May 17, 2018

Hi everyone! Sorry for keeping you in the dark the past few days. Monday night, I was a little nauseas but overall I felt fine with tons of energy (my cartwheel days lol). Tuesday I felt a little nauseas throughout the day and had some lower back pain but other then that it was manageable and I was able to get through a normal day. Went for a walk with Bumpa and played outside with the kids. I even went to my daughters preschool meeting that night and did some groceries after. WELL… Wednesday morning came and I felt like I was chewed up by a pack of wolves!! Holy cow! Jamie had to help me out of bed, I was super weak to the point where I couldnt stand for more then 2 minutes without feeling like I needed to sit or lay down. Jamie and my mom stayed home to take care of the kids and I literally slept all day. I felt extremely nauseas and vomited a few times, lower back pain with muscle aches all over, groggy/heavy brain feeling, and tired!! Today was similar and I actually just got up to shower. Funny but not funny… I went to brush my teeth and started gagging, went to turn around to vomit in the toilet and the seat was down… WTF!!! Not cool lol! I feel like I have some energy this afternoon so I’m watching fixer upper, trying to drink fluids and eat (been a struggle), and blogging to my bloggers! Thank you Kathy for watching the kids today and thanks Mom for coming over to check on me. And thank you to everyone for all the love and support!!

”she stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails” ❤️

May 14, 2018

So Jamie and I arrived at Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic in Lebanon, NH at 11:30am. We checked in and had my labs drawn right away. We then had some time to kill and saw a sign for free massages for chemo patients!! I thought to myself “I NEED that” haha. I found the most adorable little lady named Beth who gave both Jamie and I back massages. SO nice! We then had a quick meeting with my nurse practitioner. She said the labs looked great and my echocardiogram was normal. We then grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the infusion center! Loved my nurse.. she was a hoot just like me 😊 Beth came to see me again during my infusion to give me a foot massage!!! (I wanted to put her in my bag and bring her home with me lol). They were all so wonderful!

The first med the nurse administered was called adriomycin “the red devil” which gave me a rash all up and down my left arm. Super itchy! She stopped the med and the rash went away after minutes! She started a new IV in my right arm and was able to push the med fine! Phew!! All the nurses were shocked I didn’t have a port and highly suggested I get one including my nurse practioner. I guess this med is pretty toxic and very dangerous if it gets into surrounding tissue. (I will be getting one). They then did the second chemo med which lasted 45 minutes or so. On our way home now and I feel amazing!! They give you a crap load of meds and steroids to help with chemo symptoms so I am jacked up!!! Haha feeling great! 💃 I wanted to do a cartwheel on the lawn but my husband Jamie didn’t let me. Bummer lol

Great day ☀️

May 13, 2018 

First chemo treatment is tomorrow. First day my body will actually start fighting back. Im so grateful for that but also feeling very anxious, nervous & scared now that it’s finally here. Luckily I stayed super busy this weekend with my family who makes everything better. 

One day at a time. I can do this 💪

May 10, 2018

Jamie and I left for Lebanon at 8:30am and didn’t get home till 5:00pm. Busy day! I first had the imaging done for the research study. The first device I was apparently “too small for” and was kicked out of the study! My girls didn’t make the cut I guess lol!! BUT still able to participate in the handheld probe imaging. Yay! Took like an hour. They make a grid on your chest with these very small dots. They then place the probe on EVERY dot and wait for a beep… there must have been 100!! But I was in heaven… I had a lazy boy recliner and almost took a snooze. Jamie on the other hand had to sit on this super small stool that barely fit his bum 😳 Sorry hubs lol! We then went to lunch at the Taj Mahal food court and then met with the nurse practitioner for patient chemo teaching and then had the echocardiogram. 

Done for the week! 👍 

Love reading everyone’s comments. They keep me smiling! Ps. I will be replying back to each and everyone of you! Love you all ❤️

May 7, 2018

So the MRI of the brain, echocardiogram, chemo teaching and imaging for the research study is scheduled this week. All up in Lebanon! Thank goodness for those gas gift cards 😘 I start chemo next Monday. 1 week! Yayyyy! I sound so crazy for being excited to start chemo lol but I’m going mental just sitting on the side lines the past 3 weeks. I’m ready to get my boxing gloves out. Pow pow!! 🤜💥

 May 3, 2018

So today I had a consult with my Oncologist Dr. Kaufman from Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon. It is a massive hospital. You walk in and its like you entered the Taj Mahal. It has its very own FOOD COURT! I mean what else could you possibly want or need?! LOL on a serious note Kelly… 

It was the first time I met Dr. Kaufman and at first I got this socially awkward vibe from him but as time went on I realized this man is BRILLIANT! He started off by asking if I had symptoms. I told him nausea and headaches here and there. Due to this he said you need to have an MRI of the brain to make sure the cancer hasn’t traveled to the central nervous system. I thought to myself “noooooo!! didn’t we just rule out that it hasn’t spread anywhere else in my body??” He did reassure me that he was like 99.9% sure it hasn’t traveled but we still need to rule it out. Also, he mentioned its very possible that there are micro cancer cells traveling throughout my body that they just can’t see on imaging. Fred, you better not be having micro babies on me lol! I will be having an echocardiogram of the heart which is standard protocol to make sure it is strong enough for chemo. I will also be meeting with his nurse practitioner in regards to chemo details. Lastly, I gave consent to be apart of a research study! Super excited about this. 10 centers are involved including Dartmouth. Without using too much medical terminology.. its a new type of imaging that will hopefully be able to measure the tumor using infrared light! Pretty cool stuff! Not sure if it will help my case or not but totally on board to help advance imaging studies! 😀 I find myself super anxious to start chemo. The fact Fred is just hanging out and I haven’t started treatment yet is freaking me out! Dr. Kaufmen reassured me that my prognosis will not change whether I start chemo tomorrow or two months from now. He said if he were to guess I have had this tumor for approximately 2-3 years! Crazy…

Alright time to go to bed! (I find the only time I can reflect and write on my blog is when my 3 kids are snoozing). Yup I consider my husband one of them hahah! 😂 

P.S. Thank you for the continuous love and support that pours in every-single-day!!