Quick Update

It has been too long since we have given everyone an update on Alicia. First of all, the port placement last month went amazingly well. Much better than her first one from day one. She had her final round of aggressive chemo!
She had a new set of scans done last week and they determined that more information was needed. In follow up to that she had another biopsy done yesterday on the tongue and tonsil.
Last week she got measured for her radiation "cast" and the start date to that remains to be seen.
Next week she will have a feeding tube put in since the radiation will interfere with her ability to eat. I'll try to post some details about the feeding tube in another post...

Bo is doing great. Naturally he loves me and thinks I am hilarious...
Actually he loves everyone and is quick to laugh at pretty much anything. Hard to believe that he is just a few days from 4 months.


If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments or shoot me an email!
Thanks!

A new update...lots of information!

Alicia had her third chemo treatment yesterday. While she was there she had a consultation with her doctor. Dr. Laux (pronounced Low) gave her the results of the DNA battery that was ordered by Dr. Greco (of Tennessee Oncology). They did find a genetic mutation. This mutation is considered a somatic (aka sporadic) mutation. These types of genetic mutations are considered defective, not because they get turned on and cause havoc, but rather because they get turned off. When they get turned off the body doesn’t know when to kill off the bad cells, when to repair damaged cells, or when to tell cells to slow their division. This makes the mutation related to the “tumor-suppressor” genes. To be clear, this is not a hereditary mutation, it is a sporadic genetic mutation. That means that Bo can’t “get” it from Alicia, it means that those related to her are not at an increased risk for the mutation, and it means that now that they know the source there are ways to overcome the mutation. So, Dr. Laux and Dr. Greco have charted a new course of treatment. They started the first step of that new path yesterday. While she did the regularly scheduled treatment, she also did a new additional treatment. This new treatment, while still a form of chemotherapy, is designed to trick the body into turning on those defective genes that it is trying to turn off. This new therapy will be administered for a year. It is not as aggressive (and not quite as toxic) and therefore not as draining to her as the current treatments have the potential to be. In three weeks she will get her final dose of the initial treatments and another dose of the new drug. In the weeks following that final aggressive treatment she is now set to have radiation done as well. At this point we don’t know as much about the radiation as we will when that date gets closer but it looks like that will be daily for six weeks, and during that time she will also be receiving the new chemo every day. The radiation is a proactive step and will help the doctors, and Alicia, to feel more confident that the cancer cells will not be able to make a return.


In addition to getting her treatment yesterday, during her visit with Dr. Laux, he was not happy with her chemo port and determined that it needed to be removed immediately. He did the removal in his office. Because she has another year of chemo ahead, he recommended that she go ahead with the insertion of a new port, rather than rely on doing a long(er) term chemo by IV. So, today Alicia will be going in to have a new port put in on the opposite side. While unexpected, having a port in place will simplify her treatments over the long term.

I hope this was all clear and helped everyone to understand the broad picture of her diagnosis and treatment.

A couple nights ago, Chris, Alicia, Addison, Brooke, and Bo went to see Grandma O. Bo was lovin' it!

Thoughts for a Thursday

Riley's first few days of summer school have been great. I am so proud of how grown up it makes her seem.

Davis had his first "baseball" practice last night and he loved it! He got his pants and shoes dirty and was quite happy with that too.

It seems like when you have something to do on multiple evenings in a week that the week goes by quite fast. And since we now have a kids activity two nights for most of the summer, I am afraid the whole summer is going to fly by!

I have been watching a lot of stuff about the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It is hard to imagine all the things she has seen change; all the change she has affected. 60 years of her reign is certainly something to be celebrated.

Just a few more weeks until Mizzou is officially in the SEC. I am really excited for that chapter to start.

Happy Thursday, ya'll!

Cleaning Out the Camera

I realized this morning that I have taken over 400 pictures in the last few months and it was time to clean out the camera.
There have been some exciting things happening since then!

Bo was born!

We celebrated Easter!

Went to Silver Dollar City!

Bo celebrated his one month birthday!

Back to Silver Dollar City with Rita and Leon!

Went to the St. Louis Zoo!

Riley's last day of pre-school!

Russ went with us to SDC!

We went to the races!

Riley's First Tee Ball Game! (more pics in a follow up post)

And Riley started summer school!

And summer is just getting underway! We have a lot of adventures ahead!

Thoughts for a Thursday

I haven't written one of these in forever. Just feel like I need to...

Riley is done with daycare. She starts Kindergarten Summer School on Monday. I think she is really excited but I have a feeling that she will be a little scared when it is actually time to walk in the door.

Davis is a mess lately. Not having his sister at daycare with him has rocked his world. And he's just a weird age, he feels big and can do a lot of big stuff but still is so very small sometimes.

We have new neighbors. They are a super nice young couple (and yes I know that makes me sound like an old lady). It is nice to see some younger people moving into the neighborhood. Kinda refreshing.

Someone asked me how old I am the other day, I responded "28, I mean 30". How did I miss two birthdays? It was unintentional, not like a joke about not wanting to be 30, I just genuinely forgot. So I assume that means I will be forgetting to put on pants to go to the grocery store soon, seems like the next logical step.

Riley has her first Tee Ball game tonight. I really hope it doesn't rain. And that I remember batteries for my camera.

Bo turned 2 months a couple days ago. He went swimming over the weekend and loved it. He just completely relaxed in the water.

And today, May 31, 2012 is our 7th Anniversary. Wow. The moments have passed by so fast that it feels like my memories are all stored on a ViewMaster, just a click and a little glimpse into our life, click and a new chapter, click and another brief moment is remembered. I am very thankful for all we have, very thankful to have learned to turn towards each other in tough times and not away, very thankful that we have changed and grown. And most of all, thankful we are still in love.

Happy Thursday everyone!!

Quick Update

Sorry for the long time since my last post about Alicia.  She is doing well and treatments are continuing as planned.  She has lost her hair but has otherwise has not had many side effects.  She had her second chemo treatment on Tuesday and that went well also.  Bo turned 8 weeks yesterday and he is doing great! Alicia returns to work on Tuesday and Bo will start going to the babysitter!
Not much else going on as Alicia is in wait-and-see mode. 
Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Alicia Update!

Bo had his One Month Birthday on Sunday! He had a checkup on Monday and weighed 9lbs 10ozs and was 21 inches. He is out of newborn clothes and moved on up to 3 month. His favorite hobbies include: swinging, eating, and grunting.

Alicia has a diagnosis of Adenocarcinoma of Unknown Origin. There is not a primary tumor to source the cancer to, however the DNA results indicate a strong match to Salivary Gland Cancer. She and the doctors were both anxious to get treatment underway so she had her first chemotherapy dose yesterday. She will have just three more treatments, then begin radiation (and depending on how well the first chemo round went, maybe a little more chemo with the radiation). Following radiation, surgery may be an option as well to remove any remaining tissues of concern.

Side effects for chemo vary and are unpredictable from dose to dose. They are proactive about relieving most of the common side effects, such as nausea and the general malaise feelings. She is given anti-nausea medicine and a steroid with her treatment. She may lose her hair, she may have excessive fatigue, appetite may come and go, right now it is all a wait and see game. The biggest concern during the course of chemo therapy is the suppression of the immune system and the risk of infection associated with that. For several days after a dose she will most likely be avoiding public places, and will need to avoid anyone who may be sick.

The most important thing to remember at this point, is that no one has all the answers. While she would love to know what the next few months are going to look like, and to know how she will feel, there is no way to know. As treatments progress she may know more, but as with babies, once you think you have it figured out, it is probably going to change.