Finally

We FINALLY got GOOD news yesterday!!!

The oncologist's office called and the CT scan that Chris had done of his upper chest last week came back CLEAN!!!!

That means that the cancer only appears to be in his liver (and wherever that primary tumor is hiding out)!!

Thank you all SO much for your prayers! It is obvious they are working! Please keep them coming!!!

The Loves Of My Life

2.5 Year Well Visit

I took Shane to the pediatrican today for his 2.5 year well visit. Our baby is getting SO big!!

Height - 3ft (!!!!) and 3/4" - 75th percentile
Weight - 31 lbs - also 75th percentile
Head circumference - 52 - 95th percentile (he's ALWAYS had a large head!!)

He did well, especially when he got his flu shot. He shed a few tears during the exam, and after he got his shot, and he was especially "clingy" (he's at the age where he knows full well where he is) but despite all that, he did really well!

The doctor is impressed with his development, though they are still concerned about his speech. They'd like for us to consider seeing a speech therapist because he barely said anything the entire time we were with the doctor, yet the second the doctor left the room our little chatterbox was back in full swing!

We're not sure what we're going to do in regards to speech therapy. We've actually been rather impressed and pleased with his language development these last 6 months. He's saying all kinds of things now and this morning even told me "Bless You, Ma" after I sneezed! I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get him evaluated, again, and I'm sure that's the route we'll end up taking.

Our little guy is growing up WAY too fast. The next time we go to the doctor he'll be THREE!!!

If Only He Were A Drug Addict . . .

It sure would make the daily injections (x3) that much easier for him to adminster to himself!

4 injections down and 38 to go, as Chris puts it! He's doing well! He had his first injection yesterday morning at the oncologist's office and then a visiting nurse came over yesterday afternoon and last night to walk him through the process and then this morning he did it entirely on his own!

Who knew we'd ever be so excited to see Chris successfully shooting himself up! Every wife's dream, I'm sure!

The CT scan went well, too. VERY quick, which Chris liked after those 3+ hour scans a few weeks ago. I'd imagine we'd have the results back in a couple of days and hopefully we'll get good news on that front.

Keep those prayers coming!!

Clearing Hurdles

We're jumping two more hurdles this morning as we start down the new road we're traveling - and we're hoping to clear both of them with flying colors!!

This morning Chris is going in for an upper body CT scan to take a closer look at a "questionable" spot on his lung. After that he'll go back to the oncologist's office where they will administer his first Octreotide injection! This afternoon a visiting nurse will come to the house and show Chris (and Jerry!) how to administer the injections himself. He'll be giving himself 3 injections a day for 2 weeks. After that, he'll go into the oncologist's office once a month for a long lasting injection. Hopefully, he'll be feeling more like his old self in no time!

Prayers for a clear CT scan and no adverse reactions to the Octreotide would be GREATLY appreciated!

We'll be sure to let you all know how it goes. Thanks for thinking of us and for keeping us in your prayers.

Bath Time Twist

Last night I go to start Shane's bath water like I do every night. Grandma Lin was in the playroom straightening up and I was in the bedroom getting his bed and pj's ready for night-night time.

I go to get Shane, so that I could get him un-dressed and get him in the tub - bedtime is a long enough process around here, so why stretch it out any longer than needed?!?!?!

Well, I found Shane alright. And this is what we saw . . .

He got in the tub, on his own, fully dressed!! Well, ALMOST!

Complete with ONE sneaker on!

That's our boy!!!!

Three Opinions, One Plan

Our trip to NYC yesterday proved to be very beneficial.

Not only did we meet a few additional caring, compassionate and knowledgeable doctors, specialists really, but both teams agreed completely with the diagnosis and treatment plan that we were given on Friday by our local oncologist! To us, that was fantastic news!!

The doctor's at Sloan (whom we honestly loved) even said that they've had patients with this cancer, living with it for decades - DECADES!! That this type of cancer CAN be more of a chronic illness, as opposed to a terminal one! Again - GREAT news!

We left NY feeling hopeful, which is more than you can ask for when dealing with cancer.

Now, our only goal is to get Chris to be part of the group of patients living for decades with this cancer, and we'll jump that first hurdle sometime next week when he starts his Octreotide treatment.

I know we've asked for an awful lot of prayers these last few weeks, but they're obviously working - we know all too well how much worse this could all be for us right now - but none the less, I'm asking for your continued prayers (and I'm not beyond begging either!!) Please continue to pray for Chris. Pray that he responds well to the Octreotide and that the medication works to control the disease. The goal is to either shrink the tumors or to keep them the size they are now. Pray that that happens for us. We've got a lot of life left to live, and we still plan on doing that together!

From the very bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank you for your support, your prayers, your encouragement. It all means more than you could ever know. Our life took a drastic turn 2 weeks ago, and while we miss that old carefree life something awful, we know we'll adjust to this new direction - and we've got an INCREDIBLE support system behind us to help along the way. For that, we are eternally grateful.

