Heading to TX

So I got a call from a lady down at MD Anderson yesterday. I had been waiting to hear back from Dr. Bell about what we needed to do as far as radiation and to see if he had been in contact with MD. Instead of talking to Dr. Bell, MD call themselves to let me know I had an appointment scheduled for Monday Nov. 5th. I was real happy with how quickly they could see me, but then I got to thinking that maybe they wanted to see me that quick because they were worried after looking my medical files over.

I will meet with the doctor Monday at 8:30 in the morning and we will go from there on how long I will need to stay. I was told I could be there up to 5 to 7 business days. That is one thing I don't like is not having a set plan in place on when to fly home, how long to get a hotel room or how long we will need to rent a car for. Luckily MD has a travel agent they work with that can reschedule the return flight pretty easily with no charge. I am hoping to have everything set in stone by today so I don't have to stress about it.

As far as what I will be doing when I am down there...I don't have an answer. It will all be determined after I see the doctor and what she feels is necessary. My doctors up here have been in contact with the MD doctors during this whole process so being able to talk with them first hand so quickly makes me feel pretty lucky (if you want to look at it that way). I don't feel lucky that I am in this situation to have to go down there but I am lucky they are willing to help me during this situation.

On a positive note, the biopsies from the surgery came back negative. The abnormal cells that were found during the scope are still drawing a red flag to Dr. Laki, so he wants to get another biopsy in a month to stay on top of things. I am also doing three days worth of urinalysis to make sure those don't come back positive. If any of that comes back positive Dr. Laki could go scope the ureter (the tubes that run from the bladder to the kidney's) to makes sure there is nothing up there.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. We are heading to Tulsa for the CDRA finals and hopefully we will be able to stay warm.

Love,
Jeryka

Britt's Farm

Last Saturday we had a team outing at Britt's Farm and Pumpkin Patch here in Manhattan. The girl's had a lot of fun and it was nice to see all of them interact with each other outside of the gym. We got to go on a hay ride, go through a corn maze and pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

The whole group!

The girls enjoying the hay ride

Mallory loved the animals

Not sure which way to go in the corn maze

A quick surgery

Last Thursday I was scheduled for a quick surgery to scrape the top of the bladder to see if there were any more abnormal cells in there. The procedure was quick and went well. Dr. Laki said nothing stood out and that the incision from the last surgery still looked good. I got released from the hospital as soon as I could eat, drink and pee, which was around noon.

I was happy I got released in time to get a nap in and then got to head up to KC for the Tour of Champions with my mom, sister, sister in law and nieces. I had a blast had the show and it was nice to get a girls night after the week I had.

I am still waiting to hear back from Dr, Laki with the results from the surgery. I talked with the radiation office today and Dr. Bell faxed all my information down to MD Anderson and we are waiting to hear back from them. We are hoping to get a call no later than Wednesday.

Hoping for good news this week.

Love,
Jeryka

Going back in

This afternoon Dr.Laki called me with the results from the biopsy they did on the fluid from my scope on Monday. The results weren't really what I wanted to hear. The cells came back abnormal, so he wants to go in and look at the bladder closer and scrap the top of the bladder to see if any more abnormal cells show up.

I am going in tomorrow morning for this surgery and will be able to leave the same day. I hope I don't have to stay long because I was looking forward to going to to KC to watch the gymnastics tour tomorrow night.

Love,
Jeryka

Up then down.

Just want to say congratulations to our friends Kelli and Luke on their marriage this past weekend. We had a blast and wish you the best!

On Monday I had a scope done of my bladder with Dr. Laki. He said everything looked good and that the incision from the surgery healed up nicely. I will repeat the scope in three months.

Today I had my radiation appointment with Dr. Bell. He was very open with everything and didn't beat around the bush. He is concerned with my cancer and it coming back somewhere we wouldn't be able to cure. There isn't enough information out there on this type of cancer to know what the best plan of action is. When this cancer is found in the lungs they will usually follow up with radiation to the brain because the small cell carcinoma has been found to spread up to the brain.

