Christmas and round 4 is done!

I am happy to save that I successfully finished round 4 of my chemo, meaning I am 2/3 of the way done!  I think that is a little something to celebrate.  I seem to be feeling good so far but it usually takes a few days to feel the ill effects.  I am just happy for good reports this time around and hoping for no major set back this time.

Now here are some happy memories from our Christmas.  We were so lucky this year to get my entire family to be at my parents for the entire Christmas weekend.  It was so fun to all be together and have all the grandkids together....I know my parents were on top of the world!

 The twins and their new "cube"

 My Mom bought all the grandkids these adorable pajamas, they were a big hit.  I don't think Sam took his off all weekend

 Isaac loves his new vacuum, I should have bought one that actually works:)

A happy boy!

Giving this a try for updates.

Hello everyone!

I'm not sure how this will work but I thought I would give it a try.  My email box is kind of out of control and I'm really bad at getting on and sending out emails or responding to emails that I get.
I know a lot of people also ask about what I am doing more day to day with all of my oncologist, alternative Dr, etc.  This way hopefully I can post more frequently without feeling as though I'm bugging people.

As most of you know, I was diagnosed with Follicular lymphoma in the fall of 2011 and reached a point where I had to start chemo this past October.  Today I had my first of day of my 4th round of chemo (which is a combo of Bendamustine and Rituximab).  I also had a CT scan and labs prior to my chemo treatment.  I am happy to say that we got good news from these tests.  On the CT scan it was found that all of my lymph nodes have shrunk to normal size except for a few lymph nodes in my abdomen (which were the largest to begin with).  They did say that the largest lymph node in my abdomen has shrunk by 90%!
Of course at this point, I asked, "so does that mean that I can stop the chemo early?".  My oncologist quickly responded with a big "No".  I thought it was worth a try!
My lab work all looked good also which is a good sign my body is tolerating all the treatment well.

I have been tolerating all the other treatments well with only a few set backs.  The day after my 2nd round the whole family got hit with the stomach bug.  That made things a little miserable, but not just for me.
About 2 weeks after my 3rd round, I broke out in shingles.  It was weird how it came on suddenly because I thought I had been feeling pretty good after that round.  I guess it can strike at any time if your immune system is a little down, guess the chemo had done that for me.  Luckily, I caught it early, started on my meds and was pretty much healed up by Christmas.  We were still able to go to my parents to celebrate Christmas which was a great blessing.  The only down side it that I wasn't able to hold my sweet little niece and nephew the entire time.  I guess I will have to make up for that another time!

Well I think this is a long enough post for now but I will try to update this more frequently and keep you more up to date on things......you all can check up on things as you want.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Love, Rikki