Happy Birthday!!

 

That photo was taken in January 2011 for my mother's birthday....and now here we are, January 2012 about to celebrate another birthday. Who would have thought that someone would be so excited to get another year older?? I know I am! 

Mom is doing awesome. She's not wearing her wig anymore, although she HATES the way that her hair is growing back in, I think it's beautiful. And everyday Madison points out that it has grown a little more. "Grammie your hair is growing", "Grammie your hair is coming back". This child notices everything about her Grammie. 

She is still going to her chemo appointments every 3 weeks and doing it like a champion. She is still getting the CAT scans and  MRI's after about every 3 treatments. And her Dr. has finally come to terms with the fact that I will beat him to that report every time. It's usually in my hand before the hospital even has a chance to fax it over :).  I bring it back to work with me and google and webmd every term in there, although I've pretty much learned them over time. There is not much change in her tumor, which is a good thing. Although scoliosis has recently set in.

She is NOT going to give up, give in, let go....however you want to say it....she is the strongest woman I know.  

I did meet an amazing Dr. at the Westport Lungevity 5k Run that had recently transferred to Yale. There was a man at the run who has had the same type of cancer and has survived 8 years....EIGHT years! I know everyone's case is different but there is no false hope here, you don't know anything until you try. Now....getting my mother to this Dr....that's going to be a difficult try all on it's own lol. As most of you know she is a very strong headed woman a.k.a. stubborn! I know she is tired of seeing Dr.'s and is comfortable with her current Dr. but I overrule her and will eventually get her into see Dr. Herbst. He is an expert in personalized therapy of non-small cell lung cancer, in particular the process of linking genetic abnormalities of cancer cells to certain therapies. Imagine a Dr. making each individual cancer patient their own personalized therapy!? We NEED this man in our lives :)

This year has brought many challenges to our family. But those challenges that we all face are overcome by us all. As many flaws as this small family may have, you CANNOT and WILL NOT break us down. We love our mother and Grammie very much and will do anything for her. So this weekend she will enjoy herself at the casino with her children and I bet she will love every second of it! <3

Happy Birthday Mom!