Where We Go From Here

From this point I am a 100% clear. I have monthly visits to the doctor for a physical and blood work. Then every three months I have to go to Missoula for scans and labs for the first year. And every six months in Missoula for scans and labs for the next 4 years. Then every 5 years I have to go back to Seattle for appointments.

As for this one part of the journey being over, I'm looking forward to the new journey that is starting.
Thank you all for following me along and for all your support.

Support

Thank you all for all of your support and prayers. We are still trying to take it all in, of what everyone has done to help us out. Thank you. Obviously your prayer and support has gone along way. We appreciate all of it. Have a Merry Christmas!!

It's good to be Home

Yes, we are home now. We got home 2 nights ago. My immune system is still down but we are hoping it will be up by Monday. We are so overly joyed that we got to be home earlier than we had planned. To come home and see the house was spotless clean, thanks to friends, and the Christmas decorations up was so cool. I can't even begin to explain how my mom and I feel about being home and getting back into the swing of things.

Catching Up

Sorry I haven't written in a while, we have been pretty busy with all this transitioning.

• So Nanma had to go home. Which was a sad moment for all of us. She was such a help, coming over here and helping us out in any way she could. It was also nice to see her again. She got to go through this with us for most of the time we were there.

• One of my best friends, Jordan got to come over and visit. We had a blast having her there. Jordan got to come over to the hospital with us and also when we were back at the house. We also got time to get out of the house for a little bit and went to the mall at Jordan's request.

• We finally got the news that we could go home. We weren't sure when we could come home because the doctor who took the line out was sick, and my immune system was down. But they found another doctor to take the line out and my counts came up just barely over the border line, so we got the say that we could go home. we quickly packed our bags so we could be home as soon as possible.

Thanksgiving

Volunteers came in and served us a Thanksgiving meal (Nanma's first) with all the fixings. They had apple and pumpkin pies left over, so we got a whole apple pie. Then afterwards we played card games and ate more pie, yum. This Thanksgiving was amazing. 

Fun, Fun, Fun

This is the rainy day we chose to do our shopping in. It was so much fun. We each got our outfits (thanks to the fundraising project by the Northern University Students), and it took a while to find them, but we got them. It also took a while because we kept finding these  Christmas shops with a whole bunch of cool gadgets. It was one of the best days ever :) We had so much fun. It was pretty cold that day though, so we were freezing. 

Surprised by Lily

Was again blessed by people in the community of Havre who raised funds and sent a surprise with my dad when he came over this time. This surprise happened to be one of my best friends......

Lily


I was so excited when I saw them walk in the room. During that week that she was able to stay we: we went on the Ferris wheel, space needle, went to the movies and shopping. It was great having her here, it brought joy to my last chemo week. And she had fun riding the little kid bikes around the halls.


Thank you to all who helped fundraise for Lily to come over and visit and have a bl

Papa's Visit

This is the first time I got to see Papa come over, which was a special treat. I know it meant a lot to mom and she really appreciated to have her dad come over.

Also it means nana doesn't have to drive all the way home by herself.

One of papas favorite foods to eat is seafood, so the Crab Pot was definitely on the list to does while in Seattle.

This face shows it all.

The BEST Mom

I have to say I have the greatest mom. She has been the one that has and is always continuously there. Whether it to support me, encourage me, to laugh with or sometimes at. 

Always (most times) got a smile.

There to get those once in a life-time photo opportunity.

To share one of our favorite quiet moments, which is to snuggle together in bed at the hospital and watch a cooking show or something.

and lets not forget a little ice cream time together also.

She is simply amazing. I won't fully grasp all that everyone has done, especially my mom for me. She really has been there with me through the thick and the thin. Who she simply is just as a person and her strength that she has in her relationship with her Lord and savior Jesus Christ is inspiring.

Mom I love you and thank you.

Last Chemo with Lots of Learning!

So excited to be in the last round of chemo. Have learned some new things this round that we didn't know before.

First we had a student nurse that was really nice and she taught herself and us how quickly you can get all the nurses in the hospital floor to come running to our room. All you need to do is push that big RED button that says 'STAFF ALERT'. And it only takes about 2 seconds before you start seeing the first nurse. Quite handy.

Second we have learned that the door to my room, if left open for whatever reason, lets you know it's open by sounding a really annoying alarm. 

Life is to learn from the past and move forward, so from this I have learned to always close the door and if ever I need an ice cream or something, I know just the button to push :).

Silly string with Nanma

We received a care package today from one of our great friends, which we all get a lot of joy from. Little did we know it had 4 cans of silly string, and little did we know that nanma was going to be so fascinated by one of these little cans and that she would not find the restraint within herself to with hold from spraying the whole can, until the entire can was emptied - on everyone else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhH49yCObiA

Lots of laughs and fun. That time I thought we were going to get kicked out of the hospital.

We did clean up afterwards though. Nanma mostly.

Dad's Little Buddy Kyler

Dad has a little buddy over here, Kyler. When ever he's not here and back in Havre, Kyler is always asking when Scooter is going to be back. 

My dad and Kyler are always making plans to get together to play a game or in the pictures below, ride bikes in the hospital.

Kyler walking down the hall to come see me and show me his lego block gun  he made.

Playing hungry hippo which is now a new favourite.

And of course lots of laps on the bikes around the halls on our floor in the hospital.

Kylers favourite is Batman and Robin. I'm sure you can guess what dad gets o play.

