Ultra sound

Today momma had her ultra sound. The one today wasn't very high tech or anything but it did the job. They found out that the spot has shrunk, which mom already knew by just feeling it. The doctors are very pleased with the progress. In a month, she goes to get a MRI  which will be more in depth. In a month she will also be meeting with a plastic surgeon to plan what surgery they plan on doing a month later, (two months from now). Right now my mom and her doctor think the best way to go is having a Mastectomy which is the more intense surgery out of the two options. She is doing good a little tired and constant headache but other than that nothing bad is going on. We will see how the next coupe days to. Have a good week.

Couple nice days

Hey everyone sorry I haven't updated in awhile. No updates means that she is doing well because if anything bad ever happens I will always update right away. Mom is doing good she was really tired the first couple days and kept wanting to go outside and work in the yard with it being so nice out but she was too tired too. Yesterday she was actually able to and it made her happy. She was out for about an hour and a half and that completly wiped her out. Tonight we have the big test to see how the cancer is reacting to the chemo. I don't know how long it takes to get results from that test but I will let you know the results as soon as I have them. Have a good day.

Half way there

My mom has officially been through half her chemo treatments after today. Currently she is resting and is pretty exhausted. To know that she is half way done with the first step of the process out of three is a pretty good feeling. The next step being surgery and the following is radiation. She has strength like none other. The past couple days she has been doing really well. She worked monday which she really enjoyed seeing all her work friends again. It is only the second or third time working I believe since starting her chemo in the beginning so it's great to see her doing that well and a really big deal. She has always liked her job and I think it is defiantly something that she misses the most about what she used to call normal. In some ways we have fallen in to a new normal, but with chemo nothing will ever be completly set in stone. It varies with every treatment how how she feels on a certain day, no saying "normally two days after shes fine than at four days bad". The last treatment she had she stayed weak the longest and I am just hoping that this time she can feel a lot better. I think she said these last half of the treatments are a little different, and wont necesarilly make her as nauseous, but more like tingly and prickly in her feet and hands. This sounds funny but its pretty miserable especially since this already occurs and now it is just going to get worse. Kelsey is on her last week of college of freshman year, doing the exam thing. Dad is doing the usual and supporting mom. Grandpa to me, my moms dad, is the one who took her to chemo today. Her family has done an amazing job of creating a rotating schedule on who takes her and sits with her all day so dad doesnt have to take off of work every time. I dont know if you guys know what getting chemo is like but basically my mom starts off by having an appointment with her doctor. Its pretty cool theyre on a first name basis and she just checks over things like my moms blood counts and makes sure everything looks good. Than, my mom has her own private room with a comfy chair and things like a T.V. Latley she has been having to wait awhile for the next step. It is actually a nurse who comes in and gives my mom the chemo, which is in an IV that hooks to the port on her chest. The IV takes like four hours and there is a couple bags. That's pretty much all. It takes her a little while to feel the affects of it going through her body and she almost seems normal at first. She isn't allowed to drive for like 9 days after every treatment because of the heavy meds that she also has to take everyday. The meds goes in circles, like they will be some that she has to take because they fight the cancer or whatever, but than she has to take meds to reverse the side affects that the meds give her like nausea. All in all theres a lot of meds. Only four more treatments left though :) I again thank everybody for everything they have been doing. The generosity never stops. I will update again soon. Have a great night.

So blessed

We are so blessed. Mom has had three chemo treatments and is getting her fouth one this week weds. Every treatment has gone well. Aside from finding out in the beginning that the chemo had spread and the first treatment being pushed back a week, everything has gone really smoothly. I couldnt have asked for anything to go better. Today mom is in really high spirits and energetic. We just got back from church and running to the store and now shes cooking in our new stove! In case you havent heard, our old stove exploded. My dad was cooking, and all the sudden the burner burned a hole in the bottom of the pot and the boiling water went everywhere. Sparks flew up taller than him. Thankfully, he didnt get hurt and nothing else was destroyed. This was last weekend I believe. Early in the week dad and I went shopping at Menards for a new one. We picked one out and were able to find it somewhere else for cheaper, and dad picked it up yesterday. Yesterday dad also helped Kels take all her furniture from Holland up to her apartment. She has to be out of her dorm this Friday. She is moving in with three people rom college, two of them being her current roomates. It is a new chapter in her life and a big step but she is ready for it :) Last week friday through this weds was the worst days for mom. I have never seen her that drained. She camped out on the couch only getting up when she absolutly needed to. It was hard seeing. So, it has slowly gotten better and it just makes me so happy to see her today up and happy. She may even go in to work tomorrow or Tuesday which would be really good for her. She misses all her work friends. Cards are still comeing and so are meals. Mom and the whole family is feeling the love. God has blessed us with amazing people surronding us. HE is so amazing. I just thank Him that she is doing so well. Have a great sunday everyone :)
(Ps: Go to my profile to see a picture I just put up)

