So much to tell.....

I am not sure where to start. We have had so much going on. The L's are doing good except for allergies. Lindsi has sneezing, coughing and snot again. She just got over it a week ago and it took antibiotics. Logan is playing coach pitch baseball. He is enjoying it. Lindsi is still doing tumbling and loves it. I can't believe kindergarten is almost over. They are doing good in school. Making straight a's and they are both reading a second grade level now. They are going to have the kindergarten music program in a few weeks. They both have a speaking part and a solo. We are very proud of them. We finally got done patching Logan's eye. The dr said she got his vision 20/25 and she hasn't ever gotten him that good. That was in march and he can still see so hopefully we have him good for awhile. This changing glasses every two months was for the birds.

I am doing good. Go for my next checkups this summer. I saw the plastic surgeon in January. The boob on the right side was getting hard. He said it was scar tissue building up from radiation and surgery. So in February I had surgery to take the implant out, scrape out the scar tissue and get a new implant. It is amazing the difference. It feels real like the other one now!! I saw him the other day and he said I look good and he will see me in two years. We went to the race for the cure in San Antonio again this year. It is always an emotional time. Had some good food and great company!! I can't tell anything much has changed with the femara. I still get a pain in my shin along with other things. I have heard of a new medicine I have to do some research about made specifically for your blood chemistry that should fix things. It is called BioTe. I have heard its not cheap but then what is with cancer. I am at 4 years!!! February 20 was 4 years since diagnosis. Every time when this time of year rolls around I think, I was having chemo etc... Ohhh the memories. I am here though and so much to be thankful for. I am truly blessed.

Now onto Brian. I haven't posted because I wasn't sure what to post. He has been to 3 neurologist now. Let me catch you up. He saw the orthopedic dr and he sent him to a neurologist in Abilene to check the nerves. The neurologist in Abilene did an electrical nerve test and said Brian had nerve damage in both arms and sent him to a neurologist in Houston. Brian said it must of been above that guys pay grade. So the problem is Brian has no muscle in the thumb pad (or fat pad as i call it) on either hand. And the right hand his thumb joint won't move. His thumb moves he just can't snap or grip. So the dr in Houston did a battery of tests. He repeated the electrical test and said he had nerve damage throughout his whole body. So then he did blood, urine and a spinal tap. They were all normal. He was puzzled and said he wanted to biopsy the nerve. Meanwhile we were having a hard time talking to him so Brian went back to the orthopedic dr and he got him into a neurologist in Dallas. So Brian took all the tests he had done and as all this was happening we discovered that larry has neuropathy in is feet. I am sure we knew it we just forgot. Anyway the dr did the electrical test again and he was able to find a nerve in Brian's leg where the guy in Houston couldn't get it to respond. He said it wasn't right though. So he has damage. He gave Brian two things it could be. One genetic and one acquired. He did a different blood test and urine. He said Brian was b12 deficient and gave him a shot and told him to take pills. Not that it will fix this but he needs that straightened out. He said he wouldn't do a nerve biopsy so he isn't. He wanted to do genetic testing so they got that set up. Well, we just heard back from them. Because this testing place in Massachusetts holds the Patent they are the only place who can do the test. It is going to be right at $12,000. Insurance will only pay $1,800 so we would be stuck paying a little over $10,000. Well that isn't going to happen. I talked to the genetics place because the insurance said sometimes they will reduce it. Well NO, they offered to set me up a payment plan. Not happening. We found out that larry had the electrical test done a few years ago when they checked him for Parkinson's. So they compared his to Brian's and since they have similarities they are going under the assumption that it is genetic. Not 100% but that is all we can do for now. So under that assumption the genetic disorder is called Charcot-Marie-Tooth. Brian would have Axonal Type II or X-linked he thinks. There are so many types. Part of that means it is his hand not his feet. Usually this presents in the feet. Larry's is in the feet and he didn't have trouble until in the last few years so Brian is getting it 20 years sooner. There is no known cure. Maybe one day there will be. I read somewhere about a cure for breast cancer and a dr said why would they want to find a cure then all these big research companies would be out of business. So I will pray for a cure for both. Until then I am healthy and we are going to keep him that way. His hand will never be any better than it is right now. He doesn't have any pain so the dr said they would just keep an eye on him and check him in 6 months. Oh and he definitely doesn't have carpal tunnel. It is the nerve damage. We are going to see one more neurologist in Houston. A different guy than before and take everything to him and see what he thinks. Just to get another opinion and make sure we are doing everything we can. I will keep you posted.

