Gathering Paper

Mom was relieved to see that most of the paperwork they had to gather for her trip to the Mayo was easily stored on CD. She figured if not, she might need a wagon to haul it around!

Dr. McHale's office has been really great about helping her get her files in order and her insurance approved.

It's been a relief!

Hurry Up & Wait... Hurry Up & Wait... Story of our lives.

Thanks for your support and prayers,
A

5 Days... and counting!

Our fundraising goal [of $1,000] has been reached, surpassed and actually left in the dust all together. We currently sit at #3 in the top 5 fundraisers for Highline Relay at $2,040! We’re only $40 behind #2 !

Oh and I have to mention that our very own Becky Marchitto is #2 overall in the fundraising list trailing the leader by only $30!

Here’s the Schedule for Relay
Set up Beings at 1pm.
I will be there at 1pm.
The Relay beings at 3pm with a survivor lap.
You are welcome to arrive anywhere between 1pm and 10pm.

The last and most important thing I will leave you with… Directions to Highline Stadium…
The “official” address is 430 156th St Burien, WA 98148 so if you wish to Google map it from your location… please do… but here’s some general directions.

-On Hwy 99 {509} to Burien take the S 160th Exit
- Turn Right at 160th St
-Turn Right at 1st Ave S
-Take the first Right onto S 156th Street
- Take the second Left onto 4th Ave S.
- Destination will be on the Left

I imagine there will be signs pointing to Relay once you get close!

Call me if you need direction to the campsite when you get there!

If I get more information at the meeting I will dispatch it to you!
See you Saturday!
Abby
** PS: Don’t wear purple unless you’re a survivor or people will assume you’re a survivor… Just a heads up !

PPS: More importantly... only 3 days till my Mom and Aunts get here!!!!!!

Counting Down...

Mom is going in for her Bronchoscopy on Wednesday - we're relieved to have a date set and looking forward to it being over allready. She'll head down to Sioux Falls in the morning and the procedure is at 12:45pm. Prayers are appreciated !

On the Relay for Life front... We're at $1,610 dollars raised which is far beyond anything I imagined... I'm GLOWING with pride for our team.

Just a few reminders... if you'd like to donate to our cause please click here.

If you'd like to donate supplies *birthday decorations, glow sticks, water... etc... let me know

If you would like for us to light a luminaria in honor of, or in memory of a loved one who has or has had cancer please PLEASE let me know, I would Love to light one for them!

I am working on the details now, collecting birthday decorations, and food and all sorts of other goodies for the walk. I'm so very excited to have Brenda and Kathy and Mom along for the ride!

Here's to couting down!

All my Love,
-a

Relay Countdown : 36 Days!

So.... Relay is in 36 days... when did that happen?

I was working so hard on being prepared and ... BAM it came around the corner faster than anticipated!

Mom and Kathy are going to the travel agent today to get their plane tickets and Mom is feeling 10x's better than earlier this week which makes me do the happy dance for sure!

Just wanted to give a little THANK YOU to another donation made by:

PEGGY FOUTZ

a coworker of mine who just wanted to support the cause.

Thanks so much, I can't say that enough.

All my Love,

A

Back to what I was saying last week…

Mom is going in for her last chemo treatment tomorrow morning!
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that her cold has subsided enough that treatment can happen so we’re done with this chemo thing!

Keep the prayers coming… as we enter our Last

LAST CHEMO TREATMENT HA HA HA HA…

One Long Week - One Chemo Left!

This week may prove to be a very long week for Mom.

Her schedule is FULL of Doctor's appointments.

Monday - Pet Scan

Thursday - Chemo Treatment

Friday - Rehydration Treament

Saturday - Sickness sets in (hopefully less than last time)

This is the last one the Doctor has ordered - now we all wait for the results of the Pet Scan; And I have faith soon after that we'll all be doing one of these....

Thanks for all of your prayers and comments! Thank you for being there with us!

Love, Abby

Over the Hump

So, Chemo went off without a hitch yesterday.

She was given benadryl so she slept most of the day away.

Her big plans right now include going to get her nausea perscription filled and get hunkered in for the wave of sickness which should be hitting her later today.

Please continue with the prayers of healing...

One more Chemo till we get to do the happy Dance!

AH HaHaHAhA

Hello, It's me again.

I always say no news is good news when it comes to this blog, but I have been seriously neglecting this thing lately. However, it’s good news to bear because Mom’s been doing really great. She goes in for her 2nd of 3 chemo treatments tomorrow and soon after (Friday) will be feeling like total horse hockey. So it’s a good thing it’s cold and icky in South Dakota, she can come straight home from the Cancer Center and cozy up in her chair and be a bum for a few days without feeling any obligation to go outside.

