April 2013

I am so excited I finally committed to the Avon walk to end breast cancer on April 20-21, 2013 in Houston. I am so excited! I will post more as time goes by. For now here is my personal page. http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk/Houston?px=6760005&pg=personal&fr_id=2180 I am so glad I am at a stage in my life where I feel like I can accomplish this! I would be honored if anyone would like to walk with me. After the 2012 events are over, Team Lana will be created. Their rules. Please contact me if you are interested! Love you all~ Lana

I signed up for the Avon Walk!

Surgery Number 5 is tomorrow

Since March of 2011 I have had a bilateral mastectomy with tissue expanders placed, an emergency surgery to remove the right expander, a surgery to put in my portacath, 10 rounds of chemotherapy and a surgery to replace my right expander as well as many saline injections into the tissue expanders.  During this time I was on evil steroids and the chemotherapy which caused swelling and weight gain.  After my last chemotherapy in October, my weight quickly dropped and in this process my left expander area up with extra skin.  My boob man, Dr. Streitmann, wants to remove that excess skin to insure my implants will be even, when I get them in 3-4 months.  Anyway, I have that quick cosmetic surgery tomorrow at 11:00am.  I have put my life in Dr. Streitmann's hands enough, that I am confident this is going to go off without a hitch and the recovery will be simple and as easy as he says.  There should be little recovery with this.  No drains and I can shower by Saturday.  Those who have followed my journey, this is nothing compared to the past 12 months.  I am asking my wonderful prayer warriors to keep me in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow to have no complications and a smooth surgery.  Say a prayer for Josh too.  He's such a prince.  I am not nervous at all.  This is part of my reconstruction and as crappy as another surgery sounds, I want my implants to be as perfect as possible!  I will update everyone tomorrow or Saturday!  I am really close to having new TATAS! 

Just checking in

We have just been living life and rolling along.  I am feeling really well.  My hair is growing.  I am in between saline injections and the breast implant surgery.  I am having some extra skin removed on March 23.  It's a quick procedure.  Just a nip and tuck to sculpt my extra skin from gaining and losing weight so fast.  I will take it!  My Plastic Surgeon and I have decided it's one of the best ways to make my upcoming, new tata's even.  Hey, what is one more surgery, right?  I see my Oncologist for my 3 month check up on the 29th.  That is kinda racking my nerves.  I can't help but think, "what has happened to my body in the past 3 months?"  Funny thing about chemotherapy.  While you are in the middle of it, you feel like hell and can't wait for it to be over, but when it is, you feel like you are out of ammunition.  So the days between doctor visits are hard.  A lot harder than I imagined them.  I try really hard to be positive, but I won't lie, it's not easy sometimes.  Being diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer sucks because it's so aggressive and recurrence is greatest in the 1st 2 years.  I sure wish there was a cure.

Jackson is doing great!  We went to the Rodeo on Friday, March 9th, which was Josh's 37th birthday.  On top of that, it was Paint the Rodeo Pink Day AND Reba performed!  It was like that day was made for us to go to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  Jackson liked the cows a lot and he LOVED the Mutton Bustin.  He kept trying to convince us he was 5 years old and he needed to ride the sheep.  Sweet boy.  By the time Reba came on he was so done with the day.  We stayed until she sang Fancy and left.  He was worn out and so were we.  It was a good day.  Life is good.  Very good!

I have to tell you all that I am reading a new book Rocking the Pink by Laura Roppe.  It's a book about a fellow Triple Negative Breast Cancer Sister that wrote about her journey.  It's a VERY touching book.  Diagnosed with the devil or not, this is a great read.  It makes me want to write a book too.  For now, I have decided to blog.  If you are interested in her story her website is www.lauraroppe.com

Peace Y'all!

New Beginnings

I haven't posted on here since July of 2010.  A LOT has happened since then.  Let me start back exactly 1 year ago today.  At 11:38am on February 10, 2011, at age 32, I was given a terrifying diagnosis of Breast Cancer.  As of now I have had a bilateral mastectomy with tissue expanders placed, emergency surgery to remove the right tissue expander, a surgery to put a port in my heart for chemotherapy, 10 rounds of chemotherapy, and surgery to replace the right tissue expander.  So 1 year later, I have no evidence of disease and I am in remission.  I am so grateful to have all of that behind me.  I am getting hair back!  My eyelashes are thick and pretty!  I am getting eyebrows!  I feel wonderful.  I am so thankful for my life.  When you battle cancer, being thankful for your life means a whole lot more than it did before.  I pray everyday to keep any recurring cancer away from my body and to continue to be able to enjoy my life cancer free.  I love my life.

