2 days post chemo

Well, She's doing pretty good today, health-wise! Usually this is the day (2 days after chemo) where she is beat down and lying in bed with flu-like symptoms. I knew we would have the kids home from school for a "snow day" today, so I was a little worried about them adding to her tough day, but they are being good kids and Ally is actually up in the office working away versus being in bed in bad shape. All good!

"Snow Day" - yea right! You can still see the grass! the weathermen down here missed this one badly for our area, south of Charlotte. Looks like North Charlotte got about 3 inches though, so I guess you have to cancel school after all.

Tough news to hear on Tuesday though....Up until this point we were under the impression that Allyson would only go through 6 treatments of chemo before surgery, and then be done with the chemo portion of the clinical trial afterward. She would still have to take the trial drugs for 18 cycles after surgery, but the chemo drugs would be taken out of the the process. Well, on Tuesday we learned that she will actually go through 18 more full cycles (trial drugs and current chemo)...and on the same schedule...every three weeks. This was devastating to hear for Allyson, and for the rest of us cheering her on. While she isn't going through the same debilitating drug process that other people go through, it still takes so much out of her that it makes work and taking care of kids very difficult.

Please sending your prayers and positive thoughts...she needs them now more than ever.

Love you,

Kyle

February 23 - one day before Round #5

Hey all,

The last week was good for Allyson health-wise, but we had the kids at home for much of the week (as many of you did), so she spent alot more energy entertaining than she usually does during a week. Overall, everything is going just fine though, and Allyson is upbeat heading into tomorrow.

I'm flying out to the west coast today, but taking the red-eye back tomorrow night to be home from Wednesday on...plus Linda is there to get the kids to school and be with Allyson during her treatment. Thank God that Linda is with us! Thank you Linda!

Allyson appears to have chosen her reconstruction specialist now too, so all the pieces of the puzzle are coming together for a mid-April Surgery for the mastectomies and subsequent reconstruction.

Allyson recently donated her hair to a charity group in Michigan! She looks gorgeous with her hair in  a shorter doo, but you'll have to check out her facebook page to see it in action.  As for her giving nature, you can check out the Cancer Institute's facebook page to see her in action: https://www.facebook.com/LevineCancerInstitute

Please just don't share it on your FB networks, as we continue to keep Allyson' fight private from the masses. We've done pretty well so far!

Love you all!

Kyle

Quick update

Just about a week after round #4 of Chemo and Ally is doing pretty well. Grayson and Linda have been sick the last few days, but we're pretty sure it was what the rest of us already had, so we are hopeful that she stays healthy. Aside from two of us being sick we had a good relaxing weekend! The weather yesterday was mid 60's and sunny and the neighborhood was alive with kids running everywhere...and even Gray got out and ran around for awhile before shutting it down mid-afternoon to rest.

Keep those good thoughts coming!

Chemo round #4

Hey all!

I'm sorry that I've haven't been posting as much...we had some issues during and after the last chemo treatment and then our entire house got sick with an upper respiratory illness and we all just muddled through as best as we could over the last few weeks.

About a week after Ally's round 3 of chemo she came down with a severe fever and we found ourselves in the ER on MLK day. She received anti-biotics, steroids, narcotics, and fluids all in about 4 hours...so it was quite the start to the week. Then the kids and I all got sick with the same chest cold and it was game over. Linda was out of town for the week visiting Sean, so she was spared...until the other the day anyway :(.

Now that we were/are all on the path back to healthy, Allyson got to go through chemo round #4 on Tuesday. Oh Joy! Between rounds 3 and 4 she finally started to get her appetite back and was not as nauseous. She had better energy levels too, so things were easier to deal with...

However, about mid-way through round #4 on Tuesday she really started to run ragged. She  got through today at work and went home to sleep before Avery's 3 year old well visit. Avery got three shots and wouldn't sit down in the tub because of her "boo-boos"  LOL. A little ice cream after the visit seemed to help though! :)

Doctor visit results: Before round #4 we met with the oncologist and he continues to be very happy with the progress from her exams. Both she and he continues to struggle to find any evidence of the original tumor, and he is very excited about the prognosis. Her blood work is good, and we will begin talking to reconstruction doctors next week to see what the true process will be for after the double mastectomies. Just when you start to get the hang of one treatment, you move on to the next...but Allyson continues to be very positive about everything going on. Please keep sending your thoughts and prayers and know that we love all the contact we have with family as this fight progresses.

Love you all!

Kyle