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.