Congratulations C&S!

Girls & I

at C & S's wedding

8-11-2012

CONGRATS to you both!!  Welcome to the family S.

MUCH Love,

Sister

XOXOXO



Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you have a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

MUCH love,

All of Us

XO

A REALLY good story....

Earlier this morning I received an email from the American Cancer Society, which prompted me to visit their website and I came across this woman's story. So....naturally that meant I just HAD to share it with all of you. Please read & enjoy!

http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/SurvivorshipDuringandAfterTreatment/StoriesofHope/lung-cancer-survivor-relies-on-sense-of-humor

MUCH love,

Jordan

Mom's Story....

My Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer May 5, 2009 & at that moment it'd be fair to say that we felt like our world was turned upside down. Cancer is something that is quite prevalent in our family so on one hand we knew what to expect throughout this journey. But knowing really doesn't come until you're in that moment and until it happens to you, or someone who's the better part of you like my Mom was to me.

Mom had a double mastectomy followed by 6 rounds of chemo & radiation treatment. It was a rough road, the sickness, the agony, the pure hell it put on her body....but you had to think it was all worth it in the end. She lost her hair, she lost a part of who she felt she once was, her body was being poisoned....it was a lot for one person to go through.

So the end of the treatment came, or so we thought. But Mom called me the morning of February 3rd saying she needed me, that her head was hurting unbearably. Those of you who know my Mom, know that she sometimes liked a little excitement, but this was different.....I could feel it, this time I just knew something was very wrong. I had just dropped E&K off at school that morning and went straight to her. We sat in a dark room in complete silence and i gently rubbed her head trying to sooth & relax her. I told her to take deep breaths, that we'd get through this and that it'd all be okay. Soon after I uttered those words she began to throw up though, and again, those of you who know my Mom she does NOT throw up. She was in far too much pain and it was getting worse, so we left & went straight to the oncologist. They gave her some meds, which I tried to tell them she was allergic to, but no one listened & gave to her anyway. These meds were to help calm her, to help with the nausea etc so we could go back for a CT scan to see what was going on, but their plan backfired, she couldn't sit still and was worse than when we arrived. We got her into a wheelchair and they told me to rush her to the ER across the street, that they'd let them know we were coming.

Staying calm but moving quickly, we went to the ER. They too couldn't perform the CT scan b/c she was still not able to remain still. We had to wait until the meds wore off....so waiting is what we did. FINALLY she's able to go back for a scan and each minute that passed felt like an hour. She comes back to the room, sedated at this point & in an induced coma, and soon after the ER doctor comes into the room with a copy of the scan. Very plainly, emotionless and without any compassion he points to it and says "You see this area right here, that is where the tumor is." I thought, very quickly, to myself how I know I didn't 'hear what I think I just heard. Thank goodness Chelsea was there, it's always been us girls, but in that moment I don't know what I would've done without her. This was COMPLETE devastation, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't control the emotion that came over me. It was my sister, and the grace of God of course, that got at least me through that moment. From that moment forward there was absolutely no sense of time what so ever. The Neuro Surgeon, Dr. Charles Chang, came and met with us and explained in further detail what we were looking at & the risks involved. At the time I thought, wow, this man is very matter of fact and I don't know if I like him and he's about to drill a hole in my Mom's brain. But after some deep breaths I realized he was indeed the man for the job, he had an answer for every question, he checked his emotion at the door so we'd have every ounce of confidence in that he knew exactly what he was doing and that there was no room for error. He was not certain that she'd make it through this surgery and told us that if she did make it through it'd be a long road ahead and that there will likely be cancer in other areas due to the fact the cancer had metastasized to her brain (and when you remove a brain tumor you are not able to remove the surrounding tissue with cancer cells w/o losing brain function) since most chemos do NOT treat your brain. Mom & Dr. Chang kicked butt in surgery, he gave my Mom...all of us....more time! God is good, we truly were blessed with a miracle to be in such good hands.

