Continuation of good news

Britteny had her 5^th round of the weekly chemo yesterday.  I went with her so that we could meet with the doctor for results from the breast cancer gene test.  The results came back negative so she is not a carrier of the breast cancer gene.  Sounds like the cancer that Britteny has is more of a fluke kind of deal than anything.  We were very relieved to hear the good news.

Britteny and the kids are doing very well.  Britteny took the dog for a walk last night and she said she even jogged a little.  Since Britteny is taking the chemo treatments so well she will receive the chemo every week still but only see the oncology doctor every other week.  That is also good news because that means less time waiting to see the doctor.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Andy

Another Post!

Wow, it's been entirely too long since I've posted for all you faithful followers...and for you occasional ganderers too.  I hope everyone's labor day weekend was great.  We sure enjoyed ours.  The extra day with the family does wonders for all of us I think. 

Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) Britteny goes in for her 4th round of the once a week chemo.  So far she has done exceptionally well.  Her only complaint is that the night after she receives her chemo she can't get to sleep very easily.  Last week she said she laid in bed and didn't fall asleep until after 3:00am.  We do have a couple theories though as to why this is.  First is that it's just the chemo and it makes her do that.  Simple.  Second is that just before the nurses giver her the chemo they dose her up with some high strength benadryl.  Shortly after she sleeps hard for at least 2 hours while she gets the chemo.  Maybe this good nap is making her not tired until later in the night. 

Last week Britteny had blood drawn for a blood test to determine if she is a carrier for the breast cancer gene.  We will get the results for this test next week on the 12th-ish when she goes for her treatment.  The breast cancer gene increases a person's chances of getting several types of cancer.  They especially wanted her to do this since she is young. 

Nausea and fatigue are non-existent.  Her skin color is great.  Her morale is awesome.  The oncologist says there is improvement and that he can tell that the chemo is working.  Thank you for all of your fantastic dedication to sending prayers up for us.  We know this is why everything has gone so well.  Speaking of your prayers.  Franklin was running a little bit of a fever tonight, please pray that he will be fine. 

Thanks again!!

Andy

1 of 12

Well, my sister Katie kindly informed me today that I have not updated the blog so I thought I better get on the horn.  Today Britteny received her first treatment of her weekly chemo.  This will go on like I said for 12 weeks.  Today's treatment lasted a lot longer than she had anticipated.  I don’t think it seemed that long for her thanks to some Benadryl they gave her and a 2 hour nap.  The nurses said that she could possibly have an allergic reaction so the Benadryl was just a precautionary measure. 

After receiving the chemo today Britteny is still feeling good.  No nausea or fatigue to speak of.  We are sure hoping and praying that it stays this way.

Over all our family has been doing pretty well.  When we get a chance we try to get out of the house and play at a park or something like that.  Several days ago we went to Sonic and got some food and took it to the park for a picnic supper.  Franklin got to play on the big playground equipment so he could climb around and wear himself out.  It was a pretty good outing.  This last weekend we tried to go feed ducks but there were already several kids there feeding the small group of ducks there so we just played.  We’ll have to try again on a weekday.  Today I took a picture of Britteny and Abigail.  Usually girls in the family have all the hair; I had to get a picture of my 2 baldies.  Hehe!

The morale around the house is steadily positive thanks to all of your prayers.  Your prayers are what are getting us through everything.  Thank you all!

Andy

No more red stuff!!

Wednesday August 1^st Britteny went in for another chemo treatment.  Everything with the treatment went as usual which is good.  Once again the nausea and fatigue hit a couple days later.  Currently she feels better however there is still a little nausea hanging around.  The nausea seems to last longer with each treatment for Britteny.  Britteny's doctor confirmed improvement from her last visit and he also expects continued improvement.

 

Like I stated earlier, Britteny will be undergoing 2 types of chemotherapy.  This last treatment concluded the first type (AC, the hard "red stuff") and her next treatment on August 16^th will begin the next type (TH).  Beginning August 16^th Britteny will go in once a week to receive the TH chemo.  Britteny’s doctor stated that since she took the first 4 treatments very well, these next treatments should go a lot smoother and should not affect her near as much.  I think she is looking forward to that.

