It's back...

Unfortunately, this isn't a great post. We just found out that the chemo I have been on since January has stopped working and that the areas that had cancer in January have reappeared on my latest scan as actively growing. Ugh!

Next up is some surgery in early December, some recovery time and then a new chemo in the new year.

Please keep us in your prayers.

My new year's resolution for 2008 is to keep in better contact with friends and family, so check back. I should be updating shortly (with pictures!)

It's been a good week!

Great news today - another good scan! It was a little spooky because there is an area on my chest wall that has been there since January and in my last scan 6 weeks ago, the radiologist that read it said that the area might be growing. This really kind of put us into a tizzy because we thought it was just scar tissue or something and hadn't really thought it was cancer. Anyway, his read was kind of wishy-washy as to if it had changed or not, so Dr. Johnson opted to wait until this scan to see if we wanted to change anything in my treatment. She said it could have just been how the scan slice cut through the area that made it look larger as opposed to anything actually growing. So, I had a scan yesterday and today we got the results that it was unchanged from last time, so she thinks that it was just his read last time & that I am still okay & clear. Whew! God has definitely answered our prayers this week.

In news about Todd's job, he has accepted a position with the IEPA Bureau of Air in Springfield and is to start on November 1st. The last day for the Champaign IEPA Lab is October 31st. We have decided that we aren't going to do anything about moving yet and that he is going to drive for a couple of months. There is a position on the books in the Champaign IEPA Regional Office that is currently unfunded & we are hoping that it becomes available in the next few months or so. After the new year, we will look at where we are at & what the job situation is & then decide if we want to move. If we do go, it will work better too because we will be putting our house on the market in the spring. All I know is that it will be interesting to see where we are at this time next year.

Meet me in St. Louis... Louis....

We just spent the past weekend in St. Louis with Todd's family & everyone had a great time. The only bad thing is, now I need a vacation because we did it all - the children's museum, the science museum, dinner on The Hill & the zoo!

Friday after we checked in to the hotel, we went to the Magic House. It is a great children's museum & we didn't even get to half of it. They had some great areas for little kids and Hadley & Ian had a blast. There were slides & climbers just the right size for them and a fun sand table. But their favorites were the grocery store & the castle. The castle section had little serf clothes that they could put on & they could pick the veggies in the field, cook in the castle kitchen & then eat at the lord's table. It was awesome and totally wore them out.

Then, on Saturday morning we got up & went to the St. Louis Science Center. Todd and I had gone there when we were dating & had really enjoyed it (yep, we're geeks!). I have to admit, it was definitely a different experience this time with a 1 1/2 and 3 year old along. Last time, we looked at all the displays & did the IMAX & planetarium, while this time we played in the little children's playroom the whole day & didn't really see anything else.

On Sunday, we were off to the St. Louis Zoo. The kids really liked it although I was amazed at just how big it was. I swear we must have walked for miles! Hadley's favorite thing was seeing a baby elephant and some of the other baby animals - I guess she can relate. It is just so neat to see them experiencing everything & to see them relate what we have read about to real life. It was really fun.

I have to say, though, that one of my very favorite things about going to St. Louis is getting to eat on The Hill. This year we tried Lou Boccardi's, and while it was good, I have to say that Cunnetto's is still my favorite. Todd loves their cheesy garlic bread & I really like their pasta con broccoli or asparagus. The only hard part is getting in on the weekends - we got there like a half hour before the opened for dinner on Saturday and managed to get in with the first seating. I was worried because the kids aren't the most patient of diners, but we all had a really good time.

Look at me - I'm 3!

Well, we have all officially survived Hadley's terrible twos as she turned three yesterday. It's actually hard to believe that she is that grown up (just ask her - she'll tell you that she is a big girl now). She has moved up to a big girl car seat & we have taken the side off of her crib so that it is now a toddler day bed. Todd & I were looking at pictures of her when she was a newborn last night & it all seems so long ago & just yesterday at the same time.

Her birthday festivities started with a family party on Saturday, the 17th. I figured it was our last chance to do a basic family party since she starts preschool in the fall & will probably want to have friends parties from here on out, but I still kind of went overboard anyway. The theme was Tinkerbell because that is what Hadley picked as we were reading her "Birthday Express" catalog (as we do most nights). If you've never received one, let me tell you that these things are a total racket. It is a catalog of only birthday party supplies & she just loves it. It is ridiculous what all you can get & the fact that you can spend hundreds on just the party supplies without even getting into food or presents. We had the plates, cups, napkins, party boxes (with favors), the Tinkerbell happy birthday banner & the Tinkerbell cake with topper.

