Eight more chemos...and counting!

Hello friends and family!

We apologize for not blogging in a while, but as they say, no news is good news! Mom continues to thrive and exceed everyone's expectations as she recovers. She is back doing chemo every other week (on Mondays now, instead of Thursdays). The doctors were going to try to have her go every week for three weeks and then have one week off, and so on. However, Mom's white blood cell count still drops pretty low after each treatment, so they decided to switch it to just every other week.

The chemo still causes a lot of fatigue and muscle aches, but we have so much to be thankful for. Every check up has gone well, and she has great range of motion of the side of the surgery. Although, we still might have another surgery to go, she is so healthy and strong (both physically and spiritually) that we know she can conquer anything. What a joy it is to be able to let everyone know that their prayers were answered and that the cancer is gone! The journey was not easy, but so rewarding! She has had such endurance throughout this race to the finish line, and she shows no signs of slowing as we approach the end of chemo! We can't help but be inspired, humbled, and so grateful when we are with her.

Thank you again for your support! It has meant the world to ALL of us as we went through it all.

We love you!

The Kids

CANCER FREE!!!

Nothing but the best news to report!! Mom is continuing to heal, and we all just marvel at her! Although she has had some discomfort with the drains, she has not had to use any of her pain medication. Her visit to the doctor went really well. She still has one drain in, and hopefully it will come out next week. But, the best news was when the doctor told her that they got ALL the cancer out!!! He thought the margins were great, and although we knew that the one lymph node they took was infected, the others were not. It's the best news we've ever heard! They got it all! Thank you, Jesus!!!

The timing of this good news was perfect, too. Her sisters have been here for the last week taking care of her, and they can fly back home tonight knowing that their beloved sister is cancer-free!! Mom will still continue with the chemo treatments as a preventative measure. She will meet with her oncologist, Dr. Reyes to find out when she can start again, but we anticipate a few more weeks still without any chemo so that she can continue to heal.

We are all feeling SO relieved and SO grateful! Praise to the Lord for what He has done! We can not begin to thank you all enough for your support, prayers, love and kindness. Mom and the rest of us were always blown away by the thoughtfulness and generosity of her friends and our family. You all have made this easier to go through. Thanks for cheering her on! She's quite a fighter, and she's WON!

We love you!

The Kids

Successful Surgery!

Thank you all for your prayers! The surgery was successful and Dr. Lara was able to remove all the infected tissue this morning! He did not see anything unexpected, which is just how we liked it. He removed some of the lymph nodes, which he was going to do, and he will have them tested to check for any irregularities. We should have those results in just a few days.
Mom is looking great and already wanting to come home. She is recovering so well, but will still have to stay at the hospital overnight at least. We hope she can come home tomorrow to heal, and we are all taking shifts to help out. (even her sisters are coming all the way to California for a few days; she is so excited!) She will need to stay in bed for about a week and have to deal with some annoying drains; however, she hopes the pain will continue to minimal and looks forward to a speedy recovery. We hope to have more updates tomorrow for everyone.
She loves you all and appreciates all the cards, notes, and prayers!!! We have all known how brave she is, but today she overwhelmed us all by her calm strength. She is our HERO!!!

All our love,
The Kids

Last chemo before surgery

More good news! Mom went in and saw Dr. Reyes yesterday, who had the results of her most recent MRI and her BRACA test. The tumor is completely gone! Although some of the IBC remains in the tissue and nodes, the mass has completely gone away! Also, the BRACA test results came back negative, which means that this is not something hereditary. Mom, of course, was very worried that this was something she could pass on to us, but now as she puts it, "if you guys get cancer, it's your own fault". We have SO much to be thankful for!
The surgery for the single mastectomy has been scheduled for August 1. She will most likely stay in the hospital for 1-2 days to recover, and then at home to rest. The doctors want Mom to totally recover before going for more chemo, so she will most likely not have any treatments until September. After she has completely healed, the other surgeries will be scheduled. We were a little disappointed that there will be multiple procedures, instead of just having everything done in one surgery. However, the doctors think it is wise to take it slow and to do all the procedures one at a time. After processing everything, we are so grateful that Mom has such thoughtful doctors who are taking such good care of her. The picture to the right is Mom's chemo nurse, JoAnne, who we have all grown to love.
Thank you for celebrating the good news with us, and we are grateful in advance for your prayers and support throughout the surgery and recovery. Until then, please continue to pray for Mom's post-chemo well-being. The fatigue does get worse with each treatment. Mom's spirit though does not grow weary! She is SO brave, SO positive, and SUCH a fighter. It's truly awesome to watch her.
We love you all!
The Kids

Back At It...

Mom got back home Monday night from her road trip. She had a marvelous time enjoying the beautiful scenery, amazing people, and wonderful adventures! The highlight was the Relay for Life Cancer Walk in South Dakota, with family and loved ones (the photo on the right was taken here!). However, we are all glad to have her back where she belongs.

Today, we met with Dr. Reyes who confirmed what Mom thought- the IBC is receding!!! Thanks for the prayers! She would like to still do one more treatment with the herceptin before surgery, but we will know more in a few weeks. Today, Mom had a full day of treatment and is feeling great. Her next appointment is scheduled for July 10 with an MRI and surgeon consultations prior to that.

Our prayer requests are for: wisdom for the doctors, continued recession of IBC and of course good health throughout. The whole family would like your prayers as we make decisions about surgery plans and treatment.
We love you and are so grateful for your prayers!
The Kids

South Dakota Bound!

Mom will leave on Friday for a road trip with her friend, Denise Celse, to visit family. We are excited that the doctor's have allowed Mom to go ahead with her three week trip, since the girls have had this planned for the last two years; however, we are still nervous for her safety and health. Please be praying these next three weeks that the trip will go smoothly and that Mom's health remains in good condition.
The new treatment with the herceptin seemed to work well. Mom did not experience any new side effects, although the fatigue continued. She pushed through a long weekend, filled with graduations and small trips, so she is doing her best to recover from that before heading out on Friday. Her white-cell count came back pretty low (1.9), so she had a booster shot yesterday and then will have another shot today. Our prayer is to get the count back up before Friday morning!
Once she returns from her trip, we will go ahead and have one more treatment, with the herceptin, before scheduling the surgery. Her next treatment is planned for Wednesday, June 18. Thanks for praying!
Love- The Kids

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It is appropriate that we got news worth celebrating yesterday at the oncologist appointment, since it is Mom's birthday today! The tumor has shrunk dramatically; so much so, that the oncologist had trouble even finding it during the exam! Her hope is that by the time the surgeon goes in to remove it, that cancer will be gone.

With Mom doing so well with her chemo treatments, Dr. Reyes recommended doing one more treatment before the surgery. This would push the surgery to July, and we would have one additional chemo treatment in June. After recovering from surgery, Mom will continue doing small doses of chemo and other maintenance treatments for the next year to get rid of the IBC. We still have a long way to go, but she's doing it! GO, MOM! This cancer obviously had no idea who it was messing it with!

Happy birthday, Mom! You have always been an inspiration to us, but never more so than in these last months. Your strength is outstanding, and although you say you're tired, it never seems to show. Your faithfulness is a true testimony to those close to you and those who watch from a distance. It's seems funny to be thankful for the blessings that came from this awful situation, but we can honestly say it has been our honor to go through this with you and witness your spirit. You manage to show God's love, endurance, and even joy through it all. We love you more than you'll know, and today we celebrate you!

All the kids

ps- Thanks for the hats, Patti!