Update from Doctors Visit

Came back from my doctors appointment pretty happy. He said the tumors on my lymph nodes have shrunk a bit and look great, and the ones on my liver look smaller too other than one and it is just slightly bigger than it was last time but nothing to worry about for now. Whoohoo... I get to go 3 months with no treatments other than the monthly shot that I will always have to take

Medical Update

This week I will be going in for my CT Scan. This will give me a better idea of what is going on inside me. Last scan didn't use Contrast so it didn't show anything. The Doctor was a bit confused as to why they didn't use Contrast but they didn't.

The scan is scheduled for this Thursday and then I will go in and see the Dr. Friday to get the results. The good news is that I feel pretty good so I don't think it is going to show anything. The bad news is that I have no real data for the past 5 or 6 months. This means that things could have really changed and we don't know.

I will update the Blog when I get the results.

Wishing me Luck.

Smiles for Grandma

I got the best smile from my sweet grandson. Sorry the picture isn't the greatest quality but it was taken with my cell phone. Don't you just love the peak of hair on top of his head? I just want to eat him up!!

Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge

Here is a picture of me on a boat going out to see the Sydney Bridge and Opera house. This is where they shoot off the New Years fireworks here.

All I can say is "Unbelievable" This is one of those things I thought I would never see in my life and here I am seeing it with my own two eyes. Chalk one more off the bucket list of things to do.

Sydney Australia !!

Yes,
I am in Sydney Australia for work for a little bit and so I thought I would take a moment and submit a picture of what it looks like down under..





I forgot that I was "Down Under" when I took this picture so I am taking the rest of the pictures with my camera upside down so they will look right side up for you when you see them in the USA... :)

More pictures to come.
Evan

Our Grandson and another cake

I baked a cake for Evan's sisters birthday party. The theme was princesses so of course it had to be a pink cake. JayDee helped me and it was a lot of fun to make.

Our Baby Parker at 2 months old

Summer Vacation

Well, after driving 2600 miles, we just got back from our summer vacation to see the Redwoods in California. We had a wonderful time!!

Our first night was spent in Reno, NV at a horrible hotel. The bed was so hard we could hardly sleep. We drove the whole next day until we reached Eureka CA, we were so tired we just found a hotel with a soft bed and crashed. In the morning we drove to where we took a tram ride up into the redwoods. It was amazing!!

After the tram we drove through a tree :o) then on to San Francisco and the wharf. We really wanted to go visit Alcatraz but it was $40.00 a ticket unless you booked in advance, needless to say, we had to settle for just a picture from the wharf.

From San Francisco we drove to a town outside of LA and we spent the whole day at Six Flags. Cody had a blast and we were so exhausted, I even got a blister on my foot from all the walking around. When did I get too old to enjoy an amusement park??? Believe it or not, I actually had fun riding all those roller coaster rides.

Our next stop was Hollywood. We didn't stay too long there but it was fun to find the stars of some of our favorite movie stars. At this point we were all ready to head for home but of course we had to stop off in Las Vegas to visit the pawn shop that was made famous on a TV show called Pawn Stars.

Our last night was spent in the worst hotel of the whole trip in Mesquite NV. At 2:30 in the morning we gave up trying to sleep and climbed in our car to make the last leg of our journey.

We are so glad to be back home but we had a great time and can now cross off one more item on Evan's bucket list.

Vacation Pictures

Endoscopy results

Evan had his Endoscopy on Friday to see if he had varicose veins in his esophagus. The results are that there are no varicose veins. This is wonderful news but at the same time, this still leaves us wondering what has caused Evan's spleen to be enlarged.

Liver

We have been so busy enjoying our summer that we haven't had time to update the blog. :o) We have been camping every weekend and can't get enough of it. Evan has had more energy since we have been able to be out in the sun. He needed the vitamin D that the sun produces.

There have been some things that we probably should fill you in on that have developed over the last few weeks.

First of all.... When they did Evan's last CT scan they left out the contrast and said that they had verified that he didn't need it.... They were wrong!! Without the contrast they were not able to see any tumors which is why the first doctor said that the tumors in his liver were not there anymore. False hope :o(

When he went into his cancer doctor, the doctor questioned the missing contrast but wasn't overly concerned. He just said that he would set up another CT scan in a couple of months.

The doctor did say, however, that Evan's lymph nodes were still looking good and that there hasn't been any new growth and that the shots are still working. He also said that his liver tissue didn't look healthy and that his spleen was enlarged and wanted Evan to go see a liver specialist. This had us rather worried.

The liver specialist looked at the scans and said that his liver tissue was fine and his liver should hold out for another 10 years. Her main concern was that his spleen was enlarged. Her opinion is that he has some varicose veins in his esophagus that are pumping too much blood into his liver and the liver can't process it very well so it is causing the spleen to enlarge.

Evan is scheduled for an endoscopy on the 25th that should determine if the liver specialists assumptions are accurate. If this is the case then they will add another pill to Evan's diet and this should shrink down the varicose veins and he will begin to fill much better.

We will let you all know what the results are.

Today Another Shot (Sandastaton)

Today I get to go in and have my monthly Sandastaton shot. This is the shot that helps stop the growth of the Tumors in my body.

It must be working because the tumors have NOT grown and the doctor said that is great news.

The harder news to take is the cost of the shots. They are billing my insurance $17,720 per shot. I get one shot a month. You can add it up and see that it is quickly costing the insurance a lot of money per year.

I just hope to never get that letter from them saying that I have reached the limit of my insurance and they are not going to cover me any more.

Latest Scan Results

I was given the wrong date because Evan had his scan today instead of on the 7th. It is so amazing that you can get a CT scan and get the results instantly instead of having to wait for a week.

We couldn't have received better news!! Evan's liver is completely clear and the lymph nodes haven't grown. This means that the sandostatin shots are working by keeping the tumors from growing.

It is never easy when he gets these scans because we hope for the best but at the same time we have to prepare ourselves to hear bad news. It makes for a very stressful day.

Again we want to thank you for your prayers on our behalf, we truly feel the strength of your prayers.