21 inches of snow...

Hey everyone, a different type of post for those who have been following. Enjoy the pictures as much as they did.


Carter and Mom sleding on the hill out back


Buddy trying to navigate the snow




The snow brought them together with no barking

1/3 of the way done after today!

It is December 21st and as I sit in the chemo room with Liz it is great to think that when we leave she will be 1/3 of the way through this stuff. Liz had a great week last week that ended with 21 inches of snow and an oven baking wonderful baked goods. Believe it or not we got all the Christmas shopping done (blitzed it all in 1 night) and Liz wrapped everything over the weekend.


The end of the week also brought on the hair loss side effect, and to show my support and affirm that WE are in this together, I gave myself a hair cut.



We are not sure how the rest of the week will go but with positive attitudes, awesome doctors, a box full of meds and all the friends and family praying for us... we will get through it

Keep up the prayers - they are working

After four really tough days, Liz is doing is doing much better. While the nausea has subsided and she's eating again, she's still exhausted and moving slowly.

Please keep the prayers coming. In Liz's words, "Thank you so much to everyone for the outpouring of prayers, love, and support - it really really helps!!! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing support network surrounding me. :) I'm hanging in there!!"

Please enjoy this picture of Liz and Harrison at Carter's first basketball game of the season earlier today.

Chemo sucks

Today is the first day after the chemo treatment and the effects are starting to kick in. It is brutal to watch someone get sick from the medicine that is in her body to make her better. It is even more difficult to know that she has to go through this 5 more times.

Chemo sucks

One chemo treatmant down! Liz is a superhero

We made it through our first chemo treatment today. Liz did awesome with an attitude like no other. The nurses at the practice are amazing and definitely helped to make the 4 hour appointment as good as it could be. Liz felt good leaving the appointment and through the rest of the day, she is sleeping comfortably now. While we don't know for sure what the next several days will present, we are prepared for a difficult Wednesday. Thank you to everyone who posted messages on our Facebook pages, at last count Liz had 40 on just one status update. The prayers and positive thoughts continue to help us through this process.

Stage 1 done, onto Stage 2

Liz has made it through the first stage of the process successfully! She is up moving around, feeling good and getting mobility back in her arms. Tomorrow she begins stage 2 of the process - Chemotherapy. For those who don't have any experience or know of anyone who has gone through it consider yourself blessed. The treatments are straightforward and scheduled, the effects of the treatment are not. We have heard many stories from different people about how "it went for them" but we are reminded of what one of our doctors told us early on "while others will share their stories, each person is different and the journey is unique". Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Updates to the blog to follow.

SHOWER DAY!

Today was a big day. Liz got to take her first shower in 2 1/2 weeks. She is doing great and making wonderful progress - a true fighter. On Friday she will have a Medi-Port put in. The Medi-Port is implanted beneath the skin into the central line to your heart / blood system. It helps the chemo to distribute more effective and saves your arm from the number of sticks. If you are really interested (it is kinda cool) follow this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port-a-Cath.

Recovery in Progress!

We've got a few bits of good news to share:

First, we are one week into recovery from the surgery and things are going well. Every day Liz gains more strength, but her arm mobility is still very limited. She's up and walking and definitely feeling back to herself, but isn't able to lift more than a fork or remote control and still has bulky (bothersome) bandages. Liz is hoping to get the bandages off by the end of the week - this will mean she gets to take a shower!! She can't wait for that.

Next, we received a great call yesterday from Liz's surgeon, Dr. Akbari. We knew coming out of surgery that Liz's sentinel lymph node tested positive, requiring them to remove more lymph nodes for testing. You can imagine that this was not news we wanted to hear. We felt very relieved yesterday, though, when Dr. Akbari told us that of the other nodes, only one tested positive - and it contained only a "speck" of the cancer. Bottom line is that this was the best possible news to hear given the news coming out of surgery.

Finally, we had an appointment with the oncologist today to learn about Liz's treatment plan. She will be receiving chemotherapy every three weeks for 4 1/2 months - starting on Monday, November 30 and ending in April. Treatments will last 2-3 hours - the doctors told Liz to expect fatigue and hair loss but do not expect much nausea. We are hoping this is the case, and are very happy to have the plan laid out for us.