I am not as worried about the long term effects from the radiation as I am about the cancer coming back and coming back some place else that we wouldn't be able to cure. As of right now we are going to do another MRI to see if anything pops up and Dr. Bell is going to be in contact with MD Anderson down in Texas to see if I need to go down there to talk with them in person. They may just want to talk with doctors and I over the phone since we have been in contact with them and  we have been following what they recommend.

I am just so frustrated because we don't have a definite answer on what to do and how to get rid of this. I thought I was in the clear when I finished my chemo and the scans came back clear. I guess in the back of my mind I knew I wouldn't be in the clear for a while but I was sure hoping it was true. I just don't like not knowing if or even when it may show back up.

Right now all we can do is hope and pray our decisions now are the best and that the cancer won't come back.

Love,
Jeryka

Update..

Yesterday was my doctor's appointment with Dr Koeneke to go over my scans and numbers for my labs. I am not going to lie....I was pretty nervous.

My scans came back clear and all my numbers were where they needed to be. So that was a big relief to hear. I am going to go see a physical therapist because of the nerve that got nicked during surgery. The only job the nerve has is pulling the leg in toward the body. My right leg just isn't as strong as it use to be and I have noticed when I lay on my right side I am not able to lift my right leg up off the ground. So I will go meet with the doctor on Friday to see what he recommends. I will also be meeting with a radiation doctor next week. With this type of cancer it sometimes will migrate up to the brain so they have talked about possibly doing radiation to the brain. I am hoping I can get out of doing this because of the long term effects. I am also going back in to see Dr. Laki to get another scope of the bladder to make sure there isn't anything in there that didn't show up on the CAT scan.  After these appointments I will be free from everything for 3 months when I go back in to do another scan and blood work.

Just wanted to update everyone on the good news I received yesterday. Now just hoping the scope comes back clear and that I don't need radiation. 

Love,
Jeryka

Bad taste

This past Saturday Kyle and I went up to De Soto to drop his dragster off so I can race it this coming weekend in St. Louis and while we were there I got to spend some time with my family. I hadn't seen my sister and her family since July 4th, which is a little too long. The whole family met at Jen and Jason's house for some hamburgers, hot dogs and college football.  It was nice to have the whole family together even if it was for just a little bit.

It is always nice to have a weekend home and get to relax. Racing season is about over but gymnastics season is about to start so my restful weekends are limited. Plus, I was getting really nervous about my CAT scan on Monday. I know everything is fine but I still think about the worse. I don't think I can go through any more chemo. I get anxiety when I just go in to get my blood work done and it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about sitting in that chair receiving treatment again.

I was not looking forward to drinking the bottle of barium Sunday night. I have heard so many people comment on how gross it taste, so I was dreading that. I took everyone's tips and put it in the refrigerator so it was cold when it was time to drink it. Once 10pm came around on Sunday, I tried to find anything and everything to do other than drink that stuff. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting but I wouldn't suggest drinking this stuff unless you have to.

Monday morning came around and I had to drink 1/2 of the second bottle before I went into my 7:15 appointment. This one went a little faster because I didn't mess around with the straw, I poured 1/2 of it into a solo cup and drank it from there. I was suppose to finish the rest of the bottle when I got there, but the nice lady didn't make me finish it. The scan lasted maybe 5 minutes but in that 5 minutes I had stuff pumped into me that made me feel like I was peeing myself and gave me a really bad taste in my mouth. Other than that everything went good. I won't know any results until I meet with my doctor on the 8th. 

I have been feeling really good the last couple of weeks. My appetite is back for the most part. I have days where food just doesn't settle well but it has gotten a lot better since I stopped treatment. My hair is starting to grow back, slowly but surely.  My new wig is nice, I have been wearing it everyday and it is nice not to have to do it in the mornings but I am ready to have my own hair back.

I will have an update for everyone after my doctors appointment on Monday. Hoping for good news!

Love,
Jeryka