Halloween Pics

Sam was a very cute dragon with a tail & wings, and Ben went as Harry Potter - which I think looked pretty good! Trick or Treating went great and they got loads of candy. Sam really got in to it this year and had a ball.

29 October

Ben and I went to our Fall Campout with the Indian Guides Program and we had a great time! Tiring weekend, but worth it. Ben even got to wear his Halloween costume (Harry Potter) which was a big hit with everyone when we did camp trick-or-treating.
Sarah got another Gemzar treatement today and is working her way through the beginning-of-the-week yuckies. We're preparing to head back to Rice for our homecoming soon which is our next larger trip.

17 Oct Update

We had a very eventful Columbus Day weekend - Sarah went to visit Leslie and Ken in Lake Tahoe and I took the boys to see Grandpa and Oma in San Antonio. We also made a quick trip down to Padre Island where Ben and Sam had a great time.
Sarah ended up getting another treatment this past Monday although we expected this to be an "off" week. Although we're grateful for every week we can fight back with the Gemzar, she is not looking forward to having it feel like a 3rd week of treatment. She's had some nausea and fatigue so far - manageable but definitely not fun. Other than that, we are all doing ok and preparing for Halloween! Ben will be Harry Potter and we're still working on Sam's costume.

1 Oct - Good MRI Results

First here's a pic of Ben after a Cajun lunch we did at church last weekend. He really digs those beads... We've been helping a church in New Orleans by sending money to rebuild - and this weekend they come up to cook us some authentic Cajun food and invited our parish to lunch!
Sarah and I went to go get the MRI results - there was good news all around. Her pituitary adenoma shrank significantly and her pituitary is now considered "normal" size. No change in her spine (that's good) and all other organs except the liver are clear. The liver mets are smaller and fewer in size overall (yes!). So, she'll stick to this chemo drug weekly unless something changes. The doc will continue to monitor tumor markers in her blood and also liver enzymes monthly to verify that the treatment continues to work. Assuming all goes well, the next set of MRIs would be six months from now.
It is a great feeling to know that we've finally found something that has halted the relentless advance of Sarah's breast cancer. There are no guarantees for how long this will work, but we are just celebrating "today" and hoping it will be a long time! Gotta take it one step at a time and focus on life.

29 Sept Update

Quick update since it's been a while since I posted. Sarah didn't get chemo this week but did get her MRIs done of her brain, abdomen and spine. We'll be going in together next Monday to get the results. Keeping our fingers very crossed and hoping for confirmation that her mets are shrinking due to the Gemzar chemo treatments. Ben and Sam are both doing well in school. Ben is still playing his weekly soccer games and I think we'll let him start playing cello, which he saw at a school demo and showed quite an interest in. More to follow after Monday...

14 Sept Update

Quick update today - here's a pic of Ben and Sam looking forward to a school day. Sarah got her treatment on Tuesday this week and is doing ok. She's transitioning to Monday treatments so that it fits better with Sam's pre-school schedule. It got cold this week in Chicago as a reminder that the summer really is coming to an end - tonight it's in the high 40's outside.

6 Sept - Vacation Pics

We had an fun and relaxing time in Minocqua for our vacation last week. In these pics, we're at an Indian village, fishing, at a wildlife park, and touring the lakes on a small motor boat. Everyone had a great time and we really enjoyed our get-away.
Sarah got another set of tumor marker results and the numbers were promising - another decline in levels which took one number (CA27-29) down to normal levels and the other (CEA) almost to normal levels. This should indicate that the liver mets are stabilized and maybe even shrinking. We'll know for sure when the next set of MRIs are done at the end of the month, but we are celebrating this trend for now and enjoying a break from the constant anxiety we felt earlier this year. Sarah got another Gemzar dose when we got back from vacation last week but didn't feel too bad from it (and she felt pretty good during our vacation as well despite it being a chemo week!). Ironically, she feels worse now during her off-week because she got a white and red blood cell booster shot instead... sigh. Overall, it seems that Sarah is tolerating the Gemzar treatments much better, although I think some part of it is that she's gotten more used to the ebb and flow of fatigue and sort-of nausea under this drug. Chemo side effects seem to be almost as unpredictable as cancer itself - different from week to week.
On a final note, this is Ben's first week of school (first grade) and he loves it so far. During kindergarten he informed me that he would not be attending first grade, but he seems very happy with his "decision" to go afterall. :) Sam is also excited about starting pre-school which kicks off next week.

