6/22 (Stem cell harvest, Anniversary, etc)

Lots going on since the last post but the BEST thing is that my family made it back to Memphis. I can't begin to tell you how awesome it is to have my girls back in town. As nice as it is to have some quiet time, having them gone for 3 weeks isn't all that fun. 

2nd round of ESHAP

Hello all - wanted to drop a line (or many) and update everyone. Elizabeth recently finished her 2nd round of ESHAP. As with the last one in May, she did really well for most of the week. The people at Tulane were great and she sailed through the first 4-5 days (all of treatment). I had to leave on Wednesday morning and come back to work but I checked in constantly. She ate well and got a decent amount of rest in while the girls bounced around from both grandparents' houses to New Orleans. We had a fantastic Tuesday night dinner at Lucy's in New Orleans. Lyla kept us entertained the entire time as she was dancing and cutting up for most of the night.

I made it back down to New Orleans on Saturday afternoon. Elizabeth was still feeling pretty good at this point - the only thing that really seemed to be bothering her was this nagging cold that she can't shake. Obviously, her immune system is severely compromised right now so that makes matters that much more difficult. The Ara-C (cytarabine) hadn't hit her yet because she got an extra dose of steroids on Friday. All that did was delay the inevitable as Sunday was really tough on her. We went to Tulane to get her blood work done and let her get her first shot of Neupogen. It comes in 2 small syringes (a 480 and 300 microgram dose) and she has to get this drug every day now until the stem cell harvest later this week. This is essentially the same thing as Neulasta so she has been quite "achy" and sensitive to touch the last few days. We are trying to manage as best as we can right now but it's tough. She slept most of the day on Sunday after we went back to my parent's house. I know that she has been semi-uncomfortable because the girls are around - she wants to spend time with them and feels guilty when she doesn't, yet she really wants to rest because she feels like crap. Really bad spot to be in. Fortunately, Anna has been soooo good during this that she completely understands and thankfully Lyla doesn't really know any different. Having said that, if Lyla sees Elizabeth, she wants to be with mommy so it's a little tougher than just going in another room.

Monday seemed to be a little better but still a day of rest. I had to leave to come back to work - although it kills me that I can't be there to help out. I just can't afford to lose my job - not now! Insurance is greatly needed at this point in time! Ha. Elizabeth is headed back to New Orleans today to stay at my sister's place. Grace has been a cleaning machine - trying to make sure that there are no issues for Elizabeth. She's fantastic! Thanks a ton, Grace! I think getting away for a few days while still feeling yucky will be good for her. Hopefully she can tackle this cold a little better and get back to feeling semi-normal. They are set to do some more blood work tomorrow and estimate the date of stem cell harvest. Typically, the harvest is done on day 14ish (day 1 was last Monday - first day of 2nd round of ESHAP). I hope that she can actually do hers on day 12 or so. I am driving back to New Orleans on Friday and it would be great if I could bring the girls back to Memphis on Sunday or Monday. I know that they are ready to be home - especially because July is going to be spent in Louisiana as well. I'll know a bit more about everything tomorrow and will try and update everyone then - I just need to know what her blood counts are. If she can get her white blood cell counts above a 1.2 then she'll be ready.

The stem cell harvest is a procedure that take blood stem cells (cells that haven't matured to white or red blood cells yet) from the patient through a process called apheresis. Basically, the blood is taken from a catheter (hers will be a catheter in the femoral artery) and passed through a machine. During this process, the blood is spun down and the stem cells are filtered off. The blood is re-infused back into the catheter and the stem cells are counted (through a process called flow cytometry) and frozen. She needs to have approximately 4-5 million cells per kilogram of body weight. She needs at least 2.5 million to proceed with the transplant so the collection may take more than 1 day. Hopefully not but it's tougher to collect so many in the first day. As usual - fingers crossed.

After the stem cell harvest, we should be able to come back to Memphis for 2-3 weeks. She will need to have a CT scan done to ensure that the chemo has killed her cancerous tumors and if all goes well, we will then proceed with the high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplant. The high-dose therapy is given in the hospital and usually takes 5-7 days to infuse. After day 10 or so, her immune system will be wiped out. Once that happens, they will re-inject her stem cells back into her and they will make their way back to the bone marrow and graft. Then she will have to stay in the hospital until her counts get sufficient to leave. This process usually takes 2 weeks after the chemo is done but hopefully my little warrior will make it out sooner. She has kicked this things' ass already so I think she may do very well during the transplant. Because this is an auto transplant (her own cells) then her time away from the kids won't be the 100 days like we said earlier. I think that there was some confusion about that and after talking to Dr. Pallera I think it should be much less - like 2-3 weeks after we get back to Memphis (6 weeks or so total). That was a relief to her.

All in all, she is doing great given what she is going through. Our parents and family members have been so very helpful that we could never say thank you enough. They have made our life much better than it could have been otherwise. I know that we appreciate it very much. We still have been overwhelmed by the support. We've got one more thing that we may need some help with though. Because of the nature of the high-dose chemo treatment and subsequent transplant, there may be a need for blood transfusions. We are going to try and organize a blood drive for Elizabeth. I am almost certain that she is A+ blood type. I'll have more about this very soon. I still need to understand this a bit better so if anyone has any info about how to go about doing a blood drive, please let me know. Thanks.

That's all for now. I'll keep everyone posted.

Love y'all,

Scott

Need some good news...

It's been a couple of weeks since our last post - mainly because Elizabeth is doing very well. So, that is our good news. The bad news (more of it) is that I had to put my Mitzi down this morning. She has been sick for several months and this morning she apparently ruptured a tumor of her spleen. She was doing fine this morning (as fine as she could be given that she's been dropping weight like crazy the last 6 months). I went to get her a travel kennel for her and my little man Reese so that my mom could take them to Louisiana for the next few months while Elizabeth did her treatments. After I returned to the car within 20 minutes of travel to the store and back to the car, she had crashed pretty bad. She was not breathing well and she was unresponsive to nearly anything. She couldn't stand up much less walk so I put her in my lap and hauled ass to the vets office in Arlington. After doing her CBC and some x-rays, it was pretty obvious that without radical surgery - in which she would have needed a minimum of 2 blood transfusions beforehand to even get close to stable - that Mitzi would not make it much longer. Given that she likely had a cancerous tumor, the cost to do all of this with a dog as sick as she was didn't make much sense. So, with Elizabeth in Destin, I made the call to put her down and keep her suffering to a minimum. We loved that dog so very much. She was with us for over 9 years and the entirety of Elizabeth and I's marriage. To say she was our first "daughter" would be accurate. I am thankful for the 9 great years that we spent with her but Min Pins normally live to be over 15+ years so this was tough on us. I let Anna come and say her goodbye at the clinic and she was such a big girl but when we walked outside she let it all out. I suppose my crying didn't help matters much but I am so proud of my little girl as she is about as tough as they come. Needless to say, I'd prefer that we could go a few months without bad news. I am devastated about this dog - easily my favorite pet that I've ever owned. I'll need a new puppy soon so that I can get rid of this crappy feeling. I'm just numb. Might need a drink tonight.

