A Feeling of Extraordinary Healing

On December 1st our family received the most wonderful holiday blessing...the gift of extraordinary healing. My Mom has an MRI scan of her brain every 3 months and once again it came back with no new cancer growth.  December 6th was the one year anniversary of her grim diagnosis of a stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor. And one year later yes she does have brain cancer, but she is tumor free and living life to the fullest! Her oncologist says he would like to take some of the credit due to her success with her chemotherapy treatments and clinical trial study, but he said he is giving my mom ALL THE CREDIT :) Her story is nothing short of a TRUE MIRACLE. The cancer specialists are learning so much from her because no one has progressed so well through treatment from this type of brain tumor. Her fight is being witnessed by many and others draw hope and strength from her success.  

This year I have really treasured the time I've gotten to spend with my mom decorating our houses, christmas shopping and making holiday plans together. Even through chemotherapy she is a ball of energy and wears me out! We are looking forward to spending a very special Christmas together as a family with my fiance coming home for 2 weeks from serving with the Army in Afghanistan and his daughter and family coming from Georgia and California. There are so many challenges that we have faced as a family this year that makes us appreciate the simple act of getting to be together for the holidays. There may have been years that we have taken that time for granted, but this year is a reminder to all of us that it is so very PRECIOUS. Everyday with my mom here is a blessing and we are celebrating this Christmas season with a tremendous amount of joy and optimism for the future! Many blessings to all of you and your families this Christmas season.

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veterans Day to all of America's veterans who have placed our country's security before their own lives, creating a debt that we can never fully repay. Our veterans represent the best of our country and sometimes I don't feel like that on a daily basis they get the respect or praise they deserve.  America would not be the country that it is today without those who have served and continue to serve proud, freely, and valantly.

To those of you wear the uniform of your country with pride today, and for those of you who wore the uniform in days past, these few words go out to you, and hope they bring life in its fullness unto you and yours...You gave of yourself, to protect and keep the life that Americans cherish, a life that comes with the freedom to love and dream and are filled with many treasures. You gave of your family, you gave of your life. Some came home, some never did, some live in our memories, some in our tears, taken in life both young and old, no score card to determine who went and who returned. So accept these simple words of thanks. THANK YOU...

Veteran's Day Tribute

Thanks to my good friend Julie Price and the FBLA students at Lynden High School, we were able to take part in a local project to support our troops and do some charity work overseas where they are serving. LHS students participated in OPERATION SHOEBOX and collected 140 pairs of shoes which were mailed to the 170th MP Company troops and handed out to the kids in need in Afghanistan. 

My fiance Sgt. Ortiz captured some great photos of the kids with their shoes and made a video for the students at LHS to express the appreciation of the soldiers in his platoon. This was the video that was played at the LHS Veterans Day Assembly this week...very touching and a great way to recognize our Veterans this week. Thank you Julie & LHS!

Barb Won't Be Sidelined...

Last weekend our Auntie Barb had a scary and unfortunate accident that resulted in a broken back. Her T3 & T7 vertebrates were fractured after she landed on her head/neck on the hardwood floor at a Halloween party with friends and her husband. The news was terrifying but we were immediately relieved to hear that she was responsive at the hospital and could move her arms and legs. It was very scary to see her laying in the hospital in so much pain and not knowing how serious the damage was. But by day 2 at the hospital she was fitted for a special back brace and had taken her first couple steps. 

She is going to have a very long and painful recovery ahead of her but was extremely lucky that the break in her spine was a "stable" break, meaning it was somewhat protected and supported by her ribcage. A break any higher up in your spine can easily result in permanent paralysis. With the support of our family and some very wonderful close friends, she has had around the clock care and homemade meals delivered to her and her boys. 

Most of us know that Barbie's boys play football for Lynden High School and are pretty tough athletes! From the minute Barb left the hospital last Monday her goal was to make it her boys' playoff football game this Saturday. So last night we bundled her up in her wheelchair and wheeled up the ram to the Lynden bleachers to cheer on her boys to a 48-0 victory over Bellingham. Just proves that Barb won't be sidelined by any injury, even a broken back! God be with her on her road to recovery and with the Lynden Football boys on their fight to the state tournament. 