Please continue to send prayers and good thoughts to her as she endures what is a difficult recovery from Chemo.

We will have the Relay for life Team site set up soon and I will let you know when you can sign up or donate!

Have a Happy Tuesday :o)
Love, Abby

Long time No Post - 1 of 3

Mom had her first of three treatments yesterday.
I was in such a rush running around after work; I forgot to ask how they went! Daughter of the year, right here.
Any ways, I texted her this morning and she said they went well, and she forgives me for being so airheaded; after all I’m her creation.
She doesn’t normally feel the effects of the treatments until the Friday following the actual treatment. It’s been snowing pretty non-stop in South Dakota, so I’m sure it will be easier for her to stay put and rest than it was this summer after receiving treatment.
Prayers and thoughts appreciated.
Love, Abby

The Last one!

Everyone break out your happy dance tomorrow for Mom as she endures her last session of Chemotherapy for the year!!!! She will have a PET scan again on the 23rd (we think) to see where all this radiation, and chemo has gotten us! Please keep her in your prayers, as she will be doing Chemo tomorrow, knocked out for a couple days and battling nausea. However, this time she will be trying out a new patch that should help curb that. Without insurance the patch would have cost her nearly $500; with insurance it was only $50 and it should work for about days.

Here we go! Last Chemo!!!

Infusion

Put out your prayers to Mom.

She's been at Chemo all day so it looks like Friday might be a tough day,

that's usually when the Chemo treatment catches up with her.

But, Only One left!

All the Love, Abby

2 is the Magic Number!

Hey Everyone!
Mom had a Dr's appointment yesterday with Dr. McHale and he told her that she's only got 2 Chemo treatments left to endure before they order another PET scan.

Her next treatment will be on Wednesday the 28th.

Yay Yay Yay!
All the Love, Abby

Her Last Day!

Here's Mom's last day of treatment.
She took lots of photos so we could share them with you. Here's the Watertown Cancer Center up at Prairie Lakes. It's less than a half mile from Mom and Shannon's house. Prety easy to stop on in for treatments
Here's the front doors to the center, she was pretty excited that this was her last day walking through them for quite awhile.
Kim & Shelley, the friendly faces at the front desk.

Nora & Julie her radiology nurses that held her hand through the whole thing.

It feels so good to see the faces that have been taking care of my Mom.

Here's Nora & Julie showing off Mom's big machine.

I didn't know what I had pictured in my head, but it wasn't this, and this thing is huge.

Here's where Mom spent 8 minutes lying completley still every day for the past 6 weeks.

Here she is, the newly treated and graduated Dianne Nielsen!
Complete with her new water bottle, diploma and very fashionable hospital gown.
I spoke with her for quite awhile tonight and she said she's not winking in this picture but the mass & treatments have made her left eye droopy, but it's getting much better

Here's a close up of her 'diploma'.

I'm so proud she's completed radiation.

Now we play the waiting game to see what's next.

She has another appointment in mid September (I think) to see how things are working out.

Keep praying and sending love!

All the Love in the Universe, Abby

Thank you For the pictures Mom! It helps your daughter in Seattle understand what's going on.

ZERO Radiation Treatments Left!!!!

Life is sweet today!
We celebrate Mom's last radiation treatment!

After 31 Treatments she is ready to be done.

She is doing her happy dance today along with her nurses who assure her that it's not that they don't like her it's that they're happy to see that she's done.

She was going to take some pictures of the Cancer Center and her staff and hopefully the machine she's been bonding with the past month or so, so we can all see it.

Do a little Happy Dance with Mom! I know she'd appreciate it!

All the Love, Abby

2 Is the Magic Number!

2 ... 2 radiation treatments left

*ha... ha ... ha ... ha *

Mom goes in for treatment today, and will leave doing a very small version of the HAPPY DANCE she will be shaking tomorrow!

Keep Praying!

All the love, Abby

6 ah ha ha ha

The Count isn't the only one who's excited about numbers!
Mom has started the countdown of radiation.

Only 6 ... 6 treatments left *ha ha ha*

We talked about how excited she will be when she walks out of the cancer center, she said she'll do a little happy dance!

Additionally, her last Chemo treatment is this week and then we all wait for a month with baited breath to see what the treatments did for her.

After that, we are pretty sure more chemotherapy will come, but for now, she's ready to heal up and stop feeling so tired all the time.

We hope you join in on the count down with us! 6... 6 treatments left *ha ha ha* ... 1 ... 1 chemo left... *ha ha ha*.

All the Love in the Universe, Abby