On to Elizabeth - which this blog should be about anyway. She left for Destin for a few days at the beach with some friends. I know she is going to have a wonderful time. She has been feeling really good - her breathing is soooo much better than it was two weeks ago. Her itching stopped and it gives us a good feeling about how well the ESHAP is working. She got another small victory yesterday as we found out that Tulane worked very hard to secure a home infusion pump for her so that she can do her chemo out-patient instead of being in the hospital. Yay! Small wins - we'll take 'em!

So, chemo starts Monday and she is ready to get on with it. It gets her one step closer to a potential cure and that's what we are hoping for...to have her live well beyond me!! I know she will. I am not sure what she plans on doing with her hair, but it appears that it is starting to come out in chunks now. Dr. Pallera was actually quite surprised that she still had hair left given that ESHAP usually takes it away pretty quickly. He hadn't fully figured out that she is a bad-ass! He'll get it soon enough! Haha.

The last two weeks have been pretty great - until today! I hope this is all of the bad news that is left to come for us in the near future. We could use the break!

As always, thank you so very much for the thoughts and prayers. They mean a ton to us. We have been blessed to have such great people surrounding us and walking this journey with us!

My best,

Scott

Destination...Tulane!

When we left off, I spoke of us going to meet with Dr. Hana Safah at Tulane in New Orleans. It seems that heading down there to get a second opinion for Elizabeth would be best - so that's what we did. We went to New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon and had a wonderful dinner at Grand Isle with my family (mom, dad, brother, sister and aunt). It was nice to have fresh fish - man, we miss that sooo much.

Our day at Tulane (yesterday) started early and we were treated as well as any persons could be treated. We met with Barry Marshall (VP of the transplant division) initially before meeting the nurses and doctor. Needless to say, my aunt Danita had the red-carpet rolled out for us thus making this very difficult time seem a little less stressful. We met with Dr. Safah around 9:00 and she went over everything from initial diagnosis to relapse diagnosis. We spent around 45 minutes discussing things with her - everything from the treatment options to her initial thoughts on our future plans. She - like any other doctor would - wants to become Elizabeth's primary care oncologist for now. She feels like she would be best served to have future chemo treatments and the stem cell transplant done at Tulane. After a little hesitation, we began to realize exactly why that was the case. She explained the stem cell treatment plan to us and specifically, the harvest procedure. During her next chemo cycle, Elizabeth will be given a Neupogen shot (which is similar to Neulasta). This shot is given every day in order to boost blood cell production - specifically white blood cells. Her blood counts will be monitored and the stem cells will need to be harvested at the right time, hence Dr. Safah wanting treatment to be performed in New Orleans under her supervision. It apparently takes 5-7 days after finishing the chemo regimen to get the blood counts to a level that is necessary for harvest. Typically, blood stem cells are located in the bone marrow. As I understand it, the chemo destroying the blood cells will be offset by the Neupogen injections. During the time that the new stem cells are actually in the blood versus the marrow, they will need to be harvested. Basically, we want to get the stem cells before the move back into the bone marrow so we have just a limited window to do so.

It looks like Elizabeth will be in New Orleans from June 4th-mid-June and will return to Memphis to have a scan done to ensure that the ESHAP regimen is working (shrinking her tumors). If she has a sensitive disease (i.e the tumors are shrinking) then the high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant will follow. If all goes well, then Elizabeth will return to New Orleans in early July and will receive her high-dose chemo in the hospital (this regimen is BEAM). It is supposed to be pretty devastating but with the way she has handled ESHAP, who knows! She has just shrugged that off like it was no big deal. Heck, she is at work today - doing what she loves! I am constantly amazed at her strength, especially given the stories I had heard about ESHAP. It's pretty remarkable. Moving on...the high dose therapy will require about a 17-20 hospitalization - 7 days of chemo followed by the actual transplant. Once her blood counts come back to appropriate levels, then she will be free to go home. This is the good news. Bad news is that she really needs to stay away from the kids for the 3 months afterwards. I don't have to tell you what her reaction to that was. I think that was the only moment yesterday that really upset her - to the point of causing some crocodile tears! She loves our little angels but in the grand scheme of things - 3 months for a lifetime is a decent tradeoff, right?

Dr. Safah still has to finalize her evaluation and talk to Dr. Pallera to determine the best treatment plan, but what I just described is the initial plan for now! I hope to speak to both doctors by Monday so that we have a much better idea of what lies ahead, although I think I have a decent grasp on it so far. Dr. Safah didn't want to give us any false sense of hope but she thinks that if Elizabeth's tumors are sensitive to ESHAP then she has about a 60% chance of having a 5+ year remission with a really good chance of a cure! Having said that, that number goes down significantly if her tumors don't respond well to ESHAP. There are other options but ESHAP is a great regimen so we fell like she has a decent shot a getting a good response. Her itching has disappeared completely so that's a good thing. Dr. Safah also discussed with us that Hodgkin's is VERY sensitive to radiation so the tumors in her chest coming back so soon would be concerning IF they were included in the radiation field. If not, then there could be a chance that the lymphoma is just refractory and that more chemo will do the trick. When I looked at Elizabeth's scans, all areas that she had radiation, there is no sign of disease - it is confined to the chest and it appears to be away from the initial radiation field. I really am not sure what to think about all of this but I think that we will just wait to see what Dr. Safah and her team discover. She is having her radiologists review the scans and pathologists review the tissue slides to make sure that everything is confirmed from the initial diagnosis. She also stated that there is a chance that the lung involvement may be something other than lymphoma-related. I am not sure what the chance of that happening is but we haven't ruled it out yet. Fingers crossed that this cancer is strictly contained in the lymph system.

So, Dr. Safah really needed chest x-rays, blood work/tests, heart tests (ECHO, EKG), and lung tests (Pulmonary Function Test) done so that she could finalize her approach to treatment. Normally, this takes a while to schedule and is done over several days...well, not for us. She had everything done yesterday (and I am sure some strings were pulled for us that we are very thankful for). Her echo and EKG came back great (she has a strong heart - and we already knew that, right?!?). Her lung function tests came back normal so her chemo has apparently helped with the nodules in her lungs. We hope. Once all the blood work comes back combined with the radiologists and pathologists opinions, then I am sure that Dr. Safah and Dr. Pallera will hash out her treatment from this point forward. I can't wait to get some more clarification but so far, we feel very optimistic that she can be cured of this disease.

