GREAT REPORT

This summer Mom has being having her chemo treatments up in New York so they can be at home. She still does her follow up and check ups at Duke every six weeks.

Wednesday Dad and Mom flew in to Raleigh. What started as a 6:30pm arrival ended in a 1:00 am Thursday morning arrival. Yankee weather!!!!! Very long day for them.

Thursday Mom had six week visit with Dr. Uronis and all the blood work and CT scan that goes along with each check up. This was her first follow up since starting this round of chemo so we were all anxious to see the results. Great news!! The spots they saw on the last CT have diminished and even shrunk significantly!!! All her blood work was well in range, she hasn't lost any weight, and no new spots. The Dr's are really elated and honestly a little stumped by Mom's great results.

As I sit here and write this I can't help thinking how awesome our GOD is. Rarely does chemo work on gall bladder cancer and here Mom is defying the odds. There is no cure but how great is it to have the treatment working!! What an opportunity both Dad and Mom have had to be a witness of our GOD's love and perfect outcome for HIS children. One day when Mom was receiving radiation a lady commented to Mom how she had noticed she always comes to clinic with a smile on her face. Isn't it incredible that even in the middle of the worse days of your life God was still showing through Mom.

Me......I'm cautiously optimistic.......and thrilled beyond words that Mom will have more time with us!!!!!

OH CRAB!!!!

One of Shantel's favorite things to do when she comes home is to go eat crab. Sunday we had a great time watching her eat 2 lbs. of crab!!!

JULY 4TH........DUKE STYLE

One of Shantel's favorite things to do while she's in the hospital is "Playroom Time". Since she is on contact isolation she gets one on one time with Carolyn, the Child Life Specialist.

In the morning Shantel was very busy decorating the playroom with Carolyn for the 5th floor July 4th ice cream celebration. For lunch we joined the awesome nurses of 5300 for lunch. They did a pot luck and we brought a July 4th tablecloth, put it on Shantel's bed and made a picnic of it. It was great fun......and the food was incredible!!!!

Here are some pictures of Shantel decorating the playroom.


Ms. Liberty herself!!

Making signs

A job well done!

Shantel with Carolyn, Child Life Specialist

50 YEARS

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY TO OUR WONDERFUL, LOVING, AMAZING PARENTS!!!!

On Saturday, June 27th, 2009 we held a family gathering to honor our amazing parents as they celebrated 50 years of marriage.

It's a special time when we all can get together as a family and we had a fantastic week! We held a reception followed by a huge cook out and ended the day with a campfire on the hill with s'mores and snow cones. The rest of the week was filled with many fun activities........trips to Cooperstown for pizza, shopping for souvenirs, going to the Farmers Museum and Baseball Hall Of Fame, getting ice cream, going swimming, playing with cousins and just hanging out.

There is nothing as special as family.......enjoy each and every moment you have with your loved ones.....take advantage of every opportunity you have to spend with them......don't miss a minute!

Enjoy a few of the hundreds of pictures we took over the week.



June 27th, 1959


Dad pinning on Mom's flower

June 27th, 2009

Scott holding Mom's wedding dress

Man.....what a good looking bunch!!!!!!

Dad, Mom with Grandma Rachel

(Grandma is 93)

The cutest Grandkids ever!!!

Scott, Kristy, Alex, Parker, Landry and Luke

David, holding Ella, Kathy, holding Elijah,

Lauren and Kelsey

Nathan, holding Madeline, Heather with Hannah,

and Rachael

Grandpa and Rachael

Signs the Grandkids made

another sign

The Grandkids made reserved seating for

Grandma and Grandpa at our picnic

David making his famous smoked ribs

Nathan doing the hamburgers and hot dogs

Tim hanging out

Cutie Ella

Mom, Dad and Grandma Rachel enjoying our

picnic

Cool Dude Alex

S'MORES, SNOWCONES, CAMPFIRE FUN!!!!!

More fun from our week with Dad and Mom.


Nathan's baby, Hannah Grace, 8 weeks old


Landry and Colden

David and his oldest, Kelsey

Snowcone fun!