We want to close by thanking all the family and friends who have helped us over the past week to keep food on the table and the house in good order! We are also so grateful for all the prayers, cards, flowers, emails and support that we know we are receiving from you all. We are truly blessed.

We'll leave you with a picture of Carter at his last soccer game of the season this past Saturday - he loved his fourth season with Coach Lamb, and he can't wait to start basketball next week!

1st night at home, under our belt

Her first night was much better than I thought. Liz slept comfortably with stretches of 1 1/2, 2 1/2 and then 1 1/2 hours. The itching finally subsided and after realizing the Percocet was making her nauseous and switch over to Advil, sleeping came easier.

Home from the hospital

We got home today around 4:30 after a long stay at the hospital. It is great to be home, the boys are happy and Liz is sleeping comfortably.

Surgery Went Well

Today was the big day - Liz's surgery. It went well. The day went as expected, with Liz in her recovery room by dinner time. While she was still coming out of anesthesia and quite grogery, she insisted on telling us a joke that was told to her by one of the excellent medical professionals who cared for today:

"A business man boards a plane, takes his seat and opens his laptop. After a few minutes in the air, he hears a voice say 'Nice Tie!' He continues working and, after a few minutes, hears the voice say 'Nice shoes!' He looks around and cannot tell who is speaking to him. Again he hears the voice say 'Nice suit!' He rings the call button and says to the flight attendant 'I'm sorry, but I keep hearing strange voices tell me that I'm dressed nicely.' The flight attendant responds 'Oh, that's just the peanuts - they're complimentary.'"


Her doctors all said that they would love to bottle Liz's positive attitude today and share it with the rest of their patients. We're expecting to come home tomorrow afternoon, and will spend 3-4 weeks recovering at home. This won't be easy - Liz is not to use her arms except to lift a fork or remote control for 3-4 weeks.

The highlight of Liz's day was talking to Harrison, who was at the Lego Store with his Aunt Celeste, Uncle Tee and cousins Kennedy and Colin (and Carter). Harrison loved hearing his mom's voice and learning that the surgery was over and that she was doing well. We hope you enjoy the picture of Harrison talking to his mom tonight.

Many thanks for the prayers and support - it has been overwhelming and uplifting to know that so many of you are with us in spirit every day on this journey.

On the Job Support

We received an email over the weekend from a friend who works in marketing and the client they serve is NASCAR. She sent a heartfelt email that last week, below is a segment of the email:

"Tomorrow M&M is running their Susan G. Komen car in the Charlotte race. We have hospitality at the track and will all be dressed in our Komen gear (including Kyle Busch), pink M&M's, the works! I realize you can't turn your head this months without seeing a pink ribbon but I just want to let you know that this event has meant more to me than any other this year and I will be thinking of you all weekend."

Way to go NASCAR!

Date Announced

We just received word that the surgery is scheduled for November 3 at 12:30

More Good News

We just received a call this morning from the doctors office that the genetic test that was run last week on Liz came back completely negative. For more information on the BRCA test -

Thank you for all the cards

We got home from our camping trip yesterday and checked the mail, outnumbering the junk mail were numerous cards for Liz. She was extremely moved by the show of support in the funny, serious and heartfelt cards that she received. We are continuing to do well as we await the surgery date. The cards, emails and prayers mean more than you could imagine.

Walking in Utah

This weekend out in Utah the American Cancer Society is hosting a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. My brother is an AP at a school out in Salt Lake City and the volley ball team that he coaches is participating in the walk and to show their support for Liz they are wearing pink bandannas.

Thanks Matt D. that is awesome.

Some good news - finally

Liz had a PETScan today and we just heard back on the results - the test showed, other than the cancer in her breast, the rest of her body is clear.