We made it back safely to Memphis after a very long stretch of 32 hours - 12 of which were in my truck. It was a mass overload of information but it was well worth our trip to see the facility and meet new doctors/people! For now, it looks like New Orleans will be a home away from home this summer - and that is a good thing for us because Danita and Grace both work and Tulane and will take extra-special care of her along with all of the great folks that we met yesterday. It was a blessing to be treated so well - and we can't possibly say thank you enough. Another benefit about Elizabeth being at Tulane is that our families are only an hour or so away. It will be much easier for her to always have someone by her side during this time being so close to our families. If the treatment was being done in Memphis (or Nashville - which is the closest fully-covered stem cell transplant center) then it would have been much more difficult to handle from a logistics standpoint. As we begin to travel down this new stretch of road in our lives, we can't help but be thankful that we have people who care so much about us at Tulane. It means so much to us and I know that she will be in great hands - and that is a comforting feeling.

To update everyone on how Elizabeth is doing...great! That is all that needs to be said really. She was up and out of bed on Sunday night (we took a mother's day trip to Kroger!!!) I'm a great husband - what can I say! Haha. Kidding. Anyway, the cytarabine didn't knock her down too bad and she is doing great. It's pretty amazing. She is back at work for the next week and a half. Then she will be off to Destin to enjoy a beach trip before the next chemo cycle. She deserves it and I am sure that she will have a blast! But to say that chemo will keep her down - it's just not possible with Elizabeth.

Thanks to all that have reached out to us during this difficult time in our lives. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated. And as I told Elizabeth last night - what a story for her to share...beating cancer twice in 1 year. She makes me one very proud husband. Love her!

Thanks again everyone,

Scott

Lots going on!

Well, it's only been a couple of days since my lost post but it seems like a lot has happened since then - maybe it was just a lot happening today.

Let's start with what everyone wants to know - Elizabeth is doing extremely well so far with this regimen. The staff at West Clinic has kept her feeling well with the right anti-nausea meds. The cisplatin was supposed to be really hard on her in terms of nausea but so far, so good. Today she was given her cytarabine and that drug is supposed to make her really fatigued - but we'll see. She has been a trooper so far so I expect that it will be less than most who have to go through this. Annnddd....the best news of the day? She got to leave her bag of cisplatin at the clinic and not have to drag it around any more. Ha.

I wasn't able to go to the clinic with her today so my sister, Grace, stepped in. She saw Dr. Pallera this morning and he seemed to be much more upbeat than last week. Maybe he was just down because he hates to see his patients have something like this happen to them. I can understand that. I'd feel the same way. It has to be a little depressing to see someone sail through treatment and then relapse so quickly - especially someone that is only 30 years old. He told Elizabeth that he really thinks that her odds of a cure are much higher than normal because she has so many good things going for her (I think he knows how awesome she is so he's making an adjustment!!!). Interestingly, he seemed upset at the thought of her having her stem cell transplant at Baptist so he asked if we could see about getting it done somewhere else - somewhere that was covered by our insurance. So this is where the fun began today. Whew. It was like a whirlwind of things all happening this afternoon.

Yesterday, I sent Elizabeth's records to Tulane so that the oncology department could review them. When Dr. Pallera heard this news he seemed excited about the possibility of her doing her transplant there. So I called my aunt Danita (who for those that don't know, is the Chief Nursing Officer at Tulane Hospital). I asked her if she could see if our insurance would be accepted there. She made the calls and got back to me with some great news...we would be fully covered to do the transplant at Tulane. It never hurts to know people! Haha. We are excited because not only will she be close to family but since she is the niece of an executive then we will be well-taken care of - and I am NOT suggesting that Tulane treats anyone with less than wonderful service - it just never hurts to have a family member there taking care of you. Grace also works at Tulane so I know Elizabeth will be WELL-taken care of while down there. Dr. Safah at Tulane wants to see her next week. She said that she would be available for a appointment on Wednesday so we plan on seeing her in New Orleans on Wednesday morning. Seem like a lot? I agree. One minute, the transplant was going to be done in Memphis - the next minute we are headed "home" to see a new doctor - a fantastic doctor and set-up her stem cell transplant. It's been quite a day.

Other good news - Elizabeth will have a scan done on May 28th to see how the ESHAP regimen did on it's first attempt! If all goes well with the scan, she will start her second round the next week. She also gets to go on her girls' beach trip as scheduled - something she is VERY excited about. I'm so pumped that Dr. Pallera gave her the "ok" to go on the trip. She deserves it!

So all in all - a hectic but exciting day! We are thrilled about how well she has done so far and we know that this is a winnable battle. Well, we always knew that - after all, we are dealing with Elizabeth! She's got this!

I know that I've said it before but I want to repeat it - hug and kiss your loved ones. Don't let the trivial things in life get you upset because in the grand scheme of things it just doesn't matter all that much. Family and friends mean everything and we are so blessed to have wonderful people in both categories! And never forget that with God, all things are possible! Keep those prayers comin' peeps!

One last thing....GEAUX GRIZZ! Game 7 baby!

Love y'all,

Scott

Ahhh...not exactly what we had hoped for - Relapse!

It's been forever since I wrote on the blog...mainly letting Elizabeth take over. Everything seemed to be falling in place for us...she was in remission, we began building our house, sold our other house, Anna and Lyla were filling our hearts with joy, etc. You name it...it felt like things were going just right. Then...

April 30th was just a normal Monday...well, except for this Monday was finally the day that Elizabeth was to get her first post-treatment PET scan. I told her that I would see her that evening after work - but to call me after the scan just to see how things went. Just like September 17th, 2011 - I'll never forget the call. Elizabeth called and said that Monica (Dr. Pallera's nurse) had called and they wanted her to come back to West Clinic. There were some suspicious spots found on her lungs and chest. Wait...what? Seriously? This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not right now. Things were...were...were just fine yesterday. Two hours ago. After thinking about it and how rare it would be for a relapse so quickly, I immediately thought infection or inflammation. It had to be that. So, we made our way back to West Clinic for a 2:30 appointment to see Dr. Pallera. He came in the room and looked distraught. This didn't have a good vibe to it. I knew something was seriously wrong. What did he see that was so concerning? He told us that there were several concerning spots that they found on her PET scan - things that were not there just 4 short months ago and only 12 weeks removed from radiation. What is it?

He went on to tell us that there were 3-4 spots that were enlarged with loads of activity in her lungs that gave him pause. He wanted to do a needle biopsy on Wednesday and see us that Friday. If his (and our) fears were confirmed, then treatment would need to start soon. But Doc, couldn't it be something else, I asked? It could be but not likely. His gut told him it was recurrent lymphoma - he just needed to find out if it was Hodgkin's again. Obviously this was devastating news. We had started the day just like any other day and then BAM...back to reality. Cancer has a way of doing that. Needless to say, we scheduled the biopsy and had it done on Wednesday. We talked to Dr. Hodgkiss, her radiation doc at West and he was fantastic. Can't wait to talk to him again soon. Upbeat and very positive about her treatment possibilities. Elizabeth was a little sore from the biopsy for the rest of the week. It was uncomfortable and because her tore into her enlarged lymph node, I'm sure it was inflamed making her newfound shortness of breath even worse. Of course, this would all happen as we were moving...supposed to be out of our house by Sunday, May 6th. And then....

