U11 Girls Portland Cup Champions!

Congrats to the Red Magic, the 2008 U11 Girls Portland Cup Champions!


Three days filled with soccer in the blazing hot sun! I think the game scores were:
9-1, 3-0, 4-1, and then 7-1 in the semi finals. (My memory may be off a tad??)

The championship game ended in a 1-1 tie and had to go down to penalty kicks. We tied after the first round, so they went into sudden death. The coach's daughter, Summer, played goalie, made the winning penalty kick and then saved the next goal to win the game! Exciting! Here's a great photo of her running into her dad's (the coach) arms after the win!

The girls played their little (BIG?) hearts out and showed great composure and control!Kaelin played defender, midfield and wing and had some great kicks, passes, corner kicks and a great header, which I missed with my camera because I was watching the game!

We all celebrated afterwards at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse! What a fun, exciting, stressful, nailbiting game! What a weekend filled with soccer! And sun!

On Friday the kids and I went and saw the movie "Meet Dave". It was ok. Spencer really liked it. His kind of sense of humor!

On Saturday he spent the day/night at a Bat Mitzvah and won the dance contest! He was so proud of himself and came home so hyped up and happy! It was very cute. Wished I had gotten some photos of his smile and his showing us the "coffee grinder" moves he did!

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

xoxo

Shauna

Go Red Magic! Now we have 4 weeks off of soccer!! Woo Hoo!!!

Favorite Foto Friday

I don't have very many photos with me in them. Here's a photo of Kaelin and I on the first day of school in Sept. 07. The school counselor, Anne Santa, offered to take one of us together. This was back during my chemo break, the week before going to Disneyland. I was to start chemo again after our trip. So I am happy and much healthier here. A lot thinner too. I had been working out with a trainer during my chemo break. It's much harder getting into a workout routine when you have chemo every other week. Anyways, I love this photo. We both look so happy and I love that we kind of look alike! I'm glad we have a photo of just the two of us. I know it will be a treasure. We need to take more of these kinds of photos!!!

Update on me...my chemo day was very long on MOnday. They were so crowded and busy that day, after the 3 day weekend. All of the Friday people were there I guess. They had a problem with my blood sample, so I had to redraw it. I was two hours behind schedule when I finally got hooked up to infuse. I thought it would go faster since I wasn't getting the oxcilliplatin, which takes the longest (3 hours), but I guess one of the other drugs I get is the same amount of time, it was just given at the same time. So I was at Kaiser from 11am - 415pm on Monday! Then I went home with "Fillup" my portable chemo pump to infuse with 5FU until Wednesday around 130pm. I was suprised at how fatigued and exhausted I've been this week. I've totally felt run down. I've also had this underlying nausea all week. But I can't really complain. I wasn't bed ridden and I could function. I figured out that minus the steroids and pre-meds, which usually pumped me up and gave me lots of energy and a kind of "chemo high", I was quite "spent". I didn't have that get up and go. And since I didn't get the nasty chemo, and I've been driving around etc, I haven't been taking any antinausea etc. meds except for bedtime. So that explains the nausea and the fatigue I think. I haven't had much of an appetite and nothing sounds good. And I've been crabby and feeling overwhelmed. Like I should be getting things done and I'm not.
Don't have the energy and don't feel like it. But since I'm not bedridden, like usual, I feel like maybe I should be doing stuff ya know??? I gotta ease up on myself!!!

I've spent the week driving Kaelin to various activities. Her new summer schedule for Level 7 gym/elite acrobatics started. She had gym M & Th from 12-4pm, acro W 12-130pm and then soccer MTW 5-630pm. She's been a busy girl! Tomorrow she has gym 9-12pm and a 310pm soccer game! It's a soccer tourney so she also has 2 games on Sat and hopefully Sunday if they make the finals. She's been nursing a bum elbow after bending it backwards today doing a "butterfly" in gym (kind of like an aerial?). So she's been icing it and keeps asking me if it's broken. That doesn't sound good does it? Hopefully it won't mess with her soccer. We might skip gym in the am.

