One car did well... and the other is in bad shape

Ben and I did our first Pine Wood Derby last weekend - he helped quite a bit in making the car and was very proud when we made the top 10. We actually did much better than I expected in the races!
Unfortunately, the very next day I slipped on some ice in our real car on the way home from work! The car spun once or twice and ran in to the guard rail - not sure if it will be fixable & I'll find out from the insurance over the next few days. I thankfully didn't get a scratch and there were no other cars involved.
Sarah got her sixth treatment this past Thursday and the MRI is on for next Monday. We'll get the results on Thursday - as usual it will be a tough few days of waiting.

4 March - Sam's Birthday

Well, Sam had a fun birthday! He dressed up in a really cute giraffe costume at his party and even managed to blow out all the candles on his Cars cake. His party was at a kid's play place and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The last picture shows him in a cowboy dress-up outfit that Sarah got him and he really liked that, too. It came with a treasure map which Ben was helping Sam read.
Sarah's doing ok & will get the MRI done after next week's treatment. So, we'll get the results on Thursday after next. The lower CEA value is a good sign, but we are still anxious about this test. So far she's tolerating the Taxotere ok and is surprised that she hasn't lost much hair.

1 March - Taxotere #5 and Good News

Sarah did Taxotere treatment #5 today. After the next one we'll get her MRI done to see whether this treatment is helping. We did get a glimmer of hope today after receiving the results of her tumor marker test - her CEA went from 17 down to 5.5 (normal is <2.5), so this gives us some reason to face the MRI with additional optimism. Sarah still feels fatigued most of the time and the chemo pre-meds (steroids) which prevent allergic reactions to the Taxotere also keep her from sleeping - so she's tired a lot.

26 Feb - Update

Just a quick update today. My parents were here to visit last week. Their return flight on Saturday was canceled due to the winter storm and they just got out late tonight. It was a nice week and Ben and Sam already miss having their grandparents around to play with!
Sarah is doing well. We should get word back on the latest tumor markers (taken with blood sample last Thursday) when she goes in for her 5th Taxotere treatment this Thursday. The next liver MRI is still planned for mid March.

Winter CampOut

Well, it was a great weekend at YMCA Camp McLean for Ben and me. We had a fun time - plenty of sledding, marshmellows over a campfire and bunkbeds. Ben even got interested in playing chess - well, as close as you can get the playing chess at 6 yrs old.
Sarah is feeling pretty worn out - more so than before, but my parents are staying with us this week to visit and help out. Sarah's having more hot flashes, which is probably due to the Zolodex. She's headed in to treatment #4 this week, and possibly an early MRI scan after that.

14 Feb - Valentine's Day

Well, it's about time I posted some pics so here they are. Ben as an elephant in his school's "circus day" performance. Our snowy week - the snow stays so light & fluffy when it's f-f-freezing cold! Valentine's Day dinner at our house with some yummy take out and also a shot of Sarah and me on V-day.
Sarah's headed in to Taxotere #3 tomorrow - so far so good on side effects, although some could creep in later (hair, finger nails, etc). Still anxiously awaiting the next MRI in mid March.
Sarah did get her first haircut today - something she's been looking forward to for a while! It's been growing since last summer.

9 Feb - More Taxotere

Sarah got her second Taxotere treatment yesterday and has been doing ok. Mostly she is just more tired than normal, but she continues to stay active and does everything in her normal routine. However, we are definitely grateful for the dinners that people are bringing to us. Although Sarah does cook sometimes, she's more tired in the evenings and we've been keeping meals simple.
That's all the latest. I've got to take some pictures - has been a while since I posted some!
Ben and I will be going to the indian guides Winter CampOut next weekend and Ben is very excited about it. He's also become a real reading machine. Ben checked out 8 children's chapter books from the library last night (the Magic Treehouse series) and I think he'll have torn through them by the end of the weekend!

