Update from Houston

Hello! ! !

So I am coming home on Thursday! I am so excited! My plane gets to STL at 5:40pm.

Everything has been going pretty good. I get my PET scan results that I had done last week and the second biopsy results all on Thursday morning. I have an appointment with Dr. F at 8:30am. Then fly out around 3:30pm. So excited about all that.

I miss everyone! I am so thankful for all your thoughts and prayers. I have been writting a whole lot. Love the weather down here! Thankful for Debbie and Jamie for coming to hang out. Kayla and Brandon have been awesome enough to let me hang out with them.

I will be coming home for two weeks. Then I have to come back down for 3 days in two weeks. Then back home for 3 weeks. Then we will go from there. So ready to go back to work.

Love

Day one of treatment. . . over!

Hey hey hey!

So first of all Britney Spears was freakin' amazing! I loved it. She didn't pull me up on stage. . . Maybe next time! Kayla and I were dancing the whole time! My dream job would be to be Britney's back up dancer and go on tour with her! It was awesome! ! ! ! !

So I had my first day of treatment yesterday. Before treatment I had to be at the hospital at 8am for a small out patient surgery.They took a small noodle size piece out of a tumor under my right arm. I will do this again in 8 days or so. Hopefully we will see change in the tumor and know if the treatment is working.

After that I then went to treatment. I took four pills. That was it. Well kinda. After I took the medicine then it was EKG and blood work every hour on the hour.I was there from 1:00pm till midnight. Long day. My port didn't want to work the whole time but I am thankful I have it.

Today I took the medicine at 5am. You have to fast one hour before and two hours after. That way I could eat breakfast and dinner around normal times. You take the medicine 12 hous apart.I am feeling ok. Pretty tired and an upset stomach but that's it.So that's pretty good!

Miss and love you all

Love

09-09-09 long day

Hey all! So this morning I had a wake up call for 6:30am. Then took the shuttle from the hotel to the hospital. I had an EKG this morning, then blood work, then an echocardiogram, then a test for HPV, then a PET scan that doesn't start till 4:30pm. If I get called on time then I will be done by 7:30pm. Worst part about it is that you can't eat or drink for six hours before the scan. I got to Houston yesterday around noon then went to the hotel and then straight to the hospital. Had blood work done and had to sign my agreement formally saying I was ok to start the new treatment. Afterwards my friend, Kayla picked me up and took me to see her new place and to dinner.Everyone is being really nice down here. Like I said it has been a long day but not too bad. Tomorrow I have a chest PA and LAT, I don't know what that is and then I have a CT scan. That all doesn't start till 3:50pm. So I will be sleeping in tomorrow! I will keep updating! Writing has helped pass the time! We will see how it goes. . .

Love

Phase one trial treatment. . BRAF

HEY hey Hey!

So I am heading to Houston on Tuesday of next week. Once I get there it will be all testing. I then start the official treatment on Monday. The treatment is called BRAF. It is a targeted cell therapy. The idea is to stop the protein called BRAF from making more cancer cells. The treatment comes in cycles of three weeks and they are all back to back. So the first cycle I have to be there every day. The second cycle I have to be there on day one and day eight. So basically I am going to be down there for almost five weeks. Only four other people in the world have gone through the treatment. They are on dose three or four by now. Oh and they are from Australia. So there will be two of us doing the treatment in Houston and there will be another two in Nashville. 

While I am down in Houston I have decided that I am going to write. My whole story. The good, bad, and the ugly. I will still blog and email. But lets face it I will have a lot of time on my hands. Hopefully I won't be too sick. 

I am going to see Britney Spears on Sept. 16th with Kayla! I am so excited! I think she is going to call me up on stage! A girl can wish!

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers! I think this is going to be a good thing. I am a little nervous but ready at the same time!

I will try to blog every day and keep you all updated.

Again thank you all

Love~

Back in Houston

I got into Houston on Wednesday. The flight was good and traveling went much smoother this time.
I had doctor's apts. this morning and this afternoon. I have heard so much today. I am really tired. But I am trying to make a decision.
I will let everyone know as soon as I decide and tell my close family.
I am going to blog on Monday and update you all on the news.

All is good.
Everything happens for a reason.

LOVE~

Speech

Told you guys I would write soon. . . haha

I forgot to mention the Relay for Life walk I went to in St. Charles, MO. My aunt Lynn lives over there and plays a huge role in putting it on. I went last year right after my first surgery and had a great time. (except for the down poor for the 10min. it lasted) So this year my aunt asked if I would like to go again. I was so game!

I don't know if you guys know but I like to talk, maybe to much. I could talk to a tree as some people say. Well I had said something a while back about wanting to do some public speaking/motivational speaking. I don't know really how my aunt did it but she called me a couple of weeks before the walk and asked if I wanted to speak at it. I was so excited. I never was nervous. I was to talk about fighting back and that was really all I was told. 

I loved it! I thought it went pretty well. Some people came up to me afterwards and wanted to talk. That was a pretty cool feeling. It let me meet more wonderful people who maybe I wouldn't have talked to there that night. It also made me want to think about how to do such a thing more often. I would love to speak not only at those type of functions but also at high schools, churches, or where ever. It was an awesome feeling.

If anyone has any ideas of how to get more involved in to something like that please let me know!

Love~

Its Been Too Long

Hey everyone. . . 

Sorry it has been a while. I wanted to let everyone know what has been going on since I came home from Houston. 

First the Poker Run was so much fun! Everyone had a great time! It was so beautiful outside the whole day! I am so thankful for everyone who came. All of the people who helped put it on did a really great job. I was just glad to get to tell everyone under one roof, thank you!

I met with Dr. N after I got back. Talked with him about what Houston had said (IL-2 if my cancer had changed and gotten bigger or to wait.) It has not changed from when I found out it came back (end of April) till the PET scan they did down in Houston (June). So Houston wanted to wait two months and recheck it again when the two months were up. I understand why they wanted to wait but it has been hard to not really do anything about it. So today I went back and saw the oncologist in St. Louis. He agrees with the treatment of IL-2. St. Louis does not offer it though. So I would have to go to Houston to do the treatment. The oncologist in St. Louis (Dr. L) said that he thinks that it is a great plan. However, when I do go back down to Houston there are steps I am going to take. 

1. Have the PET scan and brain scan.

2. If the scan shows that it has changed for the worse, start IL-2.

3. If the scan shows no change then ask about options of surgery. 

I agree with this plan. It is a combination from talking with every doctor involved. I think that IL-2 is what is best for me. I am a great candidate for it. But I am not comfortable with going down there and finding out there is no change and waiting another two months. I will be really happy if there is no change because that means that my body is fighting on its own without any medicine. But I want to do something active now. 

I leave for Houston again on August 9. I have blood work and all the scans done on the 10th. Then meet with the doctor on the 11th to review my results. Then we will make the call after we find out the news. 

Sorry its been so long. I am doing good. Summer is flying by and I am just trying to spend it with everyone. 

Promise to update soon.

Love~