Scan Results

Chris and I have had 2 long days at the hospital. day one I had my CT and Bone scan done. Everything looked good until the bone scan got to my legs. Here there were 3 areas of concern showing up. One on the right femur ( thigh area) and two on the left tibia/fibula, (shin). So, they had me stay and do lots of x rays. We were thinking maybe some stress fractures or shin splints from running.
Today we met with my oncologist to find out that my lab work shows my tumor markers are way up again and I will now need to have a PET scan and MRI of my legs. So, unfortunately it appears there is once again cancer activity in the bones.
After the next tests are in we will meet with Dr. A again to discuss where we go from here. At this point it looks like more radiation or "spot welding" as Dr. A calls it.
As you can imagine, this is quite disappointing but Chris and I feel God has me in exactly the right place with my team of doctors.
I am allowed to continue running and plan to do so. I am not in any pain from this only in my foot from running.
These next tests will show more clearly what is going on but Dr. A said I will not have to have another bone biopsy which I am quite relieved about.
Everything else including the spine and rib look fine and stable. Radiation has worked well in the first two areas so I feel pretty confident about it for my legs.
This is about all the info. I have for now but find that everyone thinks of questions I don't always cover here. So, if you have a question just leave it in the comments section and i will try to answer it there.

Breakfast tomorrow :(

This will be my "breakfast" tomorrow, minus the v8 juice. It is simply in the picture so you get the idea of how big the bottles of "banana smoothie" contrast are. I have to chug both of those down before the scans, yuck! Nothing like some delicious chemicals for breakfast!
It will be a long day and it starts off with this. Can't wait to get it over with.

Six months at a time

Lately I have been thinking about how different I see my life now. As I am approaching another round of tests I find myself thinking about all the things I want to do but always think of them in terms of "after my tests".
Simple things, like starting a new running class, getting a pass to swim at the aquatic park, painting my bathroom. I seem to go into this type of limbo where I need to make sure everything is ok before I commit or start something new.
This is not how I used to think and most people don't live their lives like this. I am often encouraged not to think this way, and hope in time it will get easier to see past 6 months at a time.
The positive that has come out of this, is that each time another 6 months goes by and a new one begins I am fully aware and appreciative of the things I had accomplished, people I spent time with and the way I spent that time.
So, as I wait for this 6 months to end and the next to begin I look back at Mothers Day, Kevin & Nikki's wedding, our 25th wedding anniversary, my birthday, Tim's move to Prague and graduation from college, having time with Matt back at home, a great camping trip and so much more!
And now, I wait and pray for the next 6 months!
Psa. 27:14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

Test results from my surgery~

Good news~ the results from the biopsy after my surgery last week are good! They said no cancer or any other problems. Whew~ one down, one to go.

Next week on Tuesday I have a CT scan, bone scan and x-ray. This week I will be having labs done and picking up the oh so delicious "banana" contrast :)

Thank you for your prayers, thank God for His hand of protection. I will update the blog when I have the next set of test results.

Recovering well so far!

Today has been a good day and I feel I am on my way back! Thursday-Saturday I kind of laid around, watched movies and felt- not so great. Today, after church we decided to go to the park and see what I could handle. At first I walked and Chris took off to run while I listened to my i-pod walking along the trails. It did not take long before the "itch" to run took over and off I went. I figured I would just run a little and walk when I needed to. At first I did not feel so great and thought, maybe this isn't going to work. I told Chris if I didn't feel good I would sit down on one of the park benches and wait for him.

Well, I started running and as time went on I felt better and better. Still sore and a few dizzy spells ( they happen sometimes) but felt better the more I ran. I kept waiting for Chris to lap me ( the trail is 1.5 miles around) but he never did. Then I began to wonder where the heck he was, couldn't see him anywhere, even looked over where our car was parked and at a bunch of people having a BBQ. Thought maybe he ran into someone we know and was talking.

After 3 times around, I turned the other direction and starting heading back to see if I could find him. About a half a mile later I saw him running towards me! He thought I was walking and could not figure out how he hadn't lapped me yet. We were both looking for each other and where just a short distance apart. It was funny :)

Once we found each other we finished the run for a total of 10 miles! Ahh, another benefit of running, bouncing back is not as hard.