21 Aug Update

Here's a long overdue post and some recent pictures. You can see Sam and Ben goofing around, a pic of Sarah with her hair growing back and also a rare picture of me during our annual trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the Illinois Railway Museum. The boys both had a great time despite the rain. Thank God they were selling ponchos there!
Sarah is feeling ok these days. Gemzar chemo is hitting a rythm of one week on, one week off. She still gets Herceptin ever week and the 2wks schedule allows her body to keep up with the blood cell production with some booster shot help here & there. I think we've also got the right formula for her nausea under Gemzar - two of the anti-nausea drugs seem to have proven more effective with this treatment so that's a huge relief for Sarah. She still gets some nausea, but it doesn't freeze her in her tracks like at first... and it usually lasts for one or two days.
The plan will likely be to have Sarah get another MRI shortly after we get back from our vacation. We should also have some fresh tumor marker results waiting next week which will hopefully validate that the Gemzar continues to work.
Ben and Sam are getting excited about going to school. Ben will experience First Grade, which he sees as a big deal, and Sam will get to go to Pre-school like a "big boy." :)

3 Aug

A few T-ball pics - Ben playing shortstop and then right after a good hit. Sam didn't want to be left out of the picture-taking, so we got some shots of him too! (you can see the remains of a Harry Potter lightning bolt tattoo on Sam's forehead - those were a BIG hit).
We're doing ok this week. Sarah didn't get chemo this week due to a low white blood cell count. Although we want to get her as many treatments as possible, she can't help but be a little bit relieved to get a week off due to the nausea that sometimes goes with it. Her hair is slowly starting to grow back now since Gemzar chemo doesn't affect hair - and the nerve damage from the Abraxane is completely gone as well.
Ben's last day of summer camp was today and now we've got a few weeks where the boys will be home all day until school starts. We better come up with some things to keep them busy or they'll be driving us crazy... :)

26 July - Update

High time for another update! Sarah got another Gemzar treatment today. Unfortunately, she got very nauseated after the last one despite trying all available anti-nausea drugs and this time it is happening again. She's pretty miserable and is probably going to ask to go back to Abraxane - we'll see how this week goes.
But, there is some good news: Sarah got her tumor marker results today and they are way down & within normal levels! So, the Gemzar is likely helping. We won't know for sure until the next MRI which is not yet scheduled, but this was a big relief (except for the nausea part).
It's good that we do have a young nanny (Grace) coming twice a week to help out. She can watch the kids while Sarah gets treatment and when I work from home on Fridays I can keep an ear out so Sarah can rest and get through the worst of it.
Ben and Sam are doing well. Summer classes are starting to taper out & we're headed in to the lull before school starts again. We're going to try and plan a family get-away. Jury is still out on where we'll go.

4th of July

In the first pic - Sam says, "I'm ready for the parade!" The boys both loved the parade (and the candy, as you can see Ben eating in the last one). We've had an eventful week with Elizabeth B. visiting us from New Orleans and the extra holiday excitement.
Sarah's feeling ok after another Gemzar treatement. The nerves in her finger tips and feet are starting to recover, but fatigue and mild nausea seem to be a bit more pronounced after her treatments. We're still excited about the progress made with her liver mets. Hopefully we'll see a lower CEA number in a few weeks as well.

