Back to school and Jonas turns 8

What a year it's been! It was about this time last year that Mom had the horrible back pain and started on the rollercoaster of the cancer diagnosis and treatment!

We are so thrilled that she is feeling so much better right now. Her Dr. tweaked the chemo dosage that mom takes (one week on and one week off) and her energy level is so much better. The side effects are much less and she is happy to be planning a trip to the St. Louis area in the near future.

She spends time at her home in Merced and also time with us in Santa Barbara.

Today was Jonas' 8th birthday and tomorrow the boys start school so it's an excited time around the house.

Best (early) Birthday Gift, Normal PET SCAN!

Yesterday, Mom heard the fabulous news that the PET SCAN from last week came back totally normal. More good news, the scan shows that scar tissue is filling in the holes in the spine (holes left by the tumors) and this is a good thing as it helps to decrease the pain and it is part of the healing process.

Mom is on chemo to keep the cancer in remission. She had a rough few weeks recently (bad reaction to the build up of chemo) so the next step is find the balance of the dosage of chemo that will keep the cancer in remission and also allow her quality of life.

Tomorrow we will celebrate her 79th birthday with Mom here in Santa Barbara!

Friends in different stages!

3 friends in the chemo room, all have sat in that chair at different times.

Mom had a Dr. G (Chemo Dr) appt today and we were lucky enough to get to visit with other friends who were in the chemo room. Our family angel, Sydney (in the scrubs) was at the birth of all 3 of my boys and she finished her chemo a few years ago. Our dear friend,Yog (center), is in the midst of her 3rd battle with the BIG C. Yog (& partner Hil) are the dear friends who created this blog for us. Sydney was visiting Yog during her break of helping 2 mamas bring babies into the world.

3 friends in different stages of the process. All 3 have Dr. G as an oncologist! Someone joked that they are 'Greenwald Girls'!

It's not a spoon full of sugar but I do think that smiles and hugs and friends help the medicine go down....

The Champs!

Jonas & his brothers celebrate the win!

Gma and Jonas after the game!

Jonas' team won their game today for the championship! Mom was able to see last night's game and this morning's game and both were FUN to watch! Now Jonas is crashed out on Gma bed, he was watching golf with her.

Mini Family Reunion in KC

Rebekah, Tim, Michael, Kate, Steve, Mom, Grant and DJ

Dinner with the Satterfield Family &  Fred & Sarah Sebestyen in town from St. Louis!

Good Times in Grant's summer kitchen

Plus Ethan!

Tim & Ethan

Bekah and Tim, to be married in September

Michael and Kate

We had good timing to see family that we haven't seen in years. Mom's twin sister, Velma, son Steve and his wife DJ were in town from Seattle to visit their kids, Rebekah and Michael...or more likely to see handsome Ethan, their grandson! Rebekah, Tim and Ethan live about an hour away in Lawrence, Kansas. Michael and Kate live 20 min away from Grant. They were all able to come over and spend the evening with us. It was a fun gathering with great conversation.

PS when people ask me where Jack gets his extreme height, I credit my cousin, Steve, who stands about 6'6"!

Photos of KC trip!

Sweet Alexandra days before she turns 2!

Grant & Alexandra

Grant, Lovely Lucy, Luke, Sara & Grandma

Proud Aunt Julie

Debby (Amy's mom), Alexandra, Julie, Grant, Mom and Amy in Grant's kitchen

3 of Luke's fans at Graduation

Alexandra smelling the flowers at Luke's ceremony!

Luke & his family

One of my favorite photos!

Luke's Graduation in Kansas City & Alexandra turns 2!

Mom and I flew back to KC together last Thursday to celebrate Luke's high school graduation and also Alexandra's 2nd birthday! We had a great time! I came back on Monday but Mom stayed 3 days longer and had a lovely visit and was there for Alexandra's 2nd birthday party!

Mom was off the new chemo for the past two weeks (she extended her break from the chemo so she could feel better on her trip to KC) and today she started back on the chemo for her 3rd cycle. They did adjust the dose and hope that the side effects will lessen.

She gets LOTS of compliments on her new hair style and color!

Baseball play offs!

 I wish I had taken this photo but it was taken by a professional:)

Mom is back in Santa Barbara (from Kansas City...more on that later) just in time to watch Jonas' team win another game tonight. Tomorrow they play for the Championship! Gooo Phillies!

It feels like summer.........

Mom brought the iPad out to the dinner table so we could all enjoy the Cards vs. SD game!

Salmon Caesar Salad with roasted asparagus!

Watermelon for dessert!

It feels like summer, watching baseball and eating watermelon!

Jack's Piano recital

Before jack's piano recital today!

Jack & his fellow students after the recital.

The little brothers were lulled to sleep by the beautiful music!

Mom has been back and forth from Merced to Santa Barbara in the past couple of months. She is here in SB now. She tolerated the first cycle of the new chemo (in pill form) but this second round had brought more side effects. She sees the Dr in a couple of days and we hope he will be able to tweak the meds to lessen the side effects. All in all she is doing well. This weekend she was able to attend Jack's last baseball game and 2 of Jonas' games so that certainly helps! If only the Dr. could prescribe the St Louis Cards to WIN EVERY game---I know that would help:)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Mom is in Merced today and doing well!

