Happy New Year!!!!

Brooks Atkinson-"Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go."

What a year 2007 has been. Let's repeat that one more time....What a year 2007 has been. Talk about starting out with an understatement.

While sitting in church Sunday with just my boys while my wife was at home as a result of the reactions to the chemo, listening to Pastor speak about looking back at 2007, I found myself pretty angry, upset, flat-out mad. Look back at 2007-are you kidding me? No way I want to look back on that year. From here and forever more 2007 will be the year that which will not be mentioned....All my time-lines go from December 2006 to January 2008....there is no 2007...

After a few moments to pause and reflect I was able to reconsider. While we experienced some of the lowest lows, I can honestly say we have also experienced some of the highest hi's (yes, Janis got some good dope after her surgery and no, am not talking about that). 2007 has strengthened our faith, our marriage, our relationship with our kids, our friends, our church, and the support we continue to receive perpetually strengthens and lifts us up.

As crazy as it is to say.....I know that we have a long way to go but maybe 2007 wasn't so bad afterall?!!??!?

Chemo -Treatment 2

Took Janis in for chemo treatment 2 today. Part of the schedule today in addition to the chemo was a consultation with the Dr. He had some interesting news from his big breast cancer convention he recently attended (over 8,000 Drs from 70 countries). The treatment that Janis is receiving for her type of cancer has proven VERY successful....good to hear that again and be reinforced that the cancer she has is being treated correctly and we have every reason to expect good results.

The Dr. even mentioned that there is a possibility that Janis could have less symptoms from this treatment than the previous one....won't hold my breath on that one. She is really anxious for the first week after treatment starting about 2 days after as that was the worst time for her last week...fortunately, we have the holiday to help with all this.

Thanks again for the prayers and the support and the meals and the hugs, and....etc...much appreciated. Will keep y'all posted on how this round goes.

It's only hair...right?!?!

As the title suggests, things have changed around here lately. Ever since we found out the chemo treatment, we have been trying to prepare for this day when the decision would be made to shave Janis' head. The Dr's were certain that 2.5 weeks after the first chemo treatment of taxotere, Janis would lose her hair. Was never a matter of if, but a matter of when. The last few mornings, as Janis would get ready, it was pretty tough for her and each day things were getting worse...just more and more hair coming out with each attempt to make up her hair.

We spent a pretty typical Christmas eve with family having a great time...all the while, pretty certain at the end of the evening, we would be breaking out the clippers. After everyone left, we ended up watching Christmas vacation and wrapping up Santa's presents to the kids, talked about the inevitable and finally decided to do it.

As a husband, there really is very little that will prepare you for shaving your wife's head. Not something that is a lot of fun.

Janis has continued with her amazing spirit and this evening, as we were getting ready to watch Pirates of the Caribean 3, as she was wearing her bandana, she told the kids its pirate night and to dress accordingly.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to all! Wanted to drop a Christmas wish to all that have been supporting us and helping us out this year. Thank you very much!

Mat 1:21 She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus--'God saves'--because he will save his people from their sins."

Check out the new 'do

Now, I realize, since 'do' is in the title that some of you may be treading cautiously while reading this (after the flak I received from the 'poo' entry)....well, read without hesitation or worry as this is just an entry to show off Janis' new hair do.

Janis went to her long-time hair stylist Julie Calkins and she got a new style. As you can see by the picture, Julie did a great job. Part of the new style was to get ready for the hair to come out (figuring when it does-less on the head = less to come out), part was to have something easy to take care of, and partly to start getting ready for having the hair completely gone...pretty logical step in the natural progression here.

I think the new style looks great and so do the boys.

Janis has been going strong. Really a good week with no nausea or any other issues to speak of...probably the only thing is the prevailing thought that any time the hair will be coming out.

1 down 5 to go

Janis made it into work yet again today. I decided to look at the calendar and trace back to the surgery day to see how many actual days Janis has missed from work. I count a mere 3 days off from work. She was out the week of Thanksgiving (mainly because the girls at her work wouldn't let her come in even though she wanted to). Even though she isn't pulling completely full days she is really pulling thru. I am amazed at the toughness and determination she has had going thru this.

