Chemo day 1

Brandon had his first session today. He had a little reaction to a drug at first but after awhile of rest, things went smoothly. Later in the day he became nauseated and sick, but thats normal. He is kinda learning what its like to be in the first trimester...smell sensitivity, snacking throughout the day instead of meals, up the fluid intake, trying to keep something in your stomach, and the neasea/vomitting. He learned pizza and english muffins are a NO-GO! So its looking pretty good for getting an anti-nausea med for him on top of the anti-nausea med that they administer there with the chemo.
Now its Tuesday-Friday....peronally not looking forward to it since he is already feeling the effects of it. Need to keep eyes what is at the end.

We also had 'the talk' with the boys since Isaac seemed a bit scared the first time he got sick. Reminded the boys that its the medicine that is causing him to be sick and the medicine will help daddy too to fight of the 'illness'. And not to be scared and you won't get sick. Also to be good and listen to mommy. Isaac gets it (still seems a bit scared and emotional) but Carson and Kianna don't. Its going to be a VERY rough and tough time. Hope I can make it though....Im barely hanging on the first day.

When we were there, in came an old man telling the nurses that he won't be coming anymore because there is nothing more the drs can do. I just about broke down hearing that and seeing the hugs. Such a support system they have there. When they were taking out his IV thing, he told Brandon that he is way too young to be there....agreed. He seemed to be a sweet humorous man by the conversations heard. I wish him well.
We also talked with a lady that works with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law who was a great talkative bubbly lady and also an old lady who is really nice and talkative too. I wish those ladies well too. Sad to say that there is many people having Chemo done (was quite full today).

Oncologist Appt

Monday, November 30th, at 9am, we start the hardest journey in life, chemo (by IV which will take 2 hours). 3 cycles, each cycle is 3 weeks. The first week will consist of chemo Monday through Friday. Then the next week (week 2) and the week after that (week 3), is only once per week. Then once that (cycle #1) is done, we start all over for the next cycle (#2) and so on (#3). 9 weeks of mostly constant chemo treatments. With the holidays coming, there will be a delay, or resting period...which is fine with us since we picked the sooner date to start than the later, which would have been early December. Sooner the better!

With the chemicals they have now and getting anti-nausea drugs in the IV, there are minimal side effects, which is good. Effects vary much... from nausea to nerve damage and to a rare 1 in a million chance of having a stroke. So we will see when time comes. I hope it isn't too bad for him, hate seeing people sick and in pain. Oh yea, hair loss won't be an issue since he is almost already there with his buzz cuts, LOL.

Just keeping our eyes on the 80-90% CURE rate. BE GONE!!!!!

A Bump in the Road (that we WILL get over)

Its official....Stage 2 Non-Seminole Testicular Cancer. Non-Seminole is good news, the good type of this cancer, VERY much treatable, 90%. Bad news is that it has started to spread to his abdomin, 2 spots next to eachother, 1cm each, between the front and back intestines. That means 3 rounds/cycles of Chemo. We get to meet his onocolgist Tuesday to talk about all of this.

Story...
It all started last week, Wednesday, when he noticed his right testicle swollen and painful. He went in to the dr and they thought an infection but sent his to get an u/s to check on it. Later that day we got a call back saying they found a mass. The world had stopped for us. Then the next day, Thursday, he got a CT done and found the same result but with 2 lymph nodes in his abdomin. The world then turned upside down. With that said, the following day, Friday, he went into surgery to remove his right testicle. So much to take in, in just 3 days. Yesterday we got the results back, which I provided the above and bring us up to today.

On a side note to this is that he got a clean bill of health at his yearly physical in Sept. We just don't get it. How? Why? Was there ANY clue?

By the way, for those of you thinking about children....Good thing is that we were already done with having kids since he had a V done over a year go. I can't imagine what it would be like if we started having kids later and weren't done or haven't even started at all.

Isaac's off to Kindergarten!

Thought Id finally get back to here.

This past Sept Isaac started Kindergarten. He very much likes it and thinks HIGHLY of his teacher. A week ago we got his first of many report cards. He is doing fantastic. Our refridge is never without anything on it now.

New arm soon...and other news (possible leg legthening)

Carson will be getting a whole new arm soon (Sept 1st). This one will have cables so that he can open/close things using shoulder movements. He is excited as we are.

Other news...Carson's leg might need to be lengthened. Weve just noticed how bad it is. When standing straight he needs one leg bent, or when he walks he will tippie toe the shortest leg or just limp. His one knee is above the other when comparing the legs.
Way back when he was a baby we had his leg x-rayed since we then noticed his leg was a little smaller than the other. It was no biggie since we all thought it would correct itself. So at the end of Sept, he will be getting his leg re-evaluated. But I can see surgery, braces and casts in the near future. Poor lil guy.

We were hoping to get him in when we pick up his new arm but the dr will not be in then...so we must wait til the end of Sept.

Sparkley Ears...x2

This past weekend we took Kianna to get her ears pierced. She did great despite the gun getting stuck on the first try. The gal who did it needed to take the gun apart to get it unstuck from the earring, after a awhile of pulling and twisting/turning. Kianna did not move around, no hands wailing, no head shaking...just sat scared crying...broke my heart. After the lady got the gun off the earring, she stopped crying, only wimpers. The second ear went good, thank God. After all was done, she got a sucker, which made her a happy camper. And since I didn't like seeing her in pain and felt bad that the first time went horribly wrong, I got mine done again, a second hole (with no gun problems).

My Diagnosis, Part 1

I have been plagued by vertigo and motion sickness for quite some time and has been progressing quite greatly. Its sad when the furthest you can go is 18 miles without stopping, giving me a break. Also at times I can't even go over 20mph without the spinning starts. Going to the dentist is nearly impossible along with elevators or even laying flat, looking up or bending over. Also loud noises such as music and crowds, and moving bright lights cause spinning. So I finally gave in and talked to the dr about it at my yearly appt earlier in the week. So the dr gave me a referral to the Hearing and Balance Center and had an appt today. After some tests using special goggles and being in different positions I have a diagnosis.....BPPV and migraine-related (silent) vertigo. Its normally found in people 50 and over. So Im a rarity of having both. Some crystals in my inner ear has gotten loose causing false movement/spinning. So after 1-3 treatments Ill (hopefully) have a 90% success rate. Treatments are having my head turn at a 45* angle to the right side, going down/lying on my right side for a few seconds keeping my head at a 45* angle, then going over to my left side, keeping the head at the same 45*. She then shakes my head for a few seconds then gives my right ear some vibrations to help the crystals move back to their normal place. She does this a couple to a few times. BUT that is only for the BPPV part, not the silent migraine-related part. Ill have more extensive testing done at the end of the month (indepth ear and eye exams and possible MRI/CT scans in the future to rule out if anything else is related to it). Once I get further tests on the silent migraine part, Ill explain everything about that more. Thats another serious issue that have been bothering/worrying me. But driving long distance or being on a jet plane could have caused some serious damage to myself (blacking out-which almost happened already, and being unconcious). Luckily I have been avioding trips since I know it would have been impossible and never have gotten to the destination. Since Ive had it for decades (been keeping everything to myself since some people have assuming opinions), its pretty serious. If the treatments don't work, I may need surgery.
So now I have to sleep at a 45* angle for 2 nights. After the 2 nights are up, I can return to bed and lay ONLY on my left side (right ear is the effected ear). I also can't tilt my head back for a week or bend over for a week. So there goes my chiro appts for awhile but those can wait. This can't.