Shoe Drive Off & Running

I'm very excited to announce that OPERATION SHOEBOX is officially up and running as of this week! Thanks to my first couple collectors and a couple of very generous shipping donations we were able to ship off 50 pairs of kids shoes this week. Skye and his soldiers should be receiving the packages in the next couple weeks and plan on taking some pictures and possibly video clips of their first handout on the streets.

A couple of friends have offered their ideas and efforts towards the project and I really wanted to give them how much I appreciate that. This is the first time I've started a charity project from scratch and I am open to all suggestions! I have a new friend, Kim Goertz, who runs an organization called Whatcom Homefront (http://whatcomhomefront.org/) that ships packages to local soldiers serving overseas. Kim got me in touch with some of the right people at KGMI and they have invited me to do a broadcast with them sometime this month to get the word out! I'm sure I'll get all tongue tied and not be sure of what to say, but hopefully the announcers can do most of the talking for me! Our long time family friend Donita, has gotten the YMCA and Aquatic Center involved also. And my teacher friend Julie Price is running a shoe drive at Lynden High School and their goal is to have 400 shoes donated by the end of October! I am still worried about coming up with enough funds to cover the cost of shipping so if you would like to get involved or have some more ideas for me please email me at Tanisita16@aol.com. God Bless!!

More special thanks to: Marge Roberts, Dena Smith, Mary Schwisow & Barb Kraght

A Real Life Wonder Woman!

Every 3 months my family gets that anxious feeling that slowly creeps up on us, as the date gets closer and closer on the calendar to my Mom's next MRI scan. Her doctors have planned these scans according to her treatment schedule. At the end of August she finished her 6 months of chemo she is feeling stronger and healthier than ever! But its hard to see her go through 3 months of treatments not really knowing if its working?? We just try to take comfort in how good she looks and says that she feels and leave the rest in God's hands.

Well today God showed us in all His glory that the treatments and my mom's hard work are working!! My mom's MRI scan came back GREAT! This means that the area in her brain that they have been watching (after her surgery to remove her tumor) has not grown more cancer cells. This news gives not only our family but my mom sooooooo much hope and inspiration for the future!

We sat down with her oncologist this afternoon to pow-wow and come up with our next plan. It wasn't an easy conversation because Dr. Kaminski explained to us that because the course of treatment for this type of brain cancer is just being developed, there isn't a "crystal clear" plan of action for my mom. There isn't a guideline to go by, my mom is the creating the guideline! Which in a way is very exciting but also kinda scary because there isn't a clear road to take.

After much discussion, my mom felt very nervous about taking a break from treatment in fear of the cancer coming right back. We all agreed that her treatments are working and her body is holding up very well with pretty minimal side effects. Dr. Kaminski did end up mentioning, "Why fix was isn't broke?"...meaning he supported my mom's decision of continuing treatment especially since it is working so well for her right now. I think she felt very empowered leaving the doctors office today!

So the next 6 months will include 6 more rounds of chemotherapy, continuing the clinical trial of Avastin and MRI scans every 3 months. From what I understand, after 12 months of Avastin therapy, the double-blind study will be unblinded and we can find out if she was receiving Avastin or the placebo. But we already know she is getting the real stuff! And we are so proud of her for being brave enough to be a part of such an important study that could potentially help so many other patients in the future!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all our amazing family and friends who continue to pray for my mom. And a huge thank you to all those that follow our blog or have heard about my mom and continue to pray for her having never even met her. My Aunt Barb introduced me to a couple at the fair this year, who have never even met my mom but are part of a prayer team that is devoted to praying for her weekly! How awesome is that?!!

Today serves as a reminder to us all that without faith we can do nothing. But if we depend on our faith in every situation, God will move heaven and earth to grant us peace wherever we need it most in our lives.

OPERATION SHOEBOX: Supporting Our Troops

Helping Our Everyday Heroes Reach Out To Kids In War Zones

When my fiance Skye and his soldiers from the U.S. Army arrived in Afghanistan this June, they were immediately swarmed with barefooted children from the area. Children that walk long distances to school and to look for work, to try and create better lives for themselves and their families in some very hard conditions. These children remind the soldiers of their very own kids back home and it touched them, knowing these local children are lacking basic items like a pair of shoes.

