So, today I fly to Texas for my 9th treatment. I have a heavy week ahead of me. I get chemo on Thursday and fly home Friday. Then I changed my schedule for next week so that I could be home for Jamie's birthday. I will fly again on Monday with my Mom, have chemo on Tuesday and fly back Tuesday night. This will be the first week that I will fly home on the same day as chemo. I think it will be good because I have been doing well on the day of chemo. It's the next two to three days that I don't feel well. So, this way I can be home in my own bed. The good part, is that I will be home for 8 days before I have to fly out again.
I also woke up with a sore throat yesterday and this morning I have a full blown nasty cold. Not a good time to have a cold when I am getting chemo so close together. So, if you would please pray that everything goes smoothly.
On another note, my Mom's aunt called her this week with good news. She is friends with someone that works for Mercy flights, which is funded by the American Cancer Society to fly cancer patients for treatment. She called my Mom this week and told her that they would fly me and another person to Texas on them. I will have to fly with Delta, which means a layover in Atlanta, but it will start once I am not going every week. We were already booked for the next three trips, so it will start after that. What a blessing that was. Plane tickets have gone way up in price this month with summer around the corner. All we have to do is tell her the dates we need to fly and she takes care of all the booking.
Ian will be going with me today and the kids will be here with my Mom and my aunt Lauren. We will be missing my Nana's 87th birthday party, but will be thinking of everyone while we are gone.
Keep the prayers coming this week and pray that my blood work stays good so that I can get my chemo treatments as planned.

Jamie and I made it to Texas and had a good flight. I will get chemo at 10:00 tomorrow morning. This will be my 8th treatment. That's hard to believe. I have had a pretty good week and am hoping for another good one. My blood work came back and is holding out. My white and red blood cells are still in normal range, but on the low side. But, by this time last go around, I had no white blood cells. They have dropped a little more each week, but I'm still in normal range. I'm hoping to maintain where I'm at now. The lower they get, the worse I usually feel. Just grateful to be where I'm at. I have scheduled my petscan for May 12th and am anticipating the results of that. I am believing they are going to be good results. Until then, I will continue to go every week and get chemo. I have tested my ph for the last four days and have consistently been between 7.5 and 8.0. I am so excited to be able to maintain such a high ph! Maybe that's why I have felt pretty good.
Anyways, pray that all goes well tomorrow and I will give you an update when I get home.

Well, I'm home from my 7th treatment. Three more and he will order my pet scan. Looking forward to seeing the results and knowing they are going to be good. Chemo went well. I did not feel too bad at all this time. My doctor was pleased once again with my progress. He smiled big when I told him what my ph was. He was again pleased with my lungs and the lesions of the skin are GONE! He could not find the lymph node in my clavicle that was very easy to feel and could not feel any under my arms, although they were difficult to feel from the beginning. He did not measure my tumor this time because it is so difficult. But, feeling it, he said it has definitely shrunk in size. There is alot of soft tissue now and it's hard to find the margins between the tumor and my scar tissue from previous surgeries. There was no soft tissue to be found a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say, I was very pleased with my progress as well as Dr. K. Depending on the pet scan results, he will change me to going every other week or once a month for treatment. It will be so nice not to have to go every week. Although, I have become very attached to all of the girls out there and will miss them. Begin to pray for miraculous results in three weeks on my scan. I want it to shock everyone! And believing it will!

Well, I have good news this morning! My ph level is 7.7! I only needed to be 7.4 for the cancer to be dead. And I have surpassed that! I feel like I have really accomplished something. It was nice to show my little girl this morning and explain to her what that meant. She wrapped her arms around me and buried her little head in my chest and was so happy. I am excited to be able to tell my doctor tomorrow the good news.
I was also able to go to Maddie's game last night and was not miserable. I enjoyed watching her play. Thank you for all your prayers. I had a better day yesterday.
The not so good news, which is not the end of the world. But, my hair is starting to fall out. It's not coming out in clumps, but is definitely thinning. You wouldn't be able to tell if you saw me. But the floor in my bathroom tells the truth after my shower. I'm hoping it's just going to thin and not all fall out. I've been through this before, so it's not quite as traumatic this time. But, none the less, no one wants to loose their hair. Ian says, bald is beautiful. I don't know about that. But, he still loved me when I was bald last time.
Anyways, it's been a good morning with my ph level. I leave tonight with my Dad for Texas. I will be home on Friday. Pray that treatment goes well.

I'm asking for prayer today. I have been sick for the last two days and have been very discouraged. I don't know if the chemo is beginning to accumulate and it is going to get harder, or I'm just having an off week. Jamie reminded me that this is how I did last time. The chemo is different this time, so I just don't know what to expect. However, Maddie has her first volleyball game tonight at 7:00. Afternoons and evenings are really difficult for me. Please pray that I will feel well enough to go and enjoy her game. I am going one way or the other. It would just be nice to feel good.
I also am leaving again tomorrow evening for treatment on Thursday. My Dad will be going with me this time and Ian will stay home with the kids. Hopefully I will find out this week when he is going to do a pet scan on me again. Maddie has been praying every night for the results to be good. She is very concerned about this scan and asks me quite alot when I will have the test done. Please pray for her peace of mind. She is doing great in school and has an awesome teacher who is very attentive to her needs. We are so thankful for a loving, caring teacher who is investing time in her life. Parker is also doing well in school and also has an awesome teacher. She loves on him and spends one on one time with him making cards for my coming home each week. We have been blessed beyond words to have the teachers we have for our kids. The Lord knew this was going to happen and knew who they needed to help them walk through this journey.

