Cancer Free!

It's official! The doctor said that mom is CANCER FREE! They took the tissue from around where the tumor was and found nothing! Yay!!! SFC is GONE! Next is an appointment with a radiologist next week. She'll probably undergo radiation for six weeks, but we'll know more next week.  So be excited that SFC is gone!!

Chemo is DONE!

Well, Stephanie successfully completed her last chemo treatment! YAY! Her sister, Sharon, came down Friday and is staying until Wednesday to help take care of her during her last bad week. She has been doing fairly well this time, and we've decided that's due to Aunt Sharon being here. When Aunt Sharon's here Steph talks more, moves more, and doesn't simply sit in her chair and feel like crap. She has to go back this coming Wednesday for another Herceptin treatment, and then every 3 weeks after that until June. Those are easy though, and actually give her more energy. In roughly four weeks she'll have a lumpectomy. The surgeon is going to take out some of the tissue and cells that were around the tumor (which is completely gone!) leaving the majority of the breast. With this surgery the chances of another occurrence are between 10-15%. Not bad odds, really. The surgery takes about an hour and a half and is an out patient procedure. A few weeks after surgery she'll then have radiation. The radiation will be aimed at the tumor area and will kill any remaining cancer cells that might be hanging around.

So, overall, almost done!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and mom has been invited to a few different events by one of the nurses at her doctor's office. This Thursday is a Big Band Dance that she and my dad will be attending. She is really excited - bought a new outfit and hat even! She should be feeling pretty good for that, because Thursdays are generally a good day. (She has herceptin on Wednesdays and on Thursday has energy again)

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. The hard part is over, but we are nowhere near done. The SFC has officially lost though, and now we just need to finish the clean-up process!

Countdown to the end...

Last Wednesday mom went in for her 5th big chemo treatment. We were really worried about how she was going to take it. Each treatment has been worse in regards to her physical reactions. Treatment 4 was particularly bad. My Aunt Sharon (Mom's sister) came into town early Friday afternoon and is staying until Wednesday morning to help mom out. It has been amazing. This week has been the best big chemo week mom has had yet. She has not been nearly as sick, and has actually been up and doing things! (Last time she was basically bed ridden for a few days). We've decided that Aunt Sharon is the key. She already had plans to come for the 6th and final treatment, and no way is she getting out of it now!

After the 6th treatment mom goes back in for some tests and talks to her surgeon again. At this point we're not really positive what the surgeon is going to say, but there is still talk of a full masectomy. Right now the tumor is gone, but the cancer cells are still there. Apparently they were worried about her particular tumor because of its location to the muscle wall behind the breast. If they had done surgery on the tumor at first they would have had to cut into that muscle, which is apparently very bad. So hopefully that situation has been circumvented since the tumor is now completely gone! (YAY!)

Tomorrow she goes in for her herceptin treatment, which means that Thursday will be a good day. Feel free to give her a call on Thursday - early in the morning or early afternoon - to chat! Herceptin treatments tend to giver her a lot of energy and make her feel much better.

We are at the tail end of the chemo the last one is October 13th. Next step is surgery. Not quite sure what happens after that. Mom has said that she's never been so excited for Halloween.

Love to all!
Kira

2 More Left

This past Wednesday Steph went back into the doctor for another big chemo session. (Every three weeks like clockwork) The doctor could not find the tumor! He said that it is completely gone! YAY! That means she has two more chemo sessions, and four weeks after the last chemo she has surgery. Her last chemo is mid October, putting her surgery right before Thanksgiving. We're not sure what happens after that. The doctor hasn't said yet, but regardless the SFC is not winning this battle!

Kira

Half Way Done!!

We have officially reached the half way point! Take a moment. Jump up and down. Be excited, because it is extremely exciting. It feels like last week our lives changed and mom was diagnosed with the SFC. Now we are almost done with it!