Janis was even wanting to help some with the flood cleanup in the area, but of course that was not allowed for some really obvious reasons but look no further than the immune-suppressed state that she is currently in.

The first couple days after the initial chemo Janis was feeling really good. A couple days after she started to feel a bit of a stomach issue, isn't really enjoying the smell of food right now (even cinnamon rolls), and the taste of the food isn't too good either. She has what she is describing as similar to flu-like symptoms. She received a white-blood cell booster on Monday (would have received it with the chemo but fedex was tied up with the floods) -this should help her fight off germs but there is possibility this could cause a bit of bone pain too.

We continue to be thankful for all the prayers and support that we are receiving. thank you all for your continued support.

Chemo -Treatment 1

Janis first chemo appointment was for 8:30am this morning. We were dragging out feet a little and didn't get there until 8:45am (such a long drive...ha ha....maybe a half mile). Took a little while to get in. Then Janis got her port hooked up which was pretty cool. Didn't hear any screaming when the anti-coring needle was inserted -so it got started well. She then was given some pre-medication for various things (benedryl for possible reactions, some anti-nausea medicine, some steroid for chasing the home run record, some tylenol for any aches that might come up). All went thru the IV except for the tylenol (only took me 3 tries before I gave up trying to stuff those pills thru the tube).

The taxotere was started and the first 10 minutes are the most likely to elicit a reaction and she made it thru there without any event. In fact, they actually sit right in front of you during this time. She will be finishing that in an hour, then to a treatment for another half hour and another one for an hour and a half.

The setup at Capital Oncology seems pretty good. 6 recliners outlining a room, nurses in the middle. They are very efficient and attentive and there is plenty of interaction.

Went back and saw Janis during the treatment and the 2nd chemo was just completed (carboplatin) and the Herceptin was just starting. She hadn't had any reactions so far and was doing really well.

Boo bandh air

Aside from the upcoming chemo treatment, this has been an extra stressful week with the flooding (and all the extra "benefits" that came with it). We are praying for the families and the schools and businesse and churches, and...and...and....

With chemo starting Friday and all the unknown that is coming with it (how will it affect Janis and how she will be feeling after the treatments and what will she be able to do) The flooding added an extra bit of stress along with this because she wasn't able to make it to work to clear up some of her work so she could go shopping for some hair and the prothesis.

Things worked out with the roads opening up enough today that Janis and a couple friends were able to head north and 'get r done'. She went to Nordstroms in Tacoma for the prosthesis and some bras and Olympia for the hair.

Janis wanted to spice things up a bit and have a few options for hair in the year ahead. Look below for some of the wigs Janis came home with.

Go ahead and vote for your favorites;

1) Janiqua from the hood

2) Janis is a groovy flower child.


3) Janis as the John 3:16 dude...It came with end zone tickets to the next Seahawks game.


4) Jeff prefers blondes.

Will post some more tomorrow as Janis is going thru the chemo!

Thanks for the prayers and continued support.

Flood Dec 2007

Wow, what a wet few days. Please pray for all the home, families and schools that have been affected by the flooding. CCS (where the kids go to school) has had some damage. 18 inches of water was inside the school. It covered the gym and it is going to take a lot of work and money to get this place straightened out. The work done already has been amazing. What an awesome dedication by the staff and volunteers. As of Wednesday night, 2 feet around on the walls has been cut out of the drywall and all the carpet has been pulled up. Check Komo 4 news, tonight at 11pm.

We decided to cancel school until January 2nd to give the crews enough time to disinfect and to work thru the school. Also, now's a good to request some prayer for all the families that are going to have their kids out on extended Christmas break.

Below are some photos that we snapped with our camera. Its only a tiny little sliver of what has been going on.

It's been pretty interesting around our house with the rescue helicopters landing at the football stadium right across the road. We have seen scores of coast guard helicopters and even the governor a few times.

Here is a picture of the last 4 people on earth (man it was eerie walking on the overpass on exit 76)

Another shot on exit 76.