We keep pushing forward....... Love to all

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 NIV)

Happy New Year! Dr appts etc...

Happy new year!! Well my birthday came and went. I am officially 40. Sounds funny. I am glad to be 40 or whatever just as long as I am here. I hope everyone had an amazing holiday. We spent Christmas in Ruidoso, NM. We had so much fun. It snowed Christmas Eve. The most beautiful flakes I have ever seen. One day we went to Cloudcroft and took the kids sledding. The next day we went tubing. It was so much fun. I felt like a kid again. We were home two days and off again to Houston for New Years.

Lets see where to start..... I guess with me. Let me start by saying I am healthy and alive, no worries. I saw the cardiologist and I am having palpitations in the bottom chamber of my heart. They feel like a slow deep beating. They sent me home with a monitor for 24 hours. I took it back today so I won't know anything about it for awhile. They want to do a stress echo just to check things out. I will do that February 6th. Good news I had an echocardiogram before chemo so they have something to compare it to. They had to do it then to make sure my heart could handle chemo. I saw the plastic surgeon today and I am going to have to have surgery. The right breast which was the one that got radiation is getting hard. The other one is soft and feels real. He said we need to work on this one before it gets worse. So he will do a day surgery February 18th. He will take out the implant, scrape out the scar tissue and give me a new implant. He can't guarantee it won't happen again. Just one of the down falls from radiation. This won't be a big deal at all. I also saw the oncologist today. She said I am doing good. She took me off the tamoxifen and is starting me on femara. It is a newer drug that is better. It does the same thing blocking estrogen. I will probably be on it for 5 years. She also wants me to have a bone density test. All these medicines and the hysterectomy taking the estrogen isn't good for the bones. My blood looks good. Still no more CAT or Bone Scans.

Brian found out he still has nearly perfect vision even with his cataract so he isn't doing surgery right now. They are just going to watch it. They sent him to be tested for diabetes etc. of course his blood is perfect. He said maybe he should give me some of his blood to water down my cholesterol. No diabetes and no explanation for the cataract. He has had a cyst on his wrist for years. They didn't want to do surgery to remove it because it is by an artery unless it got to bothering him. Well he has gotten to where he really can't grip with that hand. He went to the orthopedic dr and he has carpal tunnel and he is also wanting to check his nerves. He did an MRI yesterday and goes back on Monday. He told him he will go to a neurologist to have the nerves checked out but we don't know when.

Logan keeps having eye problems. Every two months we have him at the eye dr because he can't see. He turns his head to look out one eye. We are now patching his eyes for one hour a day. We rotate eyes everyday so we are working on them both. I hope this fixes it. He doesn't mind it at all because the dr told him he had to play games on the computer or watch tv for the hour.

Lindsi is good. No issues with her, knock on wood. Oh, she is finally going to loose her 1st tooth. There is a loose one. It better hurry up because the other one is already coming in behind it. I don't think she will catch Logan anytime soon he has lost 8.

They are both doing so good in school and they love going. They had their first awards assembly the other day. They both got 3 awards. All A honor roll, knowing all their letters, sounds and sight words and no tardies. If they both hadn't been sick one day they would of gotten the perfect attendance. Dang bug...They didn't care, they were happy with the 3 they got. They are working on the kindergarten spring musical right now. I can't wait for that.

January 25th will be our 21st anniversary. We are going to spend it taking kids to the dentist. Maybe we will go eat somewhere good.

Sorry I wrote a novel... So much to tell. I pray each of you has a blessed day, week, month and year.


The pictures are of our cabin & the snow Christmas morning. Also sledding & tubing.