When the doctor measured the tumor last week at chemo it measured at 3cm!!! Reminder: We started at 10, miraculously came down to 7, and are now at 3. The doctor was shocked and excited. That's always good. She is going to continue the current course of treatment, which is three more rounds of chemo and then surgery. Even if the tumor is completely gone she will still have surgery to double check and remove some type of thingy they put in there when they did the biopsy.

Mom's friend Kellie came down for the weekend to visit. That was awesome. It's really great to have her friends around. It really helps to boost her spirits. :) Today she has a herceptin treatment, which usually leaves her feeling much more energized and less sick, so hopefully tomorrow she'll be feeling better.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers! Keep them coming!

Kira

2nd Chemo

Yesterday was mom's second big chemo. She had to be in by 9am and got home roughly around 3pm. It makes for a long day! Everything went really well. The doctor measures the tumor every big chemo (which is every 3 weeks) and the first time it was 10 centimeters. This time it was 7.5! YAY! That means the chemo is working and the SFC is LOSING! Today she was still feeling good. She's reading again (there was a period of a few weeks where she wasn't reading much anymore. Couldn't focus.) so that is good too. Overall this SFC is getting taken care of slowly but surely!

Hair no More!

Well...we did it...we cut off the hair! Matthew brought over his clippers and shaved off mom's hair! She looks really good with super short hair! No major bumps or weird shapes in her skull, so that's good. She played with a wig that she got for free from the American Cancer Society yesterday. It's really nice, and looks just like her old hair. You can't even tell it's a wig once she gets it on. She also has a selection of hats and bandannas. Since it is beyond hot here right now the wig will not be going on her head any time soon, but she has it if she wants to wear it. She went to JcPenney today with her coach baseball hat on. Even in the midst of chemo, my mom is stylish! There were a few tears for the lost hair, but we made it through and know that this is simply another step to feeling better.

The last picture of her hair!

Matthew was terrified to start. He was scared of touching her head, and of my dad I think! Haha. Mom was sitting there waiting and waiting for him to start. I finally had to tell her he was scared. He got over it though!

Above: Matthew finishing up mom's trim.

Above: Mom's new hair!!!
Below: Playing with scarves

Last picture...mom's new wig! We wanted to get one that was different, but it is really hard to pick out a wig. We finally decided that long is just too hot in TN in summer and this one looks like 'her'.

On a funny note...one of the side effects of chemo is what they call "chemo brain". Basically it makes you stupid. It makes you forget what you were saying, doing, going...you get the idea. She used to blame it on old age, and now can blame it on chemo brain. ~Kira

Week 2

I took mom to her appointment today. Today's was a herceptin treatment. It is given just like her normal chemo, but it isn't chemo. It is a drug to treat the Her2 protein that is found on her tumor cell. This particular protein would have been extremely bad a few years ago, but all it means now is that she has to go in every week for a special drug. The special drug is directed specifically at this protein, and she has to get it every week. Her appointment was at 10:00, which we decided is perfect. We can leave at 9:00 and miss rush hour, and get out by 2:00 which gets us home before the afternoon rush hour. Today the office was PACKED because of the holiday weekend. It is both encouraging and depressing to see so many people having cancer treatments. While she gets her treatment she can read, sleep, eat, play sudoku, basically whatever she'd like to do. Usually there is room to sit in the treatment room with her, but because of the number of people there wasn't room today so I stayed out in the waiting room. The treatment room is a rather large room with eight or nine large pink reclining style chairs (they remind me of pedicure chairs) lined up in a room. There are less comfortable waiting room chairs facing the treatment chairs for family to sit in. You're allowed to bring lunch and drinks in with you. Today I got us some Taco Bell while she was having her treatment.

After her treatment I dropped her off at home. She was feeling alright - mostly just tired. Jarryd (the 9 year old grandson) is going to stay the night at grandma's tonight so that she isn't home alone. Dad is at work in Knoxville so Jarryd is there "just in case". That way we know someone is in the house with her. She hasn't had any horrible reactions yet, but better safe than sorry!

Her next appointment is another Herceptin treatment and that will be next Wednesday at 10am again. Wednesday are now her treatment days - unless she needs to change it for some reason. So every Wednesday for the next few months Steph will have to go to Nashville. Finally somewhat of a schedule!

