Pre-Easter Weekend March 2018

On Friday, I went to Overland Park to pick up the kids after school for their Clinton weekend.  We dyed eggs the old fashioned way and using shaving cream and food coloring swirled.  They were pleased with how all the eggs turned out.  We frosted and decorated sugar cookies for Easter - they took some to Miss Esther down the street and Miss Debbie and Mr. Dennis (and SaraSue).  Grandpa and I helped Peyton with her homework - we had to use Google to help us!  I must have erased polygons and angles from my memory, because I don't recall ever knowing anything about them!  We are not smarter than a 3rd grader!   John Drury stopped by to deliver a gift from his daughter, Wylie, who is in treatment for breast cancer too - it says, Be Brave.

We went to church on Sunday.  The kiddos helped me at the piano during the gathering music time.   I also played the hymns and a two-piano special piece with Marnie Bellamy during both services.  I really enjoyed the two-piano  piece.

As soon as I got home, they wanted to bake Easter cupcakes, so they each had a muffin tin with 12 and used different Easter cupcake liners.  Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting colored with teal - not very Eastery looking but they loved them.

Garrison played a rock star all weekend using his nerf bat as his guitar.  He was hilarious.

Amanda and Chad has a short weekend in Las Vegas - see pretty pictures.  Chad flew back Sunday night, and Amanda will be staying all week for a conference.  I took the kids back to OP late afternoon on Sunday and spent the night with them so I could take them to school Monday morning and then came back to Clinton to get ready for my first chemo treatment on 3/27.

We are blessed.

Health Update and Fun Day with the Kiddos

On 3/14, we headed to Overland Park for a fun day with Peyton and Garrison - they were home from Disneyland and still on Spring Break - the parents went back to work!  When we arrived, the first words out of Garrison's mouth were, "did you bring muffins?" - of course I did buddy!  Grandpa and Garrison enjoyed watching cartoons early while Peyton and I made edible slime with marshmellows and powdered sugar - and of course, food coloring.  She's the slime queen!!!!  She did a great job.  Peyton painted a new colorful canvas picture.  Garrison made a "tent" using packing from his new remote control souvenir car from Disneyland and stickers he found in the drawer.  He loves crafts.

We went for a fun time at Dave and Buster's - they had a blast and earned quite a few points to redeem at the gift place, but they only bought a couple of small things - saving most of their points for a bigger prize later.  Good thinking.  We ate lunch at - where else? - Burger King!  They had fun playing and eating their favorite Whopper Jr. meals with Peyton having a sundae for dessert and Garrison having chocolate chip cookies.

The boys were ready to go home, so Peyton and I dropped them off and we went to Aldi to pick up a few items and to Hyvee.  We had a great time shopping together.

When we got back to the Todds' home, the girls watched a movie in the bedroom - the boys in the living room - all enjoyed a little quiet time.   Amanda brought food from Chick Fil A for all of us to enjoy for dinner.

On Thursday, Ron and I left the house before the kids got up to head to Lee's Summit for a day of grueling testing for me related to my breast cancer.  I had an ECHO of the heart, 2 CTs and a breast MRI (the worst one), but I made it, and the results were given to me on Friday - the cancer had NOT spread!!!!  Praise God.  Feeling blessed.

On Friday, we headed to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital very early (arriving before 6:30 am.) for port placement.  We were home around 9 a.m. and Ron went to work.  Kelly stopped by for a few hours to watch TV with me while I rested and brought me breakfast bacon pizza and a cappuccino from Casey's - my favorites!  Debbie Sieger stopped by before lunch to bring homemade pimento cheese for lunch and had a nice visit.  Ron came home for lunch, then Lisa Wallace and Pat Bouse stopped by in the afternoon with a lap robe that all my Bible Study ladies had signed and also my former choir members from the Christian Church - a treasure.  They also brought a devotional book and a brownie package a day kit with a scripture with them.  How special.  I had no pain from the port placement - just a little discomfort sleeping, but the second night slept better, but not longer!  Up since 3 a.m. on Sunday.

Saturday we did some Spring cleaning - washed kitchen curtains and rugs, cleaned the top of refrigerator, etc.  Trying to get some things done before chemo starts on 3/27.

Sunday - going to church then to pot luck lunch at church at 11;30 a.m.  Plan to go to the cemetery to take Spring flowers and work on the leaves outside.  Incisions from port are healing - need to wear a turtle neck top to church - don't want to scare people.

Looking forward to the week getting some tasks taking care of.  I will go to Overland Park on Friday to go tot he knee doctor and to pick up the kids for the weekend while the parents go to Vegas.