Friday - May 4th. Another day that was seared into my memory forever. We woke up and got Anna off to school. We were both so anxious to find out what was going on that Xanax barely took the edge off. I asked my boss not to drug test me for a while...I might be taking some anti-anxiety meds. In the grand scheme of things, we knew what the results said. We prayed our tails off but I think we both had that sick feeling about what was ahead...so at least we were prepared for the worst news and hoping for the best. Dr. Pallera came in and told us the news...her Hodgkin's lymphoma was back. It was apparently sad that it didn't get to wreak enough havoc so it came back for seconds. Dr. Pallera went through the possible treatments and told us that the cure rate for someone with recurrent lymphoma was cut in half from her original diagnosis. Huh? 30-45% from 90+%? Oh man. Well, I had already schooled Elizabeth on the odds. I hadn't stopped reading about it since Monday. I mean...obsessed. I looked into every chemo regimen out there. What gave Elizabeth the best shot at outliving me? What would be best for a potential "cure" - not just a life extender? It came down to a few treatments, although it's a mixed bag in terms of results. ESHAP seems to be the best option...and Dr. Pallera said that's what he wanted to give her. (E) etoposide, (S) solumedrol (steroid), (HA) high-dose Ara-C (or cytarabine), and (P) platinum (cisplatin). That's our new acronym...our new hope. Is this the right drug? Ya damn right it is! I know it is!

Dr. Pallera explained that she would get at least 2 doses of ESHAP. It's given in a 5-day regimen with 23 days off after infusion. Then it starts all over again. Etoposide and cispatin are given with steroids on days 1-4 and cytarabine is given on day 5. These drugs are rough...and have a variety of side effects. Of course, Elizabeth will likely lose her hair again starting on week 3 or so. Looks like a "cool" do is in order for the summer. She looks great bald so that's not a big deal. So what's the plan? After 2 doses of ESHAP a scan will be done. If - and when - her PET scan shows her to be in remission again after ESHAP then she will undergo a high dose chemotherapy with an autologous stem cell transplant. The high-dose chemo is called BEAM - B - (BiCNU or carmustine) - E - etoposide - A - arabinoside - M - melphalan. Man, there are some serious acronyms in the cancer world. Ha. Hard to keep up with them all. For instance, the 5 treatments most common for recurrent or refractory lymphoma??? ESHAP, DHAP, ICE, IGEV, or SGN-35...C'MON MAN!!! Just a simple name won't do for us science nerds. Anywho, after the BEAM, she'll have a stem cell transplant. Sometime between her 2nd ESHAP and BEAM, they will harvest her blood stem cells and freeze them. The BEAM treatment will take her WAAAYYY down...and then they will re-inject her stem cells back into her blood and bring her back to health. It's a rough way to do things but it gives her the best shot at long-term remission. A recent study from MD Anderson's stated that if a patient receives a clean PET scan before there transplant, then there was a 70% chance of a 3+ year remission vs. 24% if there wasn't a clean PET scan before the stem cell transplant. We'll take option number one please! Lol.

I've researched this crap to death...it's what I do. We asked for a 2nd opinion and the oncology department at Tulane agreed with her treatment. That makes us feel better. It's not that we don't trust Dr. Pallera - we trust him completely - it's just that it's nice to have others confirm something for you.

Soooo...it's back to blogging again. Not because I loved it (I did like it though) - but because so many people love my Elizabeth that I feel like I need to keep them updated. She is my world and I'd do whatever it takes. I wish that this disease had been bestowed upon me because she doesn't deserve it but there is really nothing that I can say or do to change the hand that we've been dealt. We have to just keep on pushing...fighting this nasty, no-good, rotten disease. I know what the numbers say about a cure...but they don't know Elizabeth. This disease doesn't stand a chance. It may have come back thinking it was going to take her down but it's only pissed her off and she decided that this time...no holds barred. It's on! We are now 3 days into treatment and she is feeling pretty good. Nausea has been minimal so far and she has felt good enough to get out a little. I'm so proud of her - so damn proud. She is a trooper, a fighter, a warrior - whatever word you can think of to describe a true bad-ass! And because she reads this...I want to let her know that I will be here every step of the way...through hell and back! She inspires me to be a better person and I hope that one day I can be half the person she is! I love you baby and will move mountains to bring you back to health! We WILL beat this - we WILL win - we WILL have the last laugh! Why? Because you can't measure a person's will - and your will is stronger that anyone I know!

Fight on chick! We're in this together!


Scott


P.S - We have been overwhelmed by the support. We have the absolute BEST friends and family in the world! You guys make us feel loved and we can never do enough to re-pay you all for everything that you have done. It makes us step back and realize that we are lucky...not exactly what you'd expect from someone dealing with cancer - but we are lucky because all of you are in our lives! Much love friends, much love family! ALL IN!

Radiation Therapy

Well right before I started my radiation therapy, I did have a CAT scan. In the beginning of January we were extremely happy to hear Dr. Pallera say that I was now in remission.  On January 16th, I started radiation therapy. My treatment field included my right side, starting right above my jaw line, under my arm pit, to the middle of my chest. I didn't have to get all marked up with a sharpie like I had heard, because my radiologist put all of my marks on my mask that I had to wear. Yes I had to be lock down in a mask every morning.(It did have tiny holes in it so that I could breathe.) This mask is so tight over your face that if you had your eyes open when they locked it onto your face, you would not be able to close you eyes once it was on.  Thank goodness that I am not claustrophobic. Not sure what those people would do. Guess they would have to be medicated.  By about the second week, the inside of my mouth started getting sore. My doctor told me that I shouldn't be feeling any of the effects of radiation yet. But by about 2 1/2 weeks into it, my mouth was totally ulcerated underneath my tongue on my right side. I could hardly talk. I couldn't eat. I could only be on a liquid diet for about a week. And to make it worse, I couldn't drink anything cold. I could only handle liquids that were the same temperature as my mouth. This only lasted about 5 days, thank goodness. Once I brought this problem to my Doctors attention, he changed my treatment field alittle, and he continued to treat me below the jaw line now. I finished my radiation on February 9th. Now I am just going on with my life, working like normal,  just waiting to do my last PET scan. Dr. Pallera wants me to wait 6 weeks after radiation is over before I do it though. Just to make sure all my swelling goes down.

My hair is definitely coming back fast. It's about 1/2 an inch long and I've already colored it 3 times.  I recently bleached it blonde because I am now trying to camouflage the new bald spot I have in the back of my head due to radiation.

This is me coloring my hair purple for the LSU national championship game January 5th.
Three week after my last chemo. 

This was Anna and I at her first cheer competition.


6 weeks after my last chemo....... 












                                                                                                         My Bald Spot!!!!                                  

j

                                                                   8 weeks after....