Kathy and Lauren

Luke

Kristy, Luke and Parker

Mom, Scott and David's little boy Eli

Grandpa and the boys from Texas

Nathan, Heather, Rachael, Maddie and Lauren

Kristy and Parker

Grandpa with Ella, Rachael and Landry

Mom loves the s'mores!

LOTS OF UPDATES

This household has had a busy week!! Shantel was able to come home from Duke!! WOOHOO!! She has been doing well so far. She has a Home Health Nurse that is with her during the day while we work. She came home on IV's and that's a 24 hour process. I take the night routine and Deb does the morning. Shantel has 3 IV's every 6 hours and pills every 2 hours. She does breathing treatments 3 times a day with extra treatments as needed. One of our "traditions" is when she comes home we take her to eat crab legs. That girl can down 2 lbs. by herself!! So we have done that and we've gone to Walmart once to get a new Nintendo DS game. She had a transplant clinic visit Friday which went very well. Other that that we try to keep her inside as much as possible. Molly (the crazed Labradoodle) is so happy to see Shantel. She just comes over to Shantel and lays on her back so Shantel will rub her belly. Shantel just loves that dog!
We are so happy to have her home!!!

Mom had her 3rd round of chemo this week. She does well but gets sick on the 2nd day after treatment. Otherwise she feels pretty good and looks great! She tires very fast but that's to be expected. Dad and Mom left today to go back to NY for a few weeks. Mom will continue chemo up there but return to Duke for all her Dr's visits and checkups. They will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on June 27th. All the kids and grandkids will be there. Will be great fun!!

Please continue to pray for them both. For Mom that the treatments will work and for Shantel that the lung transplant will come soon!

shattered

For those of you that have just begun reading my blog I thought I'd repost how we started our journey into the horrible world of having a loved one with cancer.



that's the only word I have for Oct.1, 2008.......shattered. This is a day I'll never forget, although I'd like to! Mom went in for what was to be a routine gall bladder removal and was diagnosed with cancer. Mom had asked me to come up for the surgery. So being the favorite daughter (for those of you that don't know us, I'm the only daughter!) I went to NY for a few days to help out. My brother David picked me up from Albany airport and took me down to Cooperstown hospital. We got there about 2:00 and Mom was scheduled to be out of surgery soon. David hung around to see Mom but had to leave to get back to work that night. It was getting to be 4-4:30 and both Dad and I were getting uneasy about the length of time the surgery was taking. We both knew if they had to open her up instead of doing laproscopically like they had originally planned it would take longer. I think we both knew if that was the case it was going to be a longer recovery. I don't think either of us were thinking something terminal.....at least I wasn't.
So when the surgeon came to get us he took us in a small room. Now he may have been a good surgeon but he had zero people skills!! In a nut shell he told us Mom had gall bladder cancer, it was bad, there was no treatment that works and to take her home so she can get her affairs in order. BHAM.....there it was.....my Mom's going to die. No offer of second opinion, no nothing.....just take her home.
I use to wonder why people sometimes do odd things when they get bad news. Now I know! You think of the dumbest things.....like not getting to go to a restaurant or a store.....just dumb things. Your mind goes numb, you wonder why people keep going about their business. Then you go in overdrive and now all these things have to be done and everything is urgent and everyone has plans, etc.
Dad was a mess which made me nervous because I had never seen him so distraught. I knew I had to call the family which wasn't exactly on my "things I'd like to do in my life" list. We somehow managed to pull it together and went to meet Mom as they took her up to her room. This hospital is old and they have double rooms which means she had a room mate. The room was very small and no room to sit. I pulled up a chair and squeezed it by the bed. The nurses kept telling me that I'd need to sleep in the family room and couldn't stay with Mom. Needless to say I stayed with Mom! She was very groggy and I wasn't trusting the nurses to take care of her! Mom doesn't remember much about the hospital stay which is probably good.
Nathan flew in from NC. David picked him up and they came to the hospital. Tim lives close and came when he got off work the next morning. Mom's sister and 2 nieces drove from NC to spend the weekend. I was fortunate to be able to ride back with them which gave me an extra day to spend with Mom. Scott came to NC when Mom started treatments.
I believe God moved me to NC and had Deb working at Duke for this exact reason!! (along with Shantel) Deb went and found people she knows who referred her to the best Oncologist. She also got the name of the best surgeon who specializes in this area. She got phone numbers and Dad called and an appointment was made for the end of Oct. with Dr. Hope Uronis. Dad and Mom have moved in with me for the time being. I've given them my room which is very large and has a master bath. We call it their apartment. They have two comfy chairs to relax in and I set up an area for Dad to set up a little office. It's been nice having them here. I'd prefer it to have been under different circumstances but this is what it is so we're making it as fun as possible. Molly the crazy labradoodle had to get use to them but she likes them here now!
Treatments of radiation and chemo started the first part of Nov. and ended on Christmas eve. Mom has done fantastic throughout this first round. She's been really tired and her hands have black spots on them but otherwise she's done great! The Dr's are pleased with everything so far. Mom now has a break until Feb. 2 when she'll go back for the checkup, scans, blood work, etc to see how the first round has done. Depending on what the tests reveal will determine the next steps.
Please continue to uphold Dad, Mom and our entire family in prayer. This is extremely difficult for all of us. I think we've all done well so far....or at least we're acting like it!

