Clean Scans!

Hey There,
I just wanted to let you know that my preliminary scans came back, and they are very clean! Once again, our prayers have been answered! I do still have low blood counts, but my white count has risen to 2.0. My Neutrophils (infection fighting level) are still below 1,000, which is pretty risky. I did get more immunizations today as well, and got a flu shot. Also, my left ovary is showing numerous egg follicles! I meet with Dr. Winter on Monday to discuss the results. Have a great weekend!
Sherrie

Hi

Hi There,
I haven't checked in for a while. After all of the early mornings, and long days at school, I had another restful weekend in beautiful Door County. It was gorgeous up there on Saturday, but I can't wait for Indian Summer! FYI...We have Thursday off for a holiday this week. My schedule will remain in tact with waking up really early as I have my scans at NMH first thing on Thursday morning. Please pray that they are ok!
Love,
Sherrie

Hi There

Hey There,
I was just reminiscing about what happened to me with my cancer experience two years ago. Can you believe I was first sick two years ago? My, how time flies. My Mom and sisters were in Washington D.C. for the weekend.

That was the weekend that my hair started falling out. The Thursday before, I got a cute short hair-cut, because I was waking up every morning with long strands of brown hair all over my pillows. It was so terrible.

That Saturday and Sunday, I remember that even though I was only a few weeks into chemotherapy, I was getting my energy up and my Dad and I walked about 3 miles each day.

One of those weekend mornings, Dad and I went to Walker Brothers for breakfast. The weather was not unlike this weekend, 80 degrees and sunny. We had the windows open in the car, and as we were driving along, my hair was flying out in huge whisps. I purposely didn't wash my hair that weekend because I knew I would have clumps falling in the shower.

That Sunday night, my Dad took the #5 clippers to my head. That first time, I never got completely bald, but it was still pretty bad.

This morning at church, my female Pastor, Jane told me she is going to be shaving her head in January for Pediatric Cancer Research. After going bald 3 times in one year, it is safe to say that I told her I didn't think I could share in that fun experience with her!

Other than that, things are well. I am having a lot of shortness of breath lately. I had symptoms of this last fall as well, and after so many tests, nothing was decided. I think it could be some allergies, but it is the same feeling I got as the tumor in my chest started growing. I have a CT scan on September 13, so we will see.

Talk to you soon!
Sherrie

Crazy Day

I have the most wonderful class in the entire world! There are 21 kids, and they are all very sweet, and extremely well behaved. We had some issues today though....After a great day, 10 minutes before the bell rang, the tornado sirens went off in school. In all of my years teaching, I never had that happen. It was such a strange way to start the year. After over 1.5 hours in the hallway with the kids hands over their heads sitting Indian style, we finally got the all clear. I texted my Mom to tell her about the days events, and she informed me that all of the schools in Barrington where I live were on lock down because there were two armed gunman roaming in Barrington Hills. Sounds like Judgement Day. I have been working very hard (getting up at 4:30-5:00am each day) but I feel as though I am back to my old tricks from before I was sick. I have been pulling over 12 hour days to get things ready, but then I have been driving up to Door County on the weekends to work. I know I should take it easy, but this is who I was before I was sick, and I guess that I haven't lost my assertive force. Anyway...
Have a good weekend!
Love,
Sherrie

Welcome to Third Grade!

Hey There!
I just wanted to let you know tomorrow is my first day of school. I will post some pictures of the room tomorrow! It should be a fun and exciting day. I have 21 students in my class. Wish me luck!
Love,
Sherrie

Congratulations!

Hi There!
I just wanted to let you know that my cousin Michelle Keany, (Uncle Mike's daughter) had her beautiful baby boy yesterday. After she was induced, and her contractions began, she delivered the babe in under 5 minutes! Michael John Keany was 8 pounds and 1 ounce. He is beautiful, and will probably be called "Mickey!"

Hi!

Hey There!
I have been in Austin, Texas this weekend with my best friend Laura. My cousin Chris lives here as well, so we have had a very fun time with him showing us around. Chris is a trooper...he took us to very nice lunches and dinners and upscale shopping centers. He is awesome!

I got a call from the doctor's office at NMH after my labs were done last week. I was feeling like I had swollen lymphnodes in my neck, however, I was doing a lot of physical labor working at Al Johnson's and at Ecology Sports. My tumor markers (LDH, SED) were below normal again which is wonderful! That means that there is no evidence of Hodgkin's activity based on blood work. What is not so great is my ANC and my white blood count. These two levels are your infection fighting ability. When I was going through chemo, and if my ANC were .500, they told me not to leave the house. Now, my ANC is .800. A normal person probably has an ANC of 4.5 or even higher. This is a scary thought considering I am going back to teaching this week!

