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!

Another Scan

On November 19th I had another PET/CT Scan.  I met with the Oncologist a few days later and she said that everything looks good. Things are shrinking, but I still have cells in my spleen that are lighting up on the scan.  I most likely will be finishing up the last 3 rounds of chemo, wait another 4 weeks and have another scan. At that time we should know if I need to have another form of chemo, radiation or even a bone marrow transplant.  I had chemo the day before Thanksgiving which is number 9 out of 12. I'm doing well and seem to be holding up ok.  This week we are going up to Huntsman Cancer Center for a second opinion.  

We had a nice Thanksgiving. This picture of me was taken on Thanksgiving. We went to my Aunt's house for dinner and it was very nice. Lilly got to meet some of her cousins she hadn't seen before.

Lilly is growing like a weed.  This week she has started scooting. She really likes my mom's watch and we put it on the carpet a couple feet away and she has been scooting to get it. She is now starting to scoot for toys as well. She has been up on her hands and knees and has been rocking back and forth for a while, but can't quite figure out how to make her arms and legs move at the same time. I have a feeling she will be crawling soon.  Presley is holding up well. He is continuing to have physical therapy on his shoulder and it seems to be getting better.  He will still be out of work for another few months. It looks like this surgery will set him back 4 months instead of 3 like we originally thought. He will be coming to Utah for Christmas which will be nice since we haven't seen him since September.  

Halloween

We had fun for Halloween. I wasn't sure how I'd be feeling. Our neighbor was kind enough to purchase a little costume for Lilly and we went to visit Aunt Geraldine and Grandma. I've still been feeling pretty well. 

September 2012

September was a crazy month!  Presley came to visit and we had a nice time. We went to several doctors appointments while he was here. Presley had his gallbaldder out at the end of August and when he came to visit mid-Septmeber his should was still hurting. We found out that he obtained a labral tear when he had an MRI done, after the surgeon admitted the Hospital Staff may have accidently injured him during his gall bladder surgury. He had to have another surgery on his shoulder and start physical therapy and will be out of work for at least 3 months. While Presley was here we also took family photos. 

Our Crazy Life for the past few months!

It's been a while since I've written and Presley has been asking me to update our blog. A lot of things have happened to us since May when I last wrote.  The last time I wrote, everything was great, I still felt tired from being a new mom. Just after I last wrote I developed a cough that I could not get rid of. I went to the Dr. who tried antibiotics and steroids and neither helped. I received a chest x-ray and they saw nothing.  While I was pregnant what we thought was a cyst or a lyphnode popped up on my neck and I had scheduled to go back to the surgeon to have it looked at after Lilly was born. That's when another adventure started...

May 18th- Had a second ultrasound of my neck where a lymphnode had popped up while I was pregnant.

June 11th-Went to have a CT scan of my lungs to figure out why I kept coughing.

June 14th-Our lives would change forever. I got the call no one ever wants to get. I was told to come back to have a biopsy done, because my CT scan was not good. I was told they thought I might have Lymphoma. I was dumbfounded! 

The following week I went in for surgery to have the lump removed. About a week later we met with an oncologist who told us that everything pointed to lymphoma but they were waiting to hear back from the pathologist to make sure.  We were told that once a lymphnode has presented itself, that person typically has had it for 2-5 years. They thought I've had this for at least 2 years. June 29th-I was told it was definitely lymphoma, they just weren't sure of the type.

During this time, my mom and my sister came out to help with Lilly while I had other scans and another surgery to insert a port-a-cath. We decided it was best for Lilly and I to move to Utah for treatment, where I could get help with Lilly and Presley would stay in Memphis to continue working and finish school.  Presley also had to have his 3rd surgery of the year and have his gallbladder removed. I went to Utah on July 18th, and started chemo therapy on July 25th. I would need 12 rounds of chemo over 6 months.

At the end of August, Presley had his gallbladder removed. He went back for his 2 week post-op visit and when he mentioned that his shoulder was still hurting, the surgeon said they may have accidently hurt him when they were moving him during surgery. Presley came to visit us in Utah on September 12th and went to see an orthopedic surgeon while he was here. The surgeon took an MRI of his shoulder and when they looked at the results, determined that Presley had a labrial tear from front to back and would need another surgery, and that he would be out of work for at least 3 months.  He was still on FMLA from his last surgery. He had his fourth surgery the end of September and is currently recovering in Memphis. He plans to come visit again at Christmas time. 

Currently I have had 6 out of 12 chemo treatments. I seem to be doing well, I haven't been to sick. Occasionally I get tired, but usually fair pretty well.  They've done a scan and everything is shrinking! 6 more treatments to go!  

Lilly is doing great. She is 7 months old! Where has the time gone? She has two teeth, can sit on her own for about a minute before she tips over and is starting to get up on her knees.  She should be crawling soon! She is 20lbs, happy and healthy. She loves green beans, peas, sweet potatos and most fruits.