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.