Friday, June 30

Hi Everyone!
I had my biopsy today thankfully! The great news is that the lesion has not changed size, and the ultrasound they used to find AND biopsy the lesion showed that there are no other lesions on the liver. So that is really good news! However, I won't get my results until next week, especially with the holiday. I am going up to Door County tomorrow with Chris, my sister Katie, and her two little friends. Oh, I forgot Barney too. What a group! Talk to you soon!
Love,
Sherrie

Thursday June 29, 2006

Dear All,
I have been down at the hospital for appointments all week. It seems as though I am getting really good news from all of the doctors. I went to the radiation oncologist today, and as of right now the thought is I won't get radiation at all because there is nothing to radiate! I still have my liver biopsy tomorrow at 11:00am and the thought from all of the docs is that the liver lesion is nothing. My PET scan is negative except for this one little spot. How could the transplant take care of all of the disease in my bones, but then leave a tiny little lesion in my liver when I never had disease there before? That is the logical hypothesis.

I also wanted to let you know that my friend Morfia who I had met during chemo and mentioned once during this blog passed away on Monday. She was only 33 years old. She had stomach cancer. I had only met her twice, but she impacted me and I think I impacted her. She was beautiful and very smart. I feel like the past few days I have been chatting with her in heaven. I just know that she is safe and happy and with God. I can visualize her and I know she is a perfect angel! My Mom and I went to her wake tonight and there must have been over 200 people there. It was hard to see her family, but when we saw each other again, we exchanged many tears and hugs. Her sister, Violeta told me that Morfia was working for me, and making sure that I am going to be ok. I just know that she was loved so much. Please help me in praying for her and her family.

Good Night!
Love,
Sherrie

Monday, June 26

Dear everyone,
Bad News! I went downtown today for my biopsy. I was all geared up in my gown and getting my IV set. The doctor came in and asked me when I last ate, or if I took an aspirin. I told him I was on Coumadin. No one ever told me to cut my coumadin so my blood was too thin for the procedure. Therefore we needed to re-schedule for Friday and there is no guarantee that my blood will be okay on Friday. Such a mess! And we have to run to Northwestern almost every day this week for other doctor appointments. I wish this cancer stuff was easy! That you all for the prayers and being so supportive!
Love,
Sherrie

Sunday, June 25

Dear All,
I just wanted to let you know that I am having my liver biopsy at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Please help me pray that it is negative for Hodgkin's disease!
Love,
Sherrie

Friday, June 23

Dear All,
I had a huge problem last night. I was on my way to pick my friend Barrett up for dinner in Door County and I hit a HUGE deer! Once the police and the tow truck arrived, they couldn't believe that I hit such a big buck. It already had points on it's rack, and was a monster! I felt horrible about the deer. And my car is totaled on the front, and I couldn't get out of the driver seat.

My liver biopsy is scheduled for Monday morning at 10:30 at Northwestern. I am scared about the results, but there are a lot of things it could be other than cancer. Especially since the cancer was eradicated in my bones, and it is much harder to get rid of there.

Sherrie

Monday, June 19

Dear All,
After all that good news we are back to questionable news. It was thought the CT was clean from Friday however after Dr. Winter compared the CT and the PET today, there was an abnormal spot on both scans. Therefore, I need to have a biopsy done on the spot on my liver this week. That means I need to leave Door County, run home and be in limbo yet some more. It is so scary; I just want to be done with all of this.
Take Care,
Sherrie

Sunday, June 18

Dear Family and Friends,
I got the results of my CT scans from Friday and according to Dr. Winter, they were clean! So I guess that means I am cancer free! Tomorrow, they will compare the results from the CT to the PET scan to see what the abnormality on the PET scan was. So hopefully we can hammer out the results.

Does anyone know where the liver is in the body? That is where the abnormality was located near. I am having some pain in my ribs on the right hand side of my body and it is freaking me out because that is where the abnormality was on the PET.

Now I have to work on not worrying about relapsing all of the time! I tell ya, this cancer thing is no fun. I am so glad that for the most part, none of you have ever gone through it so extensively, and I pray to God that you never will.

I have had a fun weekend with my family in Door County, and Chris flew in Friday. Being the world traveler that he is, he is already on his way back to San Diego with a business trip to the Bay area this week, and then to the California/ Arizona border for some R&R with his family next weekend. He is quite the road warrior!

Love you,
Sherrie

Thursday, June 15

We met with Dr. Winter today. My scans were clean except for one tiny little spot near my liver. I am having 3 CT scans tomorrow to rule out the disease. Dr. Winter thinks it is highly unlikely that it is the Hodgkin's because all of the cancer all over the bone was resolved. So now we have to wait a few more days for a total clean bill of health. I know that God was the force that brought me to where I am, and he will continue to keep me in his care and allow me to have a long and satisfying life. That is one of his promises and I am going to keep believing that! So hopefully my little "spot" is nothing serious and I can move on with my recuperation. It has been a long year!
Love,
Sherrie
PS...This is a recent snapshot of my sisters and I. My brother Gary must have been wailing on his guitar when we took this!:)

Scans Tomorrow

Dear All,
I just wanted to let you know that I have my scans tomorrow. I have a PET scan at 6:30am, and MRI's at 11:15. I will be able to get films of the PET scan right after the test so I can compare them to the last scans. The last scans looked pretty clean to me so hopefully these will be totally clean! I probably won't have any official report from the doctor until Friday or Monday but just seeing the PET will ease my mind. Hope all is well with you!
Love,
Sherrie

Doctor's Visit

Yesterday, my Mom, Dad and I went downtown to see Dr. Winter. Unfortunately, she was not at the hospital yesterday so the trip was kind of pointless for good information. However, the good news is my counts look "great" and my stem cells are engrafted so we know that the stem cell transplant worked. Now we just need to see if the high dose chemotherapy worked. See the point of a stem cell transplant is that they give you so much chemo, it kills your bone marrow. Your stem cells are a rescue so that you can survive the high doses of chemo. I was told that they gave me more of the BEAM chemo then they have ever given anyone at Northwestern. So hopefully that will do the trick! They also said that because I am feeling so good, that has an impact on how much disease is left if any. Due to the fact that I feel good, theoretically the disease is minimal. Also, just having major pain from physical therapy to my surgery leg, and my back. I have been doing really well at therapy, and even rode the bike for 7 minutes today!
Love,
Sherrie

Britton and Teddy

Today my good friend Britton came to visit me with her Mom, Guerina and her new baby boy Teddy. Teddy was born premie on March 15, 2006 at 3'3". He is now bustling at 9 pounds. Here is a pic with me and the baby. Sorry the pic is blurry-My digital camera is ancient and all of the pics showed up questionable!
I see Dr. Winter tomorrow and my scans are next Wednesday!

Rock n Roll Marathon T-Shirt

The Weekend

Dear Everyone,
Sorry I haven't been posting much. There just hasn't been that much news lately. I started PT for my surgical leg this week. I have been doing the exercises at home though and am having major pain! I had a visiting nurse come today and she took 5 vials of blood from me. They are doing blood cultures etc. to make sure that my blood infection is gone. This Thursday, I go downtown to see Dr. Winter. The following week I have my day +45 scans which will determine if I am cancer free! I am so afraid to get those scans! Hope all is well with everyone!
Sherrie