The road didn't stop there of course. Mom remained in an induced coma for a little longer, but we were able to slowly lighten sedation and see how she responded. She was doing good, she was coming out of the sedation and began breathing on her own again. Hearing her voice again was the first sign, in my mind, that everything was going to be okay. She could talk again, she could tell us how she felt and she could respond. Mom had NO idea what all had happened. She woke up not knowing the decisions that had been made and the many fears that we all had. Emotionally this was hard on Mom, this was another obstacle that only she could deal with since it was her who went through it. As hard as it was for us, we were just on the sidelines, it was her who went through it physically.

We moved on from the hospital and went to a rehab facility where Mom had to learn to walk again, to do the simple things that you and I may take for granted. This was no simple task for most, but for my Mom....well, she pretty much kicks butt at whatever she puts her mind to and this was no exception. It took time, but we got there, she did it! During all of this, she's beginning her radiation treatment to her brain. Once we completed that, we had another PET scan which unfortunately did reveal more extensive signs that the cancer had spread. As hard as it was to hear, if she could make it through brain surgery then I figured she's got this one in the bag. Okay, so I didn't really think that, but I knew my Mom was tough and together we'd do it.

Like I said before, there are very few chemos that treat the brain as well as the rest of the body, so we were looking at a limited supply to choose from. We tried and tried to find on that her body would accept, but none worked. So we moved onto other chemos that would be strong enough to regain control of the other cancer in her body since at this point we didn't have reason to believe cancer remained in the brain, aside from the possible microscopic cancer cells. Over and over we attempted treatments, but each time we kept coming to the same road block which was that we kept getting mixed results. Each time we'd see improvement in some areas, but new growths and enlargements in other areas. This was NOT us having control of the cancer, but the cancer still controlling her body. We had to keep trying, there's 1,000's of drugs out there, so trying is what we did. In the meantime, we had also re-visted her plastic surgeon, Dr. Jeffery Krueger, and asked for his help in removing her tissue expanders. Out of all the agony we experienced in trying different treatments for the cancer, a ray of hope came from Dr. Krueger and his office (specifically from his office, Carrie). Not only were they glad to help & saw to it that they did everything in their power to help make sure that my Mom was taken care of, but they did it with compassion. Compassion isn't a skill you can teach or acquire, it's who you are, it's something you either have (or don't) for the love of others. I thank God for the two of them to have been a part of our journey!!

FINALLY, the first part of 2011 we start this last chemo and we get a PET scan back in March that shows NO new growth, NO enlarged tumors and we even saw that some had gone away while the rest had shrunk. We were elated, we were on Cloud 9!! FINALLY, after all this time, we were there, WE HAD CONTROL!!!! This was the best news of the century, well, aside from E&K being born. But really, if bells & whistles could've gone off at that moment I'm pretty sure everyone would be deaf from how loud it was.

But those imaginary bells and whistles that we were once hearing were silenced. In May of 2011 Mom started wheezing, she started having difficulty breathing.....on May 11, 2011 she was admitted to the hospital for what we were told was "just" pneumonia. This final trip to the hospital wasn't supposed to be her final memories. Each day we were faced with one surprise after another, but we tried tot make the most of it b/c at first we were not told it was anything more than a case of pneumonia. Mom was a champ though, she followed all the rules, she did what she was supposed to and we spent many of those first days laughing & being silly like only we girls can do. Toward the end of our hospital stay we were informed by the oncologist that this was in fact cancer, that he was no longer able to help us. And on June 9, 2011 God tightly embraced Mom in his arms & took away all of her pain and all of her suffering.

Martina McBride - I'm Gonna Love You Through It

Everyone needs someone to love them through it!

These men & women who are battling cancer are fighting for their lives. If you know someone who has been diagnosed, whether it's recent or not, know that they NEED you to love them through it & show it......sometimes loving them just means stopping in for a quick hello & sometimes it means sending them a quick note in the mail to let them know you're thinking of them & sometimes it just means sitting with them during their treatment that week.

No matter how strong you think that person is strength grows in numbers, so be another person standing by their side through it & know that it makes a difference. Each of us can help make a difference & I encourage you to do so in whatever way you know how to b/c I guarantee he or she will feel your love.

MUCH Love,

Daughter