6 Feb Update

Day four of Taxotere and Sarah can definitely feel a difference between this and the previous Navelbine treatment. She has more general body aches and much more fatigue, which will likely increase after further weekly treatments - falling asleep on the couch most evenings. But, we hope this means it's more aggressively attacking the spots in her liver! Other than that, she's feeling ok - no significant nausea this week & hope that will continue.
It is still very cold in Chicago. When I got up yesterday it said -8F on the thermometer. Last night we said, "well the snow tomorrow will warm it up a bit." Then we laughed, because we meant it would "warm up" to a high of 11F today. :) If there was any doubt before, we now definitely know that we've become acclimatized to Chicago's winters!

1 Feb - Slowed It Down But Didn't Stop It

We didn't get the news we were hoping for today... :(
The MRI showed Sarah's liver lesions have grown 10-20% despite the six Navelbine treatments. The doctor says that ~70% of her liver is still ok and that her blood analysis shows it is working fine, but we have to stop the tumor advance as quickly as possible.
So, Sarah will start a new weekly treatment using Taxotere in place of Navelbine. It is a much harsher chemo drug in terms of side effects, but also the highest in effectiveness - and we think it shrunk her original breast tumor when she got it back in May 06. Back then, the oncologist stopped giving it to Sarah once we learned that she had bone mets so that it could be used later in a situation just like this when it was more needed.
We can expect Sarah to have more fatigue, some nausea and also hair loss again. She's so brave! Didn't miss a beat and said, "bring it on!" All that matters is trying to stop the advance in her liver.

So, instead of relief we've now got double the worry as we do another six weeks of treatment and wait until mid-March for another MRI. This is another setback in a long string of setbacks... but we know there is hope and that is what we are staying focused on. There are blessings to be counted - we are facing this as a family full of love, together with many friends and relatives who have reached out with care and support (thank you for that!). We can't know what the future holds, but we are doing our best to courageously move forward and face it together.

30 Jan - Waiting

Sarah got the MRI this Monday as scheduled and we'll go in on Thursday to get the results. Trying not to think about it too much, and we've got plenty of distractions helping us in that regard. The boys are both sick - we've kept Ben home from school for a week now - and they are both going in to the dentist tomorrow. Ben has a tooth growing in behind one of his baby teeth, so it never pushed the baby tooth out. Not sure what you do about that... and I know Ben's not going to like it if the baby tooth needs to be pulled! He freaked out today when the doc gave him a strep test (ie shoved a Qtip down his throat). Sarah's cheerful reminder that "at least it wasn't a shot" fell on deaf ears. :)

25 Jan - MRI date set

I went on a quick one-day trip to Boston today while Sarah got her treatment (she was able to get another Navelbine chemo treatment!) She also scheduled her MRI scan with her onc since she's received six treatments which should be enough to assess tumor response to the Navelbine. She'll get the scan on Monday and we'll get the results on Thursday. So, next week is going to be tough as we wait for these important results... If the liver lesions have not grown, then we'll continue with the current Herceptin+Navelbine treatements, but if they have grown then we need to try something else right away.
I don't really have a gut feel on how this will go. Sarah and I are both cautiously hopeful - hoping for good news, but very aware that bad news is a real possibility. We've made too many trips to her onc's office which ended in bad news already. We need a good one to turn the tide here! It's gonna be hard to wait.

23 Jan Update

Dad & Sam watching the Bears - Saints game. Sarah was not smiling... and gave up watching the game at some point in the 3rd quarter! (At least Peyton & the Colts won, so I'll have someone to root for at the Super Bowl :P - Sarah)
It's been a while since the last update - I had some multi-day biz trips that I just finished up last weekend. Sarah is doing well - amazingly she has been able to get her Navelbine treatment each week so far! This is very good as long as it is having an effect on the liver lesions - we still won't know that until the next MRI in mid Feb. Her FISH test came back positive, which means that the Herceptin treatment should be an effective treatment (together with chemo). She does still have a mild cold and both the kids are now sick as well. Ben had a bit of a fever tonight & we could barely believe it when he asked to go to bed early "because he was tired!"

