Wednesday, December 18, 2013

18 months

Picture Overload...

These were taken around when Liam was 18 months old. I am so thankful for Liam and his blue eyes, single dimple, laughter, mischievousness, kisses, hugs... He is the sweetest baby and we love him so much! He is also into everything, does not like being sick and such a boy!













Saturday, December 7, 2013

Port

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer my Doctor told me I would need a port placed before we started treatment. Luckily, we live in a country where I could schedule to have this inserted the very next week so I could start chemo as quickly as possible.

Here's a little background on the port I had:
PowerPort - "The powerport device is implanted, which means it is placed completely beneath your skin, and the catheter is inserted inside one of the large central veins that deliver blood to your heart."

Yes, it really is purple! They showed me before they put it in. I couldn't find a picture that showed my port well. I was fortunate that the hospital had ONE of the smaller sizes on hand so I didn't have to get a regular one. I can't imagine how far the regular size one would have stuck out! I felt weird putting a stranger's picture on here so if you're curious, look at google images for a better idea.

The reason I needed the port was because I was going to have 5 months of very strong chemo plus a year total of another maintenance drug that was given through an infusion. This would simply be too much for my veins to handle without collapsing. Plus I had to get blood drawn all the time and receive fluids... I have to say I LOVED my port! When it was first inserted it really hurt and was uncomfortable. I remember thinking there was no way I could deal with having this thing in for over a year. However, over time it didn't bother me at all and eventually I didn't even notice and would forget it was there. It was odd, because you could see this triangular thing on my chest with three little bumps then the catheter running under my skin. At first I was self conscious about it but, like everything, I didn't care after awhile.

The special needle that was used to access my port was huge! Seriously, like a nail. Luckily, I had lidocaine cream. I would put a big glob on about an hour or two before, covered with none other than saran wrap, and that would numb the area. The few times I forgot, didn't put the cream on long enough, or they had to access my port multiple times... was not a fun experience!

This is the huber needle which is used to access a port. Yep, actual size!

I'm very grateful I didn't have to have an IV all those times. I would definitely recommend getting a port. After my last scan my Doctor said it was time to take the port out. Yippee! While I loved it, I hope to never need it again. Taking it out was a bigger ordeal than I expected. They had to do some kidney and blood tests then wait for the results, then the Dr. was running behind, then the actual procedure, then wait some more to make sure I was okay. I was at the hospital for almost 6 hours. It was pretty sore after but I was so glad to have it out!

(Anyone else find it awkward how you always have to leave the hospital in a wheelchair? Whether surgery or after having a baby... I wish they'd just let you walk out!)

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Kindergarten

I still cannot believe Katherine started Kindergarten! I was very nervous for her but it didn't faze her at all. She has to wake up insanely early, which means I have to wake up insanely early... School starts at 7:40 but we leave around 7:15. If you get there later the carpool line is very long, plus she gets to play in her room when she's early. The first week of school she woke up on her own because she was so excited. Now that it's not so new I have to wake her every morning and she is very tired, poor thing. We put her to bed earlier but she's always needed a lot of sleep.
  • Kate has been going to school for 3 months now and is a pro at the whole school thing. She really enjoys it, even though they have A LOT to learn. It's crazy what kindergarteners are learning. It's fun seeing how much she has learned in only 3 months though.
  • She really wanted to ride the bus, but I am not ready for that, so we compromised and she is allowed to ride the bus home on Monday afternoons only. I was so nervous the first day she rode the bus!
  • Parents are allowed to eat lunch with their kids so I've been about 3 times and Jason's been once or twice. I also get to read a book to her class occasionally.
I'm so proud of Kate. She has been working hard and trying new things and is doing very well at school! 




For the first 2 weeks of school she wore this bandana everyday. It lets teachers know she is in kindergarten and it had her teacher's name on it. 

Monday, December 2, 2013

PreSchool

(September 2013)

Abby had her first day of Preschool! She talked all summer about wanting to go to school but took it in stride when the actual day came. She seems so much older to us yet at the same time I can't believe she's 3 and going to preschool. She's going to blow her teacher away with how smart she is :) I think she's going to have fun because she loves being social and also really enjoys learning. Hopefully she'll have a nice teacher!




Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Herceptin

"Herceptin is a targeted therapy approved for the treatment of people with certain HER2+ cancers. HER2+ cancer cells have more HER2 receptors (a particular protein found on the surface of cells) than normal cells. HER2+ cancer is considered aggressive because it grows and spreads quickly."

"Herceptin is approved for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer that is Human Epidermal growth factorReceptor 2-positive (HER2+) and has spread into the lymph nodes, or is HER2+ and has not spread into the lymph nodes. If it has not spread into the lymph nodes, the cancer needs to be estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor (ER/PR)-negative or have 1 high risk feature.* Herceptin can be used in several different ways:
  • As part of a treatment course including the chemotherapy drugs Adriamycin® (doxorubicin), Cytoxan®(cyclophosphamide), and either Taxol® (paclitaxel) or Taxotere® (docetaxel). This treatment course is known as "AC→TH"
  • With the chemotherapy drugs Taxotere and Paraplatin® (carboplatin). This treatment course is known as "TCH"
  • Alone after treatment with multiple other therapies, including an anthracycline (Adriamycin)-based therapy (a type of chemotherapy)"

I had the TCH treatment followed by tri-weekly infusions of Herceptin for "maintenance." It came to a total of 18 treatments. 6 with chemo and 12 following chemo by itself. Getting just the Herceptin was quite easy. It took time, since I have to wait, like all doctor offices(!), then I have to get my port accessed, then some saline, and lastly, the Herceptin. It's so much quicker than when I had to get chemo and I've been doing it for so long that it's really just a breeze. The only side effect I had was being pretty tired the day off and the day after. But again, after chemo that was nothing!

I had my last Herceptin infusion on Friday, October 4th. I have a scan in November and if everything is clear then I get to have the port taken out!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Beach Time

We say every summer we need to do a family trip to the beach.  My sister-in-law, Laura, and her family live less than 2 hours from Amelia Island. We finally got around to doing it this summer. We stopped by their house for a night then headed to the beach. Jason's parents and his brother's family came too. We had a blast! The beach was perfect and everyone had a lot of fun. I'm so glad we planned this.

The last morning, Liam woke up early and since I didn't want him waking the girls I threw him in the baby backpack carrier and took him walking. When we started it was still dark out but as we walked onto the beach the sun was rising. It was such a peaceful and pretty moment.























Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Summer Days

Summer days can get kind of long so one day I decided to do a science experiment and have the girls make a volcano. Kate and Abby had a blast making the mixture and shaping it then adding the dinosaurs. You must have dinosaurs with an erupting volcano! We did most of it during Liam's nap time but he was ready to be part of the group as soon as he woke! We also spent a day at the Children's Museum; used food dye to color water, freeze ice cubes, then melt them together to create new colors; played in the backyard; Dr check ups, made some ice cream; and had some meltdowns... It was a fun mix up to the summer.

(I'm throwing a random picture in of when they asked Jason to volunteer during primary at church :))