The weather was absolutely beautiful today, high 60's, maybe 70 with a cool breeze. To end a great run one of my ladies from my Run Wild class was out there running all on her own- I am so proud of her! We arrived home to some friends bringing a delicious dinner over for us which was very much appreciated after a long day.

Surgery is over~

Had my surgery this morning and all went well. The team of doctors, nurses and the anesthesiologist were wonderful and took good care of me. They listened to my concerns about nausea after anesthesia and gave me several meds. to combat that. I have had no trouble at all and was even hungry when I got home.

After the nurse prepared me and the doctors came in and talked to me and Chris they took me off to begin. They gave me a drug through the IV and said "this may make you a little dizzy". I remember spinning, not being able to move the way they asked me to and then woke up sitting in a wheelchair in a different room feeling VERY drugged and tired. Kind of weird :)

They kept giving me instructions like "take a deep breathe", "get ready to get dressed" and kept taking my blood pressure. Pretty quickly I came back to semi-reality and talked with my doctor. She said she did not see anything that concerns her and she removed tissue to have biopsied. The results should be ready in about 4 days. She does still feel I will need a hysterectomy. When, will depend on the biopsy results.

Chris brought me home and has taken good care of me while working from home today. My friend Jonna brought dinner over which was great. I have not had much pain but I have also kept myself pretty well medicated to offset the pain. Have just felt really tired and a little sore. So, overall everything has gone well today. Will write when I have the biopsy results. Thank you for all the prayers!

Surgery~ Thursday morning

Hi all~ I will be having surgery Thursday morning @ 8 am. My doctor will be doing another biopsy ( more extensive) to make sure nothing was missed from the first one done a month ago.

I am not looking forward to it but..... guess it needs to be done.

The anesthesiologist called today to touch base and I was able to fill him in on the fact that I don't typically do well with anesthesia and he said he will give me some meds. to help with that. One being Zofran ( yuck-used that one with chemo) and another I am not familiar with. I hope they work :)

My doctor has prescribed pain pills and nausea meds which I already have to use at home if needed.

Chris will be able to take me on Thursday and we have a couple of very kind friends that will bring dinner for us Thurs. & Friday! So, it looks like we are good to go.

I have not felt well since getting back from Tulsa over a week ago and had a terrible headache all day today. So.... lots of prayer needed here please. Please pray that the surgery goes well with no complications/side effects. That the results are good-no cancer or other problems. That my recovery will be fast and I can get back to running which I have only been able to do once in the last 10 days which of course makes me feel very "off" right now. Thanks for your prayers, love & support!

Isaiah 41:13
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Running Riverside Park in Tulsa

Chris and I headed to Tulsa for a long weekend to be with family and decided while we were there we would do our long run of 16 miles at Riverside Park in Tulsa, OK. This is an awesome place to run! We saw every running group out there, Tulsa Running, Fleet Feet, Runners World, TNT, Race for the cure and more, including getting to say hello to contestant Sean from this seasons "The Biggest Looser", who was out there running!

The weather was absolutely perfect and we were amazed at how many people were out there. Everyone was so friendly. The shaded, paved trails run alongside the river with restrooms, playground, sitting areas and beautiful sculptures lining the trail. My favorite was the one of a runner. The trails are split for bikers and runners, which is great!

At first we were not sure how far we had gone so we just picked a place to turn around and head back. At the starting point we found a map and realized we had run 9 miles so we just ran it again and cut a little off the end, making it about 16-17 miles. We did notice that we were able to guess our mileage ( accurately) based on how our bodies felt. Thought that was quite interesting. What a nice change of scenery and weather!

We stayed in a hotel with a hot tub and pool, ohhh that was wonderful!! I am looking forward to running there again :)

Pre-Op VISIT

Going in tomorrow ( Wed.) for my pre-op visit. I will have a procedure done next week on the 15th. This will be a d/c to check and make sure they did not miss anything from the biopsy done a few weeks ago.

I am still having pain in the area of where they did the biopsy and said the endometrial lining was too thick. I can not tell if this is a running injury or something else, so I would like to ask for prayer about this procedure next week.

It is considered day surgery, they will use anesthesia to put me out and say I will need to rest for a few days and then can resume normal activities. I have yet to ask what their definition of "resume normal activities" means :)

I tend to have a lot of trouble with anesthesia, so please keep that in prayer as well.

The following week will be time for my 6 month round of tests, labs and oncology visit.

Thanks all~