Making Progress in the right direction

I realize I have not posted lately and a few people have mentioned that they would like an update. Yesterday's removal of the PORT seemed like a 'post worthy' event.  So since the last post, Mom went back to Merced for a few weeks and then came back here to Santa Barbara to start on her new chemo medicine. She has to be on a milder form of chemo b/c the tumors in the spine (which are now gone) were metastasized (they spread from the primary site). She started on the Zoloda (new chemo drug which is a pill) 2 1/2 weeks ago and so far is tolerated it well.  Her hair is growing back in a nice salt and pepper color. We can't tell yet if it's curly or not. We are keeping her busy with little league baseball games and she is enjoying the MLB season as well. I will post more photos soon. Thanks for checking in with us.

Happy 70th Birthday Dorothy!

Dorothy's Birthday Brunch with the Andersons, Lee, Ann and their daughter Mona!

Dorothy took Amtrak from Merced and arrived here in SB yesterday! This morning we had old friends over for brunch. We celebrated Mom's great recovery and Dorothy's birthday. Lee & Ann Anderson live in Merced.  Lee worked with Mom, Dorothy and my Aunt Velma in the Merced schools for many many years. Lee & Ann's daughter, Mona, lives in Santa Barbara. They were visiting Mona & her 3 kids this week.

After brunch, the girls packed up Mom's car and hit the road. Mom took ALL of her belongings. I must say I was a bit lost today, so grateful that the plan worked and the cancer is gone and Mom is back in her own darling house in Merced. I do miss her already. Fortunately, she will be back soon and stay for the first few weeks of her new chemo. At dinner tonight Jonas said "To be honest with you, I thought Gma was going to take Dorothy to her house and come back here." The boys aren't thrilled about Gma leaving although  they 'get' that it is b/c the treatment worked. Chyio  stuck close to me today after Mom left. The biggest question was "who will Chyio sleep with?" As I type this, he is snuggled in tight with Jack. 
This journey will continue but for now we would like to say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for supporting us thru these last 7 months. We felt your love and it was priceless. 

Dorothy arrives

Watching Jack's 1st regular season game with Dorothy!

Pre Birthday drinks for Dorothy!

Our Daily Book

Daily reading!

Jack & Jonas both love reading! We thank Gma for ALL the hours she reads with them!
All 3 boys LOVE reading books!

Complete Remission!

Celebration at Starbucks!

It's a beautiful March day!

The Dr. told us that the PET Scan showed complete remission! He said this is the best possible outcome! There are holes or open spaces in the bone, where the tumors use to be and in time scar tissue will fill that area. In 3-4 weeks he will start Mom on a oral chemo that is milder (with side effects).
Mom wanted to celebrate at Starbucks!
It's a happy day!

PS---more great news----She was BRCA negative!

Fasting is no fun

Love from Lisa (flowers) & Dawn (banana bread and cookies)!

2 boys feeling under the weather, snuggles with Gma

Mom could not eat any carbs or sugar yesterday and could eat NOTHING TODAY.
This morning I found these 2 little boys snuggling with Mom. Of course, it makes sense that she stay away from sick boys but that is not how she rolls.
Sweet friends brought Mom Flowers and sweets to have when she returns home from her test!
We hope to have the results at the Dr appt on Wednesday.

PET SCAN is scheduled

We just scheduled the PET SCAN for Monday March 5th, 2:00pm.
This is the test that requires a fasting from sugar and all carbs for 24 hours before the tests.

Throw up prayers, send good thoughts and work the beads for this test to show us the good word!

Play offs

Cheering Jack on in his play off basketball game!

This week both Jonas & Jack have both baseball and basketball games and practice. It's a busy (but fun) week. Tonight was the first of Jack's basketball play off games. Jack's team won (by 20 points).


Last night Mom finished reading Cutting for Stone, a 600 page book (which I LOVED TOO). Mom read it all in 4 days! This is a great indicator that she is making strides back to her pre treatment self. She has ALWAYS been a voracious reader but during the last 6 and half months of pain meds and PAIN she was not reading many books. She would read short magazine articles or emails and blogs. So it was fun to see that she couldn't put the book down!

LIttle Gold Men

A beautiful day to watch Jonas' baseball game

Gma & Jonas after his game!

It was a lovely afternoon game! Jonas is now in the mini minors which is a machine pitch division. He LOVES playing and it is fun to watch his JOY FILLED face during the game.

Jonas playing catcher!

The last trip to the chemo room!

When we walked into the chemo room today Beverley, R.N., said "Zeb it's your last day of Chemo!"

 

 

 

 

 

 The nurses in that Chemo room are as nice as can be and COMPETENT TOO (as my mom likes to say!)

Oh lucky day, our dear friends, Hil & Yog, happened to be visiting the Cancer Center today just as Mom finished her treatment! We twisted their arms to join us for lunch! We couldn't have planned it any better.

When Mom was first diagnosed, Yog & Hil were huge supporters for us and they set up this blog for us!

Mom picked Tupelo Junction for the celebratory lunch! Here we are toasting, Mom is having a Mimosa!

The plan, as I understand it, will be to have a repeat PET scan in about 4 weeks. The results will be great and Mom will start on a pill form of chemo. The pill is a milder treatment than the IV/Port treatment that Mom just finished.
Her hair will start growing back in during the next few months and as you all know--she hopes it is curly hair that is beautiful and easy to manage.
Words do not express our gratitude for all of the love and support you have given us during these last 6 and 1/2 months. THANK YOU THANK YOU! Much Love!

A fabulous long weekend, comes to an end!

Face time with Jane & Kids in Canada!

Chat time with Gma

We had such a lovely weekend, it's tough to say Good Bye! We are so thankful to have spent this precious time with Sara, Luke(17) & Lucy(16) from Kansas City.