14 Jan

Here's Uncle Thomas with Sam... havin' fun at the park!
Well, this week was a busy one. I was away on business until Wed night, then Sarah had treatment on Thursday. Actually, we were surprised (and glad) that her white blood cells were high enough to get a fourth Navelbine chemo treatment. Unfortunately, she's now come down with some bug but it doesn't seem too bad - scratchy throat but no fever.
Ben and I had a great time today at a new local water park. The event was organized by the Indian Guides group that we're part of.

5 Jan

Sarah's blood cell counts were high enough to get her third Navelbine chemo this Thursday, but her white cells are trending down, so we think she'll have to skip next week. Her onc discussed Sarah's treatment with the doctor we consulted at Rush University hospital and both agreed she should get a FISH test to verify her cancer's Her2/Neu receptor status - it's a pathology test that can be run on the tumor tissue sample taken during her mastectomy. The results of this test will help determine what the next steps are if Navelbine isn't effective.
Sam and Ben are fine, but have had a bit of trouble getting back in to the routine of school. Still hard to get them out of bed in the mornings! Of course they have lots of fun once the get to school, but they really liked our sleeping later schedule over the holidays.

2 Jan - Doctor's Visit

Sarah and I went to see the oncologist at Rush University Medical Center today and it was an encouraging visit. Although the lesions in Sarah's liver are a very serious development, it sounds like clinical trials have shown that Herceptin+Chemo is often much more effective than Herceptin alone. Also, there are several other treatment options that could help Sarah if this treatment isn't working. So, there is hope - now the critical thing is quickly assessing whether this Herceptin+Navelbine treatment is effective. Sarah's red blood cell count is back up, so that should hopefully mean that she can get another Navelbine chemo treatment this Thursday.
We're also thankful for the many emails we've received in response to our Christmas letter - it is very nice to feel the support and concern of family and friends at a time like this!

30 Dec Update

Sarah got her second Navelbine chemo treatment today. Her red blood cell count was pretty low so she got a shot to boost that as well. We'll be consulting the oncologist at Rush University hospital in downtown Chicago next Tuesday to make sure we're considering all options for Sarah. Also, with the great help of Sarah's friend Ami, we started sending out feelers for clinical trials that might make new treatments available to her. In one encouraging discussion, a trials oncologist from University of Chicago Cancer Center reviewing Sarah's history actually said that Navelbine and Herceptin often produce excellent results and he recommended we see if this works before considering less established methods found in clinical trials. For now, we're seeing which trials she would qualify for so that we know what our options are.
Sarah is feeling surprisingly well right now with some mild fatigue. Mostly we're just struggling with the emotional stress of considering the worst while hoping for the best.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas with Elizabeth joining us here. In one pic above the boys were decorating cookies for Santa, which he enjoyed (yum!). Not sure how we ended up with so many presents, but Ben and Sam had a great time tearing through them all at the crack of dawn Christmas morning! Ben liked his very soft Tigger pillow - what a big hug!

21 Dec - Bad News - Back on the Roller Coaster

Well, we expected that the MRI wasn't all clear when we didn't hear from Sarah's doc before her appt today, but the reality still hit us pretty hard this morning when we learned the results. First of all, her spine is getting better. Some lesions have gotten smaller and others are no longer there. But, the cancer has spread to her liver. There are quite a few growths throughout - MRI shows at least 24.
Since Sarah's current treatment is not fully inhibiting tumor growth, she's now doing chemotherapy again & got her first treatment right away today. She will continue taking Herceptin weekly, but together with the chemo drug Navelbine. Side effects are not as bad as others - should be no nausea or hair loss - and it is thought to target liver mets well. Her next scan will be after 8 weeks of treatment to determine whether it is working as hoped.
Obviously this is very serious and we're worried - it's critical that we find a chemo drug that can clean up her liver mets and prevent spread to other organs. It will be very difficult to wait these eight weeks not knowing whether things are getting better or worse. Because of the fairly rapid growth pattern of Sarah's cancer, the stakes are very high.
We need all the positive thoughts and prayers we can get. Courage and love are key watchwords for us now as we face great uncertainty. I saw a card posted in the chemotherapy room today (fuzzy pic above) and it touched me so I thought I'd share it:

What Cancer Cannot Do
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Faith
It cannot corrode Hope
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot kill Friendship
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot steal Eternal Life
It cannot conquer the Spirit

There's only one very special Christmas gift I want this year, but I won't know until February if my wish has been granted.

20 Dec - Santa's Visit

This evening Santa came by the house - Ben and Sam were so surprised! They really loved sitting in Santa's lap and talking to him. Last year Sam was scared and wouldn't sit on his knee, but this time it was a big hit and he has been talking about it quite a bit. He even looks out of the windows occasionally to check if Santa's out there. :)

15 Dec - MRI Done

Sarah just got back from getting the MRI of her liver and t-spine. Here she is next to our not-yet-decorated xmas tree. So now we have to wait until next week for results. If all is ok, we'll probably get a call from her onc. around Tuesday. If not, we'll probably have to wait until her next Herceptin treatment on Thursday to see what the MRI shows. I'm anxious to get that phone call...
I guess we need to get used to waiting periods like this - it will feel this way every time Sarah gets a scan. I like Sarah's attitude: "Whatever is/is not there in my liver, it's that way already. The test is just making us aware if it so we can take action if needed."

14 Dec - CAT Scan Probably Ok

Well, we got the results of Sarah's CAT scan today and it's mostly good. No new tumors noted and spine hasn't gotten any worse, but it looks like the spots on her liver got bigger. Last CAT scan they showed up and an MRI determined that they were not malignant, so Sarah's going in for an MRI tomorrow evening to further evaluate her liver (and spine, just in case - she has been getting a little bit of pain there). Now we've got to wait until next Thursday when the MRI results come back in order to really breathe easier. If the liver areas are cancerous, then it'll kick off add'l treatments likely including chemo. If not, the we're ok and she can continue Herceptin & switch to a triple dose every three weeks. The nail biting continues...

11 Dec

It's been hectic over the past week and we haven't been taking any pictures, so just a text update today.
I went to Dallas last Wed for a business trip and then Sarah headed down to New Orleans on Thursday night to help Thomas and Elizabeth sort through the things in her father's house. The boys and I have managed ok, but we miss Mommy and can't wait for her return Monday morning!
I did get a few honey-do items off the list and also got a Christmas tree set up - will probably decorate it next weekend.
Sarah's doing well overall, but every ache & pain raises nagging doubts over what is causing it. She's also got mild anemia which makes her tired in the evenings. The doc caught on to that through a weekly blood sample and gave her a shot to boost her red blood cell counts & that will help.
We've got a tense week ahead of us - Sarah gets another CAT scan on Tues and we'll get the results on Thurs during her weekly treatment visit. She'll also be getting her first shot to chemically induce menopause, which will lower her estrogen levels. Since chemical shutdown is pretty sudden, it's usually accompanied by fairly strong hot flashes and other menopause symptoms. With all this going on, we'll have to try a bit harder this year to focus on the spirit of Christmas - and it seems we have more reason than ever before to look to God and each other for comfort and joy. When I remember last Christmas, it's like we were living in a different world. We had no idea how precious life is - every day we have together is a gift.

1 Dec - Snow!

Big snow dump! Bad for dad... lots of shoveling - but great fun for the kids. We all enjoyed the first big snow of the year and it's getting everyone in to the Christmas spirit. Sarah's doing fine as well. She scheduled her next CAT scan for 12 Dec and if all is clear will transition to Herceptin every three weeks (triple dose) which studies have shown is equally effective.