Love our family and friends - we are blessed.   So happy the cancer has not spread.

March 2018

To say this has been an emotional couple of weeks would be an understatement.  I had outpatient surgery under general anesthesia to have more tissue removed to obtain clear margins and to remove two lymph nodes.  At the end of the surgery - which went well but lasted an hour longer than expected and I did not get nauseous - yay - Dr Rob thought the lymph nodes looked good - small.

The pathology report was available on Friday, so I went to see Dr. Rob.  It showed there were clear margins, and that I was ER- and PR- (harder to treat) but the HER2 rating was not back yet.  All along it had been thought I would only need radiation therapy for 4 weeks, however, since my cancer would not respond to hormone therapy after radiation, it was thought I would possibly need chemotherapy (yuck).

On Wednesday, March 7, I met with my oncologist, Dr. Aimee Kohn at St. Luke's East in Lee's Summit.  The meeting (with Ron) lasted 2 hours and was very informative.  She said I would definitely have to have chemotherapy and radiation but still did not know if I was triple negative or if the HER2 was positive.  She told me the lymph nodes were not negative - there was not enough of them to evaluate.  However, she did not feel it would be helpful to do more surgery to try to retrieve lymph nodes as the treatment would be the same if the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes or if it had not.  She said the cancer I have is aggressive and would require aggressive treatment - just don't know how aggressive until the HER2 was received.  I told her I wanted a second opinion.  Dr. Robb arranged a second opinion for me with a KU doctor, Dr. Manana Elia for Friday, 3/9 at 11 a.m.

Wednesday evening, Amanda and Chad had late meetings, so I drove to Overland Park to pick up the kids at Bobbert's house (Steve Large or Skippy) - they had gone there with Isabella and Olivia and had supper with them after Y care after school.  They were excited to see me, and we went to there house, talked for a while, took their showers and to bed they went.

On Thursday morning, I took them to school.  Kelly came to Overland Park to spend the day with me since I had received bad news on Wednesday so I wouldn't have to be alone - so sweet.  I spent most of the morning on the phone with friends and medical personnel setting up appointments, etc., but we left Amanda's house around 11 and went to lunch at The Red Door Restaurant for french dip sandwiches, sweet potato fries.  We then ran errands to Kohl's, Scheel's and Price Chopper.  She went home around 2 p.m.  I picked Garrison up after school as a walker.  Then he and I picked Peyton up after Girls on the Run at 5:30 and we all headed to Freddy's for dinner.

Friday morning - no school - so we headed to McDonald's for breakfast.  They enjoyed ordering off the kiosk and sitting on the high stools at the bar to eat.  Since I had my doctor's appointment at 11 a.m. and Amanda and Chad were not going to be home until noon, I walked them down to Lauren Scholtz's house (neighbor) to stay for a couple of hours before they all left for Disneyland Spring Break trip.

Second opinion appointment with Dr. Elia went well.  She basically gave the same diagnosis and treatment plan as the other doctor, so I am going to stay with Dr. Kohn.  I drove home after that.

Later Friday afternoon, Dr. Kohn's nurse, Leigh, called to tell me the HER2 was negative, so I was triple negative (aggressive) and that I would have to have chemo every 2 weeks for 4 months and then radiation for 6 weeks, 5 days a week - would have to have aggressive treatment.  I will have a MRI, ECHO and CT of the abdomen and CT of the chest on Thursday, 3/15.  Dr. Rob will put a port in to be used for the chemo at GVMH in Clinton on Friday, 3/16.  That has to heal for a week - chemo will start Tuesday, 3/27.  I will have to go back to Lee's Summit the "other" week too to see doctor, have blood work and toxicity check.  I will lose my hair about week 2-3.  Nausea and vomiting is anticipated.  I will have chemo education class to deal with some of these issues on 3/15 while in Lee's Summit.

Both doctors indicated the cancer is aggressive but treatable and curable.  It has not yet been staged but expected to be Stage 1 or Stage 2.  The tumor was small and it was found early.  Good things.  I'm hopeful.  Many people have offered to help out in any way - driving me to appointments - food, whatever they can do.  Lots of prayers going up for me - so blessed.

God is good and we are blessed - just a bump in the road.

Amanda, Chad, Peyton and Garrison are having a great time at Disneyland for Spring Break and will get home on Tuesday.  Ron and I will go to Overland Park on Wednesday to stay with Peyton and Garrison.  We will go to Lee's Summit from there on Thursday for the tests.  I will have the port put in on Friday.  Can't finish these treatments until I get started - on with the charge to rid cancer from my body!  I appreciate the encouragement from everyone.