FIRST ROUND IV CHEMO

Mom had her first round of IV chemo today and all went well. I can't begin to describe to you just how awesome the people at Duke are! They were so good today, giving Mom lots of information, explaining everything, just making her feel calm and secure. The process was painless and afterwards Dad and Mom went shopping and out for lunch.

Monday she has an IV port put in and Thursday will be the 2nd treatment and follow up visit with the Dr. Mom's veins are hard to find so it's a necessity to have the port so they can administer the chemo through the port instead of an IV in her arm.

It's a very emotional time for our family so we covet your prayers.

CHEMO BEGINS

This has been a very emotional day. Mom had a check up this morning with her Oncologist and there have been some changes. The CT scan found two spots on her liver and some "undefined" spots near the stomach lining. Mom's blood work was all good and her tumor maker test was in range but because of the spots on her liver they will begin chemo tomorrow. Not really the news we were praying for.

On Monday they will implant an IV port to administer the chemo. My understanding is chemo is very hard on the veins. Each treatment will be 1x a week for about 90 minutes. She does 3 weeks chemo, one week off. The goal is to keep the cancer in check. Dr. Uronis is very confident Mom will handle these treatment well. The Dr's statement was that Mom has already shown she's beaten the odds for this type cancer and done well so far so there is no reason to think she won't do just fine with these treatments. Mom won't lose her hair and she should have very little side effects which is all good news.

This report, although we knew it would come at some point has been very difficult.....especially for Dad. We thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for Mom and our family.

CHECK-UP TIME

Dad and Mom will be traveling back to North Carolina on Monday. They had a three week break until Mom's next check-up so they took advantage of it and went back to NY. Mom has been feeling really good so we hope that translates into positive check-up results on Wednesday and Thursday. My sister-in-law Kathy had Dad and Mom's house all clean and sparkling with fresh cut flowers waiting for them when they arrived in NY. My brother David has been helping Dad plant flowers, mow and get the place straight after the winter. Dad and Mom have had a wonderful time these past three weeks.
But now it's back to reality and back to Duke. Wednesday Mom will have all her test done......blood work, tumor maker test, CT scan, etc. Thursday will be the consult with Mom's Oncologist, Dr. Uronis. We have been praying that things have stayed stable and Mom won't have to start chemo just yet.
Please pray for Mom as she goes through another round of test.....not only the physical stress but the emotional stress. Mom been very strong though this but as time goes on she is starting to get a little weary.

