Pictures

So we dressed the boys up for church today in their outfits we got them for Christmas.. can we say adorable...(biased? yes, do I care? no)


Kevin's might fit for a couple of months but I am not so sure about Cameron's. It is 18 months (he just turned 15 months) and it is already a little tight... oops!
Side note.. Cameron got two more teeth, molars on the bottom.. total:12

Christmas Pictures

Here is a great on of Kevin.

Cameron of course not wanting anything to do with Santa. (Holiday tradition I tell ya)

Our family with Santa.. we have one for every year we have been married... and I love each and every one, screaming kid (or dazed) or not!

And here are the "Santa" gifts. Kevin is in a "Polar express" phase and loves "the black train".. so he got one. And Cameron who is the easiest kid in the world is of course going to love playing with all of his brothers toys way more than anything we get him, but he does love to play with balls, so he got this bug ball thing.

Week number 6

Well, week 5 was horrible, the worst week but now we are onto number 6, so we can stop complaining now. they gave be benadryl so now I am just tired, but thank goodness I have enough energy to sit down to some good grub, Tylers mom asked what we wanted and we are getting it all! Twice baked potatoes, creamed corn, and tri-tip.. yum, yum! Thanks Mom! Good news, they are weaning me off of the prednisone and trying some new antacid, my left finger tips are now tingly and numb... no fun, we will see if I start to drop things becuase of it... other htan that, same old same old!
I do send lots of love this Christmas Eve!... I will take pictures of what Santa is leaving my little one's tonight. We will see how excited those faces will be tomorrow morning as they find what the Grinch was not lucky enough to grab! I am so excited this will probly be the first year Kevin actually gets it and enjoys!

There's no crying in baseball!

Ok, So I have heard some rumors that, people cry as they read my blog... "there is no crying in baseball!" (which movie, which movie?) I do not post so others can cry, I mainly post to document my journey, because, well, I am horrible at real journal writing. But to hear that others feel the need to cry...that just doesn't work for me, no way!... so now that I got that out of the way... No more crying!

I will tell you that this week has been the worst, so far, for something they say it "tollorated well",(cytoxan) it doesn't mix with me. Plus the 4 shots on top of it.. no fun for anyone. 4 hour naps are a very wierd occurance for me... I just wish that I didn't have to be so nauseated to get them :).. life as a Mom right? Husbands, go give your wives a 4 hour nap.. she will love you after-words and might give you a 45 min one later! ;).. It's only fair.

On a lighter note, can you believe it is the 20th of December?.. my jaw dropped as I saw the date on a newspaper in the cancer center... It can't be that close to Christmas! yes, I have shopped, I have wrapped, decorated, sung, but for some reason, I can't believe that it is the 20th!... does anybody else fell like it just isn't time yet? How to make it feel like it is time before time runs out?!? I need snow, a snowman, and a cup of hot chocolate!

Good news and stuff

So to start off, Cameron got two new teeth! for a total of 10. I know last time I reported I said he got number 9.. but apparently that tooth was a figment of my imagination becuase it can't be found. However, he has two huge 1 year molars on top and two very swollen gums on the bottom. If I had to guess he got them within the last 2 days because the fussiness factor has been off the charts and...they are bigger then when I usually notice teeth. They are his new toys, he has his tongue hung out of his mouth or his fingers are in his mouth chewing on them at all times. Cute kid I tell ya.

Then I had week 5 today, the worst week (1 & 5 are the same) for nausea and just generally feeling like crap. They upped my nausea medicine which is nice (I hope it helps). and good news, my PETCT scan showed... nothing!... no hot spots!... a few swollen lymph nodes, scar tissue, but no cancerous metabolic activity! yeah!.. that is good, that is where I should be at this point! So we continue on with 3 more weeks of chemo, two week break, and then three weeks of radiation. Great news!

I have 4 more days of neupagen shots this week to help keep my numbers up. Friday through Monday, and the following Monday I have a pentamadine apt in the pulminary lab... I am allergic to the normal anti-pnemonia drug so I get to go inhale junk from a nebulizer. Good news it is only 10 minutes long! This will be my second and last time. (and they even give you a flavored totsie roll if you are good :)

PETCT scan#2...check

So I just got back from my PETCT... didn't pass out this time.. they used my Picc line.. yeah! by the way, it is so much easier to do it in the morning.. I had to fast all day long...I literally ran for the van to have my wonderful husband waiting for me with Taco Bell and a 1lb box of See's candy... The Taco Bell I was expecting but, the See's was a wonderful surprise! Lets all hope that the Chemo has done such a great job that the cancer is almost hard to see on the scans... what do you think... am I that lucky? Well, good news is, I don't have to change any diapers tonight, bad news kids have to be at arms legnth.. looks like I will be locking myself in my room and enjoying a couple of episodes of Gillmore Girls...

Week 4 and some other randomness..

So week four went great today, I went running from appointment to appointment, and was out in like 4 hours! Chemo was just two drugs this week and they were both push... so that means quick.. I think the thing that takes the longest is getting the dressing changed on my picc line... have to keep that thing sterile... I don't think I will ever look at Saran Wrap the same way... having to use it to take a shower is wierd... but I haven't got my picc line wet yet!.. I did hear today they are scheduling me for another PETCT scan this week or monday to see how small the cancer has gotton.. so that is cool. I am now halfway through my chemo... party!