Road to Recovery Part 4 -Chemo Plan of Attack

We had a much anticipated appointment with the oncologist this afternoon. Was a pretty long one actually and a lot of information was passed along-so will pass it along to anyone who is interested as well. There is a pretty long road ahead-but its good to be getting going with this part of the recovery.

Janis is getting the chemo cocktail of TCH The T stands for Taxotere, the C for Carboplatin and the H for Herceptin. Its interesting how the drugs are administered and the time for each. T takes 1 hour, C takes 20 min and H takes 90 mins the first time. Each have their various possible reactions.

Janis will start receiving her chemo Dec 7th. The initial treatment is expected to take around 3 hours starting around 8:30am. The Dec 7th treatment will be the first of 6 of these treatments spaced 3 weeks apart. The H treatment will continue for a years' time.

If you are interested in some much more detailed chemo info, check this site out:
http://www.chemocare.com/ You can bet we will be spending a bit more time here at this site and other resources getting smarted on this stuff.

Some interesting facts: Taxotere is a plant alkoloid, Carboplatin is made from a metal.

Janis will be taking a treatment to build her white blood cells (neulasta) at this time too. This is a one-time treatment (she won't have to come back each day to get a booster).

The TC treatment will make Janis lose her hair in approximate 2.5 weeks after first treatment. Nausea is also a possible affect...severity should depend on a lot of factors.

Good to know; The BRAC analysis came back and Janis does _NOT_ have any genetic mutations detected...

Will add more info later if I find that I left something out.

Drains are gone!

Janis had a follow-up appointment with the surgeon this afternoon. Everything is looking good. And if you have seen her, she is looking great. Recovery is coming along as it should.

She was really stressing out about the drains. She wanted them out soooo bad, but was dreading the pain of having it removed. The Dr. checked it out, the flow was low enough to be able to take it out. Turns out, Janis didn't need to worry. It didn't hurt near as much as she had anticipated. She's pretty tough, didn't even get any anesthetic.

Janis has been a real trooper, yet the removal of the 2nd drain really lifted her spirits.

We are done with the surgeon for the time being. Follow-up will be only if there are complications with the recover, and well down the line if reconstruction is considered we would be consulting with him and others most likely....but that's well down the road. Next is the chemo path and the next appointment with the oncologist is Friday afternoon. It will be an exam and consultation, expecting to have the plan laid out and have some more good info available then.

Show and Tell

Funny stuff...Our youngest son Bryce, 2nd grader, asked Janis recently if he could take her to show and tell to show off her surgery scars and drain tubes....After approximately no consideration, Janis politely declined the invite.

Drains

A while back, I mentioned that Janis had 1 of the drains removed...well of course, that means that there is still one in there. We are hoping that this one stops draining enough to take out. Yours truly has had the privilege and honor of being the main drain emptier for the last couple weeks. Last night was a real treat. I think the medical term for it might be "sediment" but I like to use a much more technical term(s) "chunk" or "chunkage". I went to empty the drain last night and squeeze the light orange/yellowish liquid into the cup to measure, there was some, uhhh, chunkage....so I squeezed a little more and it was still in the neck of the drain....a little more...nope.....ok, a little more-then bam-the sweet release of the redish/pinkish chunk into the cup. Gross!!!

Let's hope that this remaining drain will be slow down enough so that it can be removed at this Wednesday's surgical follow-up appointment....you know, so Janis doesn't have to deal with it anymore (not for me, no, not looking for any pity here).

It Only Takes a Minute

Was reading thru some Bible illustrations and came across this one. We wanted to pass it along.

Charles Dickens once wrote: "Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

It only takes a minute to begin reflecting on our present blessings: the gift of life itself, the warmth of friendships, the riches of good health, the power of love, the glory of a sunrise, the privilege of prayer, the joys of music, the satisfactions of work, the treasures of books, the beauty of art, the miracle of spring, and the grace of God. Be more grateful and you will become more joyful!

Review-Whistle Down the Wind

We had been planning on this for some time now. Whistle Down the Wind at the 5th avenue Theater with some family. Good show. Some great music...very compelling story. We took Hayden to the show too...he really enjoyed it.