MAKING THE GRADE

Shantel has done excellent this year in school. School you ask? How does she go to school when she lives at the hospital? Well, the Duke Hospital School of course!
There are some awesome teachers that teach school to the kids that spend extensive amounts of time hospitalized. They are employed by the Durham public school system.
Ms. Trish has been Shantel's regular teacher for the past three years. Shantel has excelled under her guidance especially in reading. She has exposed her to history which Shantel seems to enjoy, but math is still her favorite subject.
Katie is the most awesome science teacher in the whole world!!! If I would have had Katie when I was in school I would be aaaaaa..........something scientific! Katie has done all sorts of cool things with Shantel. They've written a book, learned anatomy, started a flower business learning about plants, flowers, and money, been to the science museum, had three science fairs and a bunch of other cool things.
This years science fair was the comparison of Shantel and Molly's (Shantel's dog) body parts. They enlarged a picture of Molly and used clay as parts like liver, heart, stomach etc. She drew an outline of a person and placed the same insides on that picture. Then Shantel gave her presentation about the likenesses and pointed them out on the display. Several nurses and staff of 5300 attended. Shantel did a great job!! Then Katie presented her a ribbon which she is very proud of!!
Thank you Duke teachers for all you do!!!!


A ribbon for her hard work


The presentation

Molly's insides

Shantel's insides

We love Katie, Shantel's science teacher

And we love Trish, Shantel's regular teacher

MY MOM, MY BEST FRIEND

This is a perfect day to share some memories during my life of my Mom and me. I only wish I had been smarter in the past and made everyday Mother's Day! It makes me feel very sad that a terminal illness makes things so clear.
For those of you that don't know me here's a short background. My parents are Missionaries with Word Of Life. I am the first born and only girl. I have four brothers. We have lived in many different areas of the US and made many friends........but my Mom has always been my best friend!!!!
Some of my earliest memories are when we lived in NY. My Mom got me up in the middle of the night to watch a lunar eclipse. I also watched the first man walk on the moon. We tried to catch wild kittens rigging a plastic clothes basket, propping it up with a stick and attaching a string that went around the corner where we were hiding and bribing them with milk. When they would go in for the milk Mom would pull the string and the basket would fall down. We never did catch a kitten but we came close!!! When I was in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades I tried out for a singing group called Little Singers. We wore blue pleated skirts and white blouses with the letters LS. Mom always made sure my outfit was pressed perfectly. As a matter of fact my Mom always made sure all five of us kids clothes were always ironed. I remember eating hot shredded wheat with butter for breakfast, watching the deer eating in the field across the road on snowy days, selling sweet corn, and going to Grandpa and Grandmas for Sunday dinner. I remember my Mom bringing home my brother Scott from the hospital. She wore a blue dress with a "B" pin.
I once tried to win a contest at church for bringing the most visitors. I wanted that Bible so much! I was in the third grade. Mom helped me call people and kept track of it for me.
I have lots of memories of going grocery shopping with Mom. That's where to this day I look for cans that aren't dented, picking items from the back, figuring the price to get the most for your money, how to bag items together. Mom would make her grocery list by aisle so she could get done faster!
Dad traveled a lot in his early days with Word Of Life. Since I was the oldest I was allowed to stay up later. Mom and I liked to make a can of Oyster Stew soup and watch Barnaby Jones. This was our special time.
Mom always did special things for us. She once made me red curtains for my room because I was on a red, white and blue kick. Friday night was popcorn and board game night. Even with five kids Mom always found time for fun.
I attended a Christian School my last three years of high school and then Cedarville for college. Mom made my clothes back then. I remember going to the fabric store and looking through patterns and picking out fabric. I now appreciate what all went into making clothes for your teen daughter with four other kids running around. I don't think either of us have been to a fabric store since!
The worst day of my life (up until Oct. 1 when Mom was diagnosed with cancer) was when I left for college. I can't even describe how horrible it was leaving. Now that I look back I would have changed that part and gone to college closer to home.
As an adult my Mom and I have gotten even closer. We can do anything together and make it fun. One Mother's Day I took her to St. Thomas. We had so much fun! One time we did a girls outing on Sanibel Island with my Sister-in-Law Kristy, Deb, and Mom. We can have fun just sitting and talking without doing anything. We can get to laughing so hard we almost wet our pants. We've had some great family vacations! I've been to Arizona with just Dad and Mom. We've gone to Texas to see Scott and his family, we've been to Disney many times and I've been to Florida to just stay with Mom and Dad while they were at Word Of Life. When I go to Florida there are always a couple things we always do. We have to go to the beach as much as possible to watch the sun set and eat grouper at this restaurant on the beach. We almost always go over to Orlando to Disney Village for the day.
Mom loves to go shopping! We usually make a day of it going to lunch and looking at every kids shop in the mall. You see, Dad and Mom have 11 grandkids that they are crazy about and Mom now has to look at every kids shop! It's gotten to be a running joke because she never brings the kids sizes with her so she is always calling my sister-in-laws from the store for sizes.
I've had the privilege of being with her and helping her afterwards during her hip replacement and two knee replacements. It was always hard to keep her still!!
Life has a funny way of changing fast. On Oct. 1, 2008 Mom went in for a routine gall bladder removal and was diagnosed with gall bladder cancer. This came out of no where. There were no signs, nothing in her blood test, scans or Dr.s visits. Nothing. Nathan and I have been trying to get our parents to move down here (North Carolina) for a long time. This is not how we envisioned spending time with our parents. The end of Oct. Dad and Mom moved in with me as Mom began treatment at Duke.
We still do as much as possible. Mom gets tired quickly but I have totally enjoyed having them here. They are using my room and we call it "the apartment." Thank goodness Deb can cook!! Even Molly the crazy Labradoodle has gotten used to them. It's fun to come home from work and be able to sit down to talk.
Mom feels good most days and we try to do things at least a few times a week. I took them to the Farmers Market and Mom loved it so I see that more in our future! They go over to Nathan and Heather's and Mom spends time with her sister. I'm taking every advantage to spend time with her......not the way I had planned but the way it is. It sounds so over used, but it's in the small stuff that makes things so special.
So, Mom, thank you for EVERYTHING!!!! I love you so, so much!!!!