Second Opinions

Tomorrow we're off to NYC to visit with specialists at Sloan-Kettering and at Cornell.

Fingers crossed for lots of good news!!

Hopefully, after our appointments tomorrow, we can formulate a treatment plan and get the ball rolling.

Please keep those prayers coming - they're what's keeping us going.

Toot, Toot! Chugga, Chugga!

On Saturday, November 1, Chris and I took Shane to Oakdale to see:



The 4 of them came out on stage in the Big Red Car (coolest entrance ever!!):

To which Shane replied:

Disco Wiggles! Complete with Captain Feathersword and Dorothy the Dinosaur!!

Daddy, Mommy & Shane:

Fruit Salad. Yummy, Yummy!

The Beatles? No! It's the Wiggles!

It's too bad Shane didn't get into it!!! (enter sarcasm here)

Daddy & Shane:

Yeah, Wiggles!!!!

We're already looking into our next family event! This is going to be hard to top!!

Breathe

We met with our local oncologist this morning and while the news wasn't as good as we would've liked, it certainly wasn't worse case scenario either. But really, the only news we wanted to hear was that this was all a huge mistake and that they were sorry!!! So all in all, we're considering ourselves lucky.

Essentially, this is just not something that we can cure. The good news, if there is ever good news when it comes to cancer, is that the oncologist we met with today is hopeful that we can control this cancer with monthly injections of a drug called Octreotide and that Chris will lead a long, normal life. How long? They don't know. Which is the worst part about all of this. This cancer will be following us around the rest of our lives, but at least we were told to continue living that life as normally as we are now. Obviously there are some changes ahead of us. No more drinking or smoking. We'll be making dietary changes going forward. And perhaps the biggest change, or adjustment, for us is getting used to the idea that Shane will be an only child. Which, for me at least, is a tough pill to swallow.

Are we happy with the news we got? Yes. We certainly feel better today than we did yesterday. Are we still terrified of the future? Sure, but isn't everyone? But the fact that we were told that we have a future, together, is all the hope we need.

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep them coming over these next few weeks while we continue gathering information, meeting with doctors and forming a treatment plan. We're going into NYC on Wednesday to meet with specialists from Sloan-Kettering and from Cornell. We could use all the support we could get and we've certainly got a great support system behind us.

We've learned a lot about ourselves, about life, over these last few weeks. A scare like this makes you realize what's really important. Suddenly you just don't care to make room, or time, for all the bullshit anymore. Priorities start to fall in order and living takes on a whole other meaning.

For that, and for that alone, I owe thanks to cancer.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is one of our first hurdles in getting around this newly formed traffic jam in the road of our life.

Tomorrow is our first appointment with a local oncologist. Tomorrow we're hoping to get more answers. We're hoping to learn what the body scans Chris had done Tuesday and Wednesday show. We're hoping to learn where the original tumor is located. We're hoping to get an idea as to where we go from here, what our next steps are.

We could really use all the prayers and positive thoughts that you can muster up and send our way. This is a big appointment for us and we're really hoping for good, encouraging news - with a speedy treatment plan to boot! (Ok, we're willing to budge on the "speedy" part in order to get the "good and encouraging" part).

My point? Please keep us in your thoughts today and tomorrow and pray for nothing but good news!

We're hoping to get through this traffic jam and back to our regular driving (although we plan on our "new" regular driving to be MUCH safer) in no time at all.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Crazed Fan

He's always been a fan of the Wiggles, but lately he's been more of a crazed fan! Copying their dance moves and trying to "sing" along with them to his favorite songs. Every morning he comes into the playroom, turns on the TV, puts in his favorite Wiggles video, and hits play. It's all smiles from there on out. NOTHING gets his attention like that Wiggles do. . .


Dancing along -
Chris and I took our Wiggles fan to see them live and in person last Saturday. They were playing at a theater about 30 minutes from home and we couldn't pass up the opportunity. The three of us had a fantastic time - and we've got pictures (SHHH!!) to prove it! Stay tuned -

My Boys, My Heart

Halloween

This year for Halloween, Shane was SUPPOSED to be cookie monster. Or, perhaps I should say, he would've been cookie monster if he had actually let us put him in the costume!

Wouldn't even put one leg inside the costume. Not even ONE leg! So, there was no trick or treating for us this year. And to make this worse, the first bunch of trick or treaters we had were older kids wearing scary masks. Shane ran to me with tears streaming down his face, and once he reached me, he clung to my leg like the devil himself was standing at our front door.

So, these few pictures that we have from pumpkin picking are as Halloween as Halloween got at our house this year.

Maybe 3.5 year olds like Halloween more than 2.5 year olds do. We'll find out next year!