It's Spring into Summer Already!

Things have been busy here.  I'm still here in Utah for treatment.  I had a scan in February which revealed that there were a few more spots left over after chemo than we had hoped. I underwent 20 days of radiation for a month. After radiation I had another scan in May.  This showed two spots on my lung that had grown since the previous scan. They had no idea what it was. They thought it might be anything from a fungal infection to more cancer, cancer being at the bottom of the list. Typically my type of cancer does not go to the lung.  I was scheduled to have a CT biopsy on May 31st. They stuck a 17 gauge hollow needle through my back, pinning my diaphragm and into my lung to try to obtain fluid from this spot.  The following week I was told that they didn't get enough of a sample.  I meet with the Dr tomorrow to find out for sure what's next, but they're thinking of sending me to a pulmonary specialist and will do another scan the end of August. Lilly and I are planning on visiting Memphis for a couple weeks this summer.

Lilly is huge!  She looks like a little person now instead of a baby.  She has most of her teeth, eats (well tries) pretty much anything. She is very happy and fun to be around. She is into everything. She loves going outside and literally runs everywhere. Both her knees are skinned from the pavement. She cries when she has to come inside. The last couple of days however have been in the high 90's and it's been impossible to go out unless it's early morning or late evening. It's still 90 at 8pm!

Presley is doing well.  This week he has been sick with what they thought was a sinus (bacterial infection).  He is going back to the Dr. today because he still feels week and tired.  He now works as a registered nurse at Methodist Hospital. We are so proud of him that he was able to pass his exams and obtain his license.

How we're coming along in 2013

So far the month of January has been pretty crazy. I thought I might be able to have a little break after finishing my chemo on the 4th. Lilly has been ill since just after Christmas. She had RSV and a kidney infection. We went to Primary Children's Hospital to have them look at her kidneys. We were sent back to a urologist. Lilly has what's called reflux. Presley also had this as a baby and had surgery to fix it. Her urine flows back into her kidneys causing repeated infection. Children with reflux are graded on a scale from 1-5, 5 being the worst. Lilly is at a 3. This means that there is a 70% chance she will get better on her own without surgery. Lilly is on a low dose of antibiotics which is good, but the bad part is it will take 3 years to tell if she'll outgrow it. This means she will be on antibiotics during this time.

I have been doing ok. I have my scan in about ten days. I've been tired and nights are not fun with a sick baby, but I think we've made it through the hardest part. Now I'm trying to retrain Lilly to sleep during the night. She's cutting more teeth. She has been crawling around like crazy and pulls herself up on everything. Presley went to Georgia again this last weekend to retake his Clinicals and he passed! We are very excited. He just n has to take a national licensure test and he can begin working as an RN.

2012 Hollidays:

The Hollidays have been really nice this year, considering our year has been pretty rough with all of Presley's surguries and finishing my Chemo. I was able to complete my 12th and last round of chemo and am awaiting another scan in February to see how things are progressing and what the next step towards treatment might be.  Presley was able to come and stay for two weeks during Christmas and New Years which was nice, since we haven't seen him since September. He is now back in Memphis and will finish up school. We're not sure yet when he will come back to visit again.  He will be taking his CPNE test on January 25th and plans to spend the next month preparing to take the State Boards to become an RN. We are very excited and have waited a long time for him to be able to finish. He is now also able to go back to work after this last surgery.

Lilly, Presley and I spent Christmas in Utah with my parents, siblings and their spouses. Lilly had a lot of fun although she did get tired out easily, I think she woke up early and there was just too much excitement. Next year will be fun to see her be able to open her own presents and understand a little more about Christmas.  We were able to take family pictures while Presley was here.  Lilly was also able to see Santa this year for the first time.

Lilly has been sick this last week. It was determined that she has a kidney infection and RSV. She is taking lots of antibiotics to help her get better.  Today we will be going to have an ultra sound of her kidneys done to make sure everything is ok.  I hope she gets better soon. She is now ten months old and pulling herself up on furniture. It's fun to see her progression!