Its an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical placed in the south in the late 50's based on a movie from 1961. A Man escapes from prison, ends up in a barn where some kids discover him...thru a little miscommunication, the kids think he is Jesus Christ and try to protect him.

Oh yeah, guess what?!?!?...that's right, the kids only have a father as he is a widower. This was no where near the disaster that Dan in Real Life was as this focused on the kids and the relationship with the Man...but it hurt a bit too.

Apparently, every bit of entertainment that I go to these days will have a prominent widower in the plot line.

Hey, if anyone out there has recorded any of those testing patterns that used to run on TV after the station went off the air, please send them over my way as I am looking for some alternate programming. As for now, I am just going to stick to sportscenter, the food network, and yeah, that's about it.

Apple Cup

No Dobyns blog would be complete without reference to this year's Apple Cup. Going in, I had pretty low expectations....pretty much just hoping for a silent ending with basketball ramping up.

Turned out to be a a lot better game than anyone expected - and of course, the outcome was great.

I was discussing this Sunday, but why didn't the Husky's keep running Locker? I know he needed oxygen at one point, but I was sitting there watching the game thinking -"Come on Ty, call in another pass play-or hand it off...but whatever you do, don't call Locker's number."

Go Cougs!

Lots to be Thankful for...

Col 3:15 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.

There is lots for the Dobyns family to be thankful for this year-too much to list really.

• Detection of the cancer in Janis
• removal of the cancer
• Janis recover from surgery
• our medical team
• our family
• our Church family
• our school family
• our work families
• dinners brought over
• people taking the kids for a while
• people checking in
• people sending flowers
• people sending cards
• and on and on and on....

We want to say thank you to you all for the wonderful support, for the prayers and for being with us as brothers and sisters in the Lord...."..keeping in tune with each other..."

We prayer that you all have a great Thanksgiving!

20 mil

HA, yeah, that's the total of the med bills...and we haven't even started chemo. Not really.

Only a kid could keep us centered like this, but this really shows what a great faith and confidence that our boys have.

This morning, started like pretty much all the other mornings racing around to get the kids ready. Janis was on the couch directing traffic and I had my nose in the pantry thinking what I might be fixing for the boys for lunch...Hayden and Bryce were in the middle of breakfast at the kitchen table. Hayden was having cheerios and the box is one from last month, breast cancer awareness month (I know what you are thinking...YES-we are very aware now!!!). Apparently he is reading the box and some of the facts about breast cancer. Hayden shouts to mom on the couch "Hey Mom -there are 20 million breast cancer survivors out there!" and he goes on back to finish his breakfast.

Needless to say, I was very proud....it was kind of dusty in the ol' pantry this morning too thinking about 20 million AND ONE.

Some good news for a change

Janis had her post-op followup appointment today. We were kind of expecting to just get a run down on the pathology report from the nodes but she received a bit more than that. We did get some good news as well. Granted, after this last month, if I came on here and said my foot was run over by the garbage truck, that would count toward the "good news" side of the ledger.

Good News:

• 1 of the drains was taken out (yeah!!! less chance for chunkage).
• the staples were removed and replaced with steri-strips
• the ace wrap bandages were removed (talk about a relief)
• she can shower now (didn't think things were getting very funky around here, but what do I know??).
• Lymph nodes -2 sentinel nodes, during surgery showed cancer. 2 more sentinel nodes were found, checked and did _NOT_ have cancer in them. Also, at the time of surgery, 12 more nodes were removed and those have been checked and did _NOT_ show any cancer in them. Praise God!

No more Dr. appointments this week and 2 next week. 1 Wednesday with the surgeon to continue to check this out on the recover and 1 Friday with Dr. Osborne to consult about the chemo.

Thanks for the continued prayers! Its awesome to see God's work in action.

Notes from a "normal" day

Today was kind of weird...actually had a pretty normal day. I got up early and was able to go to work for a full day. No Dr's appointments or anything. Janis was up and around a bit more about the house today. She is still a bit uncomfortable but overall doing well. She hasn't been nauseous since Saturday night-which, in looking back might have been more attributed to the Cougar's performance against OSU than anything else that was going on. I am starting to get a bit queasy myself when emptying the drains. I saw my first little chunk yesterday-really looking forward to the nightly dumping of the drains.