 

The kiddos seem to be doing just fine except Abigail had a cough with some congestion a few days ago.  We started breathing treatments for her and she seems to be doing great now.  Thanks again for your continuous prayers.

 

Andy

Some Improvement

This week has gone by pretty well for Britteny.  This week was probably better for me since I was in Arizona for several days getting back last night.  From talking with Britteny over the phone when I was gone this last chemo treatment seemed to go well for her in the days following.  I was able to go with her to get the treatment Thursday.  Shortly after her treatment she was fatigued as usual.  While I was out she stayed with her parents which worked out pretty good.  Saturday Britteny and her sister threw their parents a surprise birthday party.  (Happy Birthday, Kenny and Meleney!)  She said that the party gave her a good task to keep her busy not letting herself dwell on the fatigue.  Everything went well. 

Wednesday Britteny had a visit with the surgeon to check on the port and have a check up on progress.  The doctor, agreeing with Britteny, can tell that there are signs of improvement which will lead to an easier surgery.

This morning she said that there was still some slight nausea hanging around but not enough to stop her from doing anything.  Through the day today the nausea has gone away leaving Britteny feeling normal.  Now its just the waiting game until her next treatment.  This was her 3rd treatment so this next chemo treatment will be the last of this cocktail.  Then its on to 12 treatments once a week of a different formula.

The support that Britteny and our family has been receiving is phenomenal.  I don't know how to express my gratitude for everyone's continued thoughts and prayers.  Our family's spirits are high and Britteny is doing great by not letting her cancer bring her down.  Thank you all and praise God!!

Andy

Duck!

This last week has been good for us.  For the first time Franklin was introduced to feeding ducks.  With the ducks being shy and his short throwing range, it was fun to watch.  He had a blast!

 

Yesterday Britteny had her 3^rd round of chemo.  Everything went well for her.  Although we did have to wait quite a while to see the doctor before her chemo was started, which is always a bummer no matter where you are.  We were the last ones to leave chemo yesterday afternoon.  Yesterday evening was fairly well for her except for a minor headache and a bit of a stomach ache.  We are so fortunate and thankful to God that our families and friends are close and that they are willing to help us out as much as they do.  Please continue the prayers since Britteny has in the past been very tired a couple days after her treatment.  Also during this time she is to drink 3 quarts of fluid a day to keep her kidneys flushed out preventing the chemo from building up.  Build up could cause an infection.  (So Britteny, when you read this you better have a drink next to you!  Haha!)

 

This morning Britteny had 2 appointments. First she saw her heart doctor and he verified that everything is going good and that there has been no negative effects.  Apparently it too was a long wait for her.  I guess, unfortunately, that’s something we will have to get used to.  Then after that she went to received a shot to boost her blood count which doesn’t take but a few minutes.

 

Lately Britteny and I have been discussing where all the time goes.  After Abigail was born time seemed to speed up.  Now that we’ve added in the mix chemo treatments every other week, the weeks have absolutely flown by for us.  I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when we have chemo every week!

 

Andy

Lazy Saturday

Hello all!  The last part of the week has been pretty good for Britteny.  Everything seems to be back to normal.  Thursday we met some of my family at a park here in Pampa for a picnic supper.  We had a pretty good time.  It was good to get out with the family.  I think Britteny and Franklin really enjoyed getting away from the house for a while.  Franklin just couldn't stay off the playground equipment.  He had a blast.  We are definitely going to have to get out more.

Britteny is slowly getting used to her new hair do.  She has a few hats she likes to wear.  I have a camouflage hat that I told her she could wear but she doesn't seem to like it that much compared to her other hats. Hummm.  Oh well...