Spencer has a bat mitzvah to go to all day Sat and Sat. night. He's been going to alot of those this year. A lot of his classmates have been celebrating. Dave's been busy doing basketball lessons and working on real estate. I've been running around with my kids and reading lots of books!

My kids and the boys across the street have a serious water war going on. Each night, starting about 5pm when it starts to cool down a little, they go outside and play squirt guns, water balloons and hose fights. The 4 boys have been ganging up on Kaelin so she got her dad to be on her team and he took the hose to them all last night! It was fun for everyone, me included. Kaelin thought that was pretty cool and the boys got a kick out of it.

I don't know about anyone else but I've been struggling with dinners lately. Don't want to cook and nothing sounds good. It's been too hot! Tonight I cooked up some corn on the cob and oh my was it goooooood!!! Made some chicken and spinach salad to go with it. Nothing hit the spot like the corn though.

I've rambled enough. I hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend!
Stay cool!
xoxox
Shauna

More Good News (CT Scan results)

7/3/08 CT Scan results (compared to previous scans on 5/16 & 3/7)

CT of chest: lungs are clear, etc.

CT of abdomen: The thickening of the omentum in the gatrohepatic and transverse colon region appears similar to prior exams without thickening. A small amount of fluid adjacent to the left aspect of the stomach has improved since prior exam and only a minimal amount remaining. There are no abnormally enlarged lymph nodes. No other fluid collections are seen. Bowel is not dilated.

CT of pelvis: Bowel appears unchanged. No masses or fluid collections are seen. There is no bowel diltatiion. No abnormally enlarged lymph nodes appreciated. Previsouly seen thickening of the urinary bladder is no longer identified with a normal appearance to the urinary bladder wall. Fluid collection previously seen in the musculature anterior to the left hip is no longer present.

Impression:
1. No change in omental thickening in teh gastrohepatic and colonic region.
2. Decrease in the amount of fluid to the left of the stomach with only a minimal amount remaining.
3. Resolution of previously seen urinary bladder wall thickening.
4. Resolution of previously seen fluid collection anterior to the left hip.
5. No new masses, fluid collections, or adenopathy seen.

:) Seems the Folfox was working! However, had to stop the oxcilliplatin of the folfox due to the allergic reaction. Spent from 11-415pm today doing blood tests and infusing with the other agents. Came home with "Fillup", but am glad to be free of the nasty side effects of the oxcilliplatin for now. I'll go back in on Wed. and get unhooked and then be able to enjoy Kaelin's soccer tourney this weekend! :) Should only have mild nausea with this regimine. :)

Yeah!
Hope you all had a happy Monday!
xoxo
Shauna

Independence Day

2 years ago today, I was released from the hospital after a 13 day stay. I had gone into the hospital for surgery to diagnose and treat my cancer. Going in all we knew is that I had a tumor on each ovary. We didn't know which stage or if it was malignant or benign. I was expected to be in there for 4 days tops. I woke up from the surgery to discover I had Stage 4 (out of 4) cancer and that it had spread to my intestines and my lymph nodes. They did a total hysterectemy, removed 10" of my intestines and 6 lymph nodes. I had trouble getting my digestive and elimination system going again and I ended up staying quite awhile in the hospital. I was released on July 4th, Independence Day, 20# lighter after not eating for 9 days and for being on a liquid diet. My whole life changed. Along with my family's.

Here we are 2 years later celebrating Independence Day with a whole different perspective than before. Priorities shifted. Lives altered. Thankful to share another one with my family and friends.

We spent today together. We went to Borders Books and got my favorite coffee drink. And then we went to go see "Hancock" at the movies. AFterwards we bought some fireworks and groceries for our neighborhood party. We headed over to the Klings house, just down the street.

There we enjoyed football, water balloon and squirt gun fights, water balloon launching, skateboarding, BBQ ribs/sausages/hamburgers/chicken, S'mores, American Idol on the Wii, fireworks, laughs and good times!

