The Home Stretch

Finally getting on here to post a long overdue update on Lana.

She finished chemo and was thrilled to be done with that! Yay!!!

Her hair is growing back slowly but surely and is soft and curly.

After chemo, Lana and Terry took off to California for a month to visit Nat and enjoy a much-needed vacation on the beach.  We all joined them for October Break and had a great time.

Nat even had her baby while we were all there!  Perfect timing.

Ezra is the cutest baby boy and brings the grandkid total up to 15!

Now they are back in town and Lana is doing radiation for the next 6 weeks.

It's everyday, which is a bummer, but hopefully won't be as hard as the chemo.

Mostly she hears that she will probably get super tired.

We are all praying that it will go well.

After radiation, she should be in the clear.  This long journey might actually come to an end!  That will be a great day!

Lana and her cute sisters-in-law having a wig fashion show.

Cute baby Ezra!

Long overdue update...

Let's just blame the summer on the fact that I haven't updated the blog in almost two months.

Can it really be August already?!

This summer Lana has been getting a reduced dose of chemo every week, with a week off every three weeks.  Did that make sense?

So she goes every Tuesday and after three in a row, she gets a week off.  She's not exactly sure how many rounds of this she will have to do before the radiation starts.  The doctor will decide after the next three rounds.

She feels pretty good except for a few rough days after the chemo.  Some of the common side-effects she has felt are dizziness, tiredness, nausea and lack of/change in appetite.  And a little brain fogginess.  Or was that happening before the cancer?  Just kidding, mom! ;)

You would hardly know it since she gets up and gets ready and looks cute everyday!!

She can't wait for this part to end.  It will be a happy day when chemo is over.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your prayers and support!! Our whole family feels it and appreciates it.  We knew our mom had a lot of friends but holy cow.  Cards, texts, meals, phone calls, messages, visitors.  It's been amazing!

This was on one of the weeks off when they went to visit Nat in California.

Good news and more chemo...

So the good news is that the PET scan showed no sign of cancer anywhere else in Lana's body.  Hooray!!!  We were really hoping and praying for those results.  

But...(there's always a big but)...since they did find cancer cells in some of the lymph nodes they removed during surgery, she will have to do more chemo.

We were pretty excited when we thought she was done with chemo but her doctor wants to make sure that all the cancer cells are gone so that Lana doesn't have to go through this all again down the road.

Better safe than sorry.

So starting next Tuesday, she will get chemo once a week for 12 weeks.  Her doctor assured her that it is a lower dose and shouldn't be as awful as before.  We are crossing our fingers that he is right.  

After the 12 weeks of chemo, there will be some radiation.  So hopefully by Christmas, she will be cancer-free and done with treatments!!

We are so grateful for all the prayers and support!!  Thank you!!!

As you can see, Lana is looking as beautiful as ever and has not lost her sense of humor!!

Surgery is done!

Lana went in for surgery today at 9am and got home at about 5:30pm.

I saw her this evening and she looked great!!

The surgery went well and they'll get the pathology report back in a few days.

She said the pre-op was way worse than the actual surgery. 

Lots of poking, prodding, and squishing to locate the exact spot of the tumor.

But once they put her under, it was all good. :)

After the surgery, they put in a drain to drain out fluid and that will stay in for a week or so.

TT gets to help with changing that out and monitoring the fluid.  He's a good home nurse. ;)

Thank you again for your prayers and concern!  I know that my mom sure feels all the love that comes from each one of you!!

Good news...no more chemo!!!

Yesterday was Lana's appointment with her doctor to find out the game-plan.

She was BEYOND THRILLED to find out that she is done with chemo!!  Can I get a hallelujah?!

Best news ever.  She was doing the happy dance all day long.

So here's the plan:

*Surgery on the 19th (partial mastectomy)

*Drain for a week

*2-3 weeks after surgery she'll get radiation everyday for 6 weeks

Which means, ladies and gentleman, that she could be completely done with all cancer treatments by the end of July!!  It's nice to have the end in sight.  I would say that it's the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light has actually been with her through the whole tunnel.  We are so blessed and so thankful.  We sure love you mama.  

