Six Month Scans

Sunday evening we arrived at St. Jude for her PET and CAT scans.  It was a very nice drive from AL.  Our GPS took us on a back road so it was kind of a long ride.  Courtney really wanted Panera for lunch so she said she didn't want to "settle" for McDonalds.  She sure regretted that.  lol  We drove and drove waiting for a Panera bread, which only came 5 hours later.  So we ordered our Panera... drove to Grizzly house to check-in and unpack... went to the hospital for our 7 pm appointment... got back to eat her lunch and my dinner at 8:00 pm.  They did not give us salad dressing!  It was very funny and I am still laughing.  We ordered a pizza just to eat something and went to bed.

Monday Courtney had her first bad experience at St. Jude.  Her nurse for her PET scan was not very pleasant to start with and she could not get Courtney's IV in.  She tried 2 times and kept digging in her vein.  Courtney never has problems with needles and she has great veins.  She told the lady that she was going to either pass out or vomit and she KEPT DIGGING!  By then I was angry and I told her we need a bucket and she was just looking around so slowly.  She finally pulled the trash can over to courtney and she vomited!!  Ughhh!!  Another nurse finally came in and got the IV on his first try... thank goodness!!  She did great with her scans and the rest of her appointments.

Tuesday we got Courtney's results, and they are ALL CLEAR!!  I was a little nervous last night and this morning, but I prayed a lot, and our prayers were answered again.  Tomorrow we have to go to the dermatologist at St. Jude so they can look over her entire body, but I am confident she is okay.  They continue to keep her on the thyroid medicine and even increased the dose last visit.  We will see how that goes tomorrow as well.

Courtney has been in remission for 1 year and 8 months now, and we are very thankful!!

April Monthly Check-up

Courtney had her monthly check up last week and things went okay.  She has been having some pain in her liver area and her ribs are separating in the same area.  You can even see an indentation.  The doctor did xrays and an ultrasound of her liver and gallbladder, but they turned out normal.  They do not know what is causing the pain, and she continues to have it.  She takes medicine and puts icy patches on the area and that is helping for now.  We will talk to the doctor again at the May visit if this continues.  She continues on the same dose of peginterferon.  Her last treatment will be June 5th!  We are both excited to be finished with the shots, but we are also scared that the cancer will come back.  We pray that she continues to be NED after she stops the medicine.... for the rest of her life!  It is amazing that next month is one year since she was diagnosed.  Since her melanoma could be genetic we have to watch all of our skin and moles very carefully, which we have been doing.  Saturday one of my moles that I have been watching starting bleeding (a lot) and Courtney and I looked at each other and our stomachs dropped.  She said I need to go to the dermatologist.  I was going to go after Hawaii since it usually takes weeks or months to get an appointment, but I called and took me right away.  I was so surprised.  They removed the mole that was bleeding and another one on my thigh that looked like it had 2 colors in it, and I will get the results in about 7 days.   The previous 4 moles that I have had removed have come back fine, so I am sure these will too.  I finally found a doctor that I really like in Bowling Green.  He took the time to talk to me and explain a lot of things.  I was very pleased with him, and I will be bringing my family to see him as well.      

She is doing well on her thyroid medicine.  Her temperatures are normal again, and she has more energy.  She had some angry feelings when she first started taking it, but those are gone.  She does get irritated by people at times as well, but who doesn't.  We met with the hormone doctor this visit and he thinks that the interferon is causing the thyroid problems and it will hopefully go back to normal after she completes her treatment.  St. Jude is simply amazing!  We love everyone there.


Today I received our Make-A-Wish Itinerary and packet.  Yay!!  We leave one week from today to Maui, Hawaii.  The hotel looks absolutely beautiful.  This is very exciting and have been looking forward to this for a long time.  Make-a-Wish is amazing, and we are SO thankful to them.   

Valentines Day

Courtney and I spent Valentines Day at St. Jude for her monthly check up.  It was a very long 7 hour day, and then another 5 hour drive home.  I am looking forward to sharing the drive with my daughter when she gets her license this summer.  :) 

It was a very nice day.  Courtney gave me a beautiful box with polka dots and roses to store my important papers in, and heart chocolates from her and and her boyfriend.  I was very surprised as I have never received a Valentines gift from her.  I gave the kids heart boxed chocolates.... I also received roses. :)

I am not sure what to make of this check-up yet, but they told us that her thyroid numbers were very high from the peginterferon and they put her on thyroid medicine.  Now, every visit she also needs to see an Endocrinologist to regulate her medicine.  I need to do more research on this.  After the appointment I could see the worry in Courtney's eyes when she asked me, "can I die from this?"  My poor girl has been through so much over the last 9 months, I was hoping all the worries were gone.  Lately she has been worrying and stressing about college and planning for her future.  I do not want her to have any other worries.

The good news is her liver enzymes are down to almost normal and they slightly increased her dose.  She has 4 more months on peginterferon..... and then what?   We know that the medicine provides an extra 9 months of relapse free occurrence, but it does not extend overall survival.  I am afraid that once we are finished with the treatment, the melanoma will come back like so many others.

I read a few melanoma blogs, and we just lost another brave fighter recently.  I prayed for him every day as I pray for so many.  A friend that I went to school with.... her best friend's daughter has kidney cancer and is in hospice.  She is only in her early 20s.... such a beautiful young lady, and it breaks my heart to see so much cancer in young children, teenagers and young adults.  I have always been a worrier when it came to my children, but NEVER IN MY LIFE did I worry that they would get cancer.  I worried about everything else... not this.  In the first six or so months, I cried every day and worried that she was going to die, but I kept it all to my self.  No matter what people said to me, it did not make things better.  Courtney's doctor said to me that finding out your child has cancer is a grieving process, just like a death.  You go through stages.  That is exactly what happened to me.  One day I decided to pray for myself, in addition to everyone else.... I prayed for strength.  My prayers were answered and my depression, crying, and worrying about dying went away.  I now feel certain that Courtney is going to be okay.  I keep praying that I continue to be strong for my daughter as this will be a fight for the rest of her life.... her long, long life! <3

Mother Passes Deadly Cancer to Baby

Mother Passes Deadly Cancer to Baby

Melanoma can be passed to fetus while mothers who have melanoma are pregnant.  This is very sad and so scary. 

Tanning Beds - KY 12RS HB249

I was very pleased when CA was the first to ban tanning beds for those teens 18 and younger.  I felt that other states would definitely follow in their footsteps since they are proven to cause cancer.  I could not wait to see how other states followed.  A good portion of other states have proposed bills for 18 and younger, but not KY.  I was so disappointed when I read this:
  
KENTUCKY - HB 249 has been introduced. It would prohibit any person younger than 14 years of age from using a tanning device. Major disappointment!! Most of the teen tanning bed users are probably older than 14, so that totally ignores the problem. KY residents, let your state legislators know that you are not happy with such a weak bill. 

There are a few other states that are also introducing the 14 and under ban.  I did contact my state legislator.   

My daughter was 16 when she was diagnosed with melanoma!