Doing swell

Hey all. Today is Friday two days after moms last chemo. Mom has been doing really good. Yesterday she even wanted to run errands so I drove her around. I was really surprised to see how many places she was up to going to. By the end I could tell she was ready to just be back home laying down though.  She slept a lot Wedsnesday but other than that she hasn't slept like an obsessive amout. Today she said she felt off, but its ot necessary a sick feeling. She is in bed right now which is a good sign that she might be tired enough now to be ale to sleep through most of the night. The next couple days will really be interesting to how she feels as her counts begin to drop. That's really all for now. Thanks for reading.

Peaceful sleep

Hellooo everyone. Today mom had another round of chemo. Currently she is passed out but she looks really peaceful. She sleeps a lot but normally shes tossing and turning and last time I was up she was really still. Each chemo treatment seems to be affecting her body harder at least from my point of view which is hard, but it also means it is stronger on the cancer. Mom can literally feel the cancer getting smaller and so can her doctors. The prayers are working. I believe the plan is still to have the test at the end of the month to see exactly how much it has shrunk, redo the dosage of chemo and start the second half. Once the the second half is done,  she will have surgery. After surgery she will have radiation. Theres still a long process ahead of us, but we at least now know it is working. Mom has had high spirits since the day she found out the news and I belive this truely has made a difference. She has never been super angry or full of hate, she fights it head on. I dont think I can do a blog post without mentioning how thankful I am for everyone. Some really amazing stuff is going on. The Appeldoorns have brought us dinner every single chemo treatment. So many other families have brought meals. Everyone is always asking what they can do to help. We have an amzing community surronding us and are just so blessed. So thank you. Have a great night and I will update tomorrow hopefully.

Back in the states

Hey everybody im back!! It will now be me, Amanda updating the blog again. My mom is doing great. She had her worst day by far on Thursday. It has never been that bad. She was even afraid to get up to go in to the kitchen to get her pills for fear of getting sick. She still has really constant headaches and that on top of the extreme nausea did her in. Mom said the worst part was that it came on so sudden, feeling fine when she woke up but than straight down hill. Thursday night was a tad better and by friday it was back to being okay/normal. Her typical days are a mix, she goes from feeling good to okay to goood and sometimes bad. It is always changing depends on the minute. Eating is still a problem. She has lost weight which is not good and she has to get it back up by Weds or they will be mad. It is hard to wrap my head around that she will already have another chemo treatment this Weds, considering I left on the day of her last treatment. She is still recieving so much stuff from you guys and I just want to say I really appreciate it. Our house is filled with pink ribbons hanging all around. She was very well taken care of while I was gone with my amazing second family <3 We did make it to church this morning, and she has just been relaxing since than. One thing that amuses me is her obscure cravings. She is worse than a pregnant lady. My dads been amazing though with countless trips to the store to fill the cravings. One of the weirdest ones was sardines, and once she did get them, they didnt taste good. Poor mom. It stinks watching her try all these foods and not being able to stand the flavor. She needs a whole buffet and she still wouldnt be able to stand most of the foods. That's about all for now. I pray that everybody had great spring break trips and made it back safetly. Have a good night :D

April 2, 2013

Hey Everyone,
This is going to be a really short update :) I just got off the phone with my dad. Mom has been doing well but has been tired. I didnt get much information but my dad did managae to make the comment that yesterday she was craving sardines and cadbury eggs, such a strange combination of cravings. She did manage to eat part of a brat tonight but it didn't sit well with her.
     Her thrush is not getting better. They called the doctor and they switched her from the mouth wash to a pill. We are hoping that this will help get rid of it.
-Kelsey