PETScan

Today Liz was scheduled for a PETScan but as life often does, it was not as planned. The day began not with her PETScan instead our PET...Buddy. For those who don't know about Buddy I have included a picture which should answer any questions. Buddy awoke this morning with the normal curiosity of a 9 month old puppy. In his travel from the crate to the living know doubt on his way to give Marley (10 year old black lab) a hard time, Buddy came upon a bowl of grapes. When Liz came downstairs to get the boys off to the bus and get ready for her appointment she found a pile of grape stems on the ground. A call to the vet prompted her to put Buddy in the car and off they went to the vets office. For those without dogs or who have not had the good fortune of a grape eating dog - grapes are BAD! She dropped Buddy off and the vet did what any parent might do if their kid swallows something that they shouldn't - ipecac. The story ends well of course, Buddy no longer has grapes in his tummy and our wallet is little lighter. Oh and Liz did have her PETScan before returning to pickup Buddy.

No Surprises!

The appointment with the surgeon today went as expected; we did not receive any surprises from her regarding the results or the way forward. After today's appointment we have the following timeline and milestones. Please keep in mind all these dates are approximate; we don't not have anything scheduled.

Surgery to be performed in 3 weeks

Recover from surgery 3/4 weeks
Chemotherapy for 4/6 months

We will post more in the days to come, but knew there was an ARMY of people thinking/praying/pulling for us this morning so we wanted to get this information out.

Thanks again for all your support, words can't express what it means.

Need to get word to the boys schools

Kids help to provide levity to situations that are otherwise just terrible. On my list of people to inform about Liz were the teachers and counselors at their schools - Kings Park and Kings Glen. I asked a friend to get the word out in the event the boys needed to talk or just needed support.

Well, before a simple phone call could be placed, Carter walked into his classroom and is asked the normal morning question "Good morning Carter how are you today?" Out of the mouth of the little redhead comes "My mom has cancer," and with that he took off his backpack and was ready for class. I was sorry that the teacher had to find out that way, but, in one sense, I think they are used to kids that age simply speaking what is on their mind.

Harrison had a much different experience. His teacher was already informed and she pulled him aside during the day to talk to him. She explained that she had breast cancer seven years ago and was now healthy. That really did wonders for Harrison as he shared the news with us that evening. What a wonderful thing she did for him.

Oh to be 6 or 9 again

We found out on Monday that Liz was diagnosed with breast cancer - now the hard part telling the kids.

While I was at work Liz talked to the boys. They both took the news as well as a 6 & 9 year old could given their knowledge. I did not know that she had told them until later that night when I was leaving soccer practice with Carter. He asked "who is putting us to bed tonight?" - in our house there is often only one right answer and his question is more probing than sincere. I explained that I would be and he came back with "Why? Because mom has cancer?" I went on to tell him "no" because I was just going to give mom a break tonight because she had a long day. I asked if he had any questions or wanted to talk. He told me that he knew mom was going to be ok, and I realized shortly after that "talk" that the word peanut butter meant more to Carter than the word cancer... Oh to be 6 again.


While Harrison was finishing his homework, I asked him if he had talked to mom about anything today. He explained that she had shared with him the news about cancer and that she was going to have to go to the hospital but that she would be fine. I asked if he had any questions and he replied "No dad, but you know, this is going to be a messy thing and it won't just be as easy as cherry flavored Benadryl"... Oh to be 9 again.

Some Pictures to bring a smile to your face

This is a shot of the boys this summer at the beach.













This is a shot of the boys on the 1st day of school.

Tough News

We found out yesterday that Liz has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She recently found a small lump which was biopsied last week. We are meeting the doctor this Friday to learn the path forward. Our initial meeting last Thursday with the oncologist was very optimistic. We know that a tough road is ahead but with your prayers we are confident we will get through this.

After an initial reaction I am guessing you are wondering what you can do. Below are some options:
- Post comments on this blog - they provide a way for you to express your feelings and share in this journey with others
- Check the blog often - this is how we intend to keep everyone in the loop
- Send thoughts of encouragement and support to Liz through email (lizdevoll@gmail.com) or snail mail (5604 Castlebury Court, Burke, VA 22015)
- Check out www.komen.org for more information about breast cancer awareness and prevention and for tips about how to support loved ones who are fighting breast cancer