Tomorrow afternoon we head up to CMC for a follow-up appointment. Will post more about that tomorrow night sometime.

***I received a bit of flak for the 'Poo' anecdote from the other day. Please read the complete entry ;-)

Thank you so much for the dinner tonight and the help with Janis today. Our support group is awesome!

Words of Encouragement

Thanks again to all that have dropped by, have called, have sent cards, and flowers. Thank you very much and know that they are all very much appreciated. Please don't ever let up! It means more that you can imagine!

We have been sent so many words of encouragement that I wanted to pass them along to y'all as well.

Joshua 1:9 ...the Lord your God is with you wherever you go...His love will give you strength. His strength will see you through.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.

Romans 8:39 Neither height nor depth, nor anything else is all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ jesus our Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to propser you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.'

Zephaniah 3:17 'The Lord you Gos is with you...He will quiet you with His love....'

Matthew 28:20 "Be assured, I am with you always..."

Sunday Morning

Hey All, Janis is doing pretty well this morning. Yesterday afternoon she got nauseous and was in a bit of pain....sort of a double-whammy in that she wasn't able to eat anything to keep the meds down and was in some pain due to that...but by the evening were able to get things back under control with some anti-nausea meds and that helped knock her out for a while and was able to get some pain meds in here too....

Turns out these days (nights) Janis likes to wake up at 2 or 3 am and is pretty wide awake. Guess who she likes to talk to during these times?...ha, yeah, I can't imagine I am much company, but it seems alright-the least I can do.

Time for a "Poo"

Continued thank yous to all that are praying for us, for those that have brought stuff by, for flowers, for taking the kids for a while, for emptying the drains, for just being with us. I know this is just the start of a long and tough road ahead, but with God on all of our sides, how can we go wrong?

Janis is doing well, she is resting well, the pain is under control and she isn't even having to take all her pain meds to keep it under control.

Turns out Janis needed a poo. It had been a couple days since she last had one. There has been lots of stress, lots of procedures, plenty of appointments, sleeping on the couch, lots of things that has made her need for a poo even greater-and you know how meds can affect you...We hadn't even thought about this as a need-something that we simply took for granted. The time had come and Janis couldn't take it any longer and we needed to make a phone call to make it happen. So, less than 24 hours after coming home, Janis got her first post-op poo. I took her downtown for her poo. Thank you to Kerri and Gina for helping out and taking care of Janis' shampoo-her hair smells and feels great and she is feeling good too.

Home Again

Janis is home, doing really well. Got home, after a stop at the pharmacy, at about 12:10. She looks as beautiful as ever. After fasting yesterday, her appetite is doing well today. Pain has been under control so far, and she has meds to keep on top of the situation. It sure feels good to be home and one more step along the recovery path.

She has two drain tubes (one for the mastectomy and one for the lymph node area)....I have been trained on how to change the reservoirs. So anyone anxious to help out, come on over and I have something you can help out with.

Really, Janis is doing great. Thanks for your prayers, they sure helped out with the surgery and start of the recover process.

Funny story

Apparently, was a really long day not only for Janis, the surgeons and staff but for me as well. While walking out to the car to get some stuff, I need to use the can....I walked into the women's restroom....yep, there was a woman in there. Luckily, there was nothing revealed at the time. To my credit, the door hadn't completely shut behind me, so I wasn't officially, completely, inside the restroom. I even think, for a sec, the lady in the restroom was apologizing to me, wondering if she was in the right room also.

Road to Recovery Part 3 -Post Surgery Update

Whew, what a long day. Janis has made it thru her surgery and through the recovery time. I am posting this as she is being moved upstairs to her room for the night. I am going to head back in and see how its going before camping out or heading home for the night.

Janis is doing well after the surgery. The cancer was removed from the breast and that was good. On the down-side, they checked the sentinal lymph nodes and found that there was cancer in there so they have pulled out some more nodes for testing. This will determine the extent (stage) of the cancer. We won't know the specifics of that information until probably Monday. Even with this news, our next step is chemotherapy...so the plans are still set to be going forward with that (this was the plan regardless of the node results).

