Bet ya'll want an update....

Well, it's been quite a winter! Mom has been doing so great! Mom, Dad, Tim & I all went to Vegas in January. The highlight of the trip was the Bette Midler Show and Caesar's Palace. It was so much fun! But since then the greatest highlight of the year came earlier this week. Mom received the results of her most recent PET Scan (the cancer test).....It was COMPLETELY NEGATIVE!!! That's right, she's cancer free! This last year has been filled with such highs and lows that we I don't know what we would have done without the wonderful outpouring of love and support from our amazing friends and family. We are forever grateful to each and every on of you!

SHE'S DONE!!!

The day that she has been looking forward to for 16 weeks now has finally come. Yesterday, Mom completed her 16 weeks of chemo. I am pretty sure she would agree that this has been the longest seven months ever. She said she is ready to enjoy her retirement now, and she couldn't be more excited. I know that even as strong of a family as we have we couldn't have gotten through this without all of your prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, and shoulders for us to lean on. By the grace of God, from the very beginning things "fell" into place to get her where we are today. Everything from her initial appointments happening the day after getting the CT scan results, to the surgeon being able to remove the entire tumor. She can't wait to see Dr. Brook (the original pulmonary doctor) again so she can look at him and give him a "Haha, look at me know" smirk for telling her what he initially told her. I don't think I ever posted this but when he initially saw her, he told us from what he saw and given her history and her family history, he "could guarantee us 99.9%" it was small-cell cancer and she had about three to six months left at best. Seriously! Boy, look at her now!

She does have some follow up appointments to make sure she is continuing to heal and nothing more develops. She sees the oncologist in October and has another CT scan then. I'm sure we will all be on pins and needles at that time, but trust in God that she will remain cancer-free.

She's for the most part feeling pretty good. The last treatment was on Wednesday (because of the holiday) and she's feeling pretty good. So good, in fact, they're at the boat right now. She really looking forward to playing in the annual City of Pleasant Hill golf tournament. (Thanks, Nici!) She's not 100% yet, but she's well on her way. She knows that each day brings back more strength and energy she has missed over the past seven months. And how about this for a running weight total, her finishing weight at her last treatment was...........102lbs! That's amazing for someone who started this journey at 105lbs, got down to about 95lbs when she came home from the hospital, then gained back as much as she did while on chemo.

Once again, thank you all for your continued prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, and the shoulders you have let us lean on during this time. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

Down To The Home Stretch!

Last Tuesday was Mom's last infusion of "The Big Ugly" and she couldn't be more excited. She has three treatments left...forever! They gave her some extra medicine to take for her last treatment, and it did help, she says her nausea isn't as bad as it has been after the previous big treatments. During her last cycle, she had to miss her treatments for weeks two and three because her counts were too low. But they came back up just like always, which is good. If history keeps repeating itself when it comes to her treatments she more than likely just have two treatments left to go. Her weight is holding pretty steady. Dad says she's eating him out of the house.

She's starting to get cabin fever from being in the house so much that they're already planning their next trip to Vegas in November. And, now that it's cooling off, she's also gearing up to hit the golf course!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and well wishes. Don't forget, visitors are always welcome at the Beatty house!

Calling All Photos

We are working on a little project for Mom. We are in need of any pictures anyone may have from Mom's Retirement party or any events from the past year. You may email those pictures to me at kimrey4@yahoo.com or any extra copies can be mailed to me, Jodie, or Jason. We can email the addresses to you if you would like to help us that way. Thank you!

Guess What???

Time to update again, I hear! Once again, Mom had to skip the third week of this last cycle because her counts were too low, just like the last time. However, she was able to receive her treatment yesterday. We're pretty sure this will be a week three thing for the next two cycles. We're not really upset about the skip, she kind of looks forward to having a week off of the side effects.

Even better news, SHE IS HALFWAY DONE WITH CHEMO!!!

She has come so far. So much has changed for her since February 19th, 2009. We pray that helping her reflect on all she has overcome since that day will help her get through the next eight weeks. She is so strong and we know that she will be just fine. She is even ready to hit the links once again. She's looking forward to the golf tournament the city puts on every year. We think we have our scramble strategy worked out...I drive and she putts...you all better watch out!

This week is the Cass County Fair and what better place to celebrate her "Halfway Milestone" than to gather together at the Miller Pavilion tomorrow night to help her celebrate being halfway done with chemo! If you're out and about tomorrow night, stop by and say hello and even join us in toasting her!

One Cycle Down, Three More To Go!

Mom's counts were back up and was able to get her treatment Tuesday completing the first cycle of chemo. Woo-hoo! She tolerated her treatment very well, not getting sick at all. She is doing very well staying on top of her nausea meds. She has three cycles to go (12 weeks). Her treatment this coming Tuesday is another "big one" where she gets both chemo drugs.

She's even becoming a Facebook phenom reuniting with people she hasn't talked to in a while. I think she's getting addicted!

We'll update you all on how Tuesday goes!

Third Time's Not A Charm

Well, Mom's chemo started good the first two weeks. She gets it on Tuesdays. The first week when she received both medicines the nausea kicked in Thursday morning and lasted until Friday afternoon. We didn't even wait to find out if the Compazine they gave her for nausea worked or now, we called for a prescription for Zofran. The combination of the two medicines for nausea really worked for week two when she just received the Navelbien. Last week she was just a little nauseated on Thursday but did really good.

Today, Mom went for her third treatment, she was supposed to get the Navelbien today. Unfortunately, her blood counts were too low to let her get it safely. Her white blood cell count (WBC's) are normally supposed to be 5,000-10,000, they will treat her even if they are as low as 2,000. Her WBC today was 1,700. Another component is the absolute neutrophil count (ANC). The ANC is a count of the immature WBC's. This level should normally be greater than 1,000. Today, hers is 200. Unfortunately, they had to hold her treatment for today. We knew this would probably happen. Dr. Stephenson had told us before that usually the third and or fourth weeks of the cycles have to be held due to low counts. It just stinks to really have it happen.

Her counts are low enough to have an effect on her immune system so you might see her around with a bottle of Purell and a container of Clorox wipes in her purse. She's wanting to stay as healthy as possible for Dad's big reunion this weekend. They are going to St. Louis for a reunion with Dad's company he served with in Vietnam. He is really looking forward to this.

Once again, thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers, and occasional taxi services for Mom. We are a very blessed family to be surrounded by such wonderful people.