                                                             

BLONDE!!!!

10 weeks after.....

                                                           
                                                           Memphis Grizzlies Game!!!
                                                            Feb 21, 2012

                                                     

Last chemo treatment 12/16/11

Ok, so I believe that most people who know Elizabeth also know that she had her last chemotherapy treatment last Friday, 12/16. Unfortunately, this one was not one of her favorites! Things went as planned on Thursday as Dr. Pallera told us that he was excited about her finishing chemo and moving on to radiation therapy in January. He told us that she would need another scan done in early January to give the most accurate locations for the targeted radiation. We discussed her blood counts and he determined that she didn't need another shot of Neulasta because her counts were high enough to sustain another round of chemo. That was the good news.

Treatment started as usual on Friday afternoon. There was the typical steroid/saline/Emend drip followed by the ABV being injected. So all is well until the dacarbazine drip. For some reason this didn't go down as we had hoped. She felt really nauseous this time. Not sure why but I am super thankful that it happened on the last chemo and not one of the earlier ones. Anticipating a nauseous feeling would have made subsequent treatments miserable. Anywho, she was feeling bad enough to decide to leave her car at the West Clinic. I drove her home and she went straight to bed. I gave her a little reprieve as Anna had cheerleading practice and Lyla stayed with me for the evening.

She rested most of the night with moderated discomfort. Normally she is very active for the first 24 hours or so after chemo but maybe it was just the cumulative effect after 6 doses that really knocked her down. She didn't do much of anything on Saturday. I kept the girls out of her hair and we hung out around the house most of the day. She perked up a little on Saturday night - I suppose as perky as a wounded soldier could be.

My mom came to Memphis to help out for a couple of days on Sunday. I obviously assumed that we would be fine until Sunday - little did I know that her body would play a trick on us! But all was well. She started to actually move about that evening. Anna had gone to spend the night at a friends house on Saturday so things were mostly quiet around the house anyway. I hope that we didn't do anything to keep her up. :-)

On Monday, we went to meet her radiation oncologist - Dr. Marks at Baptist Cancer Center. He was a very nice guy - extremely thorough in his discussion with us on how her treatment will go from beginning to end. They will do an initial set-up on January 6th to mark her spots - with PERMANENT marker! Haha. I'm thinking that maybe they will tattoo her with a map a Jamaica on her chest and Cuba on her neck. Ok, I kid. But they will be there for the duration of treatment. Now, one concern is this...Dr. Marks said she can't put on deodorant under her right arm during treatment as it may irritate the skin that is being irradiated. Oh boy! It's going to be a stink fest. I suppose that I will need to put up with her and her stickiness!!! Lol.

It looks like there will be 3-4 weeks of radiation for 15-20 seconds each day (each business day). Dr. Marks thinks that she is an ideal patient to be completely cured of this illness. Her response to chemo has been tremendous and he was encouraged by her progress. I now fully believe that she will be well in the next 2-3 months.

All in all, things are going great, even with the little hiccup this past weekend. She has been amazingly strong throughout this entire ordeal. She has been a true inspiration to me and many around her. And like she always does...she is back at work doing her thing behind the chair. She makes me shake my head sometimes! Sure do love her!!!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2012. We have been so blessed to have you all as friends and family. Again, pay attention to your body. If something doesn't feel right, get it checked by a doctor. We are so lucky that we caught the lymphoma early - it made all of the difference in the world. And hug those that you love - for you never know when something could happen to take them from you.

Love to all,

Scott

Thanksgiving and treatment #5

Well chemo #4 wasn't so bad. I was just extremely tired so I slept alot. I was really looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving. So I think that kept my mind off of everything with chemo.  I had not made a trip home since May, so now you can understand how excited I was to get home to see family and friends. Our trip was wonderful! We were able to see all of Scott's family and eat dinner with them. Then headed over to see my mom's side of the family, where I got to see aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen in years.








On black Friday we were lucky enough to be able to go out to the
LSU vs. Arkansas game. We had a freaking blast.  As you can see our picture right here.  Really not sure why the guy behind us didn't want to be a part of our picture. Maybe he didn't want to be posted all over the internet. Oops!!! LOL.  Anyway we got to hang with lots of friends and family, and had lots of fun. Saturday and Sunday we spent with wonderful friends we don't get to see very often. Then on Sunday we picked out our Christmas tree and drove it home of the roof of our car.

My work week was great this week until treatment #5 on Friday. I am almost through with my chemo treatments and no one knows how excited that makes me.  I will be finished with chemo on December 16th. Perfect timing to have a wonderful Christmas with the family. I will still have a months worth of radiation starting in mid January, but Dr. Pallera seems to think that this won't be as hard on me as the Chemo.

I am recovering at home this weekend from Chemo #5, and this one is very similar to Chemo #4.  No nausea, just extremely tired. So I have been sleeping alot. I'm able to eat better food this time with out being scared that I going to hate it later. So all in all, pretty good weekend. Thanks to my mom for taking care of me and the girls this weekend.

Anyways, thanks to everyone for all of the love, support and PRAYERS!

Love,

Elizabeth Noel

I thought about waiting until tomorrow but... (11/17)

I just couldn't hold out. I needed to come on here and tell everyone that we received some fantastic news today. Two weeks ago, Dr. Pallera told us that he would like to see Elizabeth's tumors at least 50% percent reduced in size by the end of chemo treatments. Weeellllllllll, guess what? You know it - they have shrunk 90% in just three treatments. It was better than we could have ever hoped for. I know people may say she was unlucky to be stricken with this cancer but no need to dwell on that...well, now we are just damn happy to have this treatment working so great. We are so very blessed!

We went to see Dr. Pallera ahead of tomorrow's chemo treatment (#4 of 6). Her blood work looks great - so good, in fact, that she will not need the neulasta shot on Saturday. Her white blood counts were really high so even with a treatment, they should be ok for the next 3-4 weeks. She received her CT scan at 10:30 or so and we waited. We were sitting in the exam room waiting on Dr. Pallera and she was so nervous that the results wouldn't be that great. I told her not to worry - even if it wasn't ideal we still had 3 more treatments plus radiation. Everything would be fine I kept telling her. Little did we know how great the news would be. Dr. Pallera is so stoic in his demeanor that you can never get a read on him. Sometimes you'd like to just put your hand on his shoulder and say "Doc...just hit us with it, will ya?!?" But I saw a really interesting look in his eye - like he was about to deliver some wonderful news. If you don't know what that news is by now just re-read the damn blog people! Haha. Kidding.

Tomorrow is obviously the next chemo treatment. Elizabeth's parents are headed to Memphis tomorrow to help out. Hopefully this treatment and the few days after will go smoothly. They have been ok to date so we are just hoping for status quo. Then we get to FINALLY go back to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. We haven't been "home" in so long. We can not wait to see everyone. It's been too long. And we have sooooo much to celebrate this Thanksgiving - so very much to be thankful for. Family and friends and the outpouring of support to name a few things.

