Showing posts with label Foster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foster. Show all posts

Monday, January 23, 2012

My Mom's Final Surgery is Scheduled / More Updates

It has been over a month since my last post.  I have been extremely busy and haven't found time to write.  My mom's final surgery is scheduled for January 30th.  She will have the expanders taken out and the implants will go in their place.  The first set of twins will be here before the end of the month! =) 

I have been celebrating since my final treatment.  Steve, Olivia and I celebrated on the 19th of December (my final treatment day) with my parents and our good friends, Travis, Michelle and their son Paxton.  I had so much adrenaline because I was so excited to be done.  We went to dinner at Mi Mi's Cafe and I had my first glass of wine since March.  I only had a few sips as it didn't taste that good to me but I still got to do a toast to ending my cancer treatment journey.


Back: Travis holding Paxton, Michelle, Me, Steve
Front: Olivia, My dad and mom

I spent some time with friends,




My friend Megan with Olivia
We try to go to lunch every other week.

Our friends, Jerid, Lyndsey, Haili and Lexi came over 2 days before Christmas.
We played ate dinner and played games all night...Wii Bowling was a hit!
Here is a picture of Olivia and Haili.


Getting Ready to celebrate Christmas at Papa's shed






My cousin Leah with her Grandma Laura and her daughter Leona.



Aunt Linde with baby Leona 

Surprise!  Mr. and Mrs. Claus paid us a visit!

Reading Christmas Stories


 Chad getting it all on video!

                                                                          Uncle Terry

                                                                Papa with Santa

                                                             Charlie with Santa

                                                All the kids with Mr and Mrs Claus

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents:

                                            Olivia opening a present from Nana and Papa

Papa just finished reading T'was the Night Before Christmas

                                                         Nana and Olivia

Christmas Morning we opened presents from Santa and headed to Remsen to spend Christmas with the Pottebaums!







I had quite a few more photos to post but my computer is so slow it would take me all day to upload.  =)

Steve and I spent New Year's Eve celebrating our 6 year wedding anniversary with very good friends.

I had my first event for the charity I started Auntie Em's Angels.  (http://www.auntieemsangels.com/) We raised over $6,000 from our first event and helped Brea Nelson and her family to help pay her medical bills.  Thank you to Brea who had a hand in catching my cancer before it reached stage 4 and which helped catch my mother's cancer before it spread to her lymph nodes.

I find out in March when I have my final surgery and will have body scans in February to keep a close watch to see if the chemo and radiation helped in fighting my cancer.

I can't thank you all for all your love and support...it has helped me continue to be strong, positive and to pay it forward to help other cancer patients in need. 

Thursday, October 13, 2011

I am done with Chemo!!!!

I am happy to report after 5 months, 16 sessions and countless hours,  I finished my last chemotherapy session this afternoon at 4:40 p.m.!!! Yay! I have not been this excited in years. To know that the worst is over and I only have radiation and one more surgery left puts a HUGE smile on my face. Normally I need to take a nap after chemo (because the drugs they give me before the chemo knocks me out) but today I can't sleep. I want to celebrate! I could not have gotten through chemo without the love and support from all my family and friends. Chemo drivers...THANK YOU so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to take me to and from chemo. You know who you are!  My advice to anyone going through chemo:  If you are fortunate enough to have the love and support of friends and family ask them to be your chemo driver.  It was so hard to go out of the house after chemo sessions because of fatigue, nausea and the fear of getting sick.  Because I had a new chemo driver every week I got to see friends I hadn't seen in a while.  Instead of dreading chemo, I looked forward to it because I knew I would get to hang out with friends and family.  I do have to give a special shout out to three people:



Chemo Session #15- October 8, 2011
Deb Bothof took me to a few chemos and stopped by my house every week to see how I was doing.

Chemo Session #15 - October 8, 2011
Lyndsey Foster signed up for my second chemo session but came to 14 sessions!
There is one thing that I learned about Deb and Lyndsey...they are caretakers and all they wanted to do is take care of me.  I never expected them to go above and beyond but that is who they are as people, kind, loving and generous....angels sent,  to get me through chemo. =)  Love you both! 



