Good news!

The scans showed that things are getting better! The radiologist said "incremental improvement in all areas". The spot on my hip looked really good, just a little bit of cancer left, and the spots on my spine were a little better than have been. There were no new spots and I couldn't see the spots on my lungs this time (they must have been from a cold last time). ALL excellent news. We chatted about a trial with the doc again. He is still going to be looking for a clinical trial, but would now only consider ones without much for side effects and that wouldn't require us going down to Rochester all the time. I'm still not sold on the clinical trial, especially when things are moving the right way, but told him he could let us know if he found anything. Then we talked about the Grand Canyon and rafting down the Colorado. It was the best visit to Mayo in almost a year.

We did book the trip to Utah, we fly into and out of Vegas and I'm hoping to see the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches, Bryce (and possibly Zion), and take a raft trip from Page for 1/2 day. Yes, it is a little aggressive but, except for the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and the raft trip, everything is negotiable. It's also likely we'll be in some sort of heat shock since it has NOT been too warm here this summer. When I was calling and booking a couple hotels, I asked one of the agents if their outdoor pool was heated and was promptly told "honey, it's 106 out here, you don't need a heated pool". Live and learn.....

summertime

Yes, I've been remiss in my blogging duties, but summer is here and we've been busy! There was Historic Fort Snelling, the Wiesman museum, a couple weeks at the cabin, Kate's birthday party and still trying to get things organized/cleaned around the house. The first month with the girls home from school was harder, I was always tired, but now I can keep up (mostly)! I feel great, and don't have any symptoms of "the illness" which means I've been able to run around. That also means that I've done a few clutzy things, like fall off the 4-wheeler and have it run over my leg, and hurt my shoulder while vacuuming (if that doesn't prove I'm old I don't know what does), drop some chicken breasts in the oven - yes this is after the quiche. At least there was nothing that caused permanent damage!

We are in town for this week and next. Jenna wants her birthday party early and up at the cabin, so we're there for the weekend. Next week is another scan and tests (Wed at 10am, say a little prayer). Then I hope to either be back at the cabin or in Utah looking at National Parks. Still haven't decided. I'd like to believe that there will be plenty of time to see these things, but I've also learned that it's best not to procrastinate the things you really want to do.... I'll post the results of the scan, but probably won't be on again until next week. Have a good one!

SuperHero!

We had an awesome weekend. Joe's sister and brother-in-law came down from ND for the weekend and stayed at a hotel with a pool. The girls were in heaven!! They swam Sat and Sun and still didn't want to get out on Sun night to eat. Jeanne and Gary even went to school to have lunch with Kate (Jenna had a picnic and parents weren't allowed) on Monday. Kate came in for lunch, zoomed right past me and gave Gary a hug. Now I know what Joe feels like :) There was even some excitement! Saturday at the pool, Joe fished a little 1 or 2year old out of the deep end and saved her from drowning. She had wandered out of her hotel room and stepped right into the pool. Joe saw it happen, ran over and grabbed her, and pulled her out. The pool was so busy, no one had even noticed the little girl. Then it turns out, he's done this BEFORE! Back in the late 80's he fished a little kid about the same age out of a lake. There were other people there, but they thought the girl was bobbing along. Joe had been parking a boat trailer, realized she was drowning, ran past the other people, jumped in the lake and pulled her out. It's fairly ironic that he's saved more kids than some lifeguards, and he can't swim. One kid would be a hero, but two earns him Superhero status!!

Summer is supposed to be starting, but it barely got to 60 degrees yesterday. Today it will be all the way up to a whopping 64 degrees. Today is also the last day of school. We're all excited about having the summer to play (although I'm a tad nostalgic about my loss of freedom). We're going to start by having sleep overs tonight. That way we can begin the summer by being tired and cranky tomorrow! Hopefully they'll have enough fun tonight that tomorrow will be a nice peaceful day. If all else fails we can go to a matinee.

No Chemo

Hurray!! No chemo for the summer!! I'll get another scan in July and agreed to go in if I start feeling crappy or develop other symptoms, but since that's not going to happen NO CHEMO for the summer! My tumors aren't getting worse, they aren't getting better, they must be trying to figure out how to get out gracefully. The Dr. and I disagreed on whether the last round of chemo did any good. He claims that since I didn't have any progression, it must have been the chemo. I claim that since there hasn't been any progression since the Sept scan, it must not have been the chemo. There is no way of knowing for sure. Except, I'm right.