28 June - Good News from MRI

Well, we certainly were not expecting this - but we got some good news today! Despite the rise in tumor markers (CEA and CA27-29), Sarah's liver mets are around 50% smaller in size... so Abraxane did work afterall. There's still the question of why the markers were up, but we are celebrating that we've finally found something that helps fight the battle in her liver.
Since Sarah has already started the new drug Gemzar, we'll keep doing that for four treatments and check markers again. If it is also effective then she'll stick with that since Gemzar should not have the nerve-damage side effects that Abraxane and Taxotere did.
What a relief after walking around for a week thinking, "ok, how bad did it get?" Cancer is so unpredictable - we should know better by now that what you think will happen rarely does!

21 June - Starting New Chemo

Well, unfortunately now there is something new to report. Sarah went for treatment today and found out that her tumor markers went up, so it is almost certain that she's got at best a partial response to Abraxane. She's going in right away tomorrow for an MRI of her liver and already switched chemo drugs today. Now she is taking the next one on the list which is Gemzar. We're worried because the number of drugs that aren't able to control Sarah's BC is growing - Adriamycin, Cytoxin, Taxotere, Navelbine, Abraxane...
There are a few more to try and there's also Tykerb+Xeloda which is a recently approved advancement in BC treatment - of course we were hoping that it would be years before we'd cycle through all these drugs. However, we are trying to stay focused on hope. Any one drug can have just that right formula for an individual tumor and drive it back in to remission - that can still be out there for Sarah. The big question on our mind now is, "how bad will the MRI be?" This will be another nail-biter week of difficult waiting.

20 June

Not too much new to report. Sarah continues to tolerate the Abraxane treatments well except for the numbness in her feet and finger tips (which seems to have steadied out). She goes in for her treatment again tomorrow, but will likely not get Abraxane since her onc. wants to sprinkle in some off-weeks in order to give her body add'l time to recover. He's checking her blood counts and liver enzymes to ensure that we're not pushing past a tolerance threshold. Sarah's such a trooper - these days Sam constantly is asking, "Can you play with me?" and she manages to answer "yes!" despite chemo fatigue fairly often. :)
Father's Day weekend was fun. We didn't get ambitious with the activities, but got to spend lots of good family quality time together.

10 June Update

Wow, where to start - much has happened since my last update. First was Sam finally deciding he was ready to stop using diapers. You can see him proudly dropping trou' to display his new "big boy underwear!" Then came Ben's first communion at church last Sunday which went well. In the picture above, Ben is checking himself out in the mirror with a new elephant towel. :)
On the next day we got some sad news - Scott Davis, who we know from church, passed away after an all-too-brief struggle with brain cancer over the past five months. As we felt deep sympathy for Scott's family, we also experienced a sharp reminder of the uncertainty in our situation.
This past weekend, Sarah's long-time friends Nicole and Shelby flew in from out-of-town so the three of them could do a girl's weekend. They stayed in downtown Chicago to take in the sights together and really enjoyed themselves. I think I managed ok at home with the kids, too. :)
Sarah continues to feel ok. Just waiting for the next scan to determine how well the Abraxane is working on her liver mets.

Memorial Day, Hair Day

Nice shot of Sarah and Sam at the Memorial Day parade today. Sarah's hair has been falling out over the past five days - big handfuls in the shower strainer and she gets a bunch when she runs her hand through her hair. Today it also got thin enough that you really see a lot of scalp, so off it came... You can see the obligatory before and after pics - with a gag mohawk pic in the middle. I also think Sarah was glad to get this over with - she's been anticipating it for weeks and now it's done.
Overall, Sarah's feeling fine. The numbness in her finger tips and feet seems to be receding a bit. Still got a few weeks before the next scan, so that hasn't been on our mind too much yet.

Big Boy Bed for Sam

Well, we finally made the transition from crib to bed for Sam. He has been refusing to use a pillow and won't let us cover him up... but that all ceased completely on the first night in his big boy bed! Thank God he made the switch with no issues - slept through the night fine on the first night and all has been fine since then.

