HOCO 2016

It is still hard to believe that I have a daughter in high school.  In her second year of high school no doubt!  It feels like it wasn't that long ago since I was in high school and yet I feel like K's experiences are very different from mine.  I don't know if that is because she is attending high school in a completely different state than I attended or whether times have just changed.

One thing that is different at K's high school is that the Homecoming dance (well, all dances except prom really) are attended in large part with groups of friends - no dates required. 

Kind of nice for my non-dating girl.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE K's friends!!!

What an amazing, darling, fun group of girls.

First Week of School take two

C started 8th grade at his middle school two weeks ago, but after some careful consideration he has made a change in his schooling and, as of yesterday, is an official student of an online public school.

Which means we aren't going to go through as much hair gel...

But he is still keeping those smoldering looks fresh, just in case a cute girl comes by...

I don't know if this is a bigger change for him or for me!

I definitely seem be the slower of the two when it comes to figuring out all the online systems, but we are figuring it out together!

{TRUTH} Chemo #8 (FINAL ONE)

Chemo #8 (9/20/2016) Taxol

I'm finished!

Terminado!

Fini!

Acabado! 

My sweet C was my chemo buddy this round and I think his good looks and charm won points with all the nurses and quite a few of the other patients.  I loved having him with me!

In an attempt to avoid a third reaction to the Taxol, they pre-medicated me with the medicine that they give me when I have had reaction.  Makes sense but my dang body would have none of it and threw in a reaction just for fun.  I think I was stumping everyone but after a few more drugs and an extra hour, we got the Taxol in me and we are done!

I cannot believe that it's behind me.  When we were given the 16-week chemo plan back in May I thought that September 20th was SO far away.  Turns out that if you keep plugging along, the end eventually comes.

I came home to all sorts of congratulatory texts, flower bouquets, visitors and phone calls.  I never could have imagined the amount of support and love that would be all around me during this time.  I truly am blessed with amazing people in my life.  Each and every one of them is an example to me and I will spend the rest of my life trying to serve/love others the way I have been served/loved.

HUGE THANKS & LOVE TO ALL!

next steps....since this is the question that I am now getting

MRI scheduled for next week

Surgical consult scheduled the day after MRI

Surgery to be done mid-October

Radiologist consult scheduled

Radiation most likely (although I'm still in denial) after surgery

5-10 years of estrogen blocking medication to keep this cancer away!

Summer Bucket List

 Happy Last Day of Summer!
Our 2016 summer's Bucket List looked a bit smaller than summer's past but with K and C being so busy/gone this summer, this year the list was created by J and T.  I think they did a pretty good job of creating the list and I think I did a pretty good job of getting those check marks on them (all things considered).

 

Read-a-thon

Berry Picking

Make Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

Make Crackers from scratch

Stay up until Midnight (or until you fall asleep, whichever comes first)

Have a Hot Dog Eating Contest

Make Homemade Root beer

Make Homemade Cheese

K didn't participate in the Summer Bucket List but I think that her addition to the list this summer was travel and run (sometimes she even pulled her dad along on her runs)

C, on the other hand, only had one goal for the summer and that was to clear out the back corner of our yard and put in a fire pit.  I love that he stuck with it and that he was able to feel the reward of his hard work (that reward, by the way, looks an awful lot like a roasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers).

{TRUTH} Chemo #7

Chemo #7 (9/7/2016) Taxol

Man oh man, is the light ever bright at the end of this tunnel!!!

I have been feeling really good these past few weeks (knock on wood) but had a little apprehension in going to my most recent chemo appointment because of the reaction I had had at the previous appointment.  But in talking to all the medical staff the consensus was that if a reaction is going to occur, it is generally with the first or second dose (mine was with the second) and experience shows that the third and fourth dose then go off without a hitch.  Sounded good to me!

To be on the safe side, my pre-medications were increased to a higher dose (doubled), the time between receiving the pre-meds and starting the chemo infusion was increased (doubled) and the infusion rate for the chemo was decreased so it would take 4 hours instead of the previous 3.

It's good to have a plan.

The bummer part was that my body wasn't necessarily agreeable to the plan and shortly after my infusion began, I began to have trouble breathing.  It wasn't the heavy weight like last time and I didn't have the flushing or lower back pain, but my infusion was stopped and more medications were administered.  Ultimately we proceeded with the infusion, but not until after I had more steroids and more benadryl and another hour passed to make sure everything was on board and the infusion rate was slowed down even further.

In the end I received my 7th dose of chemo but we were at the hospital for NINE hours to get it!

All the more reason we are glad that we are almost done with this!

Did I mention that this was dose #7?

As in dose #7 out of 8.

 I've had 7 and I only have to have 8 total.

Which means I only have 1 left.

One!

ONE!!!!

Back to School 2016

We definitely have had a different summer than in summer's past.  I think that only adds to the "I can't believe summer is over" feeling that comes as the kids get ready to go back to school.  

Leading up to Labor Day we were still having hot summer weather and I couldn't believe it was time for the kids to go back to school but we woke up on Sept 6th to cooler temperatures and rain and it felt like fall had arrived.

And so it has....

K will be a Sophomore at Wilsonville High School...this year she will learn to drive, work on beating her 5K PR, hit the pool come winter, attend early morning seminary, get college credit from her AP course and sing soprano in the Encore choir.

J will be a 4th grader...this year he will participate in his school's Geography Passport club, complete his Learning Passport, read 16 books for his OBOB team, be a member of Math Olympiads, pursue swimming with hopes of making the swim team, play basketball on the community rec team and add a few more songs to his piano repertoire.

T will be a 2nd grader...this year he will continue to be a valuable player on his fall soccer team, participate in his school's Geography Passport club, complete his Learning Passport and continue to pursue piano.

C actually got one more day of summer than the rest of the kids.  As an 8th grader this year, he did not begin school until the 7th of September so he and I enjoyed a date to the outlet malls for shoes and a trip to Fir Point Farms for lunch while his siblings attended their first day of school.
This year C will be a member of the Junior Scoops entrepreneur club, work to beat his 3K PR, sink baskets for his AAU basketball team, pursue ping pong and pickleball at any/all opportunity and hopefully get some studies in on the side.

Let school begin!

Labor Day Football

These boys of mine!!!

What better way to spend their Labor Day morning than tackling each other and showing no mercy!

All I can say is that it's a good thing T is tough!

They played hard...there were a couple of time outs called so everyone could catch their breath.

ULTIMOOK Mud Run

K is entering her Sophomore year of high school and is one involved girl!

Last summer she was having a hard time deciding between playing high school soccer or volleyball.  She trained with the soccer team all summer but in the end she chose volleyball. 

(sidenote...mom loves volleyball!) 

This past spring K joined the high school track team and was really bitten hard by the running bug.  She decided to train all summer with the high school cross country team but I thought that in the end she would return to volleyball.

Not the case.

She has officially become a runner and has decided to do Cross Country as her fall sport this year.

 

 Last week there was a "preview" meet that she ran in and she did well enough that she was entered into this weekend's race (the Ultimook Mud Run) as a Varsity runner.  In the end, she did not have the times she had hoped for (it turns out that being covered in wet mud slows you down) and she is unsure whether she will continue to run varsity or whether she will run JV this season but she doesn't care.  She just loves running and I'm glad that she has found something that she enjoys and that helps her be active and healthy.

Here are some of the mud run shots...what a fun way to kick off the XC season!