Well, we're back. Disneyland was amazing. The looks in my childrens' eyes alone was worth everything we put into it. Cadence was heard everyday to be shouting, "MICKEY! MICKEY!" We want to say an incredible thank-you to everyone who helped us make this trip happen. Jacquie Claggett, Tim and Carla Neufeld, Rob Ellis, Lisa Witt,Cariboo Road Christian Fellowship and Northview just to name a few. From the bottom of our hearts, thank-you. I didn't really realize how rundown, overworked and tired we all were until we finally had a chance just to enjoy each other as a family and think of nothing but having fun. It seems like years since we've done that.
The day after we got back Feather and I headed back into Vancouver to False Creek Surgical Centre where where through a friend, one of the owners had been incredibly gracious and offered a barrage of tests and medical imaging gratis, on some of the most advanced equipment in the country in one of the best clinics in the country.
Unfortunately, this is where the good news stops. Feather's chest MRI came back as abnormal. So far we just have the preliminary results from the radiologist who did the scans, but in a nutshell he offered two possible causes for the abnormality: Either there was damage caused by radiation (which the radiation oncologist said should not happen as the radiation treatments are focused and very precise), or the cancer has spread.
Most likely the next step will be a thoracic biopsy (which I believe is a laproscopic procedure where they go in and take some tissue samples). We are waiting for the official report from the radiologist, and then a consult with Feather's oncologist to determine the next step.
The radiologist said he thought it looked like lymphatic spread, which could be bad.
So please continue to pray, this is not the news we hoped for. The the spectre that is the prospect of starting this all over again is grim indeed.
One last thing to keep in your prayers... I also have a couple of clients who are late in paying their balance which is causing another level of undue stress as well. Ordinarily not a huge deal, but right now everything feels like a huge deal. Thanks for reading, I'll post more when I have details.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Off we go!!
Please pray for us as we set out on vancation. We've had to over come many different hurdles this week. The three girls, including me, are feeling much better from our colds, but Chris has gotten worse. Please pray that Chris feels so much better after a good night sleep and some California sun around the corner. Please pray that our van gets us there, we have to take it to machanic as we head out of town:( SICK?!?!
Chris's sister Cara and her husband Carlos and their littles ones, will be staying at our house while we are gone, we feel so gratful that they can do this for us. We are ready for fun, though I think the first few days will be recovery days for us:)
Thank-you to everyone who has made this vacation possible and to those who continue to support us. We couldn't thank you enough!!!
Chris's sister Cara and her husband Carlos and their littles ones, will be staying at our house while we are gone, we feel so gratful that they can do this for us. We are ready for fun, though I think the first few days will be recovery days for us:)
Thank-you to everyone who has made this vacation possible and to those who continue to support us. We couldn't thank you enough!!!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Just figures
We have all developed nasty colds. We all have serious coughs, sore throats, headaches etc. We are hoping that the warm weather in California will make us all feel much better. But we are concerned about travelling and flying with these colds.
Please pray that we'll all be feeling much better really soon. We need some recovery time even before we head out on vacation. We pray that we will come home from our vacation relaxed, rejuvanated, rested, and renewed. We are feeling hopeful about our future and working hard at finding a sense of normalcy.
My best friend, Heather, is coming out from Winnipeg and she and I are going to spend a couple nights at the best western hotel, mom's time. I'm so looking forward to having her present in my life, even if for only a few days.
We fly on Sunday am. I don't know if we'll have internet access for the time we are there. If you don't hear from me don't worry, I'll be soaking in the sun at the happiest place on earth:)
Please pray that we'll all be feeling much better really soon. We need some recovery time even before we head out on vacation. We pray that we will come home from our vacation relaxed, rejuvanated, rested, and renewed. We are feeling hopeful about our future and working hard at finding a sense of normalcy.
My best friend, Heather, is coming out from Winnipeg and she and I are going to spend a couple nights at the best western hotel, mom's time. I'm so looking forward to having her present in my life, even if for only a few days.
We fly on Sunday am. I don't know if we'll have internet access for the time we are there. If you don't hear from me don't worry, I'll be soaking in the sun at the happiest place on earth:)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Yeah!
I've been having the most normal and functioning week, for as long as I can remember. I've been able to get out and run errands everyday, while driving myself. I'm feeling a sense of independence and being able to socialize more. As an extrovert this is a very important part of my mental health. Even hough it's been raining, Ive been tanning and I can tell that the light and vitamin D is much needed.
My friend Kobie did my hair again and it's so stylish a sassy, I love it. I'm beginning to feel like a whole new woman. I'm able to fit into some of my skinny clothes again and I'm getting rid of my plus size clothes. I also had some spa treatment and my nails look great. My Dr. said that these things are signs of wellness in a woman. He said he can always tell when patients are feeling better while in the hospital, he said the men are sitting up with a newspaper, wanting to know what's going on in the world, while women are sitting up putting on their make-up, doing their hair and concerned once again with how they will present themselves to world. I'm feeling much better about my presentation, I feel I have no more visible signs of being a cancer patient. Now it's up to me if
I want to share my medical status. Though my body still scares me with many abnormal behaviours like, random severe headaches, severe nausea and vomitting, in active or way over active bowels, dehydration, random chest pains, low grade cough, random aches and pains in bones, joints and muscles; no tests have yet showen any sign of cancer anywhere else in my body.