Skye asked me to get our families and friends back home involved in a special project. We are collecting gently used kids shoes in all sizes to send to our soldiers overseas to give out to the children they encounter in the streets. Some of these kids have never owned a pair of shoes and are in desperate need of footwear to protect their feet from the harsh terrain and extreme temperatures.

“If these children don’t remember anything else about us being here, they might remember that an American soldier gave them their first pair of shoes or socks,” Skye said. “Giving the children items they need helps them get over the fear of people (Soldiers) in uniform . It shows them that people in uniform are not bad and are actually there to help."

Show our soldiers how much we appreciate their service, by donating shoes to hand out to children to allow them to walk to school and to better their opportunities for the future.

Please email me at Tanisita16@aol.com for more information about getting involved or where to drop off shoe donations. Feel free to get your neighborhood or your kids' classrooms involved, I have so many wonderful friends that work in the schools or the medical profession who are offering to help me spread the word! Back to school is a perfect time of year to get this going because so many kids are trading their summer play shoes for their new school shoes. The Goodwill and Value Village are also great places to pick up shoes for around $4 a pair. I am looking for any ideas for fundraising to raise money to help with shipping costs as well.

Family Vacation

Our annual family vacation to Spectacle Lake was much needed and much deserved this summer! We've been coming here with our friends Nancy Warwick, Marsha Saar & the Schwisow family for 14 summers now, but this summer was extra memorable because we weren't sure if my mom was going to be able to go. She got the go ahead from all her doctors and spent 2 amazing weeks lounging around in the sun, floating on the lake and beating all of us at cribbage! The weather was in the 90's to low 100's everyday and we had a couple lightning and thunder storms at night.

The newlyweds (Mac & Taryn) were able to come over for a whole 10 days. Mac rearranged his work schedule and drove his motorcycle over. I can't wait for Skye and Kayleigh to be a part of our family vacation next year. We have big plans for Kayleigh to learn how to waterskii, but I think we will ease her into it with some fun tubing next year.

Yes I'm loving being engaged! Of course it would be much more wonderful to have my handsome fiance here and not clear across the world, but God has put us on this road for a reason and I wouldn't change a thing about this journey. It was great to be on vacation for 2 weeks with both my wedding planners, we took full advantage of this :)

Our great friends Brad & Heidi Anderson drove over from Chelan to hang out for the day. Taryn has been friends with their daughter Hailey for years and we were sad she wasn't able to make it with them. Maybe next year Hailey, we would love to see you!

Yes it is the summer of LOVE! My sister Taryn was married May 29th, our good friend Angie Schwisow is marrying Philip Myer next July 4th and Skye & I are getting married next August 27th. Our mom's are all really enjoying the wedding planning process and we look forward to many years to come of family vacationing to Spectacle Lake with our growing families. We had a wonderful family vacation with all our friends and my mom came back feeling tan, very relaxed and ready to start up her treatments again.

Walking For A Cure

On June 25th and 26th from 6pm-noon the next day our family proudly participated in our first Relay For Life. We had been fund raising and looking forward to this event for months but I had no idea the incredible experience we would have there together.
It was amazing being at Relay with our mom, celebrating her journey with cancer and remembering our many other friends and family members who have lost their fight with cancer. It was a very powerful experience sharing the walk with so many people in our community that are going through the very same challenges, fears and triumphs that our family has. Cancer does touch everyone differently, yet it touches us all THE SAME in the fact that it changes our lives forever and puts the same HOPE in our hearts that we will one day have a CURE!
Our team-Bubbles, was recognized for having the most survivors and was given the honor of carrying the American Cancer Society Relay Banner for the first survivor lap. All the survivors were recognized by wearing purple T-Shirts (the color purple representing all different types of cancers). My mom carried that banner with pride, a purple bandana on her head and a smile from ear to ear. I must have taken a million pictures, but even without the pictures I will never forget that moment!

