I am so sorry that you all had to wait so long for an update. I give small updates as needed on facebook, but I know a lot of you aren't on facebook and I am sorry. This Chemo was kind of in the middle of the first two. Not as bad as the first one, but not as "good" as the second one. I have been sick to my stomach almost every day since then and VERY VERY VERY tired. I have slept quite a bit more in the last week than I usually do.

My hair is coming out in clumps. I just laid on the couch Friday and Saturday after Chemo and didn't even take a shower. So Sunday when I finally felt up to taking one it was very traumatizing. And my husband was not very sympathetic. He learned quickly that it was the wrong time to give me an attitude. So needless to say I told him it was time to shave my head. I think it was too hard on him to do and that must be why he gave me an attitude. So we went out to my dads for my step mom to help me out. This isn't something I wanted to do in public nor have an audience for. Well I guess I chickened out once again, because we just ended up cutting it REALLY SHORT! I have no choice now. It will be gone by tomorrow. I desperately need to deep clean my house but there is no point in doing it until my hair is gone. It is ALL OVER THE PLACE!

I also learned of a website from Irelynn's Occupational Therapist. She wasn't gone half an hour and I had gone on and ordered two scarves and two... WIGS! Yep one is short and blonde and the other is really long straight hair and I think it will be kind of a strawberry blondish brown. The scarf is Pink and the other thing is actually kind of line a beanie and it too is PINK! I hope I wear the wigs enough to get my moneys worth at least. My wrap that I was given was shipped yesterday. So I should have it sometime next week hopefully.

Our trip to Seattle is quickly approaching. We are staying at the Holiday Inn in Renton. We will get to town on Sunday the 11th probably not until at least 1 or so. We are hoping to see Frank's cousin Mister and his family. We don't know too many people over there anymore... and it is such a quick trip. We have opening day on Monday and we are heading out Tuesday the 13th. Didn't want to over do it or over spend. We do need to save for VEGAS!

I want to also say thank you to Patty. She is my part time bookkeeper that covers my days off. She is doing a great job stepping up. I don't have the follow through that I used to have... She is more than willing to work whenever needed. I wish I didn't have to stress so much about having 24 hours (for insurance) or I would probably take her up on her offer a lot more. Some days it is so hard to get through my day. And I only work about 5 hours a day. I have to catch myself or I will just stare off into space. Chemo brain really does exist! I sure hope my bosses don't read this or I may not have a job anymore ;) Anyways, Patty did a wonderful job of getting me a prayer quilt. She went to a couple of other stores that I have worked at and had so many people sign it! I LOVE it. I am waiting until I am hairless to take a picture of it (and me) and then I will post it. And if anyone wants to sign it that didn't get a chance, just let me know. I would love to fill it up. That was Patty's plan, but I think she was too excited to give it to me.

We are loving the meals that have been given to us. It is so nice to have yummy meals. And so often not something I would make. I had been craving tater tot casserole for some time and just hadn't gotten around to making it and then Jill in the deli brought it to us after my last Chemo. It was so yummy!

I took the kids to JC Penney today to have their Easter pictures taken. We went here for the first time for Christmas Pics before Irelynn was born. The lady asked for us to sign a release so they could display them. I felt so honored. So far they haven't used them but it still feels so nice to be asked. So today we were waiting our turn and Betty Ann (?) said it would be just a minute. I noticed they had been switching places as far as who is taking the pictures and I don't think we were supposed to have Betty Ann. So I said with a big old smile... "Are you going to take them" and she said "I can" and of course I said yes please! Not saying the other people aren't as good, she just really does a good job and had a lot more patience. So once again as I am picking which pictures I want to buy, Betty Ann came up to us and told the other lady... "we need her to sign a release" YIPPEE they asked again! So always keep your eye on the little fliers that they send out in the mail or put in the magazines or even hang in their stores. It could be Zander and/or Irelynn!

Well that is all for today. I am sure I will let you know how our weekend goes. Hopefully we will make it to Riverfront park on Saturday. We need to pick up and start using our season passes that we have already paid for.