Thank you all again for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Andy

Tired

If you asked Britteny how she felt this weekend 'tired' would be the word she'd use.  Thursday night she couldn't sleep because of the chemo.  It seemed every hour or so we'd wake up, discuss how neither of us could sleep then try to get back to sleep.  So far it seems that the night after her chemo treatment she can't sleep.  Then after that it seems like she can't get enough sleep.  Saturday and Sunday Britteny napped on and off.  Sunday Britteny's parents took Franklin for the day which helped us out a lot.  I was able to get a couple things done around the house actually.  I'm glad that her chemo treatments have been scheduled when they have been.  Since I don't work on the weekends I am able to stay and take care of the kiddos while she rests.  I came home for lunch today and she said she still felt a little worn out.  Fortunately the kids slept for a long time this afternoon allowing her to get some rest.  However if fatigue is the only thing holding us back, I don't think we have much to complain about.  Thanks to everyone's prayers the effects of chemo is very minimal, spirits are good and we all are doing well.

Andy

One small step against cancer, one giant leap for Britteny

Yesterday was Britteny’s 2^nd treatment of chemo.  I was able to go with her and sit while she received her chemo.  Everything went pretty well.  It ended up taking about 2 hours.  During her treatment she began to get a headache then when we got home she began to feel nauseous.  After some meds and some rest she felt pretty good except for being a little fatigued.  During this time her sister, Amanda, stayed with us to help out.  She took Abigail to her check-up for us yesterday, which really helped us out.  Abigail is doing well; she weighs 10 lbs. 3 oz. and is 23 ¼” long.  Today Britteny went back to get her shot to help her blood count stay up in preparation for her next treatment in a couple weeks.  Took all of 5 minutes.

Over the last few days Britteny’s hair has been slowly coming out when she washes and brushes her hair.  Her last brushing left a big bird nest of hair in the trash can which leads us to Britteny’s giant leap.  Yesterday evening we went to Britteny’s parent’s house to visit, eat, and cut hair.  Britteny wanted it short, so she got it short.  Britteny’s dad, Kenny, decided if his daughter was shaving her head he was going to shave his as well.  While the kitchen barber shop was open we gave Franklin a trim as well, not quite as short though.  I think Britteny enjoyed getting her head shaved.  All evening she had a big grin on her face.  Below are some pictures from last night.  I couldn‘t help but have a little fun with it.

Here is Britteny before with her hair in ponytails ready to donate to Locks of Love.

Half way there.

Ah, the perfect cancer fighting haircut!  At this point I said, "All done!"  Britteny asked her mom and sister what they thought and they just grinned.  Britteny still not knowing what her hair looked like, her dad yelled in from the other room, "You have a mohawk!"  Darn, I was hoping I could get away with it.

The finished product.

The two skin head victims.

All three victims of the Kitchen Barber Shop last night.

Good news, and no news…

The good news is that we got the results from the PET scan.  All the cancer is still believed to be in the breast and has not spread anywhere else.  So the cancer is definitely treatable.  The scan also showed up with black spots in her neck and upper spine showing that Britteny was tense and possibly nervous.  Not sure what that’s all about.  What’s she got going that could be so stressful?  Lol!  There will be another scan sometime after all the chemo is complete.  The doctor said that this time he will give her some stuff to basically get her to sleep through the scan so no muscle activity will be going on.  The scan also showed a large black mass up in her head which indicated that she is not brain dead.  Whew!

The no news is that we thought that we’d get some kind of results of her DNA to see if she is a carrier for a mutated breast cancer gene.  Turns out we have to request the test be done.  So there has not been any kind of DNA testing.  We do plan to have Britteny tested for the mutated gene which only involves getting some blood drawn.  Pretty simple.

We met the doctor who will be doing the radiation.  We both like him pretty well.  Talked with him for about an hour going over the game plan for when the time comes. 

Seems like the prayers are working thanks to our faith community!  Thank you all!!

Andy

The weekend is over

We were told by the nurses that this last weekend was going to be the worst time for Britteny after her chemo treatment.  As it turned out, Britteny was tired all day Friday and tired most of the day Saturday.  By Sunday Britteny was back to her old self like nothing has changed.  Currently she is doing great, no nausea, headaches, fevers or fatigue.  Praise God! 

Today we were informed that our appointment to get the results for the PET scan has been moved up by one day to Wednesday afternoon.  But that won’t be all, we will also find out if Britteny carries the breast cancer gene and we will meet the radiation doctor that will treat Britteny. 