This is Lana giving two thumbs up to the great news!!

Here's what we know about what we don't know...

So here's the latest...

Lana did one round of the second kind of chemo and it was bad news bears.  They told her it was milder than the first, but the side effects were way worse with this one.  

Lots of bone pain, joints aching, tingling fingers, stomach issues, no sleeping.  It was a long week to say the least.

So after the first round, she basically asked her doctor if there was any way they could skip the next 3 rounds and go straight to the surgery.  He said they would do an MRI and then re-evaluate.

Last week was the MRI.  Today was an appointment with the surgeon.  We were thinking the surgeon would give some solid answers as to what comes next, but it was a little more complicated than that.

She told Lana that there are a few things that could happen next:

1. Surgery (either a lumpectomy or partial mastectomy) and then radiation and possibly more chemo.

2. More chemo, then surgery, then radiation.

3. Surgery, then radiation and no more chemo.

This was the first time they have mentioned radiation, so that was a little discouraging.  The surgeon is going to talk to the doctor and together they will make a game-plan.  Lana goes back in on Monday to find out what that is.  We will pray that the doctor and surgeon will know what is best for Lana and that she will continue to be blessed with the strength to get through it.  She has been such an example to all of us of positive thinking and a grateful heart!  We appreciate all of her amazing friends and family that have been so supportive.  She gets so many texts, calls, visitors, gifts, cards, and kind words from so many people!  Thank you!!!

One of Lana's best childhood friends, Lily, gave her this hilarious shirt.  She wore it to her appointment today and got a good laugh.

Final Four...

I wish I was talking about the college basketball tournament.

Lana found out from her doctor that he wants to do four more rounds of chemo.  

Not the news she wanted to hear, but her doctor wants to make sure the cancer is good and gone so she doesn't have to do this all over again in the future.

So four more it is!  We will keep praying, keep hoping, keep being positive.  

The tumors have been shrinking consistently and the doctor is really optimistic that everything will be ok in the end.  If it's not ok, then it's not the end, right??

We had a wonderful Easter weekend with all the kids and grandkids together.  We loved celebrating Easter as a family and remembering our Savior and what he has done for us.  

It's because of Him that we can keep going each day.  It's because of Him that we can try a little harder to be a little better.  It's because of Him that our family will always be a family.  It's because of Him that we feel love and peace through the hard times.  

We are so thankful for His life and His love and the gift of the atonement and resurrection.  What a miraculous gift He has given us out of love.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!!  Thank you again for your prayers!

T and L and all their cute grandkids.

Fourth and (hopefully!) Final...

Tomorrow is round 4 of chemo.  Hooray!

We are hoping and praying (and praying some more) that this will be the final round.  After tomorrow, the doctor will check the tumors to see if they are small enough for surgery.  Everyone keep your fingers crossed!

Lana has been a champ through the last 3 rounds.  

The day of chemo, and even the next day, aren't too bad.  She is able to do things and feels pretty good.  Days 3-7 are always the worst.  Nausea, dizziness, extra tired.  Those days she takes it easy and tries not to do too much.  Big T takes good care of her.

The second week is the best and she takes advantage of that time to be with friends and family.  Last week we got to have Nat here for part of Spring Break, so that was fun.  We went to the movies and saw "Cinderella."  What a cute movie!

Lana is continually humbled and grateful by all the support she has received.  So many nice calls, texts, cards, gifts, meals and visitors.  Thank you for your prayers and love!!!

Lana with two of her grandkids at the movies last week.  They love their Grandma Lana!!

Bald is Beautiful!

Well folks, it's official.  Lana's hair is gone.

Last week it started falling out more and more, so she went ahead and had her talented niece, Debbie,  buzz it.

Definitely an emotional experience.  A woman's hair is part of her identity!  The good news is, Lana is getting ready much quicker these days since she doesn't have to "do her hair."  The two wigs she has been wearing are super cute.  You can't even tell they are wigs.  She also has a few cute caps, beanies, etc. to keep her head warm at night.  With a face that beautiful, who needs hair?!

