More, More, More!!!!

Mom's going to try MORE aggressive Chemo Treatments because it appears that the Chemo tends to keep the lump in her neck in check. I hate that she has to do more, but if it helps, it helps. Things seem to be going okay though- she's feeling decent and having a great time trying out all her new scarfs / hats / wigs! Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers, Love, Abby

Bald is Beautiful : Round 2

Mom called this afternoon and let me know that she and Tony took the shavers to their heads this morning! Bald is Beautiful!

That Darn Cold

And no, I'm not talking about the weather... Mom's caught a bug, she was feeling pretty crap-tastic at her Benefit, but wasn't goin to miss it for the world.

She visited her doctor this past week and got on some antibiotics and is working on fighting it off - she sounded kind of like a bull frog yesterday when we spoke, but she assured me she felt a little better than earlier this week.

Our grand total for the Benefit has passed our inital count of $27,300 and is now up to $28,350 (or something like that). Thank you again, each and every red cent is appreciated.

Mom texted me this morning and it looks like the head is getting shaved again this weekend with Tony. The Chemo that "works" on her also makes her lose her hair, and it's starting to go, so wig shopping is on the agenda.

Thanks for your love, support and prayers. -a

Mom's First (Post Chemo) Haircut!

A little over a year ago with the support of Tony, Mom shaved her head as the Chemo started to take her hair away. On October 15th 2009, Mom and Kathy were on their way to the American Cancer Society Wig Shop in Sioux Falls to pick out a new hairstyle.

That day we learned just how beautiful bald can be.

Over the past year, Mom's been working hard to grow out her hair and now that it's grown in, she decided she needs a haircut to put some shape back into her hair.

She headed to the Regis Salon after work to get her first haircut since she was diagnosed.

She looks absolutely stunning.

I am so Impressed by how dark it is! I can't even remember a time when my Mom's hair wasn't blonde.

She looks so different with dark hair!

Thanks so much Kathy for taking pictures!

and

Congratulations on your new haircut Mom!!!

We Have a Plan

So many people have been asking "how's your Mom" ... and After the Mayo... "What's the treatment plan from here?"

Well, Mom's doing good. She's been sleepy but that's really nothing new - according to her.

She went to her doctor today and they've determine that they will do a dose of chemo once a week for three weeks, then a week off and repeat that cycle 4 times.

It will amount to about 4 months worth of chemo treatments, but ultimately it will hopefully stunt the growth of the cancer and prove to have less side effects than the last rounds she's endured.

The side effects will be minimal hair loss, loss of appetite and she will be lethargic (surprise). She figures it's nothing a good nap, a can of ensure and a wig can't cure!

We're all very happy that we have a plan to move forward with.

Thanks for your continued prayers and love,
Abby

Doing Well.

So, the fluid that was removed was not around the heart, but around the lungs; Great success! (Per Nurse Shannon) They are going to try to remove the fluid around her heart via lasix and then result to the procedure Mom and I don't want to think about - GIANT NEEDLE - makes me think... Uma Thurman and Pulp Fiction. Any ways, She's doing good, and looking good too! I had Shannon take a picture of her for me this morning, I LOVE her hair style... I told her to leave the wig at home, always.

I will keep the updates coming as I get them.

Love,

A

Meet Angie...

This is Angie... (On the right) She's my cousin (My Mom's Niece). Angie and I spent endless hours together in our teen years and have a special bond - we refer to each other's mothers as "Mom" and no one could convince us otherwise, we're sisters in every sense of the word.

When Angie heard her second Mom was diagnosed with cancer she joined the battle and agreed to cut her hair in honor of Mom to donate to Locks of Love. She decided on March / April as the goal to do it so there would be plenty to donate.

Tonight was the night... Here's Angie outside of JC Penny's before the "Big Chop".

That's a whole lotta hair!

Meet Amber... this is our cousin Pete Boyle's wife! She was totally game to cut all 15 inches of Angies hair off.

There it Goes!

And the best picture of the bunch... I can't imagine what the people on the bus must have thought when I literally burst into a fit of laughter when I saw this picture. My Mom is a riot!

You're getting there Mom... just a few more inches :)

Here's Amber & Angie showing off their finished product

This one also made me laugh... you girls are having way too much fun!

And she looks stunning...

What a HUGE difference!

I really can't even begin to explain how my heart swells with love and pride of my family looking at these pictures.

To Amber, thank you for taking the time to make a difference, pose for pictures and make my Mom Smile.

To Mom, you take things with such great humor. I am so proud of you and every step you've made, and every smile you've brought with you.