25 Nov - Uncle Thomas In Town

This weekend we had Sarah's brother Thomas visit us and everyone had a great time. Sam and Ben had fun playing with their Roboraptor toys as you can see. I think at first Sam thought this was like a real animal. He was petting it and talking to it!

18 Nov - Birthday Party!

Ben had a very fun birthday party at the bowling alley down the street. Unfortunately, I didn't charge the camera's batteries before the big event, so no pics - only video. :(
However, Ben got so many presents between our New Orleans trip and his party that he's in hog heaven deciding what to play with. Even Sam is getting in on the action - he sometimes tries to claim a toy for himself by asserting, "It's MINE!" But that never works... and usually leads to one or both of the boys getting a time out. :) When will they learn?
Sarah's doing fairly well. It has been nice for her to be surrounded by loved ones in the wake of her father's death and it's also nice that she, Thomas and Elizabeth have been talking over the phone more often. Sarah's weekly Herceptin and monthly Zometa treatments are proceeding normally and she's feeling well. The next bigger thing will be another CAT scan, which we'll likely have done sometime just before Christmas as planned.

15 Nov

We got back from New Orleans on the 15th. The funeral for Sarah's father was poignant and a nice way to acknowledge his passing. Sarah's brother Thomas built a slide show of pictures showing many great memories of Gene's life and many people attended the visitation and funeral.

9 Nov - Rest In Peace, Grandpa

We got the sad news that Sarah's father suffered a stroke this morning and passed away hours later in a New Orleans hospital surrounded by Thomas, Elizabeth and some of his friends. Although he's been battling metastatic prostate cancer for almost eight years, this was still sudden and unexpected. "Grandpa with a beard," as Ben calls him, will certainly be missed. As we make plans to fly to New Orleans for the funeral, we also pray that Eugene now rests in peace and joy with God.

Germany - Schilksee

We spent our last day in Kiel at the beach town of Schilksee. The boys loved seeing all the ships and boats. They also really liked walking along the water's edge - finding and throwing rocks, seeing jellyfish, writing in the sand, chasing swans.

Germany - Out and About

Pics of Oma and Uncle Guenther.

Germany - Hamburg

Went to Hamburg from Kiel for a day by train with Frank, Anke and Jasmin. We walked around, toured the world's largest model train set and did a harbor cruise.

Germany - The Bus

Ben really loved riding the buses in Germany!

Germany - 3 Nov Oma's 96th Birthday

We went to lunch at a restaurant in a historical 300 year old Northern German farmhouse to celebrate Oma's 96th birthday.

Leaves and Halloween

Our leaf pile this year was huuuuge! I was throwing Ben and Sam in to it and they would completely disappear before crawling back out of it. Halloween last night was also a big hit. Sam was a fireman and Ben was superman. They had a great time trick-or-treating with Kira and Braden from next door and the candy haul was pretty big.
Sarah is doing well as we prepare for the trip to Germany. I'll have some pics of our adventures for the next post!

26 October - More Good News

Earlier this week, we got test results that showed that Sarah does not have the BRCA1/2 genetic mutations linked to breast cancer. If the test had been positive, then this would have meant surgical removal of her ovaries and possibly another mastectomy later on. So, this is quite a relief for us! Sarah continues to recover from radiation - still some fatigue lingering, which is not unusual.
We're now getting excited about going to Germany next week. It'll be quite an adventure traveling overseas with the kids. Although we did it when we returned from China last year, Sam is now much more active (and moody when tired)! But, I expect that we'll muddle through the plane travel part and have a great time on vacation together. Otherwise, things are going well. We'll have the Huttenbachs staying with us this weekend for a visit & we have some weekend fun planned with them.

14 Oct - Dad and Son Camp-out

Ben and I joined the local Indian Guides program (now called Native Sons of Algonquin...) and went to a camp-out that was lots of fun. We did many new activites together at a great YMCA camp here in the Chicago area. Also gave Mom a little bit of a break - Sarah continues to recover well from radiation. We expect that she'll get her next CAT scan just before Christmas. Next week we'll be meeting with her oncologist to talk through treatment options from this point - ovaries shutdown is the biggest question (when/how). Sarah's situation is probably as "stable" as it has ever been since her diagnosis in May - and I think that is giving us a chance to recharge our emotional batteries a bit.

