Happy Easter

This Spring has been quite cold and we have had snow storms almost every week. 

The cold didn't stop the girls from having fun outside celebrating Easter

Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Bath's house

 Easter Egg Hunt in Sandy with the Firestation.

The girls had a fun Easter morning at home as well. Since I had only been home a day since my surgery, it was more low key than normal. Luckily the Easter Bunny was already prepared with baskets all done and eggs colored. We had an Easter dinner on Sunday night at my parents and the girls had fun seeing all the family.

My Sweet and Sassy Girls

  Aubrie: 6 years old

Funny things about Aubrie:
- Says the pledge of allegiance and instead of statue of liberty says "statue of liverty"
- Loves playing soccer and is very competitive
- Her favorite restaurant is Olive Garden and loves the shells with sauce
- She loves to play with LOLs and loves playing outside and in the water, no matter how cold it is.
- She is a very good reader and picks up on new words so quickly.
- Favorite colors: Pink, red and white
-Calls the Statue of Liberty "Liverty"

                                                       Brynnley: 3 years old
                                                  
Funny things about Brynnley:
- At the end of a prayer, she says "The End" and when finishing a book says "Amen"
- Loves to carry around toys and stuffed animals
- Loves to play with little toys and figurines
- Knows her days of the week, counting to 10, and knows her colors
- Loves to cuddle and wants your arm around her when laying in bed.
- Says "holy moly guacamole" and " chicken mugget"

March Fun

Happy 33rd Birthday Jeff!

Aubrie loves playing soccer and scored 4 goals in her first spring game! She is very competitive and is learning to dribble the ball and pass to her teammates.

 We had the opportunity to go to St. George the last week in March. Ivory homes sent Jeff down to do some training with warranty and we were able to stay in Clark Ivory's condo for the weekend. It was so nice to get out of the snow in South Jordan and enjoy the 60 degree and feel the sunshine on our faces. We went to many of the various parks including the Dinosaur park which was really neat. We also spent time swimming in the pool for hours which felt so nice. I was pretty exhausted and didn't feel like hiking so we found a park that had some petroglyphs to show the girls.

Cancer update March 2019

My most recent CT scan was on March 22nd. I knew something may not be good since I usually get an email from Dr. Werner letting me know the scan was good, but didn't hear anything over the weekend. Monday I got a call from Ester, her nurse practictioner letting me know that there is a new spot on my bowel that is concerning. 

I met with Ester on March 27th to look at the images and discuss what the new plan for treatment is. The doctor was concerned that the other tumors were staying stable with the Ibrance Chemo medicine along with Letrozole but why is the new tumor growing since December?

This older tumor is near my right kidney and measures about the same since December.

This older tumor  is in the right upper quadrant peritoneal nodule measures 1.2 x 1.0 cm previous 1.2 x 1.1 cm in December 

This is the image of the new tumor found this month. This mass is along the anterior surface of the ascending colon is now 2.9 x 3.2 cm compared to 1.8 x 1.8 cm in December (this was originally not seen in December since it was in a loop of bowel. It has changed from a nickle size to quarter size.

I have not had any new symptoms besides a little cramping sensation in my right groin, which I thought was an abdominal muscle pull. I am still unsure if it is anything related to cancer at this time. 

I met a week later with Dr. Zempolich to discuss the possibility of surgery. She suggested that surgery can be done but that it will be a major surgery and my incision will be over my old one and most likely 12 inches long. She reminded me that there are risks with this surgery. The other option could be a biopsy of the new tumor. Dr. Z and Dr. Werner spoke and decided that surgery is the best option. They were worried that a biopsy may not get enough of a sample, especially if the tumor is mixed types. Surgery is set for April 15th at St. Marks. 

I have had numerous blessing, prayers on my behalf, my name has been on the temple prayer rolls and have had many well wishes and love from my family, neighbors, co-workers and patients. I am nervous about surgery but hopeful that since I have been through a big abdominal surgery a few years and now know what medications to take for pain, nausea and bowel management as well as the importance of walking and getting up after surgery. 

I have tried to prepare our home and family for surgery by labeling all the meals while I am in the hospital, making lists to remind Jeff about bills, laundry, feeding the cats and taking care of the kids. I hope he will appreciate all the organizing I have done to help this transition to be better. 

Disneyland Trip Day 5

After taking a break from the parks we were ready to enjoy another day at Disneyland. Brynnley loved getting treats like a churro while Dad and Aubrie rode the big kid rides. 

Aubrie loved riding the tea cups with Brynnley and Dad....I sat that one out since I don't do spinning rides.

Alice in Wonderland was another favorite, especially since the girls could sit next to eachother.

We had a great time as a family eating lots of yummy treats, riding rides and being able to walk right on to the rides since I had a disability pass. This pass allowed us to ride almost everything in the park we wanted and helped me not get too exhausted.  The girls were so sad that we had to go back home and keep asking when we are going again!