Mommy-Of-Three

Last week was a busy week.  I had a full body PET scan on Tuesday and an MRI of my liver on Wednesday, Dr, appointment on Thursday and finally Treatment on Friday. Dr. Gupta reviewed the scans before our Thursday appointment.  The PET scan noted the bladder mass, liver tumors, and bone mets that we have known about.  The good news is there is no involvement of new organs- no abdominal organs like kidneys, intestines, pancreas, or stomach.  Nothing in my head or lungs or heart. Hallelujah! The MRI specifically looked at the liver tumors.  It looks like there is necrosis (dying tissue) in the spots, so it seems like the chemotherapy is hitting the liver tumors.  I saw a radiation oncologist to see if radiation is necessary, and he doesn't want to do radiation to the abdomen with my enteritis / colitis. Dr. Gupta feels like we can complete another few rounds of chemo and then take a break.  I think that sounds wonderful! Treatment on Friday went well....

It's been awhile since I've written a blog post, but honestly, I've been living life and enjoying the holidays with family and friends, so no regrets on the lack of updates. I'm sure you're all eager to hear about my Christmas and New Year's holidays.  I spent as much time as I could with my family and friends.  We celebrated with family and friends, and enjoyed all the traditions that we have created and come to love. We enjoyed Christmas Eve worship with our church family.  We dearly missed those family and friends we lost this year, and look forward to the new year and all the new opportunities to grow our bonds with those people who remain.  This year, we will celebrate graduations for Sydney and two of my nieces- Mallory and Olivia,  and a wedding for another niece- Audrey.   Medically, in December, I finished round 6 of chemotherapy.  I now have a PET scan and MRI this week (Tuesday and Wednesday), an appointment with the oncologist (Thursda...

Saturday night, we loaded up the family truckster and headed out for some Christmas fa-la-la-la fun at the Christmas Factory.  Apparently, we weren't alone in our desire to celebrate a little Christmas spirit, because I see some of my friends also posted pictures from their evening there as well!! There were photo ops aplenty!  Here's Kennedy and Preston and the Abominable Snowman! The whole family- Christmas sweaters, Christmas jammies and all! Awweee!  Aren't they cute?! And in love?! Lots of displays, Christmas music, lights and sounds! All the "kids"!! We finished the evening with dinner at Hideaway, one of our favorite restaurants for fish.  If you've never eaten there, you're missing out! This was a fun way to spend an evening, especially during my week off of treatment.  I love having all the kids around, and hearing about their lives.    "This Week in Medicine" has labwork and a RN visit on Monday, then treatment at main campus on Tuesday...

Since being hospitalized then in the care center and back to the hospital and now home, my nutrition and exercise suffered severely.   I lost 60 pounds total, along with a lot of muscle mass and strength.  Since I've been home, I've worked with PT and OT therapists trying to regain the ability to simply change positions in bed on my own. My legs have neuropathy, and feel like pins and needles tingling all over all the time, along with having seriously cold feet all the time.  Because of the neuropathy, I've had to start at square one and relearn how to stand and walk. I'm working through all the exercises that the therapists give me, and this week I'm glad to say I'm finally standing and walking pretty confidently with my walker.  Here's video proof: It's definitely a weird sensation walking on legs and feet that you can't feel.  I now need to work on my core strength so I can move from sitting to standing on my own.  Being able to get myself in and ...

This has been a busy week for us. Monday was a day off school, but Sydney had some odds and ends errands to do that included a dentist appointment and referral to get her wisdom teeth removed.  Also replaced the chipped window in the Jeep. Tuesday FINALLY my home nurse got rid of my catheter and had a followup visit with urology to make sure I wasn't retaining urine.  Everything checked out fine, so I've got no strings attached- That's a freedom that couldn't come soon enough.  I also had pre-treatment labs drawn. Wednesday was eventful.  Our first event was Sydney's athletic commitment day at her high school.  She signed her commitment letter to play lacrosse at Capital University in Columbus (separate post coming soon).   It was also treatment day at Main Campus.  The labs were done ahead of time, so we were set for a quick afternoon visit.  A slight change of plans when the labs were reviewed- I needed a blood transfusion as well, so more ...

This weekend is filled with tradition in our house.  The OSU-Xichigan game is front and center on our "can't miss" list.  "The Game" is steeped in tradition, and is the final checkbox for the regular season. Unfortunately, this year's loss, tacked onto the past 3 years' losses, means we have seniors who never beat Xichigan and that's a darn shame! We'll focus on the better tradition for this weekend- decorating for Christmas.   While the college kids are home for the Thanksgiving holiday, we take advantage of their visit and put up our tree and other decorations.  The bins come up from the basement, and while we unpack the physical decorations of Christmas, we also unpack all the stories and memories of Christmases past. Part of our family's tradition is making homemade pizzas.  The kids always shape their pizzas into Christmas shapes and "decorate" them with their toppings- olives, sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, cheese.  Dad goes f...