Last chemo round before surgery complete!

Good Morning everyone,

Ally made it through yesterday pretty quickly. Now that they know there will be no adverse reaction to the drugs she is taking, the infusion portion of the day goes very quickly once they start pushing the drugs. We were out of there by 1:30, which was awesome considering that it was almost 80 degrees and sunny outside. We came home and took a nap in the hammock on the screened-in porch, and listened to the wind whistle through the still-leafless tree branches. It was a most relaxing way to decompress from a usually stressful day.

She was tired last night, but carried through pretty well until bedtime... and then got up and went to work today like the trooper she is. She was a little tired this morning, but nothing out of the ordinary. So we'll see how the next couple days go.

Next step: Next Tuesday she visits with the surgical oncologist who will give the final go-ahead for the double mastectomy. The surgery date will be at least 2 weeks from yesterday (17MAR15), but not more than 6 weeks from 17MAR15. We are hoping that we get the actual date next week Tuesday and that we can begin planning for people to come into town if they are interested in helping in some way. We already know that Megan and Erin want to be here at some point, and my parents will be in town on some dates as well. Linda is in Florida right now helping Sean get his house on the market, and she will be making a return as well...so please bear with us as we find out more information and pass that along. We understand the impact that short timelines have on flight costs, etc, but Allyson IS in the mood to get through the surgery sooner rather than later.

If I don't post back before next week, you'll definitely hear from me Tuesday after her appointment.

Love you all!

Kyle

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

Chemo round #3

Good Morning!

The picture above is from a few moments ago. I'm sitting here with Ally at round #3 of her chemo treatments and she's cracking jokes with the staff and keeping the mood light! We were just talking about how she's been having more energy the last couple of days where she is able to get through full days of work...but now she has to go back to that zone where she hits the wall every day and needs all the sleep she can get. :(  However, the doctor is good at pointing out all the other side effects that she could be going through in a way that makes us feel much better about where she is at right now!

We saw the medical oncologist (chemo doc) before she headed to the infusion center and he again was VERY happy to hear and see how everything is going. Both Ally and the doctor can no longer feel the original tumor, so we couldn't be any happier than we are about that development!

Next week we'll check in with the surgical oncologist (he will handle mastectomies) and start getting the skinny on reconstruction doctors and getting all the information we need in order to prepare her for the surgery. No dates have been set yet for surgery, and we likely won't be able to schedule it until after the last round of Chemo (around St. Patty's day). Then we'll have a much better idea of our longer term timeline...

We've got a ton of people helping with meals and helping in many other ways, so thank you so much for all the help you are giving us...whether through prayer or meals or whatever. We feel truly blessed to have such loving people around us.

I'll let you know how she is doing after a couple of days once she gets through the roughest part.

Love you,

Kyle

Going Great!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Just wanted to post an update on Allyson real quick before the day gets away from me. She is doing much better at this point after her treatment than she was doing after the last one...yea! She is still pretty tired, and has a little nausea in the mornings, but nothing compared to last time. Hopefully she continues to stay on this track.

Also, the doctor's are VERY excited about the size of the tumor considering it has shrunk considerably after just two chemo treatments. He literally said to her "This is why I do this job...patients like you and the success we are seeing is so exciting to me".

It doesn't get much better than that! Love you all, and have great days with your families!

The little ones actually let us sleep in this morning. I think it is because Sarah is here and they are wearing eachother out chasing one another everywhere. It is a beautiful thing when all the adults are sitting around waiting for the kids to come out of their bedrooms...LOL.

Kyle