Here are a couple of pictures of my hair... for your laughing pleasure... it cracks me up. NEVER would I have EVER cut my hair this short but I enjoy 5 minute showers and my hair being dry in no time flat.. these pictures were litterally taken 4 minutes after my shower and it is DRY!! Will I lose it all or not?.. I don't seem to be plugging the shower any more, but maybe there just isn't enough left to plug it... or maybe it is to short.. I guess we will just have to wait to see.
Here are some pictures of those christmas gifts I sent off... I know for all the Jerome people these are nothing new.. but I sure like them.. I got the 6th (6 different colors too!) one done and now I just need to get the 7th done for Christmas morning. They can spell out like 87 different things, plus my mother in law found a new one "Servants of God" and my sister in law says they spelled out their name.. I swear it is like a mind exercise to find out what you can spell.
And here is a picture of my shelf in my room, our own little family Christmas tree set up next to my blocks!.. My own little piece of home!
Other than the picture I put in my header, here are some of our Christmas pictures. Cracks me up how a three year old and a one year old can have so much on their mind while I am trying to get a picture taken.

My day off...

So today was the first day since Tyler got here that I haven't had to go into the Cancer center. The four days of shots were short at least, in and out pretty quick, but those shots sting a little and they make my head ache, as well as my lower jaw bone, bone pain sucks I have decided... lol.(like any pain is good) Any ways, today is my day off and what have I done with it you ask.. nothing. Hung out with the boys, slept in, cuddled with my boys (which I can't get enough of for some reason) Oh another haircut!. Teri, cut it shorter, it is really thin now, but I still don't want to "buzz" it. So I sleep alot these days, but other than that I have gotton 5 of the 7 christmas gifts done. (I will post pictures later) but I am sending off these very cute, inexpensive, homeade gifts to four different states. I hope all my Sister in laws and my mother enjoy them. I know I am enjoying mine. I acutally have to get back to it.. One more to send off tomorrow!

Treatment 3b

So we got up early and had VP-16 this morning, this PiCC line really is great, just hooked me up and got it! woohoo! then Tyler took me out for Quizno's lunch.. wonderful! and I passed out for like 3 hours.... I can't sleep enough! on the bad news thing, the neupagent(sp) shots i need to keep my blood counds up are a 4 day series and becuase insurance won't pay for it at home, i have to go into have it done- 4 days in a row!... thank goodness gas prices have gone down.

Week 3.. A

So I had my first chemo treatment this week.. and it was a VERY LONG DAY! My first appointment was at 8:00 this morning to have my PICC line put in. It is wonderful and so far I love it. She got it in on the first try. It is a catheter on the inside of my bicept and it extends up into a vein above my heart, it is like 5 feet long. The best part is there shoudn't be any more needles, they draw blood and put my chemo in through it so it will save a lot of time! From there we went to the blood draw, very easy, and then we had a while until my doctors appointment so me and Ty headed to the van for a nap, I havn't slept that good in a while. Then I went to see the doctor, saw a new fellow this time, and good news my numbers were much better. I found out that my count last week was 300 (hence, no chemo) and this week I was back to 5000. very good. but I do have to get a shot friday to keep my numbers from dropping to much again. then we went back up for chemo which was adrimycin and vinblastine again (same as week one) and then VP-16 ( a new one) which was a drip. I have to go back tomorrow for another helping of VP-16. Should be a much shorter day though. 10 hours is way to long! Oh, my potassium is low.. I need to eat more, but the rest looks great! Tomorrow will be be treatment 3B. by the way, if this doesn't make any sense, they drugged me, benedryl, I can never think strait on that stuff!

He's Here!

No not Santa... not yet!... Tyler is here with us! Woohoo, we drove over to pick him up at the airport, Kevin feel asleep on the way, but Cameron was awake and gave Tyler the best welcome ever! He grinned and smiled and said "hi". He was just plain adorable. Kevin when he finally woke up said hi Daddy and held his hand the rest of the way home and was very excited to show Daddy his room, and Daddy's room and Cambria's room.. then they played forever wrestling on the floor, I think Kevin really missed that. So we took our pictures, that lasted about 30 seconds, the kids were more interested in the plane flying by and the birdie, birdie, birdie than taking pictures.. Maybe we will try again tomorrow after Chemo.
My hair was still here this moring but then I took a shower and lets just say I have "cancer patient hair"... it is very very thin and I can't move with out strands just falling out. I think if Iwashed it tonight it would all be gone. I have heard people say that it is easier to just buzz it but for some odd reason, I really don't want to do that. They say it is more tramatic this way. Who ar "they" anyways. I think the only trama was when Kevin went to play with my hair today and a whole lot found out on his arm, he had the weirdest look on his face and asked me why it did that... Poor kid.
Tyler is actually combing my hair as I type, he thinks this is funny, watching it fall out like this..lol he says this is too time consuming. Where is the buzzer?...lol. Well we will see how long I takes for me to buzz it or just let it all fall out!