To Dallas & Gustav

We are preparing to drive to Dallas for the weekend to see our dear friends Lance & Heather. We leave soon after the girls get out of school. As we are packing, I'm keeping an eye on TS Gustav. As of now, the projected path leads to Louisiana, but the tracking area covers Houston and we are preparing for that as well. We planned on coming home on Monday, but may have to do that on Sunday. If Gustav becomes a hurricane, comes to Houston, and Houston orders evacuations as it did with Rita, then we won't be able to come home at all. The main freeway, Highway 45, that goes north from Houston to Dallas will become a contraflow freeway. That means they open up all lanes of traffic to go north to accommodate 4 million people leaving the city.

Mom is staying here to watch the house and dogs for us. Should evacuations be needed, I have a friend that will get Mom and the dogs and come to Dallas. While I hate for Louisiana and Mississippi to have more destruction so soon after Katrina, I don't want the storm here either. Wish us luck and everyone have a great, safe weekend!

Firsts

Today was the first day of school for Anna & Sydney. Sydney was teary eyed when we left her in her class, but I know she'll be fine. Her teacher, Miss Branch, was Anna's 1st grade teacher too. Anna was also a little nervous when we left but had her friend Richard sitting next to her in class. She has 2 teachers, Mrs. Valicevic for homeroom and Language Arts and Mrs. Kelley for Math and Science. Both teachers seem really nice. I think this is going to be a great school year.

Hayden had his first mapping session today. This was where he got the external part of the implant, the processor, and it was turned on for the first time. He did great! He kept it on for a good part of the session and has been wearing it since we got home. It's on a very low volume right now, but we are going to try to turn it up several levels before we see the audiologist tomorrow morning. This pictures shows one of the body worn styles. He can also wear this behind the ear when we think he's ready.

Chemo #5 is over

That one wasn't so bad! I actually ate a little bit yesterday and today. I'm not sick, a little tired, but doing okay. I even went shopping this morning with the girls for back to school clothes. If the next 3 treatments are like this, then I think I might actually do okay. Yippee!!!

I have my echo scheduled for 8/29 so wish me luck. Jason is off next week. We plan on cramming in an entire summer of activities into the next week along with some well child check ups and therapy. We end the week with meeting the girls' teachers for next year. It should be a fun week.

Countdown

I'll leave in 2 hours to go to chemo #5. By the end of the day, I'll be closer to the end than the beginning. What a great feeling! I'm very anxious about this one only because I don't know how I'll feel when it's done. I shouldn't be sick, but that is a possible side effect. Most likely, I'll be tired for a few days.

There are 2 drugs that I'll be taking. I'll take Taxotere until October. The other drug I'll take is called Herceptin. I'll continue Herceptin for 12 months with a break for surgery. My tumor is HER2+, which is found in about 25% of breast cancer patients. It is an aggressive tumor that grows and spreads more quickly and requires different treatments. Herceptin is not a chemo drug, but rather a monoclonal antibody. These antibodies are more targeted than chemo and attach directly to the proteins that are increasing the cancer cell production. Only patients that are HER2+ take Herceptin. A big risk is recurrence. Herceptin has been found to lower the chance of cancer coming back versus patients that didn't take it.

One of the serious side effects of Herceptin is heart problems. With heart disease on my mom's side of the family (my grandfather and both great-grandfathers died from heart attacks), I'm following orders closely on this one. I'll have an echo cardiogram scheduled soon to see how my heart is tolerating the drug. My friend Odessa who is also my nutritionist has me on supplements that are supposed to improve heart health. I'm determined that if I can fight cancer, then I can fight the byproducts of the drugs as well. The only thing I can't fight is the hair loss. I thought my hair would start to grow back after this last round, but no. What's another 3 months, right?

Radiation still hasn't been completely ruled out. I need to meet with my radiologist to see what she thinks. She's also the doctor that did my genetics testing. Over the next month or so, I'll also be meeting with plastic surgeons to see the direction I want to go in for surgery. I have many options and, being so young, I have a long life ahead of me. I want to be happy with my decision for years to come.

Tidbits

Today's topics: Hayden's birthday, TS Edouard, our new roof and the alphabet.

First, Hayden turned 2 on Sunday! That's also Grandpa Dean's birthday. (Happy birthday, Dad!) We had a nice day. We decided to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for lunch which all the kids enjoyed. Hayden actually spent more time eating than running amok, his usual MO. Lunch was followed by a nice nap then his cake and presents. His 2 favorites were the tool set from us and tunnel/tent from the girls.

Next, Tropical Storm Edouard came right through our neck of the woods on Tuesday morning. Everyone spent the day before preparing for the worst, but luckily it wasn't bad at all. We've had worse thunderstorms since living here. There were some downed trees and several thousands of people near the area of landfall lost power, but we just got rain. I'm so glad we live north of Houston and not south. Jason did go into work, but stayed in the local Woodlands office which is about 10-15 minutes away.

Third, we are getting a new roof today. It was supposed to be Wednesday, but Edouard caused a few delays. The house is 18 years old and really needed a new roof. There has been enough hail damage over the years that we easily were able to have the claims adjuster approve everything. The guys started late yesterday and have been working today since 7 am. The house should be done today and the garage tomorrow. This was something that our inspector said needed to be replaced soon and, 2 years later, we are getting it done.

Finally, I've been trying to tape Hayden singing his ABCs for a few weeks now. He doesn't just sing, he belts it out! It's really cute, but we are also trying to get a before and after of him singing. Hopefully, this will sound a lot better once he's activated and has had some speech therapy. I hope you enjoy and I apologize for my singing.