I met a very nice woman from San Antonio, Texas at the pool here. She was bald, and I figured she was going through breast cancer. Absolutely not. This woman, 6.5 years ago, was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She had an Auto transplant and then relapsed two and a half years later. She was treated again. She relapsed again 8 months ago with Pre-Leukemic cells. When you are given so much chemotherapy and radiation, there is a great chance that you could develop Leukemia. Well, she did. She was given an Allogenic transplant four months ago, and she looks fabulous, and she is clean! When I see someone like that, I feel guilty because I don't feel like I have been through anything compared to her! I guess it is all relative.

Here are some pics from the trip.
Have fun!
Sherrie

Pics

http://web.mac.com/fundraiser2/iWeb/Site%208/Photos.html

End of Summer

Hi There,
I am so sad! It is nearing the end of my summer in Door County. I have been working so much, and although I have fun at work, I don't feel like I have gotten time to do everything that I love.

I am going home on Tuesday, re-leveling books for my classroom on Wednesday, taking a little trip over the weekend, and then back to work!

I can't believe that it has been two years since I was so sick, and not able to work. I am excited about setting my classroom up though, and I love the first few weeks of school!

Here is a pic of Lizzie and I on her birthday, and also a shot from my friend Maureen's bachelorette party in Sister Bay last night.

Have fun!
Sherrie

Prayer Request

Hi There,
I just wanted all of you to wish well wishes to my friend, Molly. After she had her second baby last Spring, she was randomly diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. She was 29 years old. She had her Thyroid removed, and many lymphnodes (I think 24!) She had the Radio-Iodine treament done at NMH. Now, she is pregnant with her new little one, and found out that her tumors are still malignant. She has a wonderful husband and daughters, and is going to beat this! She will win, once again! Please keep her young family in your thoughts and prayers!
Love,
Sherrie

An Ephraim Sunset

It's the Gals, Not the Goats!

Hi

Hey There!
How are you? I have been trying to post a lot of Door County family pics when my Grandparents were up along with my Auntie Char and Uncle Phil, and some of my Mom's friends. We have a dial up wireless situation here so everything runs as slow as molasses!

When I was home, I had labs done and my white count and Neutrophils are again, very low. Your ANC is your ability to fight infection. When I was going through chemo, if my ANC was .5, I was told not to leave the house. Now, my ANC is .9. Kind of scary.

However, I have been working at my two jobs about 6 days a week, dealing with massive amounts of the public and knock wood, I haven't gotten sick. We will see what happens when I get around the kids this fall.

Here are some of my pics. I can't believe summer is flying by!

A Very Exciting Time!

Hey there!
I wanted to let you know that my brother Gary, and his girlfriend Jenn got engaged today after 10 months of dating. It is a very exciting time!

Uncle Mike's Obituary

My Uncle Mike had a wonderful write up in the Chicago Tribune for his obituary.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/chi-hed_strodenjul08,1,3816446.story?coll=chi-newsobituaries-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Summer Pics and Uncle Mike

Hi There,
We came home from Door County for Uncle Mike's wake and funeral. Although he suffered at the end, there are a lot of joys to be thankful for as well! In late August or early September, my cousin Michelle is having her third baby boy! This little guy will join Hugh (4) and Owie (2). Michelle was going to name the baby a nice Irish name, but decided to name him Michael after my Uncle Mike. That is so awesome that he will have a namesake!

Amongst all of this sadness, here is a link to some fun summer pics. Hope you are all enjoying your summer!
http://web.mac.com/fundraiser2/iWeb/Site%207/Photos.html

Sad News

My Uncle Mike passed away today. His body just couldn't handle the fight of his lymphoma any longer. Please pray that he is in heaven, and that my Aunt Carol and Michelle weather this horribly emotional storm.
Love,
Sherrie

Sad Family News

Hi There,
Please pray for my Uncle Mike, and my Auntie Carol and cousin Michelle. Carol and Michelle have decided to convene and make final decisions concerning my Uncle Mike's life. He has been on life support for 12 days, and his infections and blood clots are only getting worse. His organs are beginning to shut down. It is such a sad time for my family. Please pray that the Lord takes my Uncle Mike naturally, and my Aunt and cousin are not forced to make such horribly difficult decisions on thier own.
Love,
Sherrie

Well Wishes and Prayers

Hi There,
I always feel like the bearer of cancer news. This beautiful little girl is yet another person afflicted by this horrible disease. I don't understand cancer. My family and friends had never experienced it, and now all we do is live with it. Please check on little Teagan daily.
Love,
Sherrie
www.princessteagan.com

Anniversary

Hi There!
I just wanted to give you a few updates.
My Uncle Mike is still on Life Support at NMH. They did an MRI of his brain, and noted that after two treatments of this chemotherapy that his brain tumor is much smaller. He is only on 40% strength for his life support level. Please pray that he gets through this!

