My 2nd RFL

Wanted to share a few pics from this years Relay for Life. This was my second time to participate in this event. We had to move it indoors due to the weather and it was just as enjoyable. I was asked through the elementary school if I would like to donate some items from my hair bow business to participate in a raffle for a teacher that had breast cancer. The lady in the pink hat beside me is who everyone through the school worked so hard for. She is a teacher and my younger sister and her daughter were childhood friends. It was a great honor to be a part of this fundraiser for her. Emory also received a shirt for selling so many tickets.
As far as my health pretty much everything is the same.

Honoring the survivors.


Emory was so proud! She tends to tell me "Mom I am so glad you don't have your tumor ball anymore" haha! That's how we described it when she was 3 & 4 and it stuck with her.


She just had to feed me her marshmallow covered in chocolate....yum!


Emory wanted to take a pic with my Luminaria. Thanks for whoever purchased them in honor of me. I know my husband did a few!


The girls making bracelets



Luminaria ceremony


I purchased a luminaria for Ashley!

April 2010 Appt update

Well we had another appt at UT Md Anderson on Tuesday. We had an emotional day and I have to admit it drained me. The weekend prior we decided to tear our guest bathroom down and start from scratch. We worked ourselves really hard and replaced the shower, tiled the back splash, floor, installed a new toilet, primed the walls, and Bryan grouted & sealed the tile before we left Monday evening. All between that I packed for our garage sale which turned out to be huge this past weekend. I have to admit we were pretty tired when we left for this trip which made things a bit more emotional this time.
We started off with my prep and IV which went really well. My first appt was at 7:30 a.m. and for some reason they were already slightly behind. I have to admit I felt a little overwhelmed more then usual because they put me in the outpatient MRI so I was in a new place this time. A few of us patients were put in our little blue scrubs, had our IV's running down our arms, and waited in the prep room for our MRI's.
The MRI went better then all of the rest. As always I count to 60 over and over and over through most of the hour because the noise and the body aches of lying flat, still, with your toes pointed in the air for an hour tends to make you go nuts ha! To top it off I have the IV needle in the fold of my arm but I have to bend my arm so they can scan my pelvic region so that always makes me a bit nervous. At least this time they didn’t have me hold my breath several times. The radiologist was extremely nice and I really liked him. He opened up about himself and it’s nice to carry on a conversation with a professional and they make you feel like they care enough to talk about your family life & their own.
After that was the ultrasound. Here's where the day changed. As some of you know I posted about how I thought I tore my prosthesis a few weeks prior. Turns out they detected another spot and its sitting right above my prosthesis. I told the tech about the spot I felt and he detected a circular area that looked just like my original tumor. My heart dropped. He did measure it then sent the scans to the radiologist. I guess what scared me the most was him asking me how big was my original tumor and asking if I received radiation or chemo after my surgery to make the treatment more effective. I couldn't receive it because I was pregnant so we knew that just having surgery was a less effective way to overcome it. He left the room for about 20 min to discuss things with the radiologist. The first thing that flashed through my head other then the pain and cancer was how I was going to take care of my kids & husband. I thought about how Emory was affected through all of this and how it put a standstill in my family’s life. It just took me back to everything that I have already accomplished and I felt I was going to start all over again except this time I knew it was going to be more intense and harder to overcome.
No one is allowed to go back with you and I told myself that I was not going to say anything to anyone…not even my husband. After I walked out of that area I walked to Bryan and the look on his face for hope drew me to tears. I completely broke down. My tears were the kind where you have to put your arms over your head to just take a breath. I honestly felt lifeless and had an anxiety attack in front of everyone in the waiting area. The immediate bathroom was closed so I walked by the elevator and found a corner to cry in. For those of you that know me personally knows that I am not a crier and my husband can probably count on his hands how many times he has seen me cry over the years. A poor older lady came to me to comfort me and I think I felt worse about scaring all of the other patients. I picked myself back up, prayed to God for comfort, and off we went to the next round.
We had a few hours to spare before my oncologist could tell me anything. We went to the gift shop and Bryan bought the girls some little I love you pens and got me a licensed coozie and lunch kit = ) I guess that made things a little better right?
We finally made our way to the oncologist. After an hour in the waiting area, then an hour in the room, the results came in. My oncologist told me that she thinks the spot is a lipoma....when I say "thinks" I mean she feels pretty confident that's what it is. She said that it’s right at a cm right now and they are going to monitor the area and make sure there is no growth. Lipomas are non cancerous fatty tumors and very rarely turn into liposarcomas (cancerous tumors). We are familiar with what they are because my first tumor was misdiagnosed and they thought it was a lipoma before the biopsy since they can look similar under the skin. She could still feel all of the scar tissue and lump. Even though the lump is small I think you can feel it because the scar tissue forms a blanket over it to make it feel larger then what it actually is. The plans so far are for me to follow the same steps I did with my tumor. I will check the area and make sure I do not feel any future growth and if I speculate any changes we will go back in and get more scans. When I go back for checkups they will measure the area and make sure it has not grown dimensionally. If any changes occur then she will figure out what we need to do from there. Right now it is not necessary for another biopsy. After we left my husband got me a huge chocolate milk shake to cheer us up. Also he bought me a few things from Sam Moon but I have to wait until Mothers Day to get it.
Well, I guess that’s it for now. I was going to share this after Relay for Life and to be honest I didn’t even tell my mother or other family because I didn’t want to raise any concern. I have to admit that I am emotional most days but in all actuality this is good news…in the cancer world this is GREAT news!!!

