A New Year

Happy New Year to you all!!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We had a wonderful Christmas, Birthday, and New Year! Ella had a very exciting first Christmas! My extremely talented friend Candice took this picture of Ella on Christmas Eve. I know I'm a little partial but she really is a beautiful little girl! She had fun at all the parties and family activities. She was a trooper through all the craziness of Christmas. We had a wonderful time in Augusta with my family. We were able to see many of our friends and family and Ella had a great time with Nanna and Grandaddy! Ella had so many gifts to open Christmas morning that she got tired and had to take a nap. I think we had more fun then she did.

We are officially halfway done with my big chemo. This last chemo was a little easier because I just rested. I didn't try to keep going like I've done in the past. I also found that sitting in my parents jet-tub helped tremendously with the joint pain. I will be returning to Augusta for a few days after my next treatment not just for the tub but help with Ella too.

This last round of chemo will probably release the last little bit of hair I have. My eyelashes and eyebrows are hanging on (thank goodness)! I've gotten used to wearing hats although sometimes I just get to hot and have to take them off. I get some strange looks but oh well. I meet with my oncologist next Wednesday to discuss how all my treatment is going. It feels good to be halfway through all this. My last big treatment will be February 27th if all continues to go so well. My plan then is to hopefully have my second reconstructive surgery and then return to work. I will continue to receive Herceptin until November and then we will really be done!!!

We are preparing for Ella's big first birthday next Saturday. We are having a FIESTA!! We've invited some of her friends from church and family. We can't believe it's already been a year. What a blessing Ella is to our lives.

As Joel and I prepare for the year ahead, we don't make resolutions. We look at the past year and give ourselves a life/spiritual/relationship check-up. There is always room for improvement so we decide what goals we set for ourselves in the upcoming year. As we say good-bye to the Year 2007, what a life changing year it has been. We've become parents, lost a lot of sleep, changed jobs, and fought cancer. We are stronger for it and forever our lives will be changed. We are excited to see the adventure God takes us on in 2008!

D-Day

Well, Joel and I are off to start the chemo. We start this morning at 9:00 AM and they've told me to anticipate the first session to last about 5 hours. My stomach is in knots but at least I slept well last night. We went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's last night for my "last meal." Most people have told me that with the chemo you have a metallic taste in your mouth and food doesn't taste so good. As you all know, I LOVE to eat. I made sure I got a great meal before all the metal. Joel's also taking me for breakfast this morning. I'm just living it up! Please keep our family in your prayers today. Thanks!

Love,
Lisa

All the stuff...

Phew!!!!!!! What a busy day we had on Wednesday! So....I'll start here....We saw Dr. Butler (the oncologist) and he was dressed up like a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. It was HILARIOUS! We discussed my chemo treatment plan and this is what it will consist of....

I will be receiving a combination of taxotere and cytoxan for 6 treatments. I'll receive a treatment every 3 weeks to total 18 weeks. I named the drugs so that any of you that have had these can give me any pointers, that would be greatly appreciated! Once I complete the 'big guns' I will be receiving herceptin for one year. We don't really know right now how I will be receiving it, but from what I've been told, patients tolerate this drug very well.

I met with a chemo-educator and she went over what I can expect. My first chemo-session will be Wednesday, November 14. The first session will last about 5 hours to make sure I tolerate it all well, but after that, the sessions won't last as long. She told me that I can expect hair loss, so we have a sign up sheet for all of you who are going to go bald with me. She gave me some great ideas on different foods and supplements that will help me tolerate the chemo. Again, if anyone has any advice from experience, I would love to hear from you. I have been very impressed with my oncologist and the oncology center. The nurses that will be administering my chemo will be the same two nurses every time. This helps me to rest easy knowing that they will know me personally.

I will say that I am a little shell-shocked after receiving all of this information, but God has been faithful to me thus far, and I know that He will continue to give me the strength and the peace that I need every day.

They removed my drains today...and THEN...they told me I couldn't take a shower for another 24 hours!! Regardless, I'm happy their gone, because they were really starting to get uncomfortable. Dr. Haines (plastic surgeon) said that I was healing beautifully and they will begin the tissue expansion next week.

The most important thing is that Ella went to her 9 month check up. We met her new pediatrician and we LOVED her! Ella weighed 23 lbs, 2 oz and she was 30 inches long. Dr. Thomas told us she was the average height of a 14 month old. At least my arms will be stronger for it.

Ginger, one of the girls I worked with, brought us a wonderful meal last night and made sure our bellies were nice and full for the Fall Festival...We had a great time there and we've posted a couple of pictures on our flickr site. Click here

Joel arrived home this afternoon and boy were we glad to see him! Ella had a giggle fest when she saw him. He completed his training with flying colors and now we pray that the right position will become available locally.