Chemo Session #15 - October 8, 2011
My mom - Doesn't she look great?!
My mom has been there for me since day one of diagnosis. 
She watched the kids when I couldn't up until she was diagnosed with
cancer.  We talk on a daily basis and she is doing fantastic!
 Maybe our twins (aka: our ta ta's) will be born in the same month?
I will have 33 radiation treatments (Monday - Friday for 6 1/2 weeks) that will start on Halloween. The side effects do not compare to chemo so it will be a breeze! These past two weeks have been busy. I am working on a business plan for my non-profit organization.  "Auntie Em's Angels" will educate cancer patients on the importance of eating healthy and exercising during and after cancer treatment. I want to create awareness for everyone to prevent cancer. What you put in your body and how you take care of yourself can and will prevent cancer from starting in the first place.

I met with Tonee Gay, Executive Director with Midlands Community Foundation and we will be partners. They take care of the accounting and some of the marketing pieces and I can focus on fundraising and creating the programs that need to be in place. Hopefully I will have the website up in the next few weeks so you can see what we are doing! =)  My friend Lyndsey Foster is going to help develop some of the programs too!  I am looking forward to my new journey and hope to help as many people as I can! =)

Here are more pics from the past couple of weeks.


My sister added to her family!
Meet Lulu, isn't she cute?
She is a maltese / yorkie


Komen Walk - with my nieces and nephews
Cullen, Avery, Sully and Addison

My sister Angie with the kids

My general surgeon was there...Dr.Grange
I was suppose to be at a breakfast the day before for cancer survivors
I missed it and Dr. Grange informed me that I won $150 Gift Certificate
to a clothing boutique...but I had to be present to win....=(
Darn it!  I shouldn't have slept in!

My friend Sasha ran while I walked around the venue.
Sasha runs for her Aunt every year who passed away from breast cancer 2 years ago.

Vala's Pumpkin patch
Paxton and Olivia

Me, Olivia and Steve

Travis, Paxton, Olivia and Michelle




Thank you to my Aunt Vicki for the new cup and nail polish!

Thank you to the nurses of Midlands Cancer Center!


MY LAST CHEMO SESSION - #16 is my new favorite number!
Lyndsey, me, Deb and Steve

Thank you to my husband Steve for taking care of me and Olivia, you do such a great job and I could not get through this without you.

Thank you to all our friends and family for your love and support - We are truly blessed!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Chemo 13 & 14 / Thank you Party for Pottebaum

Update on my mom
My mom has been doing very well since her surgery on September 7th.  She got her drains taken out last week which allowed her to take a shower!  She said she was so excited she takes a long one everyday now.  =)  She still has stitches so she can't raise her arms very high, lift heavy objects or drive.  We are hoping the stitches will come out in 2-3 weeks.  She had her second fill for her ta ta's this week.  When this is all said and done we will have two sets of twins in the family for the new year!  My mom and I will both have B cups.  I am excited because I will have bigger ta ta's and my mom is excited because she will have smaller ta ta's!  It is a win win for both us!

She met with Dr. Thome this week and she will not need chemotherapy or radiation but is having an ultrasound on her ovaries.  Because she has a mutation and given her age the chances of getting ovarian cancer are extremely high, 87%!  So the next step for my mom is to have her ovaries removed in the next couple of months.

As for me I have 2 more chemo treatments to go!  Yay!

Last week's treatment (#13) a friend of mine that I met in college took me to my chemo treatment.  Laura Morrow and I enjoyed a couple of spring breaks together in Cancun and Myrtle Beach.  We spent a lot of time together in college and still get together to hang out and catch up.  Ironically, Laura is an accountant and had some very helpful suggestions on getting my Auntie Em's Angels charity launched. 

Me and Laura
Thank you for taking me to chemo, your advice and for the Eileen's cookies!  They were delicious!