Anyway, though, it was a great day & a nice party. Both sides of the family were there & Uncle Chuck & Aunt Kris were even able to make it down from Chicago. We grilled out and were able to eat on the porch & the kids played outside. It was just a perfect day & a fun time. The only time I cringed as mom was when Hadley was opening the presents... I'm afraid that she has turned a little materialistic. She would tear open the present, look at it, toss it aside & start digging into the next one. Cards were not even read - all that mattered was the goodies. Actually, it was kind of funny in a 3 year old kind of way. However, if she is still acting that way as she gets older, we will have issues!

Latest scan results

Today is a good day! I had my scan earlier this morning, we got the results this afternoon & it looks like the chemo is working. The lump under my arm that I found in December is still gone & the internal mammary lymph node that was enlarged has returned to normal size. Finally, after all the treatment we have been through, it is nice to find one that attacks my cancer. I have chemo again tomorrow & it makes it so much easier to go in knowing that the tumors have shrunk.

The ironic part to the good news on our scan results is that most everything else that could go wrong today has. My port was clogged this morning when I went in for a blood draw & so what should have been a quick 15 minute trip turned into 2 hours, our relatively new laptop (January 2007) decided to crash on us and Hadley has been having trouble sleeping through the night so everyone is tired & grumpy. Ugh! But it's easy to see how none of it really matters when the important stuff is good. This happened to us with the March scan too - Todd got a flat tire on the Expedition on the way to get the results. We were running just right on time & when we pulled into the parking lot & I got out, I heard the "woosh". We could see a piece of glass in the tire, but couldn't do anything about it at that point & so just went in to see Dr. Johnson. That scan was good too, so the hour waiting for AAA to send the tow truck seemed like not such a big deal after all. We are kind of worried wondering what else is going to happen with the next scan 6-weeks from now, but just so long as the results are okay, we'll be fine.

Thanks everyone for all your prayers & support. I don't think we could have gotten through this without you!

Here comes Peter Cottontail!

Although the weather didn't cooperate, the kids had a great time this Easter. Todd's family (the Myler side) tends to do holi-weekends as opposed to holi-days and this year was no exception. We were at his Uncle Bernie & Aunt Lynn's house in Monticello for a fish fry on Good Friday evening, a great family dinner on Holy Saturday and then an egg hunt and brunch on Easter Sunday. It is a lot of fun because, while a small crowd this year, there were still ~30 cousins, aunts & uncles to play with.

At our house the Easter Bunny left baskets with a baseball/wiffleball theme this year. Hadley got her own ball glove (she's been trying to wear Daddy's) that is pink polka dot while Ian got a wiffle bat. He's a little dangerous with it & mostly tries to swing it like a golf club, but he seems to enjoy it. Hadley also got the book Olivia about a very energetic little girl pig. My favorite line in it is when her mother tells Olivia that she really wears her out, but that she loves her anyway. Spend a day or two with Hadley & Ian and you can totally relate to it!

Giving it a whirl!

I've been meaning for a while to try & keep better contact with out of town family & friends about the goings on with our family and so am going to give blogging a whirl.

For those of you we haven't talked to in a while (or since our Christmas newsletter), here is what has been going on with us. I found a lump (again!) in my armpit on Christmas Eve & saw the doctor later that week. It turned out to be cancerous (again!) and so we did the whole round of tests in early January & started chemo (again!) at then end of the month. This time I am on an experimental drug - Avastin - that I get by IV once every three weeks and an approved breast cancer drug - Navalbene - for two weeks on one week off. The good news is that within the first two treatments, the tumor I could feel at Christmas had shrunk to where I couldn't find it at all. And an enlarged lymph node they were concerned about shrunk during the 6-weeks between scans. So, we are optimistic that this time we have finally found the right treatment. I'm tolerating the chemo pretty well, but am awfully tired. Both sets of parents are helping out (again!) and have really lightened our load. I'm still working 60% time and am have adjusted my hours to where I mostly work in the afternoons. This works out really well because I can be home in the mornings with Hadley & Ian when I am the freshest & have the most energy and then can come & just sit in front of a computer in the afternoons.

I'll try to update this regularly and let you know how we all are doing. Pictures are coming in the next post too!