Hello again to everyone. Thank you for keeping up with me. I love to go back and read all your comments. Some make me laugh, some make me smile, and some make me want to cry. My emotions are actually in check lately. Not too bad. Hooray for Frank! So I am still doing really well since my last Chemo and am anxiously (?????) awaiting this coming Wednesday to get #3 out of the way! Here is a not too great picture of me with my new Tinkerbell hat. I think Zander took this one. It's for the people that don't get to see me, which is probably the majority of you reading this. My hair is really coming out. I have been thinking about cutting it one more time, but don't know if it's worth it. I think in the next couple weeks I will be shaving it.

After doing all of my countdowns I thought "how sad is that!" and I told Frank I NEED something to look forward too. Just the end of Chemo isn't cutting it for me anymore. Soooooo... We are in the process of planning a trip to... VEGAS! We aren't going until October, but I am looking and looking and looking and pricing and pricing. A couple of my sisters and their families are coming with us and maybe a friend from work and her husband. We are going to go down for 4 days with everyone else and then we are going to stay a few extra days with my good friend Kim who lives there. And as much as Frank is trying to talk me out of it... OUR KIDS ARE GOING WITH US! Just not ready to part with them any time soon. Hopefully the medical bills won't get in the way of this trip. I am trying to get it going soon so we are "locked" in.

We also got tickets to opening day for the Mariners! This has been a big concern to me because I just don't know if I will feel up to going. Hopefully I will be okay. If not, Irelynn and I can hang out at the hotel and Frank and Zander can go without me. I just couldn't watch it go by without at least trying. We have gone every year since we got married and Zander and Irelynn have both been to every one since they were born. Well, Irelynn went last year and this will be her 2nd. It will be Zander's...4th.

So Irelynn has an appt tomorrow to get a new G-Tube. She won't be able to pull this one out like she does now. Which will be nice. I am going to push to see if they will re-do her fundoplication. With the Fundo, they take the upper part of the stomach and wrap it around the esophagus. She can no longer puke when she has this done. She had it done last May and it only lasted 4 months. I am hoping this time it will last longer. I worry about the acid coming up and how uncomfortable that is for her. I know over the last few weeks I have developed horrible heartburn and it sucks! I can only imaging how she feels. She hasn't gained any weight since her 12 month check up. Actually she did gain, but then she lost it again. The pediatrician isn't too concerned about the weight loss, because Irelynn is so mobile now and burning calories. I think though that her dietitian and her speech therapist are on board with us wanting to re-do the fundo.

Zander is doing well and had recovered from his ear infection and possible strep. He is happy to tell us "my ears don't hurt anymore!". He is wanting to get outside so much now. Hopefully over the next few weeks it will get even nicer than it already is.

So tomorrow is March 10th. March 10th in my family is similar to Christmas. At least it was when I was growing up. March 1oth marked the start of a countdown to my birthday. This year however... March 10th is the start of a countdown to my nephew's birthday. Why you ask??? Because if everything goes as planned my final Chemo will by on Tanner's 17th birthday. Much more fun to count down to Tanner's birthday than mine this year!

For those of you that don't know, my family has a way with birthdays. We like to share. So my niece Lindsey was born on my September 23rd which is also my mom's birthday. My sister Karin's kids are both born on January 20th, 5 years apart. I share my birthday with a couple of friends. My dad, Ben and Jennifer are all within a week of each other in May. Zander was born on my best friends birthday as well as my cousin Ronnie's who passed away when I was about 7. And March 10th is my 3 older sisters birthdays. Yep, tomorrow they will be 38 (Krista), 36 (Karin), and 34 (Kimberly). When I was six I actually traded Krista birthdays so I could share with Kimberly and Karin and so Krista could have her own. I even told my teacher that my birthday was March 10th.

So yes between tomorrow and June 4th (my birthday) there are 86 days. There are 24 days until mine and Frankie's 6th anniversary (April 3rd), and there are 32 days until Mariners opening day. And the most important one this year is... 133 days until my last Chemo! Probably another week after that until I will feel good again.

On to more important things... Today I got to take Irelynn to the Guild School for Occupational therapy rather than them coming to our home. Irelynn's OT is in a similar situation as I am. Not exact, but similar. We are even on a similar schedule for Chemo. Our immune systems are extremely weak and since Zander is sick, I took Irelynn in so I wouldn't infect our OT. It was such a nice experience and hopefully we will get to continue this for a while. I think we are going to do one therapy in home and one in center for a while. She did well today with both therapy's and is now sleeping because she is so tuckered out.