My 13 year old son was obsessed with lighting fireworks. He was all about holding the lighter. At one point the big boys (the men/husbands) had him holding a roman candle and a cop car came around the corner! Roman candles are illegal in Oregon, but people go over the boarder to Washington and buy them and bring them back. This year the cops seemed to be cracking down and driving around the neighborhoods, trying to give out $500 fines. Luckily, they came around the corner just as they were getting ready to light it and they stopped to let the car by and realized it was a cop car!

We had a great time and enjoyed our 4th of July very much! Thanks to the Klings for hosting!

Happy Independence Day! And Happy Anniversary to Dave's dad, Jerry and Ann!

oxox

Shauna

CT Scan

They called today and tried to schedule me for next Tuesday, but I am getting chemo on Monday and will have a pump hooked up to me on Tuesday, so the whole CT Scan thing won't work then. So they then said they had an 8:30pm appt. tonight! Who in the world has appts that late??? What are they thinking? I took it though. So I will drink that crap at 615 and 730pm, check in at 815pm and get my CT scan at 830pm. It will be nice to get it out of the way and get a baseline before the new chemo plan on Monday. I just had to drink that crap each time before the CT scan. It's awful! They then hook you up to an IV and administer stuff that makes you glow inside. It doesn't take long at all. And it's not painful. It's a pain in the a$$ though. Afterwards, you have to drink a lot of water to flush your system. That might be challenging that late at night. Everyone keep your fingers, toes, eyes, legs and heart crossed for good news to go along with the lowered CA125!

Simba got groomed today and I'll post a photo later. He's not so cute anymore! But I still think he's happy! The groomer said he was such a good boy!!! :) I was suprised since Petsmart asked me to never bring him again after the very first grooming he got when he was a puppy. They said we needed to go to a vet who would put him down to groom him! Thank goodness I found somewhere else and he behaved himself!

We had to reschedule Kaelin's appt. because I had to go to the doctor and couldn't be in two places at once.

Hope everyone has a happy 4th!

xoxox
shauna

Some Good News

Went to the oncologist today. My CA125 (cancer marker) has gone down from 139 on 5/27 to 54 on 6/23! Normal is 35 or less. Which means my new chemo (folfox every other week) is working (hopefully!)

As some of you recall, I have developed an allergy to that chemo and had to stop it last week after only 30'. My doctor said there are precautions I could take and we could continue with it. There are premeds (steroids and adarax, which is like Benedryl, that I am allergic too also) they could give me and they could administer it over a longer period of time (6 hours) and keep an eye on me.

She suggested another option of continuing my program without the oxcilliplatin. That would mean Avastin and 5FU (the chemo in the pump), which are synergistic, every other week and then monitoring it to see if my CA125 continues to drop. If this doesn't work out, we could add the oxcillaplatin back in.

Another option she presented was switchinig from the 5FU in IV form, to pill form, which is Zalota. I would take it twice a day for 14 days and then have a week off. I would do the Avastin through my port once every 3 weeks. Which would be nice, but the side effects kind of scared me. There usually is no hair loss, but then the diarreah is usually worse than the IV form and there is a risk of mouth sores and the hand/feet syndrome (redness and peeling of your hands and feet). I already know what to expect from the 5FU and I've tolerated it this long. And besides, I would have to go in and infuse with the avastin anyways, so I could easily be hooked up to the stupid pump ("Fillup") while I'm there. I can handle it for 3 days. And without the oxcilliplatin, I won't be as fatigued or nauseous and I won't have that darn cold trigger (can't eat/drink/touch anything cold). Also, it won't make my naropathy (numbness in hands/feet) worse.

The doctor wants me to do a CT scan to get a new baseline so they can track whether the new program/plan of only 5FU and avastin is working. They will call and schedule that asap.

