Patience

I am patiently waiting to feel better. I actually felt better yesterday than I do today. I keep taking my medicine and trying to eat properly and drink lots of fluids to regain some energy, but it is just not happening. At least I heard some birds chirping this morning and the sun is shining!

Had a Bad Day!

Symptoms: sore throat, cough, aches, fever, runs

Diagnostic tools: H1N1 swab, strep swap, blood draw, chest x-ray

Diagnosis: Bronchitis

Prescription: Z pack

Prayer requests: Meds will work quickly and get me out of this misery. A heavenly angel will gently place sub plans on my desk before 8:15 tomorrow morning, or better yet, just make it a snow day.

Prayer thanks: Thanks for my mom who spent two and a half hours with me getting this taken care of. Again, thanks for great doctors who want to help.

This post has pretty much wiped me out. Good night!

Survived Monday

I was able to teach today and it felt so good to be back at school. The day went by really fast. I took a 20 minute cat nap after school and am now trying to stay awake until at least 9:00 so I can sleep through the night and do it all over again tomorrow!

Thank you all for your prayers during the 1st chemo treatment. I have been feeling amazingly well since the treatment. The doctors all had me prepared for side effects that just have not happened. You can imagine how grateful I am about that!

God is GOOD!!

Robin

Round 1

Well, round 1 is now inside me and I would hit the easy button if I had one. The day was long, but went smoothly. Just a few things to pass along tonight before I call it a day.
Praises:
• I believe God was thinking of me this morning because he made the sun shine!
• I was able to have a private room
• The port worked well
• No allergic reactions
• Awesome nurse
• Randy and I were able to stop at Meijers and get a few necessary items after chemo
• Keagan and I went for a walk and got a good dose of sunshine
Requests:
• Good sleep tonight
• Side effects will be controlled by meds

Thanks for checking on me!

Chemo comes on Thursday

My dear friends and family,
I will admit I am anxious about receiving my first round of chemo on Thursday. The day will begin with a prayer service with staff and volunteers at our church at 9:00. The appointment at the cancer and hematology center begins at 9:30. My mom will be taking me to the appointment and staying with me until Randy arrives which should be around noon. We have been told to plan on being there for about 5 hours.
The verse I will hold close to me all day is one that many of you have suggested. It is Isiah 41: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
What can you do to help? Pray. I would like to ask you to consider praying at a very specific time. However old you are, pray for that minute after the hour. So, for example, if you are 29, you could send up a little prayer (or a big one!) at 9:29, 10:29 and so on. If you are 59 or older, perhaps you could choose a time earlier in the hour. There are not likely to be too many one year olds taking on this challenge!
Specific Prayer Requests:
• A good night of sleep tonight
• No worries about school
• The port will be easy to access
• No allergic reactions
• Kylie and Keagan will be able to concentrate at school
• Give thanks for wonderful doctors and nurses!


I’ve been told I will have my hair for about two weeks after the first treatment. I have registered for some hats from a company called Headcovers Unlimited. If you are interested, you can follow the directions below.
Click on the headcovers link at the top of the blog
Click on gift registry
Click the search button
Enter my first name, last name, and Email, which is
robinmaxson@sbcglobal.net
Click search registry
Click view and you should be able to figure it out from there. It appears as though I may have chosen some things more than once, but they are actually different colors.

I GET TO TEACH TOMORROW!!!!

Update

Yesterday my mom took me to the appointment with the radiologist. We were there for over two hours and our heads were spinning with new information about the radiology part of the treatment plan. This will not happen until chemo treatments are finished, so it will be awhile. Following this appointment, I had a regular checkup appointment with my dentist. I told the hygienist that if she found anything wrong with my teeth, I didn't even want to know. Luckily they said everything in my mouth looks good! After a long morning of appointments and lunch with my mom, I ran a few errands and came home and took a nap. In the evening we went out for dinner to celebrate Randy's birthday and then we watched "Couples Retreat." If you haven't already wasted your money on this movie, take my word for it, it is terrible!

Many of you have asked if there is anything you can do to help. This morning I was able to get a calendar set up as a link on the top of the blog for meals. If cooking is your forte and you would like to bring us a meal in the next couple of months, please check out the link. I also found a neat web site that sells cancer patient hats. I signed up for the gift registry, but I need a few days to look at all of the choices and find some that will work for me.

Thank you again for your love, prayers and constant support!

Power Port

This morning was way too quiet and I was feeling lonely. I did a lot of cleaning and putting things away to help pass the time. My mom came to take me to the hospital for the surgery. As soon as she got here, the hospital called and said things were running ahead of schedule, so could we please come early. The prep for this surgery was almost identical to the lumpectomy. The IV went into my hand pretty easily, but I am guessing it is going to leave me with a pretty good bruise. Dr. Hoberman came in to say hi and make sure we understood what would be happening. I was under conscious sedation which was a weird feeling.
Anyway, the power port is in and I am tired and sore. Otherwise all is well. Tomorrow I have 2 hour appointment with the radiologist and then a dentist appointment! Dr. offices close on Saturday and Sunday and therefore I am looking forward to the weekend!

Snow Day!

Having Randy and the girls home today due to a snow day was a treat. We all stayed snug in our beds much longer than a normal school day! I had a chance to get to MVP and had a nice workout and talked to a few friends there. The early part of the afternoon the girls and I did some shopping, but we didn't find much! Randy took me to the hospital this afternoon as I had a to have a MUGA test done. Per the internet, the definition of a MUGA is as follows: The MUGA scan (MUltiple Gated Acquisition scan) is a noninvasive test that produces a moving image of the heart. From this image, the health of the heart’s major pumping chamber (the left ventricle) can be assessed. I did have to have an IV in place for this test, and it did NOT go in easily.