It was important for us to recognize at Relay the grandparents that we have lost in our family to cancer. My mom's mother Joan Leonard to colon cancer, my mom's father George Leonard to lung cancer and my Dad's father Robert Smith to lymphoma. It is amazing the advancements the medical world has made in cancer treatments since our loved ones lost their battle. And because of the American Cancer Society, new options for treatments are being discovered everyday.

Relay day was just a small way our family could begin to show how thankful we are for the AMAZING, INCREDIBLE and OUTSTANDING research the American Cancer Society has done to perfect new treatments for fighting cancer. Our Mom is living and breathing PROOF that we are getting so much closer to beating cancer forever. The clinical trial that she is underoing is trying to prove the effectiveness of a well researched drug called Avastin, in successfully fighting Glioblastoma brain tumors. She is currently the only patient in Whatcom County qualifying to participate in this study and has had amazing results so far.
Lighting the luminaria bags right when it got dark was my favorite part of the event. It was such an overwhelming experience walking around the track and seeing just some of the many lives have been touched by cancer in our community. And whether the bag represented an individual currently battling, in remission, or in memory of, each had been made by the loving hands of someone in support of that person and each bag had contributed a $5 donation towards cancer research.
My Aunt Barb was our team captain this year and was a HUGE part of our team's success in getting organized for our first year. She was my all night walking partner and combined we walked around 30 miles. Here we are at 5am dressed up for the Patriotic Theme laps, representing Skye and our troops with pride! Our first Relay For Life was a HUGE SUCCESS and we can't wait to participate again next year. THANK YOU to everyone who made donations in support of our team, we greatly appreciate it! We would love to add some more enthusiastic team members for next year and are already brainstorming new fundraising ideas. Every lap we walk together and every penny we raise is getting us one step closer towards finding A CURE!

Heart's in Afghanistan

For those of you that have been following our family lately, you know that my fiance Skye deployed on June 18th with the 170th Military Police Company for a year to Afghanistan. I've been overwhelmed by the wonderful support we've felt leading up to his leaving and even more so now while he is serving overseas. I wanted to fill everyone in on how he is doing and what things are like over there for him and his soldiers.

It has been 23 days since he left and so far we have been very lucky to talk on the phone almost everyday. We were told that he would for sure have internet at the small base he is at in Kandahar, but found out when he got there that unfortunately that wasn't the case. Luckily he had planned ahead and purchased a local cell phone over there that he can use to call home. He is almost 12 hours ahead of our time, so I'm permanently attached to my cell phone waiting for him to call. We have skype set up on both our computers and I am praying the government grants them internet access soon!

I've had a lot of questions from people about what it is like over there?? Well right now it is the middle of summer which means temperatures from 120-140 degrees with dust storms that blow sand everywhere, gets in their eyes and their mouths. Skye is running 3-4 missions a day throughout the city of Kandahar which has a population of 800,000 (Seattle has just over 600,000 people just to give you an idea). He is head of security for the commander on their base and leading a group of 12 MP soldiers that travel to and from various locations in the city. His mornings start at 4am and he finally hangs up his boots off around 12pm. He calls his daily activities "playing Hide-And-Go Seek" with the Taliban. We try to make light of the situation when we can, but the truth is that he is working in a very dangerous, highly active terrorist area.

My future mother in law Michelle has been a huge support to me because she has been through a deployment before. We have been staying in close touch over the phone from Washington to California. Every weekend Skye has been able to talk to his 3 year old daughter Kayleigh who lives in Georgia. I know that hearing her sweet little voice perks him up and gives him strength to start the next day.

Skye remains strong and focused on doing his job over there and ensuring that all his soldiers make it home safe to their families. A huge part of me went with him when he left and won't be whole until he is safely back in my arms. As much as my world has turned upside down for the next 12 months, I can't imagine what he is facing on the other side of things. I had no idea until he came into my life, the amount of courage, devotion and self sacrifice it takes to defend our country's freedom.

The best thing we can do for our loved ones serving over seas is send our love and support. One great way to do that is to send very much appreciated care packages. I've been at the post office several times a week and have quickly become an expert at flat rate boxes, customs forms, etc... Skye says he's lucky because he gets a lot of packages from home but a lot of his soldiers don't get anything. So if anyone would like to send a care package to Skye or anyone from his MP company, please email me at Tanisita16@aol.com for their addresses. I also have gotten to know several of his female soldiers and know that they are in desperate need of female supplies and girly comforts from home! This website is also wonderful for giving ideas for what to send: http://www.give2thetroops.org/items.htm. Thank you and God Bless our troops!!