Thank you again for the prayers. Please continue to pray for healing and rest. God has been awesome today!

Road to Recovery Part 2

Well, while I was out making the most recent post, Janis was in the supplies closet and was getting a little tired of the party being thrown out in the hall. Aside from the noise, I think she was mostly cranky because she was hungry...she was getting Hangry...Actually, I don't blame her. So for the first time I felt helpful and diplomatically requested a room where it was quieter. We were moved way down the hall, the room was bigger, had a TV and was much, much quieter. So really, we only spent a couple hours in the closet and had a decent room the rest of the time.

After a long day of patiently waiting. It was 5:50pm when Janis was rolled into surgery. It was just one of those days where Janis was the last one on the list and somewhere during the day, things got a little behind (no butt jokes Meyer). Currently, Janis is in surgery right now. If I was to guess, I would expect her to be out of surgery by 8pm...

Will post more later!

Thank you so much for lifting my family up!

Road to Recovery Part 1

Apparently, the road to recovery begins with a lot of waiting. We knew heading up here today that we would check in at 9:30am and wait for surgery around 3pm...but man, until you are sitting in the supply closest at CMC, it doesn't seem like that long of time.

She has been scanned and the nodes mapped out. She has be stuck with an IV (no, not roman numeral 4..but that would make this more interesting). Now, she is just trying to get a bit of rest.

I have spent a few minutes checking in at the office and cleaning up email while Janis is trying to nap.

Morning Prayers

God, I just want to thank you for bringing so many friends to our house this morning for prayer. We can't find the appropriate words to describe exactly how much this means to our family. We will never be able to say thank you enough for the prayers and support during this time. Amen

Movie Review

Tomorrow is the big day. Wow, it sure seems like I am more nervous, anxious than Janis. She sure is a trooper. We had the pre-op appointment, and was injected with radio-active solution. I even got to see it before it was injected into her. Unfortunately, it really only looks like water....not anti-freeze or anything else. Heck, it could have been a syringe full of 7up. And no, Janis is not glowing...

Janis wanted to go to dinner and movie, so after the appointment, we headed on over to the new theater in Lacey. We went to see a movie that many of our friends had recently mentioned as a funny movie. Sounds good, just the kind of thing a couple in our situation would need to get our minds off what's happening.

Turns out this magical whimsical romp of a comedy centers around a widower who was dealing with and trying to get through coping with the loss of his wife as he falls in love with his brother's girlfriend...and deal with his family, etc... Out of all the movies showing at the mega-plex, we picked this one. Out of all the movies released this year to date...we pick this movie. Out of all movies releases since the beginning of time, we pick this movie....

I really do think this was probably a good movie, but man-talk about brutal timing.

One final thank you to those so-called friends who failed to mention this important little plot "nuance"..... Really, no mention of this? "Its a funny movie!" "... you will think its funny..."

Seriously, we had a good time watching Dan-in real life...even if it was through a few tears (it was really dusty in the theater tonight).

Cross to bear

We complain about the cross we bear but don't realize it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we cannot. Whatever your cross, whatever your pain, there will always be sunshine, after the rain.... Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall; But God's always ready, to answer your call.... He knows every heartache, sees every tear, a word from His lips, can calm every fear... Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night, But suddenly vanish, dawn's early light... The Savior is waiting, somewhere above, to give you His grace, and send you His love... (thanks for the forward Dyan!)

Let's make a DATE

The big date is set. Its amazing when you can see God in action, opening doors and busy medical schedules to get this done. Janis' mastectomy is set for this Thursday. We have pre-op appointments at Capital Medical Center this Wednesday at 2:30, with an additional appointment where they inject some radioactive dye so the lymph nodes can be checked the next day during surgery. Stop by the house Wednesday night to watch Janis glow. Ha Ha!

On Thursday, we need to check into CMC at 9am, they are going to scan the nodes and then the surgery will take place a bit later. Assuming all goes well, Janis should be home Friday.