I expect everyone will be going back to school tomorrow except for me. I miss teaching terribly. Outpatient surgery for the port is scheduled for tomorrow at 3:45. I have a no food, no drink after midnight restriction once again for the entire day. Please pray that the day will pass quickly, that I won't get hungry or thirsty, but will still be able to produce a urine sample at 2:15! Pray that the IV goes in better tomorrow than it did today. And one more thing, thank God for Dr. Hoberman!

Much love to all of you!

Robin

Randy and my mom accompanied me to my first oncology appointment today. Dr. Vaner Woude had studied the pathology reports and has a treatment plan for me. The plan includes chemotherapy of three different drugs. The drugs are taxotere, paraplatin, and herceptin. I will have a port put in this week Thursday at Holland Hospital. The schedule for chemo has not yet been determined.

I rely on my faith, family and friends for therapy. However, Randy and I have found home improvements to be a release as well.
Randy spent the weekend tearing out carpet from our living room, hallway, and two bedrooms. Yesterday Carpet Bonanza installed new carpet and today our new furniture was delivered.

Our God is an awesome God and he has proven himself over and over again over the past few weeks. Your prayers have been answered. Please continue to pray for his presence in the upcoming weeks. Pray that he will help us to remain optimistic and he carry us through the treatments.

The Joy of Motherhood

Today I was able to enjoy being a mom for the first time in a while. Kylie was my right hand at the grocery store this morning. It felt good to get out and do something other than going to a doctor appointment. Then I had the opportunity to drive the van to pick up the kids for her Kid's Club program at church. Keagan wanted me to take her clothes shopping, so we did that for a little while this afternoon. I am feeling so much better and I have so enjoyed having my family with me today! This evening I had a surprise visitor at my door. She brought get well wishes from Hamilton, and somehow she found the PERFECT card! Thank you, sweetie!

What the Doc said

The appointment with Doctor Hoberman went well this morning. She looked at the incisions and said everything is healing up nicely. She gave me some exercises to do to keep the circulation moving and rebuild strength. There wasn't a whole lot of new information from the pathology report. She did inform us that there were definitely two different tumors and based on size and cell activity, both are considered stage 1 cancer, not the stage zero we were hearing before. She expressed how thankful she was, and we all should be, that there was no cancer in the lymph nodes. As far as treatment goes, we wait until the appointment with the oncologist which is next week Tuesday.

I enjoyed today. I spent most of it sitting on the couch with three pillows, two blankets and lots of good reading material. My throat is feeling better, but I am certainly running low on energy. With the scripture verses many of you have sent me, devotion books, and the power of prayer, I feel at peace. Tonight I leave you with this verse from Psalm 31:

I trust in you, O Lord;
I say "You are my God."
My times are in your hands.

Robin

Complication

I had a complication today. During the night my throat was on fire, so I took some advil and went back to bed. A friend stopped by for a while this morning and by the time she left, I was wiped. I didn't have a fever, so I figured it could be no more than a sore throat leading to a cold. My mom called to check on me and she convinced me that if it was strep and it went untreated, the infection could spread to other parts of my body which is not what I need right now. After talking to Dr. Hoberman's office (hoping they would just prescribe an antibiotic), I was off to prime care and sure enough, strep it is. I laughed when the doctor said he wrote me a work excuse through Friday.

I am happy to have everyone home for the evening. Randy stopped at Hamilton El. on his way home and picked up dinner that was prepared especially for us. We so appreciate the meals, the cards, and all of the ways people have expressed their love.

Thanks for checking on me. I may have more info. after the post op appointment tomorrow.

Love,
Robin

Decisions, Decisions

Today I met with the geneticist and got an education regarding genetic testing for breast cancer patients. After listening to all of the info she offered, I have lots of questions. I didn't stick my arm out and offer her some of my blood for the testing just yet. Randy and I need to prayerfully consider whether this is something we want done or not.

Dr. Hoberman did call again today with a bit more information. The pathology report is indicating two kinds of cancer. One is the DCIS (stage 0) that the biopsy showed. The other is invasive. The pathologist was pleased with the margins she was able to get with the exception of the skin. The tumor was close to the skin, so she really couldn't take any more. I may need to have some preventative treatment done on the skin in the area of the tumor. I am now anxiously awaiting my next appointment with her on Thursday morning. This is not great news, hence the emotional roller coaster continues to run. Keep praying.

I am trying really, really hard to relax and heal. Today I slept in until 9:30! Our family is enjoying the meals that Randy brings home from friends at Hamilton El. I delight in reading all of the cards that come in the mail and the posts on the blog. I have read them all at least 10 times.

Thats all for tonight.

February Already?

I cannot believe it is the 1st of February already. January simply snuck right on by. Overall, the first day of the month was a good one. My mom was here this morning helping with household chores when Dr. Hoberman called. This was the first I had heard from her since surgery. She said that the lymph nodes did NOT contain cancer cells. That was an answer to prayer. The remainder of the pathology report is not yet completed. My mom took me for a ride out to see the icebergs and ice fishermen out on Lake Mac. It was nice just to get out for a little bit. My friend Sue came for the afternoon. We spent a lot of time just visiting and then we watched a movie together. Our family enjoyed a delicious meal prepared especially for us by a friend from school. The girls are off to church, I am going to do a little reading and then, you guessed it, watch Bachelor!