Austin visits

I promised an update on Austin visiting so here it is:

My friend Austin from Harding came to visit me! He is the same one who I visited in Hawaii. He got in on Monday and we went up to red rocks and had lunch. We then went to Evergreen and ended up at a place called go paint and we painted ceramic pieces and had them fired. He made/painted a kleenex box for his Father and I made a hot plate for my grandma and a hippo for my soon to be niece. They were great to us staying open for an extra 1.5 hours. We then went over to Wanda and Stacey's house and they had steaks, fries and green beans all ready for us.  Austin felt like he was breaking and entering someones home and stealing their food. We then drove back down to Denver to get to my MRI appointment at 9:15 at night.

Tuesday morning mom, Austin and I went to Vern's for breakfast. I love breakfast! We then went to Horsetooth reservoir and didn't end up staying long because it was so cold and windy. We then went to the spa and got massages. He had just finished his finals and I just needed a massage, and it was awesome! There is a new spa called buzz and blitz, I definitely suggest it, unless you like deep deep tissue massage which I don't but Austin does. Before we went back home we stopped by Men's Warehouse to surprise Lindsey.

Wednesday mom, Austin and I made our way to Denver to meet up with Laura at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for the pirate exhibition. Something I did not mention is what happened on our way down to Denver/Dr's appointment. We ended up hitting a pothole or a very large chunk of cement. Ended up with one flat tire, one tire that wasn't flat but was bubbled and had to be replaced, new axel, a new rod and new bearings. We went to the doctors and got the great news. We  went to the cheesecake factory for dinner and then went back home.

Thursday we relaxed for the majority of the day. Mom, Austin and I met up with Lindsey to get our nails done. That evening the 4 of us went to the Midtown Arts Center to watch 42nd street, I love musicals! It was a lot of fun. We had wonderful seats too. Lindsey and I ended up purchasing season tickets. The ones we are most excited about hour hair spray and the sound of music!!

Friday Austin had to leave :( but it was so great seeing him!

Later on that afternoon my friend Kalla Paige came to visit and we ate at Cafe Vino and went to see the movie Water for Elephants which I highly recommend. I experienced such a wide array of emotions during that movie. Go check it out!

Wonderful blessings!

I have spectacular news!!! 


I very reluctantly went to get an MRI on Monday night starting at 9 PM! Not excited at all especially since it takes about 2-3 hours and then we (Austin and I... Austin came to visit more about that on another post) it's another hour home. I'm used to going to bed around 10. When we got there I found out they had given me the fast machine which meant half the time!!!! I was ecstatic! My MRI tech was the best one I have had so far. I now want to do all my MRI's in the evening so that I can first of all get the fast machine and second of all have Corey as my tech!


Wednesday I went back to the doctor for a check up along with finding out the results of the MRI There were a lot of people there: Austin, Jana, Laura, Mom, myself (obviously) and the Dr. Dameck (also obviously). It is rather interesting having so many people there. They all have their own questions. I came prepared with a list of the things I was experiencing. After that I did the typical evaluation that she has me do. I always forget about having to say the months of the year backward but I can still do it! My balance was much better this time. Then all we had left to do was find out the results of the MRI! I was certain it had to be at least a decently good report since I haven't been having migraines and I've been able to get out and about but I had no clue how great the report was going to be. 


Dr. Dameck pulled up the scans from February when they found that things were not getting better but actually getting worse and then she brought up the ones from Monday night after. Since the scan in February I have gone through 15 days of radiation (a total of 37 grey for those of you who care/understand, aka Smccauley). I did a round of lomustine and started tarceva daily both of these are chemotherapies along with the avastin because they have to wean me off of it. 


We got to see a side by side comparison and the difference was incredibly drastic! For the first time I was able to say well that is abnormal and that is not etc... My brain looked so pretty I was doing my best to hold back tears! I was so happy and felt so blessed that God is providing His healing! So in the scans white (enhancing) is bad and means "cancerous tissues" grey means "non-cancerous tissue". For the scan on Monday the white that had been in my brain squiggles were gone! There had been a couple of white masses growing in February that have now become dark "ghosts" meaning you can still see their outline but they are not enhancing!!! Dr. Dameck said that things are disappearing in regions that were not radiated! How incredibly awesome is our God!


Psalms 107:1


Trading My Sorrows
Darrell Evans 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXi5iq1zAl4

I'm trading my sorrow
I'm trading my shame
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

I'm trading my sickness
I'm trading my pain
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

Chorus:
And we say yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen

I'm pressed but not crushed persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure

And his joy's gonna be my strength
Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning

Happy celebration of our risen Lord

April's Dr's appointment

Jana my mom and I went to see Dr. Dameck on Wednesday, Laura met us there, eventually. She had to park so extremely far away, the hospital was packed.  We got there super early and did a lot of waiting around. I had several issues to tell Dr. Dameck about.
Here is a quick list:

• Conjunctivitis and scratched/irritated eyes
• Drippy nose and dry nose
• Balance issues
• Mild headaches
• Swelling/puffiness

My evaluation went good except for my balance. I was for the first time unable to keep myself stable when just standing on one foot. 

So I've gained weight and I don't like it one bit at all! It is mostly due to the steroids and their side effects along with the fact that I haven't really been able to exercise, going up a flight of stairs can tire me out. I don't have much energy. Well I mentioned the fact that it was probably mostly water weight and once I was off the steroids a lot of it would go away and then my doctor chimed in and said actually it's hydrated fat (pretty sure that is what was said but the main thing was that it was FAT) Being the avid execiser I used to be I know that in order to get rid of fat you have to do cardio, something that I can barely do any of currently. I started bawling... followed by laughter in the midst of sobs. I said:

 "I cry when they tell me it's fat, I cry when they tell me I'm going to lose my hair, but when they tell me I have brain cancer... eh that's cool I can deal with that."

I felt so silly. My platelet counts are down so my immune system is down and my bilruby  (something having to do with my liver) counts are high.

I had an infusion of Avastin and it took a long time for them to get me stuck. My normal infusionista was even having a difficult time. She tried twice and couldn't get it and then one girl tried my hand and then the woman who was the best at hand sticks finally got me. I got stuck a total of five times :/

We did have some fun though and we all chatted with the nurses, we are friends! They are so fun and upbeat and we always seem to chat it up when we run across each other even when I'm not in the office or the infusion center.

So what's next:

• Tarceva nightly
• MRI in 2 weeks
• Lomustine in 2 weeks
• Avastin in 4 weeks
• Steroids, slowly work myself down from them 0.25 mg every couple of weeks

First Night of Tarceva

Last night was my first night of taking Tarceva, I was in bed reading the insert they provided for me with the medication that gave me all the side effects and warnings etc. I got nervous/fearful because I was afraid of what was going to happen to me with this new drug. I also was being attacked with thoughts of what would happen if this drug doesn't. My hands were shaking and I started crying. I was trying my hardest to pray but I couldn't focus. 


Suddenly I had this stabbing pain in my eye and I jumped out of bed, went into my bathroom mirror and there was an eyelash that was poking me in the eye. But in those very few seconds I had stopped crying and worrying about my chemo pills. After that I was able to go back to bed and focus on my personal time with God. 


Thank you Lord for taking eyelash number 27.
Matt. 10:29-31