My friend Lyndsey stopped out as well and we all had a brainstorming session for Auntie Em's Angels. We narrowed our focus to just helping cancer patients and different ways Auntie Em's Angels could make an impact in their life.  Thank you for your suggestions and input! =) 

I met with a long time friend of mine Alex Wolf who is an attorney at Koley Jessen.  He pointed me in the right direction to help set up Auntie Em's Angels as a non-profit.  I am still brainstorming and hope to have a clear mission statement in the next couple of weeks.  I am praying to have a few corporate sponsors as I have narrowed it down to educating the public on proper nutrition and exercise to prevent cancer, for cancer patients going through treatment and staying healthy after treatment.  My goal is to have everything planned, non-profit paper work complete, sponsers, fundraising events planned and Angels signed up to host birthday parties by the New Year! 

Chemo #14 -- September 29 - Steve my husband took me to my treatment.  It was his birthday so we had a mini celebration with all the nurses and cancer patients that were also getting their chemo treatments.  My friend Lyndsey asked her mother-in-law to bake a cake and was it was delicious!  Cinnamon swirl...YUMMY!  Thank you Karen for making it and thank you Lyndsey for delivering, cutting and serving!  If you need a baker I will post Karen's information if you need a cake for your next birthday party.



The nurses gave Steve this stylish hat and sang
happy birthday to him. Thank you to the nurses
of Midwest Cancer Center for making his birthday
so special.

I think we put a dent in it! 

Thank you to my husband Steve who has been there every step of the way.  He has been so supportive and has taken such good care of me and Olivia.  I could not get through this without him. 
I love you more then words can say...

My side effects from chemo are minimal.  I am tired more then usual and now the knuckles on my hands are red and cracked.  Dr. Thome said this will go away once I stop chemo as it is a common side effect.  Thank goodness I only have two more treatments I can't stand to look at them for much longer!  I have ONE eye lash on my left eye and no eyelashes on my right eye.  I am holding on to the one eyelash as long as I can and hoping my other lashes can catch up to it once I am finished with chemo.  My hair is starting to grow back and I am happy to report it is the same dark brown that I had before. I have one more fill for my ta ta's before I start radiation and I LOVE them so far!  I officially for the first time in my life have ta ta's you can physically see!  Radiation should start around November 1st and treatments are everyday for 5 weeks.  Once that is complete I wait a month and have my final surgery in January.  This will be to take out the expanders in my chest and have them replaced with implants.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am running towards it!  Thank you again to all our family and friends for all your love and support!

More pics from Party for Pottebaum!   Thank you for coming out to support us!

Lori Armiger, Laura Morrow and their friend.
Lori started a fun event in Linclon called
Giving Spirits.  Become their friend on Facebook!



Jody and Nate Tate
 
Shannon Schiltz  and Sara Thompson
I have known Sara since kindergarten...ironically she is
now a kindergarten teacher.  She brought her friend
Shannon to the event.  Thank you!

Sherri Harnisch, Leah Buller, Emily Wilson
Leah is my cousin and she went to high school with Sherri
and was in the same sorority as Emily. 


Sherri Harnish, Leah Buller, Kirstin Ricketts, Tammy Braasch
Emily Wilson, Me, Nelly Sagehorn
I also met these lovely ladies through my cousin Leah.
Congrats to Leah, Kirstin and Nelly!  They are all
expecting babies this year!
Brent Sagehorn, Chad Buller, Adam Braasch




Pat Ricketts and Chad Buller
Megan Dannelly and Kendra Hayne
I went to high school with Kendra and met her friend Megan.
I also found out we all live in the same neighborhood!
Hopefully we can get together soon! =)
Nicki and Neal McMahon
Nicki and I met in high school and she recently moved back
to the Omaha area.  She owns Big Frog T-Shirts located
next to the HyVee on 180th and Q.  They were one of the
sponsors for the event!  Thank you so much!

Erica and Patrick Sullivan
Erica and I were on dance team together.  She was so kind to
drive in from Lincoln for the event!  Thank you! =)


Thanks again for all your love and support! xoxo