Update On Mom

Hopefully you all have been able to tell lately from my posts and pictures that my mom is doing more AMAZING than ever. As a family we have really been trying to focus on celebrating LIFE and not living in fear of her cancer. But I figured it was time to update everyone on her treatment progress.

We celebrated another clear MRI scan in May and this week she is undergoing her 5th round of chemotherapy and another IV infusion of the clinical trial for Avastin. The chemotherapy is still going excellent and thanks to her weekly accupuncture therapies her nausea has resolved and her appetite has returned. Its great to see her cooking her favorite foods and have a desire to eat yummy stuff again. She has had some slightly new symptoms show up recently that she passed on to her oncology nurse Cheryl. All of these symptoms are associated with Avastin treatment so now we REALLY think she was given the real medicine in this double blind clinical trial. Her weight has gone up slightly and her weekly blood counts continue to look perfect. She is most excited about her hair growing back after radiation. Her doctors were starting to think that the hair cuticle had been permanently damaged and would never regrow, but now half of her head is fully covered in thick new hair and the area around her incision line is starting to grow too.

The thing that makes me feel the most reassured about how my mom is doing is by just looking at her and feeling her energy again when I'm around her. In nursing school they teach you that the best way to assess your patient is well, by just looking at them! Everyone that sees my mom can tell how wonderful she's doing these days. She was very focused these last few months to be healthy for my sister's wedding at the end of May. She told me she is already looking to the future and had a peptalk with her doctors to keep her her in top shape for my wedding next August. Praise God for incredible medicine and more importantly for my mom's determined spirit!

A Very Special Family Wedding

Our family celebrated Taryn and Mac getting married on May 29, 2010 at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club. They shared their wedding day with my mom's birthday and look forward to celebrating their wedding anniversary falling on that special day.

The weather wasn't quite cooperating but the rain let up for exactly 30 minutes for their "first look" pictures at Elizabeth Park. They changed their outdoor ceremony to an intimate indoor ceremony filled with candles and calla lilies.

My mom has been looking forward to this day since the day my sister was born and we were all very thankful for her to be feeling so healthy. She was beaming for every photo and danced the night away with my dad on the dance floor.

Mac and my fiance Skye have really become close over the last year. Skye was an usher at the wedding and helped me snap photos when I was busy with my Maid of Honor duties :)

My sister could not have looked more stunningly beautiful on her wedding day. It was very special for me to help her plan her wedding and see this day unfold for her and Mac. He has been a part of our family for a long time already and I'm so proud to call him my brother in law. Skye and I know how lucky we are to be so close with Taryn & Mac and can't wait to raise our children together with them.

So handsome and SUCH a great dance partner (check out Aubrey Joy's pix haha)

Cousins by birth but raised as sisters :) Loved the bridesmaids dresses by the way, I will totally wear mine again!

We were very blessed to grow up in a home with wonderful parents who always put their marriage and family first. After 31years together they have been through so much and are more in love than ever. They were definitely our role models for love and commitment and showed Taryn and I to hold marriage to the highest standard. So congrats Macky you made the cut!

Everything about this day was so Mac & Taryn...down to Mac's custom designed leather Chuck T's and Taryn's bright green stiletto heels! Their wonderful wedding planners Mary & Marsha helped them put those special touches that made it so memorable.

I got through my Maid of Honor speech with flying colors but also quite a few tears...here is some of the advice I gave them...

"My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years, your love for each other will deepen and grow. Take each day and cherish your time together. Love one another and stand together. Take time to talk to one another. Put your love and your family first; your job and your hobbies second.

Years from now, may you look back on this day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least."

Please go to Aubreyjoyphotography.com to view some of their professional photos which turned out AMAZING!

Dear Friends

This picture was taken several months with my Mom's dear and long time playgroup friends: Laurie, Donita, Elsie, Anne and Nancy. My mom has known these women for close to 30 years and they have been through a lot together. These ladies have been there so many times for my mom and our family since my mom became sick.