Robin

Good times.

Russel Wilson got to meet me

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=730013993748451&set=vb.320665348016653&type=2&theater

Miracle

When we arrived in Seattle we were told by three different doctors that we would be here a minimum of 6 months.  They said "we add time and treatment if necessary but never shorten the treatment length".  Almost two weeks ago I had a check up scan that showed the tumor was at 6% size and considering the amazing results we had with the last scan they thought they would see a better number.  They wanted me to have another biopsy to see what was going on in the tumor, however, my immune counts were at a 0 so it had to wait a few days.  The biopsy went well with only a small incision (which I was thankful for) and we got the results back on Wednesday.  What they saw in the scan was only a cluster of DEAD cancer cells! I AM CANCER FREE!

I still have to undergo one last round of chemo (which I just checked in for) that will last 7 days, along with my last spinal tap chemo (#11).  I have to do that because this is a liquid cancer or something...I don't understand. Then my blood counts will drop with a risk of needing blood transfusions and possible isolation do to low immune system again.  Once those things have recovered (they take about 2-3 weeks) I will be scheduled for another full body scan to make sure everything is clear.  There will be a heart scan (to see what damage the chemo has done) and if all those tests come back clear I will go in for operation to have my lines removed. I think there may be one or two more appointments after that to see that the operation went well and then I can GO HOME!  All going to plan we will be HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! I am sooooo excited! Never thought I would say but, I miss Havre! (not so much the cold and the wind) I am so looking forward to seeing my friends and everyone and excited to cuddle with Emma (my dog) again!

We are so Thankful to God who has healed us! So overwhelmed by His miracles and blessings! And even thankful for the oils he has made known to my family (even though I protested in taking them!).  And thank you to all who have supported, prayed, and thought of us through this epic journey!

Love you all!

The Zoo

Last week we went to the zoo because the house had free tickets. My counts were a little down so I had to wear a mask, but it was good to get some fresh air. It was a lot of fun. My favorite animal we saw were the orangutan, gorilla, and the bears. They had Christmas lights up made into the shape of animals but they weren't going to light them for another few weeks so we decided we might go back to take my dad, sister, and other grandma.

Nana Comes to Visit

My Nana came to visit for about 2 weeks. We had appointments this past week so she came with me as you see in the photos. And now she also comes and stays with me while I'm in the hospital. In the first photo we are in the hospital cafeteria having our lunch before our next appointments. In the second photo is where my Nana is watching as the nurse takes blood. So glad to have her here.

Home Health Nurse

Once a week my home health nurse comes to change the dressing over my line, and take my vitals. 

Visiting With Friends

So my friend came with her sister and mom because they had appointments in Seattle. So we picked them up and went to breakfast to start off our busy fun filled day. We came back to the house to show them what we do during our day and my friend and I had to have a game of air hockey before we left. We then went to their appointments and from there we went to the aquarium,  which was a blast. In the photo there we are standing in a glass circle that had jelly fish in it. The aquarium was so much fun, they had everything there it seamed like, my favorite was the sea otters and the octopus. After the aquarium we just walked down the pier and then had to drop them back off, which was sad. But it was so much fun hanging out with them and seeing them. 

Another Scan

This last Monday I had another scan.  The results were not what we were hoping for.  So close but the tumor is 6% more than what it should be.  They decided to do another biopsy to see what is going on. However it was also discovered that my immune system was at a rock bottom low (Zero to be exact).  So we are waiting until this Monday for the surgery and will find out results on Wednesday.  It was disappointing news to hear, however, we were reminded that God LOVES the impossible!  Can't wait to see what He is up to!

Learning new things

Love my mom.  But she is a little forgetful.  We are usually all tucked into bed and she is almost asleep before she remembers she forgot to flush my lines that day! This gets a little old so I just learned how to do it myself.  She said she feels a bit sad about this. :)

A week of Blessings

We had numerous appointments this last week for blood work and possible transfusions.  I was able to beat most of them and keep my blood levels up enough not to have to have them!  I did have one transfusion for red blood cells on Tuesday as I was pretty low in the counts and knowing I had a big day planned on Wednesday with the "Just Us Girls" we decided to go ahead and do it so that I didn't miss out on the following day.  On Thursday and Saturday they wanted to do another transfusion for platelets but we ended up not needing those either!  So thankful to God that everything is going so well!

Just Us Girls

So a few days ago Zephy and I got to go to something called "Just Us Girls". Which is where some of the wives of the Seahawks come and pick up some of the girl cancer patients and a guest in a limo bus and take you to the space needle. When we got to the space needle there were cameras all over, which was sorta weird. There was just a lot of girly stuff. There was makeup, face paint, hair, nails, and some crafts. For the crafts there was tie-dye, and painting. Zephy and I even forgot to eat lunch because we were to busy doing other things. When we had to leave we were given these bags which were full of things like: Seahawk merchandise, nail polish, hair accessories, candy, and some other random stuff. It was definitely a lot of fun, zephy and I had a blast. 

Hospital Days

A day in the life of me in my super women t-shirt when I'm feeling good

and having a good day .........

Posing in front of my artwork on my way to chemo.

Sitting in the window seat of my hospital room being a great student

doing my school work, in between checking text messages.

Gets a little tiring, so a little nap now and then is kinda nice.

A little back poke, where they put chemo into my spine.

A bit more school work.

Sometimes a game with mom.

And then another snooze.