Onto better things.  Josh and I moved to Humble, TX in 2011.  We have an amazing home and the best neighbors anyone could ask for.  Josh is working for Valerus Compression Company in downtown Houston.  He's busy, but is very happy.  This was an awesome move for his career.  He doesn't get enough credit for being so wonderful to me this past year.  He's my prince, my rock.  He's Jackson's best friend.  I am still staying home with the Jackaroo.  He's 3 1/2 now.  I can not believe he's almost 4.  WHOA.  Jackson goes to school 3 days a week.  He absolutely LOVES it.  He's a smart little thing.  This age is really fun.  BUSY, but fun.  I love that little kid more than anything.  He's my angel.  We are truly happy!

I am so ready to keep up with this blog and leave my Caring Bridge posting.  I feel like this is where my thoughts should go.  I will continue to keep everyone updated on my journey, but I will post more about our life and family here.  I am so thankful for the support everyone has given us this past year.  I don't know how to thank our family and friends and prayer warriors.  I hope you all know I love each and everyone of you. 

Here is to new beginnings!

Happy 4th of July

Man, I am bad at keeping up with this blog. I promise I will try harder! Lots is going on with us. April 1st Josh changed jobs from Energy Transfer to Valerus Compression Company. With this change he is working in Houston. We put our house on the market April 6, 2010. At this point it has not sold. Boo Hoo. We have decided to move to a home we found in Humble, TX on August 1, 2010. We are very excited to be together as a family again!

This past weekend we went to Lubbock for a well over due Parrish family Reunion. It was so much fun and Grandma Peggy was so happy, so that was priceless. Jackson had a great time! He also was impressed with fire crackers. The Williams Family, The Guetersloh Family, Carrie, Connie (Momma) and The Malouf's all got together in Levelland and we watched great fire works while David and the kids shot some off too.

I will keep everyone updated on our upcoming move. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

30 weeks old and we got our 1st tooth!

Hi everyone! I am so pleased to announce that Jackson has cut his first tooth last night! He's been working on it for a few weeks now and yesterday he became incredibly fussy and was only okay with a toy in his mouth. That was a pretty good sign to us he was about to pop it through. Last night I gave him a teething tablet and it worked well. Sure enough this morning when I went in and did his checks like I do every day, eyes, ears, mouth it was there! Sharp jagged little thing, but it's there, no mistake! What a great milestone! Josh and I are so happy! I hope you can see it in the picture!

Peas

WE REALLY HATE PEAS! I am sad! Poor kid can't stand peas. We started them yesterday and, wow, for a 6 month old baby, peas can come flying out and go everywhere! He's so funny, he will gag if they are in the back of his mouth, spit them out and laugh. It's so hard to not laugh at him when Josh and I tell him, "no Jackson, don't spit". I am not discouraged though, I am going to keep trying at every feeding. He eats so much. This boy can put away 6-8tbs of oatmeal, 2 servings of sweet potatoes, 2 servings of squash, 1/2 an avocado, a jar ob bananas and between 20-24oz of formula a day. He has never been afraid to eat! He is sleeping well too. All night and 2 or 3 good naps a day. I know how lucky I am!

6 months!

Jackson is 6 months old today! We are doing wonderful! He now weighs a whopping 17lbs 9oz and is 26 inches long. That makes him in the 50th percentile for weight and 30th for heigth. His noggin measured 17.4 inches around which also puts him in the 50th percentile for his head. He is now eating lots of food daily. He loves his cereal, gobbles up his avocado and sweet potatoes and devours his bananas. We are having a lot of fun eating big boy food. I am making most of it and truly enjoy it. He's still sleeping well at night, between 10-12 hours! Wow, that still amazes me! I can't tell you all how much we are enjoying such a wonderful gift!

Solid Foods & 3 Meals a Day!

I am happy to report Jackson at 25 weeks is now 17 pounds! He's eating like a piggie too! We have started the 2ND feeding of solid foods and he is now eating 3 meals a day. He eats cereal in the morning for breakfast, sweet taters and fresh, mashed avocado for lunch and sweet taters for dinner, along with lots of formula a day. He's never been a picky eater. So far, we have been lucky and he's sleeping 10-12 hours a night and taking 3-4 naps a day. He's so fun and it's amazing how much he changes and grows every day. We are so in love with this little man! We are so blessed! If I can ever figure out how to convert my pictures from my new camera I will post more pictures. Until then, this one will have to do!