Mentally warn out

Round 4 came and went. It still made me feel crappy but it could have been worse. At least I was able to race this weekend. I got down to 8 cars on Saturday and them lost a close race 2nd round on Sunday.

Friday they removed my port because there was a clot on the bottom part that showed up on the CT scan from Houston. So the next two rounds of chemo will be administered through a vein. I was really nervous to have my port removed because the procedure was done in his office. He numbed me and then cut open the incision from before. I didn't feel a thing other then some tugging and pulling. I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of sad to see it go. I got attached to it in the last year.

Speaking of last year. I can't believe it has almost been a year since I was diagnosed. It's crazy to think how fast time goes. It has been a really rough year but I have so much to be thankful for.

Right now I am feeling alright. I have my ups and downs but I am hanging in there and trying to stay busy. I am just mentally warn out at this point. I am ready to get these last two rounds over with and not have to worry about how I can going to feel afterward. I am ready to not have my life revolve around this. I want to worry about racing and coaching my girls at the gym. Not which appointment I need to go to, which arm I want my blood drawn from or what scan I need to get done. I got shit (excuse my language, but its true) I need and want to do, so I wish this crap would just hurry and go away and go away forever.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.

Love,
Jeryka

Time to relax

I can finally relax. I hate waiting and that is what we had to do this morning before my appointment. But the wait was worth it this time.

All of the lesions they saw in March have either disappeared or decreased in size! Dr. Siefker showed us the scans of the lungs and she could only point out one lesion, which has gone from 5mm to 3mm and two other lesions that were on previous scans were not present on these scans. The lesion on the liver is now measuring 9mm, which before it was 1.2cm. The spot on the brain they did gamma knife to has decreased 9.7mm to 3.6mm.

We will continue with the same chemo for 3 more rounds and then I will come back down here to repeat the scans.

Thank you for all of the prayers, they have really done wonders. Kyle and I are flying home tonight and I will be able to attend the Topeka nationals this weekend.

Love,
Jeryka

Babies, baseball game and good news

I wanted to give a huge congratulations to my brother and his wife Lauren! We found out this last weekend that they will be having IDENTICAL BOYS! Their household is going to be crazy if these two boys are anything like Jackson. I couldn't be anymore excited to add two more boys to the family.

 

I had a great Saturday spending time with the family before Kyle and I had to leave.

Love these guys!

On Sunday I had an MRI in the morning and then we went to the Astros vs Rangers baseball game. I haven't been to a baseball game in forever and I really had a great time. It was nice to get to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I was really nervous about getting the results from the MRI. I just wanted some good news, and that is exactly what we have gotten so far. Dr. Viswanathan (the neurosurgeon) was the one to deliver the good news. The spot that was removed looks great and the spot they gamma knifed was smaller in size. I was finally able to relax a little! We met with the Dr. Settle's physicians assistant (radiologist) this afternoon and she was real happy with the MRI results as well. We are free until Wednesday when I get a bone scan and CT scan. I will then have to wait until Thursday to get the results  when I meet with Dr. Siefker. I am hoping this appointment will go as good as the ones did today.

Love,
Jeryka

Round 3

Round 3 is done and over with. I was really thinking about hiding under the bed and skipping this round but I wasn't allowed to. I am just so ready to feel better all the time not just for a couple of days.

This week I was in the angry stage. Very angry I had to go put my body through this crap. I am sick of this running my life, it's always there haunting me.

This time around I am not feeling as bad as last time and I am hoping that is a good sign. I am praying I can enjoy the weekend and not worry about how I feel.

Love,
Jeryka

Weekend of racing

This past weekend we went to Great Bend for the National Open. I was pretty excited to get to race the dragster again. The first pass out just reminded me that someone is telling me I should stick to racing the S-11 instead of a digger. After the run I noticed it was making a funny noise. So at the end of the track I started her back up and the noise was still there. So I waited down there for about 15 minutes until JR and Dad realized I wasn't back at the trailer yet. Once we got back we took the valve covers off to find that the tip of a valve had broken off. So operation motor change was in place. I think we got the motor switched out in record time for being at the track (and we weren't really in a hurry). It was in just in time for the second round of time trials. So I really didn't miss a pass other than one super quick qualifying. Thanks to JR for letting me borrow his motor for the weekend!

Ready to come out

 

 

Dad enjoyed getting to use the motor changer for the first time in the new trailer!

Ready to go again.

Throughtout the whole weekend I ended up making about 21 passes in the digger and the S-11. I raced super comp, where I lost 2nd round due to the throttle stop not coming on because the little green switch wasn't turned back on. Dad, JR and I were the 3 of the 4 dragsters left in the super quick series. I ended up having to race JR and I think he sabotaged my car because she didn't run good when the spray came on. I raced the S-11 in super pro where I lost at 3 cars. JR ended up winning the super street shoot out on Saturday after a lengthy staging duel (which was really entertaining to watch!) and he also won both days of the super quick.

Our workspace for the weekend. I think we need just one more log book.

 It was a good weekend to get away. Even though I didn't feel 100% I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with my family doing what we love to do. I am hoping I will feel well enough to go back out next weekend for the division race. As far as racing, I don't know if I will be able to or not. It just depends on how this round of chemo effects me.

Love,
Jeryka

Hair

I don't want to jinx myself but I haven't last any hair with this round of chemo! It has started to come in strong so I would be pretty upset if I has to start over again. Everyday I wash my hair and none comes out in my hand I get really excited. I just hope this continues so I can maybe have a decent amount of hair by the wedding.

I am finally feeling better, not 100% but I can't complain. A couple of good nights sleep really does a person good.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Love,
Jeryka

Hangover round 2

Round 2 of chemo is over and it has been the worst hangover I have ever had. It started last Thursday while I was still receiving chemo and lasted until at least Monday. I did not leave the house until Sunday when I forced myself to get out and go wash my car and do some yard work. I was so sick of laying around the house feeling like crap.

I met with Dr. Koeneke before the last round to go over my blood work and to get the results from my bone scan. The good news is nothing showed up on the bone scan, so that was a huge relief. My blood counts were low so he wants to do weekly blood work to see how low they actually get and to see if I need to get a booster shot to raise my white blood cell count.

After my blood work on Monday I had to go back to get the booster shot because my counts were 300. They usually want them to be around 1000, so they were extremely low this time around. I will be getting the shot three days in a row to hopefully raise my numbers. I am hoping this is why I have had no energy and why I haven't felt the best this time around. I am actually not suppose to be around too many people with my counts being that low because my body can't fight off infection as good as it could with higher counts. So that makes it real hard to be at work since I am around germ infested children most of the time!! I might as well just start drinking the Germ-X!

We will be heading back to Houston on May 12th. I will get an MRI that day and then see the neurosurgeon and radiologist for my check up after surgery and the Gamma Knife the following day. I will also do another bone scan and CT scan while I am down there and then meet with the oncologist. If everything is clear we will continue with the same chemo I am receiving now.

Hope all my KS friends have enjoyed the weather!

Love,
Jeryka