This journey has been interesting to say the least. We are ready for it to be over but know that there are some rough times ahead. That is why I am so happy about today - just proof that things are getting better. I think back to when she first told me about her "lump". We are so lucky to have caught this illness so early - there is no doubt in my mind that the early detection has allowed the chemo to work so well. I know I've said it before but I want to remind everyone - YOU know your body better than anyone. If you feel something that isn't what you think it should be, keep an eye on it. If it's making you nervous, go see a doctor. Believe me, a 2-3 hour doctor's appointment will be well worth the peace of mind and in our case - it was a potential life-saver.

We want to continue to thank you all so very much for all of the thoughts and prayers. They are working! I also want to tell my dear Elizabeth that she is the strongest damn woman I've ever been around. I have the privilege of watching this rockstar on a daily basis. She is just amazing! I don't think that I can accurately describe her in any other way!

I'll update everyone on the chemo treatment this weekend. I've got my fingers crossed.

We send our love to you all!!!

Scott

Chemo #3 update (11/10)

Hi all - I suppose it's long overdue for another update. Elizabeth had her last chemo treatment this past Friday, 11/4. Everything went well that day but it didn't seem to go as smoothly as the last treatment. She felt a little different than the last time but I guess that is just the way it goes with this stuff. Three treatments in and the one thing that we can predict is that it will be a tad unpredictable.

I had my mom, dad, sister, and her boyfriend come up to Memphis this past weekend - so that was fun! We went to a reception for Tiffany and Aspen this weekend, which was absolutely beautiful. Grace and Craig came with us (sister and boyfriend) and LSU made the night even better!!! Elizabeth got to get a manicure and pedicure Saturday during the day - right after receiving her 2nd Neulasta shot. I think that this time it was a little rougher than last as she was a little more "achy" on Sunday and Monday. I am guessing that the Neulasta was the culprit again - though I can't be sure. The good part, though, is that I think that we have found the right combination of anti-nausea meds for her. She seems to be only slightly nauseated for the few days after treatment. It seems as if the Emend is working very well (headaches aside)!

She went back to work yesterday and as expected, enjoyed it! Weirdo. Haha. We are going to watch our little Anna in a cheer event tonight. Can't wait. I know she has enjoyed this so much so we are really looking forward to it. I think I probably like this better than dance recitals - mainly because of choice of music. I also love watching Lyla at cheer practice...she LOVES it! Dances and laughs so much. It'll be a good time, for sure!

As for what's next - well, Elizabeth will see Dr. Pallera again next week. At that point, she will have another CT scan done to see if the tumors have gotten smaller (fingers crossed!). Then chemo #4 will be 8 days from now. Luckily, we get Thanksgiving week off and can FINALLY go back to Louisiana! It has been so long and we can not wait to see everyone. It will be a truly special holiday for all of us and we are just really happy that we can be home to share it with our family and friends.

We are halfway home in the treatment cycle. By the time Christmas gets here then chemo should be done. What a blessing! We continue to say thank you very much for all of the kind words, thoughts, and prayers. They mean so very much to our family. Also, because I love football so much this story has truly disturbed me - please say a prayer (or keep these people in your thoughts) for the victims of the child molestation incidents that took place at Penn State. Their lives are forever changed and no matter what happens, those memories will haunt them forever. I know that they are singled out but because of the high-profile nature of this incident, it will only get worse for them.

Again, thanks everyone. Have a wonderful day!

Baldness Support.....

    My 15 years old nephew, Derek Couvillion, told me that he would definitely shave his head when I had to.  I was kind of sad to see him shave it because he has such awesome thick hair. I'm sure the girls loved it....lol. So I just wanted to show everyone how sweet he was to follow through with what he had promised. 

Thank you Derek!!  I love you!!! Your the best nephew ever!!!

Baldness is Sexy! (10/26)

Angie, Elizabeth, and Beth at Salon 1550 right after she got her head buzzed!

Hello everyone. It's been a while! I know that I slacked off a little - but I do have an excuse, kind of! I have been really busy at work and I went out of town for 4 days to the Orthopaedic Trauma Association's annual meeting in San Antonio. Elizabeth has been keeping everyone up to date though. The big news of the week is easily seen above! She decided that it was time to go ahead and buzz her dome! For the past few days, her scalp had been bothering her so she decided that yesterday was the time that it needed to come off. I think it was a great move...she's pretty damn sexy! I was informed of this decision around mid-day yesterday. I guess you can figure out what that meant when I got home...exactly! I certainly didn't forget that I said I would shave my head but I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it. But given the spirit of the evening and her really liberating experience - what the hell!

She didn't give me much warning. She just took a nice strip of hair right off the center of my melon. Sheesh! Give a guy a warning. It was an interesting feeling - not having any hair left. I am not sure that I love this look but I am definitely glad that I did it. Anna was so intrigued that she thought she should shave hers as well...FAT CHANCE young lady! Haha. Wouldn't that look odd - a family of 4 where the 8 month old has more hair than the other 3. Ha. We talked her off of the ledge and she reluctantly told us that she would keep her hair! She is such a doll. The final product...

At some point, we will be able to look back and laugh a lot about this experience. It has certainly been an interesting time in our lives but we just keep rolling with the punches. With winter coming, I'm not sure how this is going to feel. I know that I felt cool wind hitting my scalp this morning. Fun times.

Updating everyone on Elizabeth's condition...she did really, really well this time. Chemo was not fun but she started taking Emend this time. It is an expensive anti-nausea med from Merck. It worked much better than the last drugs. She felt really good on Saturday and just ok on Sunday. However, compared to last time, this day was light years better. She was able to eat a little and stayed up much longer than I expected. She even stayed up to watch the Saints play although the game was such a blowout that the Colts put her to sleep!!! Haha (Robbie and Christina - you guys are taking the "Suck for Luck" thing too far. You don't get bonus points for losing by 55!) Monday was a good day and Tuesday was even better. She is back in the saddle at work today so I am sure that she is enjoying work, as usual! The Neulasta shot that she has to get (because her blood counts were too low) was given Saturday morning. The nurse told us to give her Zyrtec while taking the Neulasta - I suppose that there is something in an antihistamine that mitigates the bone pain! I think it's more anecdotal than hard science but it seemed to work. She felt some pain in her back and neck but it wasn't near the horror from stories that we had read. I plan on reading more about the reason why the antihistamines work with it but for now we're just happy that it helped (or seemed to)!

I know that I speak on behalf of Elizabeth when I say that we appreciate everything that you all have done for us! It means so very much to us. I wish there was something that I could say that could properly explain it but words do this feeling no justice. We are so thankful that we have such an amazing group of friends and family. I also want to say thank you to Elizabeth's mom for staying with us for the past couple of weeks. You have been a tremendous help to us and our girls. I can't thank you enough.

