Cycle 1

This past Thursday Andy started his first round of Chemotherapy. But before he started my MOM GOT TO COME VISIT! This was the first time she got to meet Janie Girl. Here is Jane waiting for Grandma...

So happy to be together at last! We of course went to Hires Big H for dinner since my mom hasn't had it in 2 years.

The next morning Andy had surgery for his IV port placement and his bone marrow Biopsy. The surgery went great and although the port is very sensitive we know it will be so much better in the end.

On Thursday morning Andy and I went on a little breakfast date. We wanted to spend some time together sans kids before Chemo and the sickness really set in. Of course we went to kneaders for some french toast!

Andy has done remarkably well since having Chemo. We obviously didn't know what to expect and each day is a little different. But slowly we are finding our new normal. He is really tired and nauseous, but each time he gets sick to his stomach we say, "But it is killing the cancer!" And then it doesn't seem so bad :)

 My mom brought Lucas a light up light sabor sucker.. he was obsessed.

 And this little miss decided rolling over was next up. She was showing off for grandma!

 Like mother like daughter

 We also went to Magleby's for breakfast

 And Lucas was having a hard day... so he had skittles for breakfast and no shirt.

We went shopping for some "Chemo Clothes" and it wiped Jane out

 My mom asked what Andy's favorite cookies were and I might have told her Snickerdoodles. Because seriously you haven't had a cookie until you have had Tracy's Snickerdoodles. 

 Just sleeping with Grandma :)  

 We got the exersaucer out and Jane loves it. And her headband looks like an 80's sweatband... that's how we roll.

 On Saturday night we decided to get out of the house and gets some J Dawgs. YUM!

Today Lucas was being so cute with Jane. He was showing her all the cool tricks on the exersaucer

 Smiling for the camera

 Sweet Jane

 Lucas making Janie laugh

 I looked down and Lucas was playing cars with his hand on his cheek. Such a cutie!

 One last picture of Grandma and Jane

Despite the hard Chemo day on Thursday we tried to have fun with Grandma Tracy while she was here. The BEST news was that Andy's bone marrow biopsy came back negative! YAY! We will take all the good news we can get. So we have 20 days before our next cycle of Chemo.

Quite the July

July 2012 will go down in the books as unforgettable. In short, Andy has been recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma diffuse large B cell. When we moved to Utah in April Andy had been having some stomach pain and after a few trips to the doctor they diagnosed him with an umbilical cord hernia and an ulcer. After a few more weeks of intense pain and the medicine not working he went back for more testing.

On July 12 he had an ultrasound where the doctor could not recognize some objects. Immediately they sent him for a cat scan. It was then where they found multiple tumors throughout his lymphatic system and on his spleen. 

On July 17 Andy had surgery where they took a biopsy of the tumors. We then met with the oncologist where we went over the pathology report and they gave us our diagnosis. Today he had a second surgery where they did an IV Port Placement and a bone marrow Biopsy.

Tomorrow starts Round 1 of Chemotherapy. The doctors are extremely positive as are we.

Although this has been extremely difficult, we have felt of everyone's love, prayers, and support. We are so grateful for all the kind emails, Facebook messages, Texts, voicemails and cards. I am so sorry if we haven't responded... we are trying our best. Just know that they are so helpful and usually come at just the right moment when we need them most. 

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks:

Daddy's good luck charm for Surgery #1

Eating Firehouse for lunch

 Sweet little Janie

We were so so lucky for Auntie Jammy and crew to come and visit... Jane loves her Auntie.

And Lucas loves "The Boys"

Where we will be spending some time for the next 6 months 

Cute bowling shoes... why is everything cuter in "mini" version?

Chadder Boy!!

Eating Pizza and Thomas Juices

My mom got to come to town for our first chemo treatment... She got to meet Jane and she already loves her grandma

Lucas was a little shy at first and now he can't do any activity without grandma

Surgery #2!

And this Little Miss decided to roll over... 3 months, 3 weeks. Naughty Shamers!!

I'll periodically update the blog with information... I really want our blog to be happy memories, but I realize that this is our new life. So wish us luck as we embark on this new journey!

A Belated 4th of July

This weekend we headed to Fishlake for a little R&R after our crazy week. We were originally planning on going for the 4th, but with our crazy week we weren't able to go up until Friday afternoon. We were so excited to see the Trythall family since we don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like to! 

Nick and Jake were playing slap jack when Lucas asked if he could play. They are the sweetest boys and said "yes" and gave Lucas a few cards and then the two of them kept playing. They decided to play a different game, but Lucas knew just what to do. Each time the boys would put a card down he would start slapping. It was so cute.

 Enjoying a "Big Stick" by the lake

 Cute Meg and Mariah

 The Lodge

 Family Shot

 Jane with her Bumpa

 Grandma Jane did hardly let anyone hold the baby.  Jane took every nap in grandma's arms :)

 "The Guys"- Each time Lucas came into a room where the kids were he would wave and say, "Hi Guys". At first M&M weren't quite sure why Lucas was calling them "guys", but after a few times they just started saying "hi" back. 

 Uncle Bill and Jane

Auntie Kelly and Janie Girl

Raggamuffin Lucas and Mommy

Walking the Loop 

We have been telling Lucas for a few weeks that we were going to go on Bompas Thomas Boat. (The rescue boat in the Thomas shows) and it is safe to say he LOVED it. I of course didn't go with since I get serious boat sick... But Andy said he ran back and forth screaming. He especially loved it when Bompa would go fast. 

 Lucas and Meg

 Lucas was scared of the fish... hilarious.

 "faster!"

 Kelly and her girlies

 Bompa, Andy and Bill

Our trip was much too fast! We miss the Trythalls and "The Guys" already and are counting down the days to Thanksgiving in Roseville!