Round 2 of chemo was done on Tuesday.  So far she is still feeling pretty good but doesn't really have an appetite.  Nothing sounds good to eat.  The anti-nausea medication seems to help so that is good.  If things keep going well, she might be half-way done with chemo.  Yay!!  We will keep praying that 4 rounds will do the trick.  

Thank you for all your love and prayers!  Our family is so grateful for everyone who cares about our amazing mom.

Doesn't this wig look great?!  

Just Kidding...

When Lana went in to see the doctor yesterday morning, he decided to wait a week on the chemo to make sure the infection is cleared up.  So she will finish taking the antibiotic and round 2 will be next Tuesday.  Which means we will squeeze in some more fun this week while she is feeling good.  ;)

Round two tomorrow...

I have been meaning to update the blog for a few days.  Thank you for checking back to find out how my mom is doing.  It means so much to her!

Round 2 of the chemo is tomorrow.  The last two weeks (since round 1) have had their ups and downs.  For the most part, Lana felt better than she thought she would.  But there were days where she felt nauseous and weak.  There was also some dizziness mixed in there.  She has definitely noticed a change in her appetite.  Some foods just don't sound good like they used to.

She had a doctor's appointment one week after round 1 and everything looked good.  The tumors had shrunk a little, so that was good news.

Last Saturday, after a busy weekend, she got a fever and chills.  The doctor told her to go to the ER so that's where her and my dad ended up spending Valentines' Day.  So romantic. ;)

Because she is a chemo patient, the staff in the ER treated her very promptly and made sure all the necessary precautions were taken to prevent her from being exposed to all the hospital germs.  They sent her home that night with an antibiotic.

The fever is gone now so everything should be good to go for round 2 tomorrow.  We are hoping and praying that it goes as well and the first one!

It was fun to have Nat and her two cute girls visit last week.  They loved seeing grandma Lana and she loved seeing them.  It's always so fun when they come and we wish they could stay longer!

Thank you again for all your love and prayers.  Lana is so grateful for all the texts, cards, gifts, phone calls, comments, and especially prayers.  She feels strengthened by it all!!

One chemo down...

Today was Lana's first chemo treatment and she came through it like a champ!  The worst part was the shot she had to get in her stomach. She is feeling good right now and says she could literally feel all the prayers today when she went in.  She got a lot of anti-nausea medication with the chemo, so she is crossing her fingers that it works.  She will take it easy over the next few days and be very careful about germs as her white blood cell count will go way down from the chemo.  No hugging and kissing on grandkids...only fist-bumping for now.  More updates to come over the next couple of weeks.  Thanks for all your prayers, texts, calls, gifts, love, and support!!

Here is Lana with her new short haircut and some fresh flowers that we have to take out of the house by Friday since they could have germs.  Who knew?!

So much support...

Lana has been overwhelmed by the amount of love and support from family and friends.  Everyone has been so kind and loving with their words of encouragement and prayers.  My cousin, Debbie, had a dinner at her house last night and invited all the women in our family to come and wish Lana well on her upcoming treatment.  It was such a fun night.  The food was delicious and the company even better.  Lana was so grateful to everyone and loved being with so much family.  Thank you Debbie and thank you to everybody for your concern and love!!

The surgery to place the port was successful and went really well.  Although her neck is sore and tender, Lana is feeling good and is glad that part is over.  She has a couple of battle scars to show off now.  Now we will pray and fast for the first chemo treatment next Tuesday to go smoothly.

Here we go...

Welcome to Lana's blog!  This is where you can find all the latest info on her breast cancer journey.  So as of right now, this is what's going on...

Lana will getting her portacath surgically implanted tomorrow morning in an outpatient procedure.  The first set of four chemo treatments will start on Tuesday, February 3rd.  She will receive a treatment once every two weeks.  After the first set of treatments, the oncologist will do scans to determine if a second set of chemo treatments is needed.  Surgery will follow the treatments.  Several people have asked Lana if she is going to lose her hair.  The answer is yes.  Boo-hoo.  The good news is, there are lots of cute wigs and hats and she will be looking as foxy as ever.  Thank you everyone for your continuing love and prayers!  She has great faith that everything is going to turn out ok.