Hello everyone!!! I had scans at the end of April and met with the doctor at the beginning of May. I'm happy to report that all is stable in my world still. The cancer activity is about the same and nothing new is popping up which translates to something pretty spectacular from a medical perspective. So yay!!! Celebrate!

I received these amazing graphs from my doctor showing my tumor markers (numbers measuring the # of tumors flying around my body) dropping dramatically for the last year. There seems to be a problem with our scanner and if I can figure it out, I definitely will have it posted here. That visual following the treatment journey is priceless.

So, we are currently continuing with the same chemo combo--Tykerb pills in the morning, then an infusion of Ironitican/Avastin every three weeks. Manageable for now, I'm a lucky, lucky girl.

This week, I did experience some chest pain which was, to say the least, kind of scary. When you're in cancer treatment you have to alert your medical peeps right away if something changes. So I did. They ordered a CT scan (my personal favorite-NOT) STAT to rule out a pulmonary embolism. So there we were, rushy rushy freak out... to make sure I didn't have a clot in my lungs. And just as a tip, don't google "pulmonary embolism" if you're waiting for test results to tell you if you have one. Do as I say, not as I do. Heh heh.

So, I ended up at my primary doctor who is AWESOME!! And realized that I have something normal people can get which is not cancer related at all. Hooray!!! The constant sneezing (and other details I will spare you) from seasonal/all year round Florida allergies has stressed the cartilage around my sternum and inflamed the tissue. I got some new meds to get the allergies under control and I'll probably see some relief to the chest pains in the upcoming weeks.

So, let's pop some Advil in the meantime and if you see me grasping my chest in pain, don't worry. It's all good.

Muchos Smoochos!
Laura

Rah Rah Me!!!

I'm doing really well. The extra week in between chemo appointments is awesome. I just need to start exercising again! Jake is in little league and they are finally at the age where they know what to do with the ball when they get it. It's very exciting. We are making a lot of changes to our house and just got rid of the wall in between the dining room and the back room. It is so freeing!

Keep praying and cheering and let's never speak of this chearleading photo again. Yes, that's me in the middle. Where did those hot legs go?

Hey-Listen To Our Good News!!!

Pssst... listen to this! I had a brain MRI yesterday and the little brain tumor bugger is still there but shrank significantly. so, that means that the cancer is going down everywhere officially and that this current treatment is a winning combo. The brain specialist got together with my oncologist and they both agreed that I should get new orders to get chemo every THREE weeks instead of every TWO weeks.
This is extremely huge for me, of course. This means more recovery time and energy in between infusions. It also means that I have been stable long enough that they are relaxing and trusting the treatment a bit. Since no one knows how all of these poisons will affect my body in the long term, giving it a bit of a break seems pretty good to me. I have been doing some form of chemo for almost 2 years now and if I could have reached through the phone to kiss the nurse that called me with the news today, believe me, I would have.
Speaking of kissing-this is my husband, Richard's, mouth before sipping a Lava Flow on our Bahamas cruise. Isn't he so kissable!? I know, I'm very odd, but this picture makes me laugh out loud.
Anyway, the prayers are definitely working so keep them coming. This is the first time they've offered to spread anything out which is a very positive sign. Time to celebrate again!!
Love you all,
Laura

The RhodesSteins in the Bahamas!

Here are some pictures from our Bahamas cruise!!! Obviously there were lots of fruity drinks with little umbrellas, but we also climbed the rock climbing wall, just like in the Royal Caribbean commercial. You can almost hear "Lust for Life" playing in the background.
One of the pictures is Jake and Richard climbing together and the other is me and Jake climbing together. If it looks like I'm beating Jake to the top, don't kid yourself... I think Jake just kept lapping me. But I made it to the top and rang their little bell, dang it! Not bad for a girl in between chemo infusions, eh?

Travel-A-Go-Go

Richard, Jake, and I, along with my mom, Richard's uncle Bob and Elizabeth, Jake's best friend, Noah, Noah's mom, Lisa, Lisa's boyfriend, Jimmy, Jimmy's son, Daniel... all went on a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas and it was wonderful!

Then a few days after that I flew to Albuquerque to visit my friend, Donna, her husband, Ron, and their new son, Ethan who is just 6 weeks old! I fly back to Orlando tomorrow and have chemo on Wednesday but hope to have some great updates in the next week or so---

I will be posting pics from the Bahamas soon and hopefully Albuquerque soon after that!

And oh yeah, I have Brain MRI on Tuesday, February 17th so prayers that the spots on my brain are completely gone are greatly appreciated.

Love you!
Laura

Smile!

I hope pasting this video from You Tube works. If you have 16 free minutes, it is worth a look see :-)

Latest Scan Results Are In!!!

Ok, party people. In October 2008, my scans did not go well. The tumors had grown and there were new tumors on my lungs and the bone on my right arm. There was also a new spot on my brain where the previous tumors had been. I was pretty bummed which is why you didn't see any updates. The solution was to put me back on IV chemo and check back in 3 months.

Well, I just got the new scan results this week. This treatment is working amazingly well. ALL the cancer shrunk throughout my body. The new spot on my lungs shrank to just 3mm. The tumor markers dropped significantly (one is actually in the normal range). Best of all--regarding my liver--the two remaining tumors were "barely evident" on this CT scan. WOOHOO!!!

Yes, my hair has fallen out for the 2nd time, but it's worth it for such good news. We check in on the brain in mid-February and the doctor is hopeful that this IV chemo will cross the blood/brain barrier and knock it on out of there.

Keep praying that this works!!! YAY! 2009 is going to be great!