Zander is doing okay. I spent 2 1/2 hours at Urgent care with him yesterday. He has a double ear infection and possibly strep throat. You couldn't even tell today that he is sick. He missed school, but I think he will be fine to go tomorrow. They didn't actually do a strep test since he needed the meds anyways. Now I am questioning if he really had it. I don't think the meds would work that fast!

Feeling pretty good the last couple days and looking forward to another nice weekend. Thank you everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers.

My big boy playing in the yard on 3/5/2010. He turned his hat sideways by himself. I don't encourage that...

I can't believe how nice it is outside this weekend! We have spent ALOT of time out there. I do have to be careful because I can tell when I have overdone it. I think the last couple days since I have been feeling pretty good, I have over done it a little. I can honestly say, I wouldn't mind if the next 10 treatments were just like this one. I don't think I will be that lucky though. I have had a wonderful weekend with my family and we still have one day to go. I was able to take Zander outside on Friday. He got to jump on his trampoline and then we walked over to the park. Too many big kids for him though. He didn't mind at all when I told him it was time to go home. I had to get home to rest. It's only about a block to the park, but I need to be careful. When we got home he played some soccer out in the yard and I sat on the porch and watched him. He is my good boy.



Today was Frankie's turn. He took him out to jump on the trampoline and they played some baseball. Zander is our sports nut! He is going to be keeping us soooo busy as he gets older. That is okay with us though! I would rather he was busy playing sports because he wants to than be out getting in trouble because we didn't encourage him to do other things. Frank and Zander also went to the park to play today, but all Zander wanted to do was play baseball.



Irelynn is still our good girl. Not much to say about her. She has definitely learned the "if I cry, they will come" and she sure uses that to her advantage! She doesn't just whimper. SHE WAILS! And we get to her and she just gives us the biggest grin you could imagine! She is clapping so much now and lets you know that she wants to play. She also is learning Peek-A-Boo. We got her a walker so we could carry it out to the yard easily to play. She is learning to walk backwards. Hey isn't that how most kids start out?



My mom is staying with us. Not so much because I "needed" her, but it is working out well so far. It is nice to have her here so I can go downstairs and rest if needed. She is a big help.



I am thinking if I feel okay next Saturday we might take a day trip somewhere. Don't know where. I just want to get out of town for a while. Maybe down to Lewiston or over to Missoula. We will see I guess.



Sorry for not having an update everyday. I post on my facebook pretty much every day, but not too much detail. Just kind of letting people know how I am feeling.

The Isbelle family last 4th of July in Seaside, Oregon. Another "annual" trip that most likely won't happen this year :(

This treatment in some ways has been better and in some worse. The last one I was just fine the next day until I got that stupid shot. Then it was HORRIBLE but only for a few hours. This time, I have been sick to my stomach since I left the place yesterday. I didn't have the same reaction to the shot this time though. I still have some rough days ahead of me, but have learned some secrets to try and make it easier on me. And my family probably. I am trying so hard to keep the fluids coming but it is tough.

I had figured I caught the cold Zander had since my last treatment, but didn't realize to what extent I "caught" it to. I found out yesterday that I have Bronchitis. I actually didn't feel all that bad and was kind of shocked when she said that. So I am on a Z pack??? I don't really know what else to say.

The open house didn't go to well. Oh well. I heard today that they have extended the $8000 tax credit until June. The only way this benefits us is by bringing us a buyer. We haven't been here long enough for the 2nd part of the rebate to benefit us.

Once again, thank you to all for everything.

This is an old one of my Zander Mander. Just thought I would include it for old times. He was probably a few months old.
And here is one of my happy girl. This is what we see EVERY time we go in and get her from her bed.

Not going to post anything tonight. Just wanted to let everyone know I am heading to bed. I have my 2nd treatment tomorrow. I have to be there at 1:00. Frank is taking me on his lunch break and picking me up when he gets off. I am nervous and excited at the same time. I had such a horrible time after the last one, I am anxious to see if I react the same way. I am excited to be able to say I have 2 treatments behind me.

Thank you to all for your well wishes and prayers. We all appreciate everything.