Getting Stronger....

We have been celebrating a week with no doctor visits. This is a huge milestone for me. This is the first week in 27 weeks to not be in a Doctor's office having blood work, test, or chemo. WHOOO HOOOO! I do have to go next week but I believe I have begun the "every other week" routine as long as my blood work looks ok Monday.

I am feeling stronger everyday and can not wait to get to go to summer camp with my Young Life friends. I know that getting the opportunity to do normal summer things for me helps me feel like I am on the road to recovery. Michael and I are headed to Montgomery this weekend for a marathon wedding weekend. We have a rehearsal dinner Friday night, then two weddings Saturday (Congrats Steph and Jay and Trey and Kim). We are excited to get away and just enjoy feeling good enough to go!

On a side note...today is Drake's "GOTCHA DAY." I cant believe that I have had this puppy for 4 years although my dad claims to have kept him half his life....

The day I got him...

Today...

Drake has been so much fun!

hair.....

Well I cant quite get the nerve up to just shave my head but I did go and get my "cancer cut" today. This is the shortest I have had my hair since I was an infant. I had more hair as a three month old than I do now. This hair cut does a good job of disguising the holes of missing hair. You can still see my scalp in many places and I will eventually lose it all but at least this will give me a chance to transition. so....drum roll.....here it is....

As I am trying to come to grips with losing all of my hair, I went and tried on wigs this past week. I will share with you a few pictures from my experience. It was very surreal and I am not sure that I will go this route. I might be more of a hat and scarf type person but nonetheless here is some pics....

out, out, and away

My hair is officially falling out.  I am not sure if it is all going to fall out or not but I have begun to have bald spots.  This has probably been the hardest part of this whole journey (other than the initial shock of "you have cancer" and "your cancer has returned").  So, next time you might see me, I might be bald or have a hair cut that matches my husbands.  Each morning I get up and there is a ton of hair in my bed.  I have decided to quit brushing my hair altogether to see if it will slow the process.  It is absolutely amazing (or depressing) how much hair comes out if I run my hand through my hair.  People have asked if it is coming out in chunks..not mine...it comes out in sheets....And in case you did not know....Losing my hair has hurt.  My scalp has a constant pain.  It is much like if your hair was in a french braid real tight for way too long.  When you take it down that sensation is what I have constantly.  

I had REALLY THICK HAIR....not so much anymore.  This is a small portion of what has falling out in the last day or so.....

No chemo for now!

We are excited to say that I have no more chemo for now.  We met with the Oncologist on Monday and he has consulted with the "World's expert" in my type of  cancer and they are going with a wait and see mentality.  I have 0% of active cancer in me and so we are praying I am cancer free for good. I will be closely monitored each week for the next 6 months.  There is a 10% chance cancer could return and most likely it would within the first 6 months.  We are praying and would love for you to join us in this 6 month journey.  We are super excited that I will not have to endure any more chemo now.  I am still trying to recover from the first round but I feel so much better.  Thanks for all the emails, phone calls, and facebook messages.

Wow...Praise Jesus!...but let's keep praying

Well, let me start today's post with Macy's good news....her number is 2!!!  For those of you who may not know what that means, we are talking about the level of hCG in her blood test.  Anything from 4 to 0 is considered 0 and means that the mass is gone and cancer is gone.  Last week, when she started the new chemo she was at 21.  Way back when all this started she was at 93,000!  Even when we thought this was gone about a month ago, the number was 8 and leveled off.  So for the first time she can say no cancer.  Thank you Jesus!

Now, where does she go from here?  We will be meeting with the doctor, as scheduled on Monday.  He has always said two treatments past zero.  We are hoping that maybe that will not be the case, but we will wait and see.  Macy is still dealing with the effects of the first treatment and will continue to until well after she is finally stopped with chemo.  So she still needs your prayers in that regard.  She is not officially in remission until further down the line and we are sure the mass doesn't grow back.  So we need prayers in that regard as well.

I can't tell you the emotional lift this was for Macy and for me.  And we are very excited and thankful.  But she and I are both cautious and know that this chemo still sucks and still will be hard and we are just ready to get her through this.  I am ready to not have to watch her suffer so much and for her to be healthy and strong.  And I know she is ready to just be healthy and back to her self.

So join us in our excitement and continue to pray as Macy goes through more chemo next week and help us get to the other side of this.  And let's pray this stays at 0 and stays gone.

Later...

Catching everyone up...

Well hello everyone!  We wanted to catch everyone up on what all has been happening.  Sorry, I am not as good at keeping you all in the loop as Macy is.  She will try to  blog soon.  But for now, it my job and I just don't do this thing well.  But enough about that....

So, Macy finished out the first treatment week of the new chemo and Friday night we both thought that maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as we thought.  They do a great job of taking care of her during the chemo and medicating her so that she can make it through.  But come Saturday, as the weeks medication wore off, the residual effect of the chemo began to take its toll.  Macy got very sick and we tried to keep her hydrated and but she basically spent all of Sunday in the bathroom or trying to get sleep and keep medication and liquids down.  Well that didn't work so to make a long and awful couple of days short...I took Macy to the hospital early on Monday and she was checked in and stayed overnight.  They gave her medication and fluids and Tuesday she was able to go home and try to get back to normal.

Macy is such a strong woman and has done an amazing job dealing with all this.  She definitely needs your continued prayers, especially as it comes to dealing with the weekends after treatment weeks.  Also, please pray that she doesn't have to do this chemo too long.  We need it to be effective and quickly.  It sucks to watch her go through this and I know it is so tough for her to go through.

Thanks again for all your support and for the food and prayers and help.  Want to especially say thanks to Dr. Lightfoot for coming down to the hospital at 6AM on Monday to help Macy feel so much more confident.  That was above and beyond and really helped a lot.  Thanks again to everyone for the help.

Love y'all and later...

Three down, only...

Just wanted to check in with everyone.  Macy had a tougher day today, but as always, she is a champ and continues to blow me away.  We have had a few more frustrating moments with our doctor/nurse, but Troy, the new chemo nurse is fantastic.  He really took care of Macy today and is great with an IV needle.

On a side note, Drake, our dog, is really worried about his Momma.  He knows something is not right with Macy and he is being so sweet.  But his Aunt Sara is doing a great job of taking him for runs.

We appreciate all the support and all the meals and especially all the prayers.  Let's knock this cancer out quick.