Time to Rebuild -TRAM Flap is on its way.

HI All,

Been a long time since the last post. That's a good thing in a lot of ways. We have been busy with soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and now baseball is up and running 24/7...

Janis has always wanted to pursue breast reconstruction and we had just met with the surgeon when I found out from work we were switching health care plans...no big deal, right? Well, the surgeon was on Regence and not on united...so the concensus from those in HR and at UHC was that we should try to get as much done prior to the switch as possible....well, so much for baseball season being the most important thing going....Sure seems like some doors have been opened, but we will have the bulk of the procedures done prior to the health switch. Also, with cancer, they are required to transfer, so things should be ok...will believe it when I see it. Paperwork was crazy when we only had one health insurance, now the paperwork, in the midst of a switch...I bet we get 5 different bills for the same thing.

The reconstruction method Janis selected is referred to as a TRAM flap proceedure. It is a series of proceedures where they take tissue from the tummy and move it to make a new breast mound. The first procedure is called a surgical delay -basically a hip to hip horizontal incision to change the blood flow in the tissue, making it heartier in preparation of the move. This first proceedure kind of freaks me out...it was done in the office and so far has been fine. Lots of pain, lots of sleeping for Janis and not a lot of movement. She is doing well.

After the surgical delay there is a 10-14 day period before the big surgery. This will take place on the 15th. This is a 5 or so hour procedure, and will require several night stay in the hospital. Let's pray that this goes successfully.

The silver lining to all this is that we can see the finish line a lot sooner than we had anticipated...What's a series of surgeries and doctor visits on top of baseball season?

Jeff

Alaska Trip 2008 -Slide Show

Click on the small version of the slide show below and you will get to see a much larger version of the Alaska Trip 2008 -Slide Show!!!

Janis at Alaskaland!!!

July Update

Hi All,

It's all I can do to make some posts on this blog these days. Summer is supposed to be a time of rest, relaxation, sun tans and swimming pools and movie stars....whoa, I just channeled the Beverly Hillbilies there for a sec.

There isn't really any news on Janis, so to speak...no news is good news. She has had her 3 month after chemo ended check up and she is cancer free....let's all say that again...She is cancer free. Dr. Osborne says she is cancer free and he is treating her preventatively to it doesn't come back and also scrubbing through the tests looking for any recurrence. Janis continues to take Vitamin D and every three weeks herceptin bigger check ups every three months. She is feeling well and the hair is growing in really well. Its not coming is as fast as she would like and evern though I have taken several pictures of her she hasn't approved of any for me to post...at least any that are hatless.....I am posting this one as I think she is looking great in this one.

We made it through the trip to Alaska in June. We had a mixed bag of weather with some amazing sunny days (seemed to keep the bugs away) and some welcome home weather with gray and rainy skies. The scenery was amazing. We got to see a baseball game played at midnight, Mt McKinley (think of Mt Rainier if only it was a mile taller and there was a mountain right next to it the same size at Rainier). We saw lots of wildlife (kids) and there were plenty of animlas to see too. We had a full agenda, but it was really planned out well (thanks again to Mike and Katie Moeller for handling the planning this past year...they did and awesome job) and our family had a great time. Janis and I celebrated our 16th anniversary in Fairbanks. We had a family dinner at a BBQ joint that was really good and then spent the evening with a walk around Alaskaland. Will post up some pictures soon.

We got back from our trip just in time for July and Bryce's birthday. We now have a 9 year old. Boy they grow up quickly.

After the 4th, we hooked up with some families to make up a baseball team of 9 and 10 year olds. We wanted to give the kids a chance to actually play some baseball in some decent weather. We practiced for a week and had our first tournament this past weekend. Remember, this is a 9 and 10 year old team and we played in a 10 and 11 year old tourney. My kids were in all the games but one....there is a bit of a difference in 10 and 11 year olds...mostly its on the hitting side. We ended up 5th..woohoo (sarcastic woohoo)... The kids got a really good start to the baseball tourney thing. We have a tourney next week in Lynden and will have one more in Yakima in a few weeks.

June Update

Hi All,

I haven't posted anything in a while as things have been humming along as expected with a good dose of baseball mixed in there.

From the no news is good news category, Janis continues with the herceptin treatment every 3 weeks and nothing really to report there. It really makes her sleepy for that evening after the treatment, but that's the only side effect from the treatment-the benadryl they give with it sure does the trick.

Baseball just wrapped up. I am kind of sad to see it end. We had a really good team of kids and it was just a fun team. Hayden and Bryce were on the same team and both had good years. Honestly, this was the worst weather for a baseball season I have ever seen. On the last game of the year, we were battling rain, wind and cold just to get this game in...it was unbelievable.

School is about to wrap up the end of this week...so the monkeys will be on the loose.

The last week of June, we have the big Alaska vacation with Janis' brother Mike and his family. Can't wait for this to get her....we have been planning this (trip was in jeopardy due to the cancer) for a long time...and we are just now on the doorstep of it happening.

April Fool's -no fooling

Here's a little April Fools humor....sort of...

My youngest really put his foot in his mouth last night.....totally, completely, innocently, on accident...but here's the scenario. My folks had the kids for the afternoon, we were all driving in the car after dinner and had picked them up on our way to one of many errands...we were doing dumb little April fools stuff....like there's a spot on your shirt, etc....and varying degrees of that when all of a sudden Bryce goes....mom, I see some hair growing on the back of your head......

(pause)

....{cringe}

.......

(pause) April Fools!!!

It was the funniest, saddest moment I can remember recently.....the best part was his older...and apparently much wiser brother....and his reaction to it

Ugh!!....Bryce, no....that's not nice!