To Angie, I'm overwhelmed with tears when I see what you've done to support my Mom. I can't imagine a better way. This is so huge and I thank you for bringing that smile to my Mom's face from the bottom of my heart.

These are the ways we fight cancer... together... because, Bald is beautiful and Dianne's battle is our battle!

Hat Totals

Here's the grand totals....

22 Baseball Hats
3 Scarves
25 Stocking Hats
2 Bucket Hats
3 Beret’s
5 Women’s Fashion Hats (I.E. The cow print)
3 Novelty Hats.

Total = 63!

And Mindy's Picture... she brought 18 of the 22 Baseball Caps and 1 scarf/hat combo. She just pointed at hers... There were too many to put on.

Thank you again co-workers... I can't begin to thank you enough. Your contributions, support and love mean the world.

I work in an office environment that only allows casual dress on Fridays. I often wear Jeans and a tee-shirt because that's my favorite casual ensamble. This month I aspire to wear "Diannes Battle is My Battle" Every Friday. I encourage you to do the same.

It's all part of Lung Cancer awareness Month!

Mom is doing very well. We had a nice long conversation on the phone last night about a little bit of everything! She's putting up a good fight, and is determine she's not going to "lay down and die". I could hear her voice in my ear saying "you choose how you feel - I could just lay in bed and be sick, but I choose to go to work today" as my alarm clock was screeching at me to get out of bed.

Most days are good. Chemotherapy takes her out for at least two and a half days, and makes her feel icky for a good week. Food doesn't taste very good, and she's nauseaus most of the time. She wanted to go up to the lutefisk dinner in Summit this weekend but kind of thought the smell of lutefisk alone would make her vomit - it makes me vomit and I'm not doing chemotherapy. Her stubble on her head continues to fall out and make her itch a lot. She just about went crazy the other night itching her head, even washing it doesn't help much. She's pretty sure she's going to ditch her wig and go to hats at work pretty soon, it's just so much of a hassel and her head hurts a lot.

But for thoes of you who know my Mom best; she's stubborn as hell and lets nothing slow her down!

All the love,

Abby

Hats off to KMS!

My heart is full of joy while I type. This morning when I walked into work I was greeted by this beautiful sight.

It took a moment to sink in what all these hats hanging from the celing tiles meant. I stood in awe of the hats hanging from the line in my office, when I realized that they were all collected for my Mom and hung up to show support and love.

I immediatley started to cry, took this picture and then called this lady... the mastermind.

She really REALLY didn't want me to take this picture. But she is the most generous and wonderful person I have ever met.... serriously this woman thinks of everything. She even convinced me to bring my camera in a very sneaky way because she knew I would want to take pictures. It was my own fault that I forgot my CF card and will have to take the pictures tomorrow. When she arrived I gave her a big hug and shortly after Mindy walked in with another bag of 20 hats or so. I sent the room shot picture to my Mom and talked to her on the phone and then Mindy and I preceeded to hang the remaining hats up, so currently there are 60 hats hanging from the ceiling in our office space.

I sent out a big thank you e-mail and asked the people who donated the hats to come and pick one out to wear to show to Mom.

Here's Patsy with her cow print hat.

And Julie with the Elmer Fudd inspired hat...

I seriously have the best co-workers in the world.

There are SO many hats and mom only has one head, so we will be donating a portion of them to Hats Off For Cancer. We're doing a hat drive through the end of the week to send as many as we can! More pictures to come!
All My Love,

Abby

Bald is Beautiful

This week has been full of challenges for Mom. From Nausea to fatigue to hair loss there has been a few tears shed, and our family has grown even closer.

On Tuesday I talked to Mom after work, and she told me that her hair had started falling out. She said if it continued at that pace she would be shaving her head and driving to Sioux Falls with Kathy to get new hair!

And the text message that I got the following morning was, "Shaving my head tonight - No pictures on Facebook or my Blog, but I'll send one to you."

Last night afterwork when I spoke to her she sounded kind of excited though nervous I'm sure to be shaving her head and said that Tony was going to shave his too!

So, here they are last night in Mom & Shannon's kitchen... Tony's Mohawk which I'm sure lasted 2.5 seconds only to please his Son's. First, Mom took the clippers to Tony.

Then, as I understand it ... Tony took the clippers to Mom. I haven't talked to Mom today, but last night she called me and told me she thought that everyone should shave their heads it's so much easier! I didn't hear one ounce of sadness in her voice. She even said in a text this morning that she was getting used to it.

Shannon Texted me the picture... I smiled.

This morning I got a text from Mom "You have my permission to put Tony and my picture on my blog, but not facebook... Bald is Beautiful".

Yep, Mom... you sure are :)

♥ Abby