Winter Break

We all arrived home on time and safe! We had an awesome and exhausting time in Chicago! Christmas Eve was at my sister's house in the city with all of our family and my brother in law's family. There was lots of good food and wine. Terry & I awoke Christmas morning at 4am with a vomiting child! Another night without much sleep, but Alyssa rallied and was opening presents by 9! The rest of the day was a little quieter, just our family and a great prime rib dinner! According to Alyssa, prime rib is good for upset tummies!

While the kids spent time with Grandma, Grandpa and Great Grandma, Terry & I went my sisters for a night without kids! A mani & pedi was just what the doctor ordered! Thanks Amy! Later that evening, we went to dinner at this incredible Meixcan restaurant! It's called Mixteco, try it if you are ever in Chicago. I can't believe how good the food and the company was.

Terry left early Saturday am, fortunately he got out of Midway between the fog and flooding! The kids spent the weekend playing with their cousins. I was able to enjoy some time with my parents and Grandma. It was really nice! I even had fun shopping with my Dad on Sunday morning. Who'd of thought? Thanks Dad!

One more crazy day left in the city! We went to Winter Wonderland at Navy Pier. They have an indoor ice rink, rides and all of the blow up, bouncy things you could imagine! The kids loved it!!!! Of course being different ages, they all wanted to try something different! Alyssa was very proud of herself for learning to skate without the wall or Grandma's help(short distances only). Nicholas spent a lot of time falling. By mid afternoon the place was a madhouse! We went back to my sister's for dinner. I finally got to have some good pizza! Can't leave without that!

I'm really hoping what the kids remember most about this winter break is all the fun and not that their Mom started chemo! We have 2 days left before I start treatment. I'm trying like crazy to get things done. Fortunately New Years Eve will be a low key, fun night with a few friends and the kids.

I'm ready to get going with my treatment now. I don't really know what to expect but I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Thanks to my family for a great holiday and all of their support! I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Tracie

Ps: I hope this is ok, my editor had to go to work!

Holiday Travel

If we can handle traveling to Chicago for the holidays, then chemo should be a piece of cake. We made it, which is so much better than most!!!!

Back in October, when we bought our tickets and got a few free ones, it seemed ok that Terry would fly Southwest to Midway and the kids & I would fly American to Ohare. We even booked the departures within minutes of each other. Seemed like a great idea 2 months ago!!!!

Given the weather and mess at Seatac yesterday, we decided to go early. Terry's flight through Denver was on time, but ours was not. The kids and I spent 5 hours sitting at Seatac! Thankfully they are pretty good travellers, but it's still a long day. We finally arrived in snowy Chicago at 11:30 and my parents at midnight.

Terry departed Denver about the time we landed in Chicago, not part of the original plan. My Mom and I left to get him at 1am only to discover that Midway was still an absolute mess!!! There were thousands of people waiting for bags and very few people still working since the airport normally closes by midnight. It took 2 of us to find the luggage after an 1 1/2 hours of waiting & searching!!!

We're here and ready for a great Christmas! It's not even cold here, the snow is beautiful and we're not stuck at the airport like so many others. I had visions of Terry spending Christmas with my family and us stuck in Seattle!!!!

I hope you all made it wherever you may be going. I'm looking forward to starting some of that red wine therapy later today.

Thanks for all of the good wishes. Happy Holidays!!!
Tracie

And Now We Know....

We actually made it to Virginia Mason today and everyone I needed to see was there. That was a huge relief! I was sure something would get cancelled.

The good news is that I am still stage 2 hodgkins. The bad news is that there are 2 other lymph node areas in my chest that they found today on my scan. I still have a good prognosis which I'm trying to remember. I still can't figure out how I can have cancer and feel completely fine.

The problem with having more lymph nodes involved, means that there will be a larger radiation area if I go that route. My doc thinks that I will probably have both chemo and radiation. the plan right now is 2 rounds of chemo and repeat the CT/PET scan. That plan sounded great until he said we should start Jan 2nd! I thought I had a few weeks to work and get my shit together. When I asked about waiting another week or two, he said that it wasn't a good idea. I'm a little freaked out about starting in 10 days. I guess maybe the fact that I have cancer is starting to sink in.

Terry and the kids are doing ok. Alyssa got an early Christmas present today. She got a cupcake maker and at this point that's all she really cares about. She can't understand why we're not making them tonight.

Right now, we're scrambling to get ready to fly to Chicago tomorrow. Hopefully the weather there will be ok. It was 3 degrees at the start of the Bears game tonight! I'm not used to that kind of cold anymore. Too spoiled by our winters in Seattle!

That's all for now. I'll update again after we get back from Chicago.

We wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season.

The Worst & Best Week of My Life

Most of you who are reading this have probably already heard the news. On Monday, Dec. 15th, I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. I had a biopsy the week before and never in a milion years actually believed I would have cancer. I was in complete shock. There are parts of the morning that I don't really recall, especially since I'd been up all night, working. Sleep deprevation doesn't help anything. Being an ICU nurse, I have been around a lot of devasting things. I've never thought that I understood how people felt, but now I know. It was one of the worst days of my life.

Terry was great. He took care of everything that morning. Of course, it happened to be a late start school day due to bad weather. I spent most of the afternoon crying, waiting to see the oncologist later in the afternoon. She was helpful in providing us with much needed information. Telling me it was curable and that I wasn't going to die. We left the appointment encouraged and feeling able to start talking to friends and family.

On the way home, I called to tell my parents. It was so incredibly difficult. These are the times when I feel guilty for moving so far away. My family has been terrific this week and we're looking forward to our trip there for the holidays.

Tuesday was much better. I have great friends who took me out for coffee. One of the important things I've learned this week is that we have the best family & friends possible. I think that's what allows me to say that this was also the best week of my life. My friends at work have been awesome as well. Thanks to my boss, I was able to get in to see an oncologist at Virginia Mason on Tuesday. We really like him and I plan to be treated there.

Tomorrow is the big day. I have a CT/PET scan scheduled, then an appt with a radiation oncologist and then an appt with my oncologist. We will find out for sure the stage and start making a plan. At this point, given everything they know, they are assuming stage 1 or 2. Hopefully that will remain the case tomorrow. Right now I'm a little stressed about things getting cancelled tomorrow due to the weather. Given that we're supposed to fly out Tuesday, there is not a lot of time to reschedule before the holidays.

I know there are lots of you who want to help us and we will definitely need it. Right now there's not much to do. As soon as we have a plan, I'll let you know what is going on.

My plan right now is to have a great Christmas with my family and drink lots of wine! We wish all of you a Merry Christmas.

Bear with me on this blog thing-it's my first time.
Thank you!