I'll be getting a full body MRI done soon, planning of course that there will be nothing to be found. My meeting with my oncologist yesterday was poisitve and upbeat. She was very encouraging. My blood work is looking much better and much the same now as a normal person. I've been getting back a bit of an appetite, this after months of having no hunger feelings.
I still have lots of dizziness and clumbsiness as a result. There are most activities that still make me feel "sea sick" all the time. We've finally come up with a combination and schedule for my meds that seems to be working so much better, I'm feeling much more hopeful that I'm on the road to recovery.
I'm also excited and hopeful about our 10 day family vacation to disneyland. If you see us, please don't mention this as we are going to surprise our girls with the news on the way to the airport. What a great surprisee for all of us. We leave on Father's day, so we celebrate that, a much needed family vacation and our tenth wedding anniversary. YEAH!
My friend Kobie did my hair again and it's so stylish a sassy, I love it. I'm beginning to feel like a whole new woman. I'm able to fit into some of my skinny clothes again and I'm getting rid of my plus size clothes. I also had some spa treatment and my nails look great. My Dr. said that these things are signs of wellness in a woman. He said he can always tell when patients are feeling better while in the hospital, he said the men are sitting up with a newspaper, wanting to know what's going on in the world, while women are sitting up putting on their make-up, doing their hair and concerned once again with how they will present themselves to world. I'm feeling much better about my presentation, I feel I have no more visible signs of being a cancer patient. Now it's up to me if
I want to share my medical status. Though my body still scares me with many abnormal behaviours like, random severe headaches, severe nausea and vomitting, in active or way over active bowels, dehydration, random chest pains, low grade cough, random aches and pains in bones, joints and muscles; no tests have yet showen any sign of cancer anywhere else in my body.
I'll be getting a full body MRI done soon, planning of course that there will be nothing to be found. My meeting with my oncologist yesterday was poisitve and upbeat. She was very encouraging. My blood work is looking much better and much the same now as a normal person. I've been getting back a bit of an appetite, this after months of having no hunger feelings.
I still have lots of dizziness and clumbsiness as a result. There are most activities that still make me feel "sea sick" all the time. We've finally come up with a combination and schedule for my meds that seems to be working so much better, I'm feeling much more hopeful that I'm on the road to recovery.
I'm also excited and hopeful about our 10 day family vacation to disneyland. If you see us, please don't mention this as we are going to surprise our girls with the news on the way to the airport. What a great surprisee for all of us. We leave on Father's day, so we celebrate that, a much needed family vacation and our tenth wedding anniversary. YEAH!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Bad Luck?....
Chris and I had a terrible day of bad luck. Firstly we woke up half an hour before my appointment time in Vancouver. We were frantic, and then ended up stopped in traffic for a long time. I was 2 hours late for my appointment and thankfully Dr.
Gelmon was still able to see me. Then there was a mix up with my Herceptin treatment, and it started almost an hour late and then took way longer then we thought it would. We ended up in rush hour traffic combined with another accident. We didn't get home until 5:30, I was completely exhausted and headed to bed.
The reason my medication was delayed was because with all my weight loss, now I take less. According to the Dr's files, I've lost 31 lbs. Since I gained about 35 on chemo, I have about 4 more to loss to get to wear I was before. I'm hoping I can lose the next 20 with healthy eating and proper exercise. Today was my first day of proper healthy eating, that I managed to keep down, but with the help of lots of anti-nausea meds.
Great Luck has been having Cgris's sister Cara and her kids staying with us. Her husband will join us soon and our niece, Maya (3) and Nephew Jack (1) are adorable and our girls are loving their time with their cousins. We met Jack for the first time,and his great! Having the four kids here has been so much fun for everyone.
Chris is finally enjoying some time off. He worked basically everyday but Christmas day, since Dec 1st. We have family vacation booked for late next week, and it's our tenth anniversary getaway. We are so looking firwar to this time... it's time for our luck to turn around.
Gelmon was still able to see me. Then there was a mix up with my Herceptin treatment, and it started almost an hour late and then took way longer then we thought it would. We ended up in rush hour traffic combined with another accident. We didn't get home until 5:30, I was completely exhausted and headed to bed.
The reason my medication was delayed was because with all my weight loss, now I take less. According to the Dr's files, I've lost 31 lbs. Since I gained about 35 on chemo, I have about 4 more to loss to get to wear I was before. I'm hoping I can lose the next 20 with healthy eating and proper exercise. Today was my first day of proper healthy eating, that I managed to keep down, but with the help of lots of anti-nausea meds.
Great Luck has been having Cgris's sister Cara and her kids staying with us. Her husband will join us soon and our niece, Maya (3) and Nephew Jack (1) are adorable and our girls are loving their time with their cousins. We met Jack for the first time,and his great! Having the four kids here has been so much fun for everyone.
Chris is finally enjoying some time off. He worked basically everyday but Christmas day, since Dec 1st. We have family vacation booked for late next week, and it's our tenth anniversary getaway. We are so looking firwar to this time... it's time for our luck to turn around.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Ride needed to the city on Wednesday.
I need a ride to and from my Dr's appointment and treatment at the Vancouver cancer Agency. It'll be a fairly long day, but hopefully not to bad. I have a 10am, Wed June 4th, appointment and Herceptin treatment to follow. I'd say leaving here around 8:30am and arriving home around 3:30ish. Please let me know if you can help me out.
604-853-2966 Thank-you!
604-853-2966 Thank-you!
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