I almost drove off the rode

Keep in mind, this is a kid that totally loves him mom....no malice intended....but man, good stuff.

6 down...0 to go!

We made it to this point. The 6th Chemo treatment wrapped up today around 3:30pm. Its an exciting time, knowing this is the last treatment, but also, knowing that there is another week to grind through makes it tough.

Looking ahead, Janis will be going in every three weeks for the rest of the year to get a herceptin treatment. Herceptin is typically used to treat HER-2 positive cancer patients...while Janis didn't fall into that class, herceptin was part of her treatment. Studies also are showing help with continued herceptin treatment. By help, I mean lowering the chances of recurrence...and that's the bottom line. Dr. Osborn talked about a study saying 9 more weeks of herceptin helped a lot. He cited another study indicating a year time frame is worthwhile as well....another study looking at 2 years. He isn't convinced 2 years is needed, but is that more herceptin is needed. The good thing about this treatment is that there are no side affects so once this chemo runs its course the hair should start coming back and each treatment will just be a treatment...not weeks or days of additional recovery.

In addition to the 3 week herceptin cycle, Janis will have a 3 month followups for the rest of the year, checking blood and all....

Thanks again for the continued prayers and support-you all have really helped us make it this far.

Praise you in this storm!

Ever come across a song, a painting, a sunset...anything that just stops you in your tracks? Strangest thing, this morning, after dropping the kids off at school, I had one of those moments. The Casting Crowns song "Praise you in this storm" comes on the radio...actually, I don't even remember recognizing that the song was on until I was tearing up. I then realized the song and just couldn't hardly hold it together. I pulled over, just sat and listened to the song, prayed and just soaked it in. Wow, what an experience!

"...You are who You are, no matter where I am..." Could anything better summarize where we are right now?

5 down -1 to go!!!

We (Janis) switched the days of the chemo treatment up a bit this time and instead of what would have been the normal day (last Friday), she scheduled it for today (Tuesday). It was close, some of her blood levels were getting close. We, like many other families have been bombarded with a particularly pesky bug this past weekend. It has come on pretty quickly (I could feel it coming on Sunday) and it hit sunday night-kids were out of school Monday and Janis was wiped out. Fortunately, it seems the bug is moving pretty quickly and kids were back in school today, I was feeling much better and Janis was cleared to take another treatment. We are on fever watch...so if her temperature rises we will be calling the Dr. for some sort of voodoo or magic potion to help her get thru it. Pray for an uneventful week.

Thanks again to all who are continuing to bring dinners and pray for us....it really is a huge help to have the support.

Chemo -Treatment 4

4 treatments down, 2 more to go. Janis won't really allow us to count this one as 'down' yet until she makes it thru the first week after the chemo. I don't blame her, this is a rough week and all indications are that it will be 'typical'....

Continued Thank you's for all still praying for us and helping out!


Joh 3:16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
Joh 3:17 God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.
Joh 3:18 Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!!!

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.

Thank you just isn't enough. Janis' cancer crop was a great success. There were tons of participants (I realize not necessarily a great choice of descriptors when all that attended were women, but will take my chances). Thank you to all who participated, donated, stopped by, helped out, organized it... Thank you so much.

THANK YOU!

What a week! -glad its over.

Ecc 1:11 Nobody remembers what happened yesterday. And the things that will happen tomorrow? Nobody'll remember them either. Don't count on being remembered.

Been a while since the last entry. This was a tougher than normal week by our recent standards. Part of it was just a normal life happening with a couple boys going to school, playing basketball, etc...another part was the chemo and the reaction to that....and part of it was adding on a sick kid at the beginning of last week. I really was feeling overwhelmed, smothered last week....apparently getting through this cancer stuff isn't going to be easy.


Thanks to all that is continuing to pray for us and help us through with meals, support, hitting me with the racketball...after making it through a week like that, I am encouraged more than ever that we will make it through the weeks ahead.

Chemo -Treatment 3

Janis had her third chemo treatment today. Unfortunately, this is becoming routine. Now that we are into this cycle, its pretty predictable how she will be and how the medicines are affecting her. Janis is taking a TCH treatment along with a shot of Neulasta to boost the white blood cells. The first cycle, due to the floods, she didn't get the neulasta until the following week. Janis had a pretty good weekend (I couldn't hardly keep up with her) The second cycle she had the shot along with all the other medicine and she pretty much was wiped out with flu-like symptoms all weekend. With all the events going on this weekend (Hayden has 3 BBALL games and the cancer crop) she wanted to put her in the best chance to be able to attend as much of the festivities as she can so she decided against the neulasta until next week. Well that plan seems to have worked...but this time, her blood work indicated she is a bit anemic...so instead of a shot to boost the white blood cells, she received a shot to boost her red blood cells. Anyone want to guess at what the side-affects are for this shot? Please answer in the form of a question....What are flu-like symptoms? Yes, you guessed it. So far, so good as the flu-like symptoms haven't hit quite yet. Janis, went down to the school to see if there was any help needed so we dropped her off and came back and played some video games.

I said to Janis today, after the appointment, that its half time....3 down, 3 to go....she said she won't call it half time until she gets thru the first week that has been giving her the most trouble with the nausea.

Crop out Cancer January 19th

Janis' friends are putting together a fund raiser for cancer related medical expenses. Here are the details;

The Janis Dobyns Cancer Fundraising Crop will be on Saturday, January 19th from 9am to 9pm at the Centralia Christian School. For $30, people receive a light breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as table space to work on whatever craft project they would like to bring. Stefanie Wahl is organizing the event with the help of Janis's Scrapbooking Club. For more information about the event, call 748-3906 or 748-8734.

Also, email: mailto:dobynsteammom@yahoo.com

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.