Start the Engine....this Pursuit is about to Take Off!!

The Doctor's Orders are in!!

As a side note, let me just say that you should not eat Kewpee right before you have an oncology appointment. Kewpee deserves to be enjoyed to the very last bite, I did not respect my Kewpee yesterday as I picked at the hamburger and only ate half the fries...so disappointing! Needless to say, I was a little nervous and my stomach was doing flips all day. I had my A-Team with me though, My Moma cause she is awesome, my sister cause she's a nurse, Andrew cause he's my rock, and you all in my heart cause of your support!

So here it is...the good news first and foremost.......I GET TO GO ON VACATION NEXT WEEK!!!!!! :) My whole family is taking a trip to the beach and I am so excited that the doctor will let me go too! The doctor agreed that four days will not put me too far behind treatment schedule, so he cleared me to go! We leave Monday, get back on Thursday, and start right in with the treatment process on Friday. I am SOOOO looking forward to my nieces and nephews, my dad's birthday party, grandma's noodles and mashed potatoes, boat rides, fishing, and um....THE BEACH AND SUN!!!!

And then the good news (I don't say bad because how could something that is going to fix me be bad, right??).... I have a tumor under my rib cage next to my heart that the doctor described as a 'monster tumor'. It's 9 cm, so it is a perfect explanation to why my chest has been hurting when I breath. I loved when one of the doctors a couple weeks ago asked, 'How often do you feel the pain in your chest?' and I was pretty much like 'Just about every 5 seconds when I take a breath! How would you feel if you swallowed a baseball that never got digested?!' :) There is also a tumor near my throat which explain why I have felt like I had a sore throat for so long. And while every time I put my hands over my head, my wind pipe gets cut off. This puts me in Stage 2 of cancer. Like I said before, they did the biopsy and LUCKILY, Hodgkin's Lymphoma is so easily diagnosed. They know exactly what to look for under the microscope and the cells are pretty identifiable, so there was no hesitation in the diagnosis (By the way, I went to Dr. Powell at the Cancer Center in Lima....HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY OTHERS AND NOW BY ME! The doctor really knew what he was talking about and the nurses are SO FUN!)

So then came the treatment plan. I thought I was prepared to hear anything. But it was still a shock. I have never been pregnant, but that's what I would compare it to. For so long you say 'Oh a baby...' and then when you find out your pregnant, it's like 'OH, A BABY!' When he told me 4 months of chemotherapy and a couple rounds of radiation after that, I thought...'Oh Baby!' :) There was SO much information he told my about the combination of drugs being use, the dosage, the side effects, the medicines, the ect......... that I was so lucky I had someone to take notes. Your head literally goes blank. However, now I am prepared to knock this out of the park and get on with life!

Lots of stuff to do in the mean time! As soon as I get back from vacation, I get an ECHO done, some bone marrow taken out, a PET scan, a pulmonary function test, and my powerport put in (this is so they can give me drugs through a port under my skin instead of poking my veins every time, I am a BIG BABY when it comes to needles, trust me!) ...... all before I start my first treatment of chemo on July 15. It's gonna be a busy week! Good thing is, the first or second treatment of chemo should reduce the size of the tumor so much I should be able to breath a lot easier again! YEAH!!!!!!

So thank you for the thoughts and prayers sent my way on July 1. There really isn't anything I can do but somehow tell you my gratitude for how much support you all have given me through this (in so many different ways!). Thanks for the texts, fb messages, flowers, emails, books, and wristbands (NEVER GIVE IN Dad :) You all keep me so upbeat, but if it wasn't for prayer, this whole journey would be pretty rocky. This road ahead is now laid out, but I cannot see down it yet to see where it leads. But that's ok, because 'We live by faith, not by sight.' 2 Corinthians 5:7 I believe God can see down this road and I got a big smile on my face because He hasn't let me down yet!

P.S. Maybe this road leads to the Caribbean Islands....a girl can dream right??? :o)