeping them at bay. So can I get a HELL YAH for shrinkage! :)
I'm guessing the next big appt will be around her 1 year which is approaching fast. (Feb 18th was when this shit started up)! Hoping you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving! I know what we will be Thankful for at our table!!! Trader Joes corn bread for sure! LOL!
Just kidding...we will be thankful for all the prayers, positive thoughts and juju, candles, friendship and love!!!!
So we are all still cruising along! Mom just had her maintance chemo yesterday, nothing really to report on that. Same ole Susan. Goes in and then goes to work and kicks some ass! The new CT scans are scheduled for sometime the first week of December w/ her follow up appt for the results. I don't have those dates to share yet. I still think mom is doing great. She is really bothered by the latest issue which is the Neuropathy. That is some damage that the chemo did to some nerves which leaves her hands and feet tingly and numb and sometimes swollen. I feel her pain b/c when I was pregnant with Ethan mine were doing the same thing, just not from neuropathy. She is also experiencing some achey joint pain and whatnot but I'm pretty sure its a side affect of her drugs. Her hip pain seems to be pretty slight, she isn't limping anymore which is awesome. I think she is ready to rock out to some Holiday Tunes!
Lisa was just here for Halloween and did some yummy cooking for all of us. Thanks Lisa!!! Moms tastebuds are back so she is enjoying eating food again, other than icecream, pie and popcicles. I think she just needs to eat more to keep up her energy. Even the average person needs to eat to have energy so for sure Super Woman needs to eat. "MOM THIS IS YOUR REMINDER" :)
Thats really all that is going on here. Nothing new to report. All is good right now. Just waiting to get these holidays started and enjoy the season. Hoping to have Linda (Mikes sister) here for Thanksgiving and then Lisa and Dean will return for the most chaotic Christmas they have ever witnessed. 4 kids under 6 devour a tree!
Oh yes.. one last bit of info. I have signed up to be a team captain for Relay for Life this year! Team name: Susan's Turquoise Peace Signs. Our team is up to 16 people already but if anyone else would like to join let me know. Its May 11th I believe. We will be doing some fundraisers in the meantime!!! Thanks again for all the love! Hope you all get a good start to the Holiday Season and have a fabulous Turkey Day!
Ok so since we choose to pretty much ignore the "situation" around here these days I forgot that mom had an appt. today when I did the update earlier in the week. We aren't exactly as anal about writing down appts anymore. Mom kinda keeps us in the dark till the day before! Got to let her have some fun I guess! Anyways so it was just a check up w/ Dr. Hamrick! Mom actually had a list of complaints which she never has. (wink wink)! She has had some tingling in her hands and feet and minor swelling as well as some arthritis type muscle / joint pain. I told her and dad that it was either a reaction to one of her meds or to the chemo but they didn't believe me! Anyways so Dr. Hamrick told her that is probably from the chemo and it should go away. He also said REPEATEDLY that she is doing great, excellent and actually is an "outlier" for Stage 4 Lung cancer patients! I guess by this point the average patient is not doing so well. I think he repeated it so many times b/c mom kept questioning him about it! Hahahah. When he was entering her notes in the computer he said he was UNDERSCORING that she is doing excellent! Other than that there is nothing else to report. I just know how happy we were with the news and thought y'all might like to know! Also I keep forgetting to mention that mom has moved on from banana popcicles to icecream and pie!!! Lots of apple pie! I think thats why she is doing so well! The one condition I meant to ask Dr. Hamrick about is her obsession w/ trash tv. The woman is addicted to the Kardashians and Gene Simmons Family Jewels! Cracks me up!!! For real...she DVR's this shit and then I end up getting sucked in to it too! Oh well its all in the name of healing I guess!
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