The company that tests the tumors against chemos needs fresh or frozen tissue. Mine is packed away in something like formaldehyde and wouldn't work. The doc didn't think he could get a surgeon to remove the one on my hip just for testing, so I have to check and see if they would be able to run their tests with whatever they could get from a needle biopsy. I thought the argument that the illness is gone only from the spots where the tumors were removed surgically, should warrant the removal of at least one more, but he didn't buy it. He still wants me on a clinical trial instead of another round of chemo, we'll talk more as the summer winds down.

For now it's explore Minnesota time. I'd like to take the girls camping (once), but since neither Joe or I are campers, we'll have to see if that actually gets done. I'm sure there will be adventures, both in the backyard and upstate. Here's hoping that everyone has a fabulous, safe, summer!

It's June!!

Jenna now has braces! Looks like a lot of metal on a little kid. She almost, yes almost, couldn't eat her chocolate cake last night. I'm sure it hurts, but she seems to manage for chocolate! Dr. visit today. We need to ask about delaying chemo for the summer, trying the company that tests chemos against your tumor, and get a better idea of the results of the last scan. There was a spot on my right hip which I assumed was the old spot, but the old spot is on the left hip. Joe said something after the appt, but I poo pooed him. Now I have to 'fess up and tell him he was right. HATE THAT!

Things are still going so well. I still can't believe my diagnosis compared to how I feel. I have never been so peaceful, calm and grateful for everything in my life. How do you compare that to the crap eating my bones? Since the trip out West is probably off for the summer, I would like to take the family to some of the state parks in MN. It would be fun to see a couple waterfalls, the headwaters of the Mississippi, the North Shore with the kids, and a couple museums for me. All scheduled around playdates, cabin trips and ortho appointments.

FYI, last week I made a yummy quiche with spinach. It was homemade (it was the first time I didn't pour it out of a box), and I dumped upside down in the oven 1/2 way through the baking time. Joe ended up cleaning it the next day since he is more anal, I mean detailed than I am. Bummer. We went out to eat instead and the rest of the weekend the kids would say that Dad should cook instead of me so that nothing got dropped. Since that was the first time destroying the meal and the oven, I refuse to listen. We're going to try and have quiche again tomorrow!

It's raining ducks

I spend most of my time convinced, or convincing myself that I'm not sick. By the way, we're no longer saying I have cancer, now it's just an "illness". It works most of the time, but there are those moments when you just get blindsided by the "illness" slapping you in the face. Pretty much whenever I try to plan something more than a week out, will I have chemo? Or when you hear about someone who's not doing well. Farrah Fawcett is all over the tv and internet. Or when you worry about the waffles you just ate, even if they did have real maple syrup on them. A whole foods diet is much harder than you think. Maybe it would be easier if I had a guarantee that it would work. Funny how life doesn't hand you any guarantees. Ha, ha.

It's been nice enough to go for bike rides, plant flowers, and avoid housework. Hopefully the sun will burn off the last of the colds that the girls and I have been carrying around for a couple weeks. It's soccer season and it would be nice if the weather would warm up a tad for us parents sitting on the fields....Kate asked me this morning if she was going to score a goal. WHAT did I do with that crystal ball?? She just figured out that Joe and I were boyfriend and girlfriend before we got married. For some reason that was just hilarious. Then she wanted to know if all the boys were sad when I married daddy. Bless her heart. Yes, Kate, they were devastated, crying for weeks, some of them are still in therapy....wait, that's Joe.

Next Dr. visit is the beginning of June, right after Jenna gets her braces (it is NOT fun watching your 8 year old get 4 teeth yanked out of her mouth). No scans, but conversation on next steps for treatment. I still want to have the chemos tested against my tumors before they go in the bod, hopefully delaying treatment until the end of summer.

For those of you that have seen the movie "Earth", they show two baby ducks falling out of a tree from 5 different camera angles, so Kate said it was raining ducks. It's not nearly as cute in the retelling, but it still makes me laugh!

Too much thinking

Here's what I'm thinking......the scan last week didn't show any real movement in the tumors since last September. Since chemo works on rapidly dividing cells, the only thing it would be working on would be my hair since the cancer is taking a little break. Therefore I should be able to postpone chemo for the summer !! :) YES I will discuss this with the Dr and probably find out why my theory is flawed, but I'm really enjoying getting out. The weather is great and I feel great. Although it was too hot for the dog on the walk today. We went about 1 1/2 blocks when she stopped and looked at me. She communicated telepathically that it was too hot for a 13 year old, black dog. So, we turned around and went home and I had to finish the walk on my own.

There was also a news story on Kare 11 about Precision Therapeutics. They test chemos against your tumor in the lab to see if they work BEFORE you shoot up. It doesn't always work since the body has a million variants the lab doesn't. Yet, doesn't it sound like a good idea? The last chemo didn't do anything, it would be nice to know which ones might....