Both of our folks will be in town taking care of the kids for the first couple nights.

I plan on taking my laptop with me and will be blogging as I can, with any results I can-check back for more!

Thanks for the prayers and all the support.

Simple Pleasures

What a great weekend. I was actually able to hang out at the beach, watch some football, play some games and enjoy the awesome weather at the beach this weekend. Go Cougs!

It was great that for at least a couple days, Janis didn't have cancer. It was a lot of fun to do "normal" stuff.

We went and saw Fred Claus. If you like vince Vaughn being Vince Vaughn...well, the movie is for you. On a cinematically related note-is there anything cooler than robots fighting? I didn't think so. Yes, I watched Transformers this weekend too....

Will keep this up to date with updates as we should get down to some specifics on timing and all in the next day or so.

Plan of Attack (Decisions Part 3)

Its a beautiful day out at Ocean Shores today. Janis, Buzz and I went out for a walk today. All we saw was sunshine, blue sky and one racoon.

Janis and I went to Olympia this Friday. Its tough to go into the Dr's appointments with any expectations these days, but for some reason, was really at peace with what we anticipated to happen. This was due in part to the meeting from Wednesday. We met with Dr. Dietz and he went thru it all, very carefully and logically-where we are, where we want to go, the various options, how things would be handled and the approximate timeline for things.

***We would really recommend South Sound Surgical for anyone. Dr. Deitz and Woltman have been great. They have treated us well. Have been very helpful in providing the information and details. See the post from last Wednesday....you can see why we are at peace with this very difficult decision.***

Plan of Attack -After prayerful consideration, advice from Dr's, Janis is opting for the mastectomy of the cancerous breast. During this time, the lymph nodes will be tested so we can be able to properly stage the cancer. A mediport will also be installed in anticipation of the upcoming chemo. This will be followed up by chemo a few weeks later. Depending on the results of the BRC 1 & 2 tests, will determine if any other surgeries are needed (ovaries and other breast) -this test is contingent on insurance and time-so won't know this for a while. Janis has an MRI scheduled for next Thursday and with that timing, it is looking like the mastectomy will be after Thanksgiving week.

Funny story -I was with Janis all day, we went to appointment, arranged for more appointments, went from exam room to office, and back, etc-all without event. We were sent down to get a chest X-ray. I stayed with Janis while she checked in, all up until she was called back. Since Buzz was in the car, I went out to give him a walk while the xray happened and Janis and I would meet up in the parking lot. Well, after several minutes, Buzz and I started walking back to the car. Janis was calling me on the cell phone saying she was done with the xray, had walked to the lobby, walked a lot farther than she remembered walking before and turns out she was clear back over on the other side of the medical center where we were earlier for the surgical appointment. I leave her alone for 15 minutes and look what she does. Needless to say, we have been having a good laugh at this.

Flu Shots

With the upcoming chemo treatments it was advised that we all get flu shots. Janis received hers a while back. I picked the boys up after school and we went over to the clinic to get ours. The boys were very strong and gladly stepped up to the plate to help out for mom. On the trade-off, they received a soda and a chocolate bar...not too bad. On the down side, Bryce, due to his age, has to come back in 30 days for another shot....

Total, 3 flu shots, no tears, 2 bugs bunny bandaids and 1 daffy duck banadaid...yes, that one was mine.

OK Lord-I hear ya!

If the Lord was ever trying to tell us something, it couldn't be an more plain to see that this. Special thanks to Denny for pointing us in this direction.

Taken from "My Utmost for His highest"
The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.

Blessings (Decisions Part 2)

Janis and I went to Olympia to meet with a surgeon today about establishing a relationship with his group for the surgical support we are going to be needing relating to the cancer and all that goes with this. We also went up expecting to discuss the mediport. God blessed us with a meeting of a surgeon that was kind of blindsided with the details of our case. While bringing him up to speed with our case, he took time even though his schedule was busy and consulted with his partners and was able to provide us with a lot of good additional info. We came away with a lot more info and honestly, understanding from the surgical standpoint what and why some of our options are that they are. Good to know.