Again, we love you all.

Until next time (which won't be as long as this past time),

Scott

A Good Chemo Day (Treatment 2)

This was me taking a picture of myself receiving chemo today (you can tell by the cord coming out of my chest...lol).. I can't believe I am sharing this pic with everyone. WOW, my forehead looks huge....lol. I promise my hair is not receding that much yet, just a bad camera angle.

My chemo session went as good as it could have gone today. It was a boring 2 1/2 hours. Scott was good company, but he was on his I-pad looking up LSU stuff on tigerbait.com most of the time. So I just entertained myself by writing in my journal and playing on facebook.(and I took pictures of myself as you can tell) Fun, fun.

Thank you for all that participated in getting all of the pictures together, so that my wonderful friends Rhonda and Rance Little could make me a very memorable scrapbook. Looking through it made me a little teary eyed I'll have to say. Brings back alot of memories. It means the world to me that my Louisiana friends and my Memphis friends teamed up somehow to make that happen. I don't have the words to say how much it really means to me. The only thing I can say is that I FREAKIN' LOVE IT. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

Love you all for being so sweet to me and my family,

Elizabeth Noel

I Think I'm Losing My Hair!

So I wanted everyone to see my sweet girls (and me.) Today was the first day that I figured out how to post a picture on the blog. So from now on I might be posting so more pictures of me during this journey. So get ready.....lol.

Tomorrow is going to be my second chemo. (Hopefully!) I am so ready to get this one over with.

 I am now starting to lose some hair. Every time I run my hands through it I have hair in my hands. I am really thinning out right where I part my hair, so today I parted it on the other side. Then one of my girlfriends at work today found a really thinning(balding) spot on the back of my head. As much as I have prepared for this, I'm going to really freak out when I get some big bald spots or it starts falling out in clumps. I'm thinking next week will be the week for shaving the head. I will definitely post pics of that. Scott said that he would shave his head with me, I wonder if he will go through with it though? He keeps asking me questions like, "So honey, how close will I have to shave it?" I told him BALD, and he starts making faces like he's scared...lol.  So I will make sure to post pics of the faces he makes as I am buffing and shining his really big bald head.

Well I'm sure Scott will update you all this weekend on how I am doing and feeling after my treatment.

I am going to leave you with this quote that someone (you know who you are) sent to me this week after reading my last blog.
"When you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."

Elizabeth Noel :)

2nd day of chemo......NOT!!!!

Well today didn't go exactly as planned, and if anyone really knows me I freak out when that happens.

Let me start by telling you that my brother Darren wanted to come up here this weekend to come with me to my 2nd treatment of chemo (and to see my sweet girls). So he and my nephew Derek drove up here on Thursday morning. Darren drove me to work today so that I could take care of a couple of my clients, then came back later to pick me up to accompany me to the West Clinic. I tried to schedule my chemos for after lunch on Fridays, so that I can work for a while on those mornings.
 My appointment was at 12:30pm. They called me back to draw my blood soon there after. Then we went back to another waiting room to wait to be called back for chemo. After about 15 mins, a nurse comes out to break the news to me...... She tries to explain to me in the nicest way possible that my white blood count numbers were too low to receive chemo today, and that we have to come back next Friday now. (WHAT???) Naturally, I was so upset. I couldn't hold back the tears. My poor brother didn't know what to say. I have planned and arranged my schedule now through December.(I know that sounds crazy, but my life revolves around a schedule. ) So I immediately think about my appointment book at work. This stinks!! I hate more than anything not being in control of my schedule. I just want everything to work out perfectly,(impossible right now i know) and there are many bumps along this road. Ultimately my health comes first, and my sweet clients do understand. I know I have to adjust and get used to this craziness, but it does't mean I have to like it. (ugh!!!)They are now planning to give me a blood booster shot on the days following my chemo treatments to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

I went back to work later today. Amber and I had to reschedule all of my clients that are on the weeks I am suppose to be receiving chemo now. Thank you Amber. Your the best!

This week is going to be better from now going forward. I just know it. (My hubby comes home from a conference tomorrow.)
Thank you everyone for being so supportive though this emotional time. I really appreciate all of the prayers too.

Love you all,

Elizabeth Noel

Doing Great......Thank You!!!

Well......I am now in the middle of my week off from chemo. I have been back to work this week, and I have felt completely normal. These past few days have been great. Working, taking care of the kids, running Anna here and there, all of my normal daily activities have been easy for me this week. It does feel awesome to have complete control of things, even if it is just for a short amount of time. I'm pretty sure I will be receiving chemo next Friday, so I will be living this feeling up all week. YEA!!! 


Also, just wanted to thank everyone for keeping us fed so well. We appreciate all of the meals we have been receiving. I tell you what, I am getting very spoiled having dinner brought to us every night. I don't know what I'm going to do when I actually have to cook a meal again.  No but for real, it has been so nice not having to think of whats for dinner every night. So thank you to everyone that has pitched in for our meals. 


And one more thing..... Thank you to all that have been sending me all of the sweet texts and thoughtful emails. I have not been able to respond to all of them, so just know that I am getting them and they do all make me smile and lift my spirits when I receive them. So keep'em comin!!! 


Love ya'll bunches,


Elizabeth Noel

Creatures of habit (10/5)

For the past few weeks, our lives have been semi-chaotic. Between the doctors' visits, treatments, tests, family coming up to see us, etc., it seems as though we have been going 90 miles an hour. By going all out for the past few weeks, it has made them seem to drag on - like we've known about this for months. It just feels like we were on a runaway train for a while. That has all changed this week. I've gotten back to a normal routine at work and so has Elizabeth. She has been feeling great and has enjoyed both days at work so far. She came home last night with a huge smile on her face - which immediately told me that she was back to normal. Other than a little residual pain in her left shoulder from the portacath, I think that she is all healed up.

The girls seem to have slid right back into their routine as well. Lyla is doing great - great at causing us to lose sleep. Not sure why but she sure has chosen a really ideal time to get at twice a night. *Sigh* Anna is being a fantastic big sister. She helps out around the house and more than anything, she entertains Miss Lyla when we are busy. She has taken baths on her own and just acted a heck of a lot more mature than I thought she would. She is pretty amazing.

I named this entry "Creatures of habit" mainly because I think that is what makes us tick. Throw anyone into a situation that isn't routine and there will be an adjustment period needed - one that some deal with better than others. This little curveball has been anything but routine and has forced us to deviate from the norm...from the comfortable. That's why these past few days have been so great - we have slipped back into a little routine. A comfortable routine. I like this routine - I like this comfort, especially at a time like this. I know that things will be a little chaotic next week - I leave for a conference in San Antonio next Wednesday and Elizabeth has round 2 of chemo on Friday - but I am confident that we can get back to our comfort zone fairly quickly. We've done it so far and will do it again next time. At least that is the goal.