I am up in Door County for the summer and having a blast. I am working at Al Johnson's one day a week, and have been filling it at Ecology Sports. The problem is, I don't think that I am as spry as before I got sick. I am extremely exhausted at the end of the day, and end up passing out around 8:30, and sleeping twelve hours. I wonder how things will be when I go back to teaching in the fall!

I am also taking golf lessons, spending time with friends and family, and scheduled to take paddling lessons. The weather has been so beautiful that I am just trying to keep as active as possible!

I am also working on my book about my cancer experience and have touched base with a wonderful copy editor that my friend Anita used for her book. My goal is to finish my complete rough draft by August 1.

Today is the two year anniversary of when I found out I was sick. My how time flies. I have written a little bit about that day in my book, and here is an exerpt.

"The weekend crawled by, and considering it was June in Chicago, the temperatures creeped up into the 90’s. On Monday, I woke up and decided that I couldn’t feel bad anymore. I showered, threw on a cute summery outfit and curled my hair. My Mom and I were going with my sisters Lizzie and Katie to meet my Auntie Sherry for lunch in Lake Forest. I was awfully quiet on the ride to Lake Forest. We approached a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop, and I got a call from a strange 847 number on my phone. “Pull over,” I told my Mom. We knew that this is the phone call that would determine my fate. I paced around the car and answered the phone. “Sherrie, this is Dr. Charrous. You have Hodgkin’s Disease which is a type of cancer. You didn’t do anything to get this, it just happened. A lot of young people get this type of cancer. You are going to have chemotherapy. Do you know what that is? You are also going to have radiation, do you know what that is?” I answered meekly, “Yes.” Also, I want to let you know that this is a very curable, treatable cancer. If you are going to get any cancer, this one is the good one.” The good cancer? After all of my treatment and hardships, NO cancer would be the good cancer!
You would think that a person, especially a young person, would be hysterical and upset when someone tells them they have cancer. I wasn’t. I was so relieved that they found something. I took the news graciously, and was so at ease knowing that the determinate of my symptoms had been revealed.
My Mom and sisters knew it was bad as I paced around the car. When I told them, seconds later, all I remember is my sister Katie, who generally does not show emotion broke into hysterical, wet and salty weeping sobs. She was sobbing so hard, her face was beet red, and fat tears stung her eyes. My Mom just gripped my hand. I called my Dad right away. I could hear him on the phone, choking away the sadness. Later on that night he told me that he had known I would be diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease all along. There were three indicators in which he discovered the source of my symptoms. The first was the day of my lymphnode biopsy (the previous Friday), Dr. Charrous really didn’t come out of the OR and tell my parents that things were all right. He came out of the OR and when my Mom and Dad inquired about my status, he remarked, “It doesn’t look good.” My parents told me later that he came to talk to them, and stared directly past them; he couldn’t even look them in the eye. He explained that a Hodgkin’s Disease cell resembles a large circle with two big eyes, almost like owl eyes. The lymphnodes he collected from my neck were big, puffy owl eyes. I don’t even know how my parents could look at me all weekend, knowing that I had a potentially fatal disease, and still remain positive. The second inkling that my Mom and Dad had was the research that they were doing online. All signs led to Hodgkin’s. As my Dad sat at work that frightful Monday morning, he was forced to participate in a meeting. All the while, a strange number kept on popping up on his caller ID. Finally, after many tries by the caller, my Dad answered the telephone. “Gary,” said my Uncle Joe. “I’m calling you because I need to prepare you and your family for the news you are about to receive.” My uncle, who was a doctor at Glenbrook Hospital had been sleuthing around that Monday. He said when he found out the results of my biopsy, as well as my abnormal chest film, that he instantly went weak at the knees. I was his favorite niece, I was one of the first kids to be born in the family, how could this be happening to Sherrie?"

Hope all is well!
Sherrie