God also blessed us on expected drive home. Shortly after the obligatory stop at starbucks in Tumwater by Fred Meyer, just south of the maytown exit, traffic came to a near stop. We were stuck in traffic for over an hour. There was a wreck near the county line that we had to make it past-couldn't blame the big casino sign or the waterpark for this backup. the blessing in this was that we had nothing else to do but talk about the appointment and were able to tie our consultation back to what we see in some books and things seemed to click a bit.

Keep praying for us and for guidance in the decision making process that will define this family's lives from here on out.

Continued Thanks!!!

Continued thanks and praise to God for all the help, concern, support that we have. Yesterday was a big day in the information distribution process as the news was passed along to our whole church family. The prayer, love and support we received (and continued to receive) is awesome. We truly love you and we are forever greatful for the support we have.

1Co 12:26 the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

Decision Time

After a week to soak up all that this is...we met with the oncologist today and came away with a decision to make. The Dr. is recommending 4 chemo treatments, 3 week apart using TC. This is based on the characteristics of the cancer and how the tests have been so far....and the tests remaining. The other option on the board is mastectomy.

Janis has 'standard' cancer (intraductal carcinoma) with two areas 4 cm apart (both under 1.5cm). Dr. Osborne indicated the surgeon obtained good margins. The lymph nodes have not been checked yet (which is down the road). The 'FISH' test is being run on the blood to confirm if Janis is HER-2 positive. If so, this will add another liquor to the chemo cocktail, and two more cycles to the chemo treatment, but ultimately the same recommendation.

There is another test being run, checking for a genetic pre-disposition that links breast and ovarian cancer recurrences. This will take several weeks to get the results back and is quite expensive to have administered. Depending on the results, will determine future surgeries, but really have no affect on the short-term recommendation. Per Dr. O, the write-up will help influence the insurance company in approving this and he said he has written it up as needed.

Recommendation is for Chemo:

• place medi-port to ease with application of medication, taking blood, etc Next week.
• Start 4 cycles of chemo 3 weeks apart (TC Treatment -Taxol and cyclophosphamine) Thanksgiving week.
• After the chemo course, re-excise and check lymph nodes.
• Followed by radiation.

Special thank you to our medical receptionist Dondi! We really appreciate you being able to make it to the appointment, take some notes for us and help us get our questions in, and also to be able to talk about what we heard, compare to what you heard and come away feeling as good as could about the path ahead. Thanks again Dondi!

Big Thank You to all!!!

We would be remiss if we didn't send out a huge THANK YOU to all of our family and friends that have rallied around us during this time. While we really haven't taken you up much on your offers of phone calls, watching the kids, making dinners, cleaning our house (watch out what you offer...ha ha) yet, it just has been awesome, uplifting to feel the support from our family, friends, church, home group and school that we have.

Some specific passages from the Bible have been timely and especially encouraging lately too.

Isiah 50:7 And the Master, GOD, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced. Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this.

James 1:2 - 6 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves.

Changes

It sure has been a surreal week so far. This has been an emotional rollercoaster and we are just getting started. It took me until sometime Tuesday before I could put any sentences together on this without tearing up. We have gone from shock to mad to frustrated, to numb, to overwhelmed with info (man there is a lot of info out there)...to acceptance of the task ahead and am finally ready (as ready as a couple can be) for what's next.

The Big News

Am writing this on Wednesday, Halloween 2007. What a shocker. As of about 1pm on Friday, October 26th, 2007 Janis has cancer. This is the day the surgeon dropped the bomb. We weren't given very much info or many options and honestly were way too shocked to even know what (out of the millions of quesitons running thru our heads) or how to ask the questions. We then went to an oncologist in Chehalis. We filled out a bunch of paperwork, some more blood was drawn to run it thru a bunch of tests and then we met with the Dr. The meeting definitely went better as we were able to talk about treatment and the future a bit, but there is still very little tangible info that was handed off to us. The initial recommendation is that there will be a course of chemotherapy for Janis. This recommendation was just a preliminary (a most likely scenario to plan for) based on the initial info the Dr. had at the time. Our next meeting is 2pm November 2.