"I thought I was living very fully before this happened.But in comparison I really wasn't. I wasn't taking the time to notice things. I didn't see things as brightly or as sharply or as memorably as I do now.I really don't let a moment slide by.I just don't. It's a big price to pay, isn't it, to have to have cancer... to learn that? But it is in the end, I have to say, a price worth paying."Lynn Redgrave 1943-2010.

Forever young

Just wanted to update everyone and let you guys know that my friend from College Station passed away last week. Her service was in Cleburne and it was beautiful. When she moved her twins were just babies, her middle child was a little boy, and her oldest wasn't a teen just yet! When I saw her children at the service it really made me realize just how much time has passed. One of my fondest memories was when she was pregnant with the twins and the Dr put her on bed rest (to add she actually was one of the women who convinced me to use the Dr I use now which I give credit to because he sent me to get a biopsy for my tumor). A friend (Lisa) and I went around town going to yard sales. We knew Ashley really wanted to come with us but couldn't. We found a barn wood chest and one of my friends said we have got to get that for Ashley. It was $20...now remember when you are young and a college student...$20 to an average person is like $200 to a college student. I had little to no money and we split the cost and loaded the chest up. We showed up at Ashley's house, opened the trunk, and took the chest out. Her eyes immediately filled up with tears of joy and she was so thankful. She could not believe someone would think of her and do something like that for her. How could we not do that...she was that special = )
She was blessed with such a beautiful family. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

How great is our God

I am having one of those extraordinary moments and wanted to say how great is OUR God!!!

Now how many shots have I had?

After the rounds at the Allergist I had to continue shots twice a week at a local Dr's office until the end of December. Two weeks ago I began taking them at home on top of the other meds to control the dermograpism. So far things have some what progressed. I get occasional hives which is great because it sure does beat having them every day! As far as the dermographism it is still apparent but I am patiently waiting for the medicine & shots to hopefully improve that soon. I go back to my full day of appts in April and every January I tend to get nervous & excited all at the same time about it. I have started a new year yet in the back of my mind its not a new fresh year until I get my first round of appts over with. That's when I tend to start my so called "resolutions" for the new year. Just walking in the building and seeing all of the patients can be inspiring. To end this post I wanted to ask for prayers for a friend of mine that I met while living in College Station. She is a mother of 4 & married to her lil sweetheart. Over the Christmas break she announced that she received a pain pump & she will not be seeking anymore conventional treatment for her cancer. She went home with hospice care. She too has been treated at UT Md Anderson at the same sarcoma center I go to but she has a different doctor then I do. Her family really needs our prayers right now. She still has not and will not give up. Again...cancer picked the wrong chick! Prayer is the best medicine!!!!

Upped Meds

So I went in for my first round of shots last week and my second round today. I think those are some of the easiest shots! Dr upped my meds. My hives are somewhat better but my whelps come & go. I am going to start my new meds after Thanksgiving since they will make me drowsy. He said these are pretty strong and will make me sleepy and not want to get out of bed. I am concerned about that part because I seem to stay tired most of the time anyways. I will get my last round next Friday then begin weekly shots. This 3 week period will boost me to the level that an average person gets in 6 months. Needless to say I am ready for some relief.

Something New

Allergic to heat

Allergy test (everything whelphed because of the dermographism)

Dr played tic tac toe on my back

On Wednesday I went to the Allergist for an ongoing recurrence of hives and whelps on my skin. When I do simple things in life I notice that my skin whelps very easily. An example is when I play with my dog. He will jump from time to time and when his paws touch my skin I get a huge whelp on my arm. A normal person would receive a light scratch and mine looked like he viciously clawed me. I was beginning to wonder if I was developing a severe allergic reaction to dogs. Also one night Bryan rubbed my shoulders and arms and almost instantly I broke out in hives & whelps in the areas he massaged.
The dermatologist told me that I needed to get allergy tested so off to the doctor I went! The doctor had a med student and nurse in the room with me. He decided to play tic tac toe on my back...yes tic tac toe! So he reached in his jar and pulled out on of those dreaded sticks they gag you with to look at your throat. He drew the board, x's & o's, and began to talk to me. He immediately said its obvious that I have a skin condition. He put my shirt down and began to talk to me. About a minute passed he said I was prob a 2+ for the condition I have. About another minute after that I was a 4+ plus. I figured it was no big deal because in my head the scale was from 1-10 but....it was from 1-4! I felt pretty awful thinking ok so now something new is wrong with me but he kinda perked me up a bit! He asked me if he could take a picture of this because it was a perfect example of this condition. So he pulls out his iphone and began taking pictures. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this point haha! He texted me the photo above.
I was diagnosed with dermographic urticaria. I will be treated with shots (rush immunotherapy)and two one a day daily medications. Basically he says he can control this condition so hopefully it will be no concern to me in the near future. I will be taking Allegra in the morning and Zyrtec at night for the allergies. Basically I will go to him in 3 visits to receive 7 shots, 7-10 days between each visit, then begin weekly shots. The first three visits will be within the next 21-30 days and it will produce an outcome of what an average person gets in 6 months.
I have to say I wanted to tear up because I was so happy that I was finally getting treated for the hives. This has been a very uncomfortable experience for me. One night I even laid in bed with ice packs on me to numb the itching. I also found out that I am allergic to heat so that explains all of the hives I got at the pool this summer, in the bath, and hot tub. He tested me for 70+ other things and I do have other allergies but I think most of them are pretty common. He did blood work for the shellfish allergy since I have received hives with shrimp and if that comes back positive I will have to get some epinephrine pens.
Anyways I will post an update to see if this clears. He did say if this doesn't work then he will add another medication in the mix. I am thinking he will get this under control FAST! Hes a good Dr and has treated alot of my family for allergies so I know I am in good hands. Most importantly, Gods hands!