Just a quick update. The flight went very well. Thank you for all your prayers. We were told it was a full flight. I usually get us switched to bulkhead, but I decided just to leave it as it was. We were row 30 of 32. Two people did not show up and one of them was next to me. I was so happy! I was able to move over a seat and lay down on the seat next to me and sleep. And, we landed a half an hour earlier than expected. We actually had to wait a few minutes on our ride. So, again, thank you for your prayers for a good flight.
As far as how I feel, I'm not nauseous today, just really tired. I'll take tired anyday over sick. Just glad to be home with my family.

Well, this trip started out with a bang! We were supposed to leave at 5:20 pm last night and get into Dallas around 7:00 pm their time. We didn't get to the hotel until almost 11:00pm Dallas time. The flight was delayed due to weather and then we had to take an alternate route around the storm, which took us to the west side of Texas and then back into Dallas. The pilot kept coming on the intercom giving us updates. I finally said to Ian, "this is the never ending flight". We were just glad we didn't have a connecting flight. Other than a little pain in my back, I felt pretty good for such a long day.
I finished my sixth chemo treatment today! Yeah! One more down! He gave me a little more than 15% strength. Not quite 20%. 25% is our final goal. However, Dr. K was very pleased with my progress and gave me a big smile when he listened to my lungs. He said that he could hear good breath sounds in every lobe. That was very encouraging! The best news is that I woke up this morning and tested my ph level and by the grace of God I was between 7.0 and 7.5! First I cried and called my parents immediately, of which neither one of them answered their phones. When mom called me back she was upset because all she could tell was that I was crying on the message and she couldn't understand me. Needless to say, both of them were ecstatic! Once I got over the short time of tears, I was beaming with joy!!!! I have been working hard to get my ph up and I have made very good progress. I think I'm tooting my own horn a little bit. That's ok, I think I earned that. So, for those of you who are just coming in on the blog I will quickly explain. At a ph of 7.0 the cancer can no longer grow and spread anywhere. At 7.4 it is dead!! I am determined to kick this thing to the curb! There is no room for it anymore. I am determined to not give this beast an environment that it likes. Going, going, gone. Right aunt Mayda?
I was on a high this morning and then crashed after chemo. I have felt pretty sick today and stayed in bed most of the day. I finally got up and Ian and I walked across the street to Bass pro and had dinner. I could hardly eat anything but a baked potato. Even though it has been a tough day after chemo, the morning far outweighed everything!
We leave tomorrow afternoon and will be home early evening. Please pray there is no delay in the flight and all goes well. Flying home is exhausting on me when everything goes well. I just need to get home to bed and snuggle with my kids.
Good night and I will talk to you all soon.

On my way to Texas for treatment again. Ian is going with me this time and my mom is staying with my kids. Not wanting to leave my kids, but not much of a choice. I've had a pretty good day today. I usually crash in the afternoons, so please pray that I feel good for the flight. I'll let you know how treatment goes when I get home Friday. Thanks for all the prayers!

I had such a great day with my family! I woke up feeling pretty good this morning and was able to go to church. Lisa sang a song today and in the song it said He lives to heal! I stood there with tears streaming down my face as I finally realized that He really wants to heal me. I am so grateful for what He has done for me, especially today! After church we went to my parents house to spend the day with my whole family. We had a delicious meal that was based on my diet.{Ha! Ha!} We then had an Easter egg hunt with all the kids, went through all the candy, dyed Easter eggs, the kids swam and had a great day. Other than some back pain, which I took pain meds for, I felt really good today. I am so thankful for today with my husband, kids, parents, sisters, brother and nephews. It's amazing how we take for granted the time we spend with each other. When you face something like this, you start to really value and appreciate every moment you have. I pray that all of you were able to celebrate the Lord's resurrection today and enjoyed time with your families.

I'm home from Texas. Five treatments down! My doctor was very pleased with my progress. My ph was 6.9!!!! I'm almost to 7.0 and the cancer can no longer grow. That was very exciting! I did very well yesterday, the day of treatment. But, today has been a little rough. I don't know if the plane ride home just takes alot out of me or what. But, I have been in bed almost all day just feeling like I have the flu, achy and like my head is going to explode. It was a quick trip and this is what I will be doing now. I think it's just alot and runs me down. I'm praying that I will feel better by Sunday so that I can enjoy Easter with my kids.
When I got home today, my kids were taking a walk with my mother in law and when my little boy saw me, he froze and yelled Mommy! He started to run to me and squeezed me so tight and kept kissing and hugging me. Maddie was right behind him. That's the best feeling!
My doctor examined me where he injected chemo into my skin where the cancer had metastasized and he thinks it is gone. The skin is still healing because the chemo burned it. But, I was excited that he felt like it took care of it. I am so greatful for each little bit of progress. One thing at a time and I feel like I'm moving forward.
Please continue to pray for forward progress and that I will start to feel better.