If you have any questions feel free to ask and we'll do our best to answer them! Love to each and every one of you!

Kira

Last weeks end

Stephanie's energy level this past week was better than to be expected. She was able to clean out the attic (with help of Bob and her favorite girls), sorting through this and that to sell in Timea's Yard Sale. It brought back lots of memories....a decade of her life, Michigan life.
Stephanie waters her garden and plants everyday, you should see her cucumbers, (the diameter is as big as a softball or bigger.....no joke.) Timea made pickles out of them and they fit a hamburger nicely.
By the end of the week though energy levels are low. No sickness from the white blood cell shot. And no sickness from the chemo. I would say she has just a feeling of blah, a feeling of not herself. She did go swimming yesterday.....(disobeying Dr's orders). Well, she just waded. Stephanie loves that swimming pool, it was calling her name.

-Timea

Want to help?

I know that a lot of you who are reading this are not in Tennessee and thus feel pretty helpless. After discussing it we've come up with a few things that would be very helpful! Stephanie's doctors are in Nashville, which is roughly 30 miles from her house. Gas cards to Mapco, Kangaroo, Citgo, or BP would be great to help with her gas costs. When at chemo she's allowed to eat, if you would like to buy gift cards to Taco Bell, Subway, Jimmy Johns, or Five Guys Burger and Fries they are all in walking distance of her doctor. If you are more local they would appreciate anyone who would like to cut their grass or bring over dinner! If you know Steph you know that any meal she doesn't have to cook is a good one! (Although Bob does hate peas...)

Prayers are always extremely helpful and greatly appreciated as well. Thank you so much for being such wonderful friends and family. We love you all!

What exactly is going on with Stephanie?

In late May 2010 Stephanie woke up and felt a large lump in her right breast. Knowing that it wasn't normal, and that she couldn't ignore it, she went into her doctor. Her doctor sent her to a breast cancer specialist. The specialist only works with breast cancer and is an amazing surgeon. She has been working closely with Stephanie and helping every step of the way.

In June 2010 Stephanie was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. The lump is on the far right of her right breast, and as of June 28, 2010 is roughly 10 cm in size. This is considered a large tumor. Her surgeon and oncologist are working together to determine the best course of treatment. Since the diagnosis she has undergone a whole bevy of testing. They tested her heart to make sure she can undergo treatment - which came back great. They did a PET/CT scan to determine if there are any other tumor cells in her body. That also came back great. There are no tumor cells anywhere in her body! Yay!! They placed a port in her chest Friday June 25th so that when she goes into the doctor offices they do not have to poke and prod for new IV lines each time.

Monday June 28, 2010 was her first chemotherapy treatment. It was a very long day! She went in first thing in the morning and was there until roughly 4pm. They provided all the information and training to make both her and Bob feel comfortable with the treatment. She received three different medications, along with a pharmacy worth of medications to take home. She had to go back today, June 29, for a shot to boost her white blood cells. The doctor said that this shot can be administered at home by a family member or her primary care physician so she does not have to drive to his office for it every time. (Her oncologist is in Nashville, roughly 30 miles away) She has to go in for a chemotherapy treatment every three weeks, get her shot the following day, and do a follow-up appointment the next week.

In addition to chemotherapy she also has to be injected with Her2 medication. This is a medication to take care of a protein that is on her particular tumor. She has to go in for this treatment every week. The next treatment is Wednesday July 7, 2010.

At each chemotherapy appointment the doctor will measure her tumor to keep track of its progression. He said that it will start to dramatically shrink. After the third treatment (9 or 10 weeks) she will have an MRI, PET, and CT scan to check the cancer cells and see how everything is going. At the end of the 6 treatments she will then undergo surgery to remove any of the tumor that is remaining.

This is a ton of information for one post. If you would like more information please feel free to ask! Please do not google or share scary stories of people that you know that have undergone this process. Words of love and encouragement, along with prayers, would be greatly appreciated though!!