12 Oct - First Snow!

Wow - this came fast! It was actually coming down pretty good for most of the day, but melted pretty quickly.

Huge Smile

Sarah caught a big cheesy smile of Sam's on film and I just had to post it...

8 Oct - Done with Radiation

Sarah's last day of radiation treatment was this past Friday. Yeah! She was very happy to finish this up - both because of the effects and also because of the time it took to go daily treatments. We celebrated by going to a nice dinner on Friday and even the kids liked it! This is a picture of Sarah (notice the big smile) with the boys before we headed out. Was a great weekend & Ben and I "camped" in the basement on Sat night, which he got a big kick out of.

1 Oct - Nice Weekend

It was a really busy week for us with me traveling to New York Tues & Wed and my parents leaving on Friday. We went to a Disney on Ice performance of Monsters Inc. on Saturday with the Kurbats and the kids loved it, although at first Sam was a bit freaked out - here's a pic of some of the monsters. Pretty well-done show with great costumes.
Elizabeth also came for a visit today on her way to Wisconsin. The kids were thrilled to see her (as were we) - they've been pretty spoiled with attention over the past two weeks!
Sarah is doing well. Skin is pretty burned, but she says not very painful. Six more radiation treatments to go! Looks like she can do them in the next five days by doubling one up at the end. I think she's really ready to be done with that & we hope it is effective in preventing a local re-occurence at her mastectomy site. After this, the plan is to do Herceptin, Tamoxifen and Zometa unless test future tests show a need for additional treatments. These three drugs should have fairly minor side effects compared with what has gone before. There's really no way to know how effective the radiation was or how well the Herc/Tamox/Zom will work except to hope future CAT scans keep showing no new activity. We're in a relatively good place with this for now, but we continue to be thankful for every day we can spend with each other. Life is too unpredictable to be taken for granted!

24 Sept - Weekend Get-Away

We just got back from a really nice weekend get-away to Door County, WI! My parents are here helping us out & were able to watch the kids over the weekend. It was so nice for Sarah and I to spend this time together and Door County really welcomed us with nice weather and plenty of great things to see & do.
Sarah is doing pretty well - half way through radiation treatments and the fatigue still doesn't seem too bad. Radiation is no picnic, though - skin is very red and starting to get a bit raw. Sarah applies ointment and corn starch every few hours to help minimize skin symptoms (who would have thought corn starch would be used for that?). But as she says - well worth the benefit. As you can see, Sarah's hair also continues to fill in but it's not quite time to consider a haircut yet. :)

13 Sept

Ben had his first soccer game this past weekend and Sam had his first official school day, which is one day per week pre-school. No tears - he was happy to stay & play rather than getting anxious when mommy left! Sarah's spirits are high, but she is definitely feeling the effects of radiation therapy: sun burn on skin (just switched from Aloe to "burn cream" due to the itching) and some fatigue as well. Three more weeks of radiation and we're worried her skin will get worse, but time will tell and there are ways of treating the skin symptoms.

Labor Day at Home

Well, we had a relaxing Labor Day weekend! Stayed at home mostly (I worked around the house). For some reason we ended up catching up with quite a few people: Sarah's friend Nicole visited & stayed with us Friday, and we got to see college friends PJ and Sharon + boyfriend David on Sunday. Sarah's college friend Susana from Dallas also called, whom she hadn't talked to in some time. As for me, I traded emails with some old classmates from Germany - my 20 year highschool reunion took place last Saturday in Nuernberg, Germany. I was there in spirit even though it just wasn't practical to fly over in person with all that's been going on.
Sarah's feeling fairly well. Radiation treatments continue and today (Tuesday) she got her weekly Herceptin dose again.