Not really much else to report.  Everything is going pretty well, the kids are doing great; we’re just waiting for Wednesday to come around.  Thank you again for your continuous prayers.

Scan of the PET variety

Today we went to have the PET scan.  It took about an hour and a half and seemed to go pretty well, at least that I know of since I had to wait in the waiting room.  The waiting room at Texas Oncology is nice.  There is a piano in the room that people play, today a girl played "Moonlight Sonata" which is one of my favorites.  Anywho, we were told the chemo that Britteny started yesterday knocks down the white blood cells and usually doesn't return to normal for 3 weeks.  After the PET scan Britteny recieved a shot to help boost her white blood cell count so that she will be ready again for chemo in 2 weeks.

After the PET scan Britteny was told that she could be around the kids but could not hold them until tomorrow for fear of radiation transfering to them.  Last night and for the appointment Franklin stayed with Britteny's sister Amanda and Abigail stayed with my mom.  We went to pick up Franklin and she said it was very hard not to get out and pick him up as he ran out to the car to see her.  Franklin sure missed his mommy.  We got back home today and Britteny felt tired and took a good nap.  She hasn't had any headache or nausea since yesterday afternoon. 

Britteny's mom is staying with us tonight to help out with the kiddos Friday.  What a great lady.  Thank you very much, Meleney!

We have an appointment next week, Thursday, to go over the results of the PET scan.  Thanks again for your continued prayers!

A couple pics, why not.

Britteny with our little ones who will definitely help get us through this.

A picture of the whole family.  Thank you Gamblin family for the backdrop! :)

Everything so far...

This blog is to inform the masses of the events that occur around my beautiful wife, Britteny and her breast cancer. 

A question that is asked a LOT is "how did you find out?"  Well, without further adieu, here is how it all started.  When Britteny was breast feeding Franklin, she developed mastitis.  The doctor treated her and all was well. Then about 2 months before Abigail was born, Britteny started showing signs of enlargement without pain which was passed off as no infection or anything to worry about.  After Abigail's birth there were signs of infection and antibiotics were given to Britteny.  After the antibiotics were finished, there was no change so the family physician ordered a mammogram for further analysis with a breast specialist which was on June 7th.  That same day they took a small biopsy of some cells for some initial testing.  June 12th we were back at the breast specialist and we were informed that it was "very likely" that Britteny had cancer.  Also on that day they did another biopsy and actually took tissue to get a better read on the possible cancer.  June 13th we were back at the doctor's office and Britteny was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).  The cancer is fast growing (grade 3) and is currently considered to be stage 3.  We were told that IBC is only 1% of all breast cancers and is typically found the way we found it.  Also on June 13th we meet the oncologist who will be taking care of Britteny's treatment at Texas Oncology.  The next day Britteny had surgery to put in a port to receive chemo treatment.

Britteny's oncologist said that she will be treated 4 ways.  First there will be 20 weeks of chemotherapy to reduce inflammation.  Next will be surgery, a mastectomy to be exact.  Following surgery will be radiation and some kind of pill regimen which we will find out more about down the road.

After a heart echo (echocardiogram) last week we found out that Britteny's heart is good to go for chemotherapy.  So, today was the first day of chemo.  She took it pretty well after a little bit of nervousness.  I was so proud!  Sitting in the waiting room reinforced what everybody has been telling us, "y'all are so young!"  We were definitely the youngest in the office today.  A couple hours after she completed her chemo she began to feel nauseous.  I think it was because we were at Heather and Ryan's house where her and Heather talked solid for a couple hours wearing out Britteny.  We got home and after some rest Britteny is back up and around as usual.

Tomorrow she has a PET scan to see if the cancer has spread anywhere else.  Please be praying for her!

Also, thank you everyone so much for the prayers so far.  We can definitely tell they are working; spirits are high and things seem to be flowing pretty smoothly with appointments.  This is just something we have to go through right now and we really appreciate the support.

Sorry for the novel, but so much has happened in the last couple weeks that it takes a lot to get caught up on everything.  I promise they won't all be this long.  Again thank you for everything!