Together they designed and created this beautiful quilt with handwritten messages to my mom around the border. They also made delicious homemade meals, beautiful plants and sent cards of love and encouragement. I know that this single blog post isn't enough to thank these amazing ladies for just HOW MUCH of a pillar of support they have been but I hope it is a start. Every time my mom wraps up in your quilt we are reminded of you all and how lucky we are to have such a wonderful group of friends in our lives.

So Blessed

Once again it has been too long since I updated our friends and family on my mom's progress. Life has been very hectic but exciting, planning last minute details for my sister's wedding next month. A wedding like this one is such a great way to really appreciate the two very best things in life: Love & Family. We kicked off the wedding extravaganza with a wig themed bridal shower for Taryn. Everyone showed up in some pretty great looks and my mom got to show off her new wig with pride :) Our whole family couldn't be happier for Mac and Taryn and my mom is very focused on feeling fantastic on their big day.



Today my mom got a very clean bill of health from her oncologist after her daily blood work came back looking good. He told her she is the poster patient for a chemo patient and he only wishes that HALF of his patients could be looking and feeling as well as she is. She says her mind feels a lot clearer than it has since her surgeries and beginning cancer treatment. We are REALLY celebrating this and hoping she will continue on this trend.

We feel so blessed to see my mom's energy and appetite also return this week because both of these things were a struggle for her the couple months. After a week of chemotherapy followed by an IV infusion of Avastin she was totally sapped of all her energy. The best way she can describe her nausea is that she said she felt like she was pregnant again, which of course made us all laugh and lightened the situation a little. Certain smells and tastes in foods were overwhelming to her and made her not want to eat. When I started seeing her weight drop I encouraged her to talk to her oncology nurse about some alternative methods for treating her nausea. Ginger immediately came up in conversation and the very next day my mom was on a ginger supplement and eating much better. She has also had a lot of success with acupuncture therapy through the Cancer Care Center. She said it really increased her energy levels and helped ease her tummy troubles.

Right now my mom is exactly halfway through her 6 rounds of chemotherapy and Avastin treatment. So we are assuming that she has about 3 more months of treatment and hopefully her body can get a much needed break. She is really excited about getting the okay to start driving again at the beginning of May. She says my dad is starting to complain about all those trips into Bellingham to Trader Joes to buy all her organic fruits and veggies! I think it will be great for her to have some of her independence back, even if she only drives herself somewhere once a week. Well thats all for now, love you all and thank you for all the continued prayers and supportive gestures...God Bless

Relay For Life-Team Bubbles!

This year, on behalf of my mom, our family is helping to save lives from cancer by taking part in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives people in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

In addition to helping people celebrate, remember, and fight back, Relay For Life also helps raise much-needed funds and awareness to help the American Cancer Society save lives from cancer.

Please support me and our team by visiting my personal fundraising web page to make a donation. Every donation really does make a difference. I know that times are tighter than normal for many of us, but any amount you can give truly can help save lives.

Thanks to your support, the American Cancer Society can:

* Help people stay well by helping them take steps to prevent cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable
* Help people get well by being in their corner around the clock to guide them through every step of their cancer experience
* Find cures by funding groundbreaking research that helps us understand cancer’s causes, determine how best to prevent it, and discover new ways to cure it
* Fight back by working with lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and rally communities worldwide to join the fight

Each of us has our own reasons for caring about the fight against cancer … whatever your reasons, I hope you’ll choose to make a difference by making a donation online to support my efforts. I’m so grateful to have people like you in my life who want to see an end to cancer in our lifetime. We are so excited to participate in this event, walking together to celebrate my mom's journey and raise money to save lives.

To learn more about Relay For Life, check out our team's progress or make a donation please visit my personal fundraising page at
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/Tanis.SmithForMyMom

Thank you and I will keep you updated on my progress. Go team BUBBLES!!

Great MRI news!!

