Lizzie's Birthday

Here is a pic of my fabulous sister Lizzie at her 21st birthday party at Bordo's in Lincoln Park. She is going back to college for her senior year on Friday:(

Tuesday August 8, 2006

Hey Everyone!
Long time, no talk! I just wanted to let you know that tomorrow is my Day +100 days after my stem cell transplant. Can you believe it?
I was cleared to fly last week so I jumped on a plane and went to visit Chris in San Diego last Tuesday. We had a very fun time. When he was working, I had his car so I went to the beach and shopping on Coronado, Del Mar and at Fashion Valley.
This past weekend, we drove up to the wine country in Temecula and stayed in a beautiful suite at a B&B. On Sunday night, we went to see Olivia Newton John. It was so fun!
I flew home and drove up to Door County yesterday. I come home on Sunday for some tests at Northwestern, and then back to San Diego on Wednesday.
My tests next week consist of a CT scan of my liver to make sure the lesion has not changed. I am also getting a Doppler of my leg to make sure that my blood clot is gone!
Talk to you soon,
Sherrie

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Hey All,
Last night I went to my good friend, Barrett Bridenhagan's wedding in Door County. She and her new husband Mark, were married on her back lawn overlooking the water in Sister Bay. The reception was held outdoors at her uncle's home, two doors away. The ceremony and the reception were so beautiful and the weather was great! I went to the wedding with my parents and my sister Katie. Here are some pics of the night!

Kinzie and I

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Hi Everyone!
I am back up in Door County. I had a wild week last week with doctor's appointments almost every day. On Saturday, we celebrated my Auntie Sherrie's 50th birthday. I also took a spill down our back stairs. Needless to say, I hurt my bad knee and twisted my right ankle. I think being clumsy just comes naturally for people in my family. Especially my Mom and I!

The pics shown are with my friend Erika's little beauty, Kinzie. Kinzie was born about 1 hour before I got my stem cells back on May 1. She and I have a little bond! We are both May babies now!

Enjoy the pics!
Love,
Sherrie

Wednesday July 19, 2006

Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to give everyone a little update:)
Months ago, my fertility doctor told me that I was in menopause. A couple of days ago, I started spotting. I ran to my OB Gyn this week and he did hormone level tests to see if the menopause theory was true. He also ordered an ultrasound of my uterus due to the uncommon spotting. I had the ultrasound today, and everything is great, thankfully. The bad news is my hormone levels came back, and I am far along into menopause, and won't recover. I knew that this was the likely situation for me (considering I have had 15 different chemos in the last year) but it is just hard to hear it again! Luckily, if I need eggs, I have Katie and Lizzie to back me up! And, by the time I am ready to have kids, who knows what advancements will be out there!
I also received flowers today from my friends Maureen, Kara and Julie from college. I will take and pic for the blog! They are so bright and cheerful. They really made my day!
Love,
Sherrie

Tuesday July 18, 2006

Hey Everyone!
I just wanted to show you how cute my boyfriend is:) I think he likes to take pictures of himself when I am not around!
Love Ya,
Sherrie

July 11, 2006

Dear All,
I am sure that you have heard about the happenings in Door County this week. Well actually Ellison Bay which is the town 4 miles south of us, and where my Auntie Sherrie's family lives. At a resort called Cedar Grove in the middle of Sunday night, there was an explosion in one of the homes. They think it was the LP tank near the home. 3 people passed away. The explosion was so strong that it caused our favorite general store called the pioneer Store to plummet to the ground with the owner sleeping soundly on the second floor. Carol, fortunately was okay, but her livelihood is not. My grandparents were staying at the B&B next to the pioneer store and were evacuated at 3:00. Luckily they were accessible to our friends, The Tencate's so they were able to snooze there until Monday morning. The entire town is blocked off. When we went into town to retrieve my grandparents belongings, they were interviewed by news cameras. They are celebrities!

Sunday July 9, 2006

Here are pics of Chris and I from last week in Door County. As you can see, I need to change the settings on the camera, but I thought the pic looked sort of cool with the color in the background!
Love,
Sherrie

Great News!

Hey Everybody!
Great News! My liver biopsy came back negative for Hodgkin's Disease, but inconclusive as far as anything else is concerned. So Dr. Winter thinks that we need to wait 4-6 weeks and keep an eye on the spot. But it is negative for cancer and that is what I am thrilled about! Our prayers were answered!
I am up in Door County right now until the 17th. Chris was up for the 4th and had to leave yesterday:( My grandparents are coming up tomorrow for 2 weeks so that should be fun!

Talk to you soon!
Love,
Sherrie

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!:)