Silly Kids

Sam, Ben and friend Maddie couldn't resist breaking out the pool last weekend. I told them it was too cold but if they could blow up the pool themselves, then they could fill it. I can't believe they figured it it! Used a pump and everything. I had to reward that kind of determination... But everyone was still shivering in about 20min.
Ben recently decided it would be fun to be Sam's "horsey" and gave Sam a few rides before it turned in to more of a rodeo event. :) Sam's not so good at riding a bucking horse-brother just yet.

MRI Results - Not Bad, But Not Good Either

Here's Sarah in the 'hot seat' getting her weekly chemo today and enjoying a Panera salad (nice to have hubby along go get yummy lunch!).
Well, we just got home from the oncologist where we got Sarah's liver MRI results. The good news is that her liver lesions did not get bigger (only one of the larger ones got slightly bigger and is 1.8cm) but overall the Taxotere continued to hold the liver mets at bay (The other organs and spine lesions visible in the MRI were also clear/stable). The bad news, of course, is that we were hoping to hear that they'd gotten another 30% smaller like last time! So, because Taxotere's side effects are likely to get more pronounced over time and it's effectiveness for Sarah has reached a plateau, she switched to a different chemo drug in the Taxane family. Recent studies have shown that Abraxane together with Herceptin is often even more effective & usually has less side effects. Sarah got her first treatment of Abraxane together with Herceptin today - we'll do this for 8 weekly treatments and then do another MRI to assess effectiveness.
Overall, I think we're ok for now - Sarah's cancer is not getting any worse and she's actually happy that Abraxane doesn't require taking the steroid Decadron, which has been causing her sleep problems, water retention & head-aches. So the next hurdle we are aware of is deciding if she needs to take something to treat her Pituitary macro-adenoma & that decision will come when she gets another test of her prolactin level in a few weeks. After that, the next liver MRI will be the big nail-biter.

12th Anniversary

We celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary this past weekend and got to go out for a romantic dinner by ourselves. Sarah also got her MRI done on Monday as planned, so Thursday I'll be going with her to treatment so we can get the results together. At this point, we expect to hear that the liver mets have gotten smaller again. However, these things have been so unpredictable in the past year that we both still have nagging doubts and will be relieved when we find out the results tomorrow.

Cancer Sucks

Sarah and I have been more heavy-hearted lately because several people we know of with cancer have taken a turn for the worse. One person in our parish has gone in to hospice -- we feel deep empathy for that family and also are reminded that we may be making that journey together at some point in the future. Sometimes it feels like cancer is breaking our hearts, but one tiny bit at a time...
It helps us in times like this to stay focused on appreciating each 'today' and reminding ourselves that the future is still unknown & Sarah has plenty of treatment options still available. Hope! The support of family and friends is also a huge blessing and has helped us make it through this past year since Sarah was diagnosed.
Sarah's next MRI is coming up after her next chemo treatment - it will be a relief for now to see a continuing reduction in her liver mets...

The Surprise Wedding

We had a great trip to New Orleans this past week. Sarah's brother Thomas and fiance Kerry surprised quite a few people by turning their engagement party in to a wedding! (He tipped us off early in order to make sure we would come) In the last pic you can see Elizabeth's surprise as Kerry's father reveals the news to everyone.
We're back in the routine here in Chicago - Sarah got another Taxotere treatment today and also went back to the ENT to make sure her nose bleeds stay in control. Her headaches receded as soon as she started taking the steroids again (Decadron)... Sarah's onc. allowed her to reduce the dosage so hopefully it'll dial back her reactions/side-effects from that.
The boys had a great weekend with my parents, who are headed home tomorrow after being here for the past week.