I will go ahead and do my chemo on Monday 7/7, but it will be only 5FU and avastin and not the oxcilliplatin. Good news is that I won't need the usual premeds (steroids), which means I'll hopefully start dropping some of the weight I have gained.

I feel good about this plan. I needed a break from the oxcilliplatin and this will allow my naropathy to hopefully get better and not worse. It won't be so devastating every other week because the side effects will be so much less. That oxcilliplatin is very aggressive and nasty. I also feel good about the CA125 going down as much as it has.

Here is my CA125 history lately:
6/23/08: 54
5/27/08: 139
5/5/08: 143
4/7/08: 134
4/3/08: 112
3/17/08: 127

Normal is 35 or less. So I'm getting closer!

She also mentioned that there is another drug that is geared toward colon/GI cancer that we could try if the other options don't work out. I don't remember the name exactly, but it was something like arytna.....?????

I also asked about being eligible for clinical trials, and since my cancer is of unknown origin/primary, I don't really fit any profiles for those. I don't meet any criteria. Which is unfortunate. My cancer is just sneaky and tricky and doesn't get wrapped up neatly in a pretty box.

I have to thank Paris for accompanying me today to my appointment and taking such good notes. It helped to make my blog post more accurate! Thank you for the support Paris! I love ya!!!!

I also have to thank my daughter, Kaelin, who I dragged around today to first my support group adn then my appointment. She was so patient.

I also have to do a mommy brag...while at my support group, I gave my kids $20 to go to the cafeteria and get some lunch/snacks. They sat in the lobby and played Gameboy while I was in a conference room from 11-12:30pm. After the support group, I went through the line at the cafeteria to get some lunch myself. The ladies behind the counter said to me "are those your kids?" I said, "yes." She then said that her and the other ladies were so impressed with their lunch choices, that they are such good eaters! They got a house salad, a veggie tray, hardboiled eggs and they split a snickerdoodle cookie for lunch! And they did that all on their own! I was so proud!! I felt like I have done something right! :)

I was kind of scared to go to this appointment today. Nervous of what the next plan would entail. I was expecting the worse and I got better news than expected and a plan that I think is doable for me. Something less strenuous. Something lighter for the summer. I'll take it. So I'm feeling good about things right now. I hope my CT scan follows along the same lines. Wish me luck with that. Cross your fingers/eyes/legs/and heart!!!

xxoxox
Shauna

Armed and Dangerous

The kids arrived home from Seattle with my mom just in time for Spencer to make it to his Martial Arts class (Tien Tae Jitsu) and then they couldn't wait to get outside with their new squirtguns that Uncle Brandon (my brother) bought them while they were up there for Ella's (my niece) 3rd Birthday party!

The three boys across the street were armed as well as they had an all out squirtgun war in our cul de sac! Spencer made sure he was all covered up with sweats to keep himself dry, even in the hot weather.

Spencer didn't stay dry long.
Here's a photo of him on his way in to take a shower because he was cold! But he was planning on going back out for more!

Here's a photo of Kaelin after she had gone in and changed her clothes and came back out!

What a great way to spend a hot evening! They had loads of fun! I sat out taking photos and ended up catching up with 3 sets of neighbors!

Tomorrow is my support group and then I meet with my doctor at 3pm to find out a new plan of attack since I can't have the same chemo (developed an allergy to it). So I'm kind of nervous to start something new. I enjoyed having this week off, feeling/pretending to be somewhat normal. It sure makes a difference!

Dave and I went out to eat at Macaroni Grill 2 nights in a row while the kids were gone, since I had a gift card for there! We also went to see "Wanted". It was violent, but action packed and even humorous. I guess "thrilliing" would be a good description.

I also spent my time reading a book, magazines, having coffee with friends, taking the dog to the dog park, catching up on tivoed "Smallvilles" and getting a manicure while they were gone. The time sure went fast and I didn't get anything done really that I wanted to! Nothing productive at least!

I hope you all are enjoying your summer and the first day of July, can you believe it's July????? Wow!!!

xoxox

Shauna