TODAY'S PROCEDURE

Today Mom had her stent replaced. Everything went fine and she's home resting. Dad and Mom plan to leave sometime tomorrow for NY by the way of Nathan's. Dr. Uronis, Mom's Oncologist, wants to see Mom the first part of June so they will be coming back to North Carolina for her check up.
Thank you for remembering Mom and our family in prayer. She's doing great!

MOM UPDATE

Mom has been doing very well. Her blood work this week and her cancer marker test are all holding steady. She gets tired quickly so we pace ourselves when we do things. The past couple weekends I've taken Mom and Dad to the Farmers Market where we bought beautiful hanging baskets for the porch and flowers for the barrel out front. The next weekend we went to the big Flea Market at the Fairgrounds......amazing the junk that sells!
Tomorrow Mom has her stent replaced. This stent has lasted 4 months. Pretty good. Then they will be heading to NY for three weeks. Mom will be starting her second round of chemo in June so she wants to get some things from NY before then.
Please continue to pray for Mom.

BABY HANNAH GRACE

CONGRATULATIONS to my brother Nathan, sister-in-law Heather, and big sisters Rachael and Madeline on the birth of Hannah Grace. She's a cutie!!!


Dad and Mom with the kids

Mom and baby Hannah

Rachael loves her sister!

Maddie loves being the big sister

Proud Mom and Dad minutes after the birth

APRIL.....ORGAN DONATION MONTH

I'm writing this post with many emotions. April is organ donation month which holds a very special place in our hearts. With Shantel number 1 on the lung transplant list we are very mindful of what that call means. It's joy and anticipation of the opportunity for an extended life for Shantel, it's sorrow for a family that has lost a loved one.

Two and a half years ago when Shantel came to live with us, I knew transplant would most likely be in her future. It wasn't until I spent many, many hours at Duke on 5300, one of the pediatric units, did I come to appreciate the need for healthy people to take organ donation serious.

If you, or someone in your family has never had the need for medical care on a consistent basis or if you've never known anyone that has been in that situation, it's not something you would think much about. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to think about organ donation for you and your family. We are never prepared for a sudden or tragic death of a loved one but the reality of life is that death happens. What an awesome way to honor someone's life than by giving the gift of life to someone else! We will forever be thankful and grateful to the donor family of Shantel's lungs!

It's easy and simple to become an organ donor! Here are some web sites so you can read all about donation. http://donatelife.net/, http://unos.org/, and http://cff.org/.