I want to thank everyone again for the kind thoughts and words. I know that Elizabeth has been anxious about getting back to work and getting back to her element. She loves her job so much...an almost-scary type of love. But I am glad that it makes her happy and keeps her mind focused on things other than her illness. I am sure that the rest of the week will sail by and she'll be tired from overextending herself. Haha. That's her M.O. - who am I to argue? I'll lose that battle anyway so I'll just sit it out!

Lastly, here's a quote from Yogi Berra, the undisputed king of ridiculous quips:

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it!"

Ummm, huh? Which way should we go Yogi? Lol. Ahhh, he doesn't know! Anyway, it's Wednesday..so I need to feed and bathe the girls before Elizabeth gets home! Creature of habit, ya know?!?


Until we meet again,

Scott

Can't sleep tonight...(10/3)

I was just laying in bed watching Elizabeth sleep (and the end of the Tigers/Yankees baseball game). Ok, so my eyes were mainly watching tv but it didn't stop me from peaking over a few times to see her resting comfortably in bed. I wanted to go to sleep but I just couldn't. Tried but no luck. When I am sitting there quietly, my mind starts to wander all over the place and start thinking of random things. Tonight though, my focus is more on Elizabeth. What is it that makes her so special - so special that God has asked her to bear this burden of cancer? Certainly He knows that she is of superhuman strength, right? Of course. (*see end of message for little known fact about Elizabeth) Certainly He knows that she is a fantastic mom that loves her two kids more than anything in this world, right? Of course. Certainly He knows that she is the consummate professional - one that would do whatever it takes to be the best hair stylist that she can be, right? Of course. And lastly, He knows that she is the best soul mate that anyone could ever ask for, right? Undoubtedly so.

I want to describe Elizabeth to those that may not know how remarkable she is. She is always there for our family...no matter the time or effort required, she will go above and beyond what should be done. She makes and takes time to take care of our girls and to attend all the functions that go along with them. She teaches, nurtures, listens, corrects, and loves our girls with hesitation. And she ain't a half-bad cook either. :-)  Does this sound familiar? Does your spouse do this for you? I bet the men that read this will more than likely agree knowing a lot of the ladies that read this blog. So I ask myself if I am doing enough to help her - not just right now, but always. She doesn't complain (to anyone but me and occasionally those at work, haha)...hell, she hasn't complained one bit about getting cancer. It's just not in her DNA. I guess what I am ultimately trying to say is that this whole experience (the little that we've gone through up to this point) has taught me that I need to be a better husband and father. I wasn't bad (at least I hope not) but I can strive to be better. She deserves it. I bet most moms and spouses deserve it. 

Moving on - I guess that I am going to have do to something BIG to be a bigger inspiration to my girls! How can I top a rock-star, cancer-survivor mom? Ha. I think that being a cancer patient and survivor is about as cool as it can get. You went toe-to-toe with an illness that should take your life. You suffer through toxic treatments only to come back for more. This, just a couple of weeks after you swore off chemo. Then you patiently sit around and do scan after scan, test after test...all the while praying that there was a reduction in your tumor size. Guess what, next round! Lose your hair, hate food, lose weight, feel weak! All of these things make a cancer patient an unbelievable human being...one that can conquer any battle that life throws at them. For so long, I had hoped that Elizabeth would look to me for leadership and inspiration...but it is I that now turns to her for those same things. She is quite the woman - quite a wife, quite a mom, quite a friend! The best friend that I could ever hope for. 

Thanks for all the love and support. Again, it means the world to us! 

Scott

P.S. - She had a good day in case anyone was wondering :-D. She felt great - like normal. She'll be back at work tomorrow slicing and dicing hair. I know that she is excited to see everyone. 

As for the * earlier - many do not know that this little lady was a powerlifter in high school! I wasn't kidding when I said she was strong...like really strong. She was a Louisiana state and national powerlifting champion in the 97lb weight class (and 112lb or 114lb - something like that). I know, I was quite surprised myself. Her mom still has all the trophies and stuff. She's part loving, part ferocious beast! Haha. 

Saturday and Sunday (10/2)

After a nice few days with my mom in town, I guess it's back to reality around here. Ha. She has been a big help and hopefully we won't need her for the time being. The family visits have been great so far and have really helped us try and get through the early parts of this treatment plan with as little difficulty as possible. As far as Elizabeth goes, she is feeling much better today. Yesterday was better than Friday - as Friday was a BEAR! I know that she felt bad all day and it just stinks watching someone you care so much about feel that way. She ate really well yesterday evening and had a nice night of sleep. She woke up in a good mood this morning and for that I am thankful. Anna even got to sleep with mommy last night as I took the couch. Anna was playing "loving mother" last night and she seemed like she needed to be there for Elizabeth. At least that's how she perceives things. Love that kid!

I know we wish things could have been different and we could have gotten to go to Josh and Rachel's wedding last night. Looked like a great time and we are both upset that we missed it. I hope that they had a great evening. Elizabeth and I wish them all the best in the world.

Elizabeth is off today and tomorrow and should be really rested for work this week. The future Friday treatments may present a bit more of a challenge but I think having Sunday-Tuesday off will be manageable. We'll just keep doing what we're doing...taking this thing one day at a time. I guess that what everyone has to do with a situation like this.

On another note...that LSU - Alabama game on November 5th is going to be EPIC. Man, these two teams are good. We are hoping for a nice cap to the football weekend here as the Saints kick off in a little while against the Jags.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Kiss your kids (or significant others) and tell them you love them. It means more than you could ever know.

'Til next time,

Scott

 

Chemo update (9/30)

Hi everyone. I just wanted to drop all of you a quick line about Elizabeth. As you probably already know, she had her first round of chemotherapy on Wednesday. She felt pretty good yesterday - even went into work and played at the salon for half a day or so. Overall, I think the first 24 hours went about as good as could be expected. She slept well last night so that was a good thing (thank goodness for phenergan!)

Unfortunately, she is feeling all that good today! Booooo! She said she is nauseated and has a headache! I know that she is really fatigued so when I left for work she was going to try and lay down for a while. The other anti-nausea medication - zofran - has slightly mitigated the symptoms for now but she still feels uneasy. I know this is the downside of chemo so it's likely just the first of many days over the next few months that will be kind of rough for her. I am hoping that she will bounce back pretty quickly - she has been drinking lots of water and eating as much as she can - all good things. We bought her some chocolate shakes (Ensure and Special K) and I think she'll try those out if she doesn't feel like eating very much.

I guess that this comes with the territory but it sucks! I desperately wish that I could trade places with her but I suppose the best that I can do is help her out as much as possible. She's a tough woman - more than she knows so she'll be fine in the long run. I know that so many have texted or messaged her over the last few days. If she hasn't sent anything back - just know that she has tried to keep up. I'll see if there is anything that she needs me to follow-up with when I get home from work.

I'll keep everyone updated on the next 24-48 hours. That's all for now folks!

Adios,

Scott