God has heard all of our prayers and granted us a huge blessing this week. My mom's first MRI scan after completing her first round of treatment came back clear with no sign of a tumor! They are continuing to watch a certain ridge of her brain near where the original tumor was removed. This ridge was the target area for her radiation treatment. The MRI also showed that the cancer cells on the ridge have not spread and may have actually decreased slightly. After discussing the results with her many oncologists, they are very optimistic that we will not see another tumor growing anytime in the near future. They truly believe that my mom is going to be one of the lucky people that will fight and succeed to live for a long time after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma tumor. They explained that this is only because they caught it early when the tumor was so small and because she is so incredibly healthy! We do know that unfortunately there is no cure for brain cancer at this time. But our plan is to help my mom fight this off until they do find that cure!

We are so grateful for this much needed good news. And to know that all the doctors and all the treatments that have sapped my mom of her energy and taken her hair are REALLY WORKING! Yes everyday we deal with the worry and the doubts about what tomorrow could bring for my mom and our family. But we are so lucky to be surrounded with friends and family that help us find guidance when we need it. A very dear friend of mine sent my mom and I a devotional book called "Jesus Calling." She herself has found peace in her crazy life after sitting down each night and reading this book, so I am now doing the same. Granted there are some nights I fall asleep without reading, but have I found comfort in the scriptures I have read and reflected on. It's also pretty cool knowing that my mom and I are reading the exact same thing every night and can focus our prayers together. Like many people, I have a hard time accepting the fact that there are things in life that I cannot control, like my Mom's cancer or my boyfriends deployment to Afghanistan in July. These things could overwhelm me with worry and fear if I let them. But my faith reminds me that I am not in control, someone else is. Monday night's reading spoke to me for obvious reasons and I thought I would share it:
When something in your life or thoughts makes you anxious, come to Me and talk about it. Though the lessons of trust that I send to you come wrapped in difficulties, the benefits far outweigh the cost.

Bubbles!!

Well since I am WAY overdue in my blogging I figured it was definitely time to catch everybody up on my Mom's progress. Sorry I am so way behind, but when you don't hear anything from us for a while, just know that "no news is good news" and that life is just keeping us busy.

Since January my mom has been extremely busy with radiation treatment 5 days a week, daily chemotherapy and has started her new clinical trial of Avastin that will continue for the next 2 years. We gladly celebrated her last day of radiation on February 4th, woo hoo!! As she would tell you, her treatment got very intense towards the end. Her radiation tech buddy Aaron described it as "peeling an onion," meaning that it gradually becomes more focused with each treatment, as it hones in to target the cancer cells. The Bellingham Cancer Care Center truly enjoyed seeing my mom everyday for the past month and even gave her the nickname "Bubbles." They say her energy and zest for life is contagious and just bubbles out of her :)

Right now she is enjoying a much needed break from chemotherapy as well, she will be starting up again in the next couple weeks to start a 5 day course that will occur every 28 days. Her blood counts and overall health continue to look awesome and her oncologists are so impressed with how her body held up during such an intense first round of treatments. We are so very blessed that besides being exhausted and have some hair loss, she hasn't experienced any harsh side effects of cancer treatment. She has acquired a very beautiful collection of fun hats and scarves and wears them proudly wherever she goes.



She's been feeling up to getting out of the house a little more and going for walks almost everyday, rain or shine! We are very excited about her new nutritionist, who was recommended by her oncologist at the Cancer Care Center. My parents have met with her twice already and like the recommendations she has made. So far she has my mom eating a very "clean and green" diet with lots of lean proteins, organic fruits and veggies and a few new supplements (including some kind of interesting dried mushrooms)...But I really like the fact that she encourages my mom to indulge whenever she feels like it, for example the girl scout cookies I'm bringing home to her this weekend!

Overall things are looking very good for our family. We continue to be hopeful for the future and are grateful everyday for my Mom's strength and the wonderful advances in modern medicine. My mom has found such a great support system made up of all the staff at Bellingham Cancer Care Center. Also, I continue to be AMAZED and eternally grateful for how our close family and friends have stepped in and come through for us in whatever way we have needed help thus far. Our load has REALLY been lightened by all the delicious meals that have been made, offers to drive my mom to doctors appointments or help her run errands and especially the professional house cleaning donated by my mom's dear friend Brenda. You have no idea how much we appreciate IT ALL! We love you, God Bless.