18 April Update

Here's a long overdue post! Work and travel have been heavier recently. We had a great Easter here at home. The kids loved the things the Easter bunny brought - Ben is big in-to stuffed animals these days (he is holding Oinky and Spot...) As you can see in this pic, it took Sam a bit to warm up to the Easter egg hunt but he caught on after a few eggs. (hey, there's candy in these!).
We got the results on Sarah's hormone levels: her prolactin levels are elevated, but not so high that immediate response is needed. This is actually relatively good news, because it supports the current assumption that her pituitary macro-adenoma (ie growth) is made up of pituitary cells rather than breast cancer cells. BC cells would not be secreting prolactin. So, we're going to monitor this adenoma with periodic MRIs to make sure it's not growing for now.
Sarah is continuing with the Taxotere treatment & we'll be getting another MRI done in 3 weeks to get a look at her liver mets. She's taking a week off of Taxotere this week in order to let her body recover a bit. The break is well-timed since we are also traveling to New Orleans this weekend to attend an engagement party for Thomas and Kerry. My parents will be here in Chicago with the kids while we are away.

6 April Update

Sarah just did another Taxotere treatment yesterday and is doing ok. We got the results on her pituitary MRI and it confirmed that there's an 11mm macro-adenoma at her pituitary gland which doesn't seem to be invading or pressing on anything in the surrounding area. These types of adenomas are common and almost always benign so we are comfortable being optimistic about this. It could be over-producing a pituitary hormone like prolactin, which these adenomas sometimes do - Sarah just got some blood tests done to see if that's the case and we'll get result on Monday. If her chemistry is normal then we expect to adopt a wait-n-see approach. She would get another MRI after a few months to make sure the adenoma isn't growing. If it needs to be removed, there is either a drug option or a radio-surgery option (gamma knife).
Overall I'd say we're in a big, fuzzy grey area right now. It's a huge relief that the Taxotere has halted progression of Sarah's liver mets, but we're just not sure whether we can expect that her liver will clear up. We'll have to be patient and see how the treatment goes over the course of this summer - we intend to stay positive and do whatever it takes to fight this! Keep praying with us for more good news.

Brain MRI - Good news & Bad news

I got the results today from the Brain MRI I had done last week. I haven't had any symptoms, so I was hoping to hear it was a clean scan and get some peace of mind. The good news is that the MRI didn't detect any metastases to my brain ... whew! But my oncologist said it did show a small spot on my pituitary gland, which he says is not malignant. I've done a bit of googling today, and what I've found is that most pituitary adenomas (tumors) are benign. My oncologist said it would highly unusual for breast cancer to metastasize to the pituitary gland, so I feel confident that this is not cancer. I will have a follow-up MRI of my pituitary gland tomorrow and then I will be referred to either an endocrinologist or a radiation oncologist. My oncologist said it was serendipitous that we found this. Most people discover pituitary tumors because they either have headaches or vision problems from the tumor pressing on their optic nerve or hormone problems, as many pituitary tumors secrete one or more of the hormones controlled by the pituitary gland. So, even though this is one more thing that I have to deal with (and I feel like I've got more than enough on my plate at the moment!), I think I can consider myself lucky to have found it early. And I hope that means it will be easy to treat, but I'll find out more about that after I have some more tests run. Alan has been out of town the past three days on a business trip and was unable to be with me at my appointment today, so I'm attempting my first post to the blog. Don't worry ... he (and his much more eloquent posts) will return!
-Sarah

15 March - Taxotere Works!

We got the MRI results today and it showed a 30% reduction in Sarah's liver mets. We were sooo relieved! Finally we've got a drug treatment that is helping dial the clock back on this thing. Sarah is taking a one week break from treatment this week as she lets her nose heal up and liver recover a bit (she's been having minor nose bleeds due to the Taxotere) and then she'll continue the weekly Taxotere treatments until the liver spots are gone. That could take a while, but now things are moving in the right direction. She'll also get a brain MRI and a heart scan next week just to make sure everything else is ok, but there is no reason to suspect that those scans will find any issue at this point. Cancer is so unpredictable... but today we are claiming a victory and are happy that we've found something to fight back with!

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.