New Doctors, New stuff going on!

Sorry, I know i have been such a slacker with this whole blog thing but I promise I'll try and be better! So I have new doctors in Maryland and I love them! I'm in a new protocol now that involves removing tumors and extracting certain cells(tumor infiltrating cells), and growing them to billions in the lab. I then go back to MD for 3 weeks and have 7 days of Chemotherapy to get rid of my immune system and then they put the cells back in me. These cells are suppose to be killing the tumors so hopefully after they put billions back in me that's exactly what they do. After they inject cells back in me I do another 5 days of IL-2. Then its a week or two of recovery. I just have to stay in there until my immunity comes back. So their saying if all goes well I have about a 50/50% chance of this working. I already went back and had the surgery to remove tumors, so my cells are in a lab growing now. The first hurdle I need to get past is the cells growing in the lab, there's about a 20-30% chance they wont even grow. Second hurdle, if they do grow, i go back and rescan and I cant have anything in the brain. 3rd hurdle, I need to be one of those 50% in the end. ummm I should know in a couple of weeks if the cells are growing, so I'll keep u posted. I'm excited about these new numbers and I am very hopeful. So keep your fingers crossed! I hope you all had a fun filled holiday, mine was pretty crazy, but fun! Luv you all

Not so great news!

Ok, so don't freak out, but the scans showed that the last treatment didnt work. Don't worry I feel great and it's not getting me down. I was expecting it. So, next is probably going to be chemo but I still have some other things in the mix, nothing is set in stone yet. When I have more details i'll let you all know. love u all

Waiting game..

Well now it's just a waiting game to see if these IL-2 treatments are going to work for me. December 3rd is the big day when we will find out. The doc. said if it works at all i will keep doing these treatments, if not, he wants to move onto a chemo agent. If this doesn't work i'm not sure if i will stick with him. i'm still really tired, but next week I have finals and lots of make up test so I'm gonna try and get to studing, sucks! So I need lots of prayers in the next four weeks that this treatment works for me so keep me at the top of your list! love u all

That Sucked..

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but I've been feeling so bad that getting on the computer was the last thing on my mind. I went through all 14 treatments again but it was no picnic. This time 14 felt like 50! I HATE CANCER. I still look like I'm 8 months pregnant but oh my gosh, u should have seen me when I got home on saturday. My face was so big u couldn't even see one of my eyes, I looked like sloth! I have a doc. app. tomorrow at noon and I'll know more, I think, about whats going on. For now I just need to be patient and wait for the sleep to come to me! I'm hanging in there and happy to be home with the family. Luv u all!

Just call me marshmallow!

I look like a big fat marshmallow! This IL-2 makes u swell like crazy. I'm still in the hospital and have 6 treatments down. I can't wait to get out of here. Still bored, feeling pretty good, just really itchy. Love u all

Bored

I'm back in the hospital and I'm bored to death. I'm about to do my 3rd treatment, and so far so good. Josh already left this morning and went to work, so now I'm waiting for my mom to get here and keep me company. I guess I'll play some solitaire now, luv u all!

I am feeling OK today, pretty tired, but made it back to school. I took a couple of make up tests and did OK. I'm just happy my teacher is letting me make everything up so I'll at least be able to finish this semester. I'm not really ready to go back into the hospital Monday, but i am ready to get some sleep from the drugs they give me in there! The kids are still on a fall break from school, so I'm definitely not lonely. My kids r so cute!!!
So, i talked to the hospital in Maryland and they told me that when I finish this treatment and rescan my body, if it hasn't shrunk my tumors by at least 20% then they have things to offer me. So I'm betting on not having to go!!! There is a 6% chance i could fully recover after this treatment but i wont know for 6 weeks. I think my chances are way higher because i have all of you praying for me. I hope your all obeying your father! Love u all

I'm Out

Well I look like crap and feel like crap but things are getting better. If I can type, Im happy! The hospital treatments were rough the last 3 days but I did all 14 treatments, I'm so proud of myself! Anyway, tomorrow I am looking into some different treatments offered in maryalnd that will bring my odds up. So i'll let you know more about that. So I'm doing better thanks to all my family helping out. Its amazing how people pull together in time of need. Their all so strong it's crazy!. Wanna here something funny? Caryl's already asking Oprha for help!!!haha gotta love her! Love u all

day 4 sucks

well I'm not feeling that well and i really miss my kids. 8 down and 6 to go. My cheeks are chubby and my mom says my butts getting pretty big! thank you all for reminding me to stay strong, i am, although i cried just because i didn't want to eat my breakfast, but i did,don't worry mom! Luv u all

Day 3

So I'm about to get my 5th dose, and I'm feeling OK. They told me that they can go up to 14 doses but normally patients only make it through 8. I'm going for all 14! So far the worst side effect, besides just feeling like i have a flu, is the shivers, i felt like i was having a seizure, weird. The nurses here are awesome and they are taking good care of me. Love u all

Day 1

Day 1 is going good. Got the port in this morning and it sucks. I'm just lying in bed all tubed up, I don't get my first of IL-2 dose until midnight, so I'm hoping i sleep through it. I'm about to order room service and find out how tasty this food really isn't! Mom was with me all day and Josh is here to spend the night with me so I'm not lonely. luv u all!

Getting on with life!

Went back to school today and it was so nice to see my class mates again, I missed u guys! Felt good thinking about something other then cancer. Thank you all for your words of kindness. I feel like I won the lottery or something, I get to hear from everybody!!!

Good News and Bad News...

I have been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. It has spread to my lungs but no other organs yet. In a CT scan taken last Friday, 3 spots showed up in my left lung and a few inside my skin around my shoulder where I had it a couple of years ago.
I am now being seen at the AZ cancer center in Tucson, and I feel Pretty good about it right now. My doctor wants to start me on interleukin-2 treatments on Monday, but I must first pass a 4 hour heart test, a pulmonary test, and a bunch of labs. So on Monday morning at 8:00am I'll go in to the hospital in Tucson and have a port placed somewhere under my shoulder. A port (or portacath) is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn many times, usually with less discomfort for the patient than a more typical "needle stick". Then at 2:30pm the same day I will have my tests reviewed by the doc, and if everything looks good I will be admitted to the Intensive care Unit for 5 days. Now try not to be alarmed about the ICU, they just need to keep a close eye on me. The drugs will be given to me every 8 hours as long as I can handle it. After 5days I go home and rest for 9days then do it again for 5 days. After the 2Nd 5 days I get 5-6 weeks off before i go in for another MRI,PET,and CT to see if it worked it all. If not we do something else.

So I'm not losing my hair yet and am just hoping this works. The chances of this working are not in my favor but it's worth a try. I'm staying positive, and i am going to beat this cancer, no other options in my book! If this first treatment doesn't work Ill be on a mission to find one that does, no matter where I have to go.

Josh is strong and doing good. He's been with me every minute, it's cute! The kids don't understand to much so there doing good to. Luv u all!

I Love You All!

OK, so for everybody who is out there worried about me 24/7, I made this for you. I will keep you all informed about what is going on so you can stop worrying and concentrate on praying!!! I will update here when ever I hear anything new.