RUSSELL'S DOING GREAT!!!

Well, Russell has finished all his treatments.......surgery, chemo (he did great!) and last but not least radiation. A partial scan was done about halfway thru radiation and the scan showed no sign of cancer. He finished the scheduled radiation treatments and now we wait and in about a month, he will have a head-to-toe PET Scan, from what I understand, and it will show NOTHING!!! His dad and I threw a HUGE picnic for Russell last weekend for all friends and family to just let Russell know that we are all behind him. It was also a way to thank everyone for all the support they showed Russell, Brandi and the kids during his illness. Russell looks great and everything in his life seems to be back to normal. Hailey has started summer soccer practice and Russell is, of course, one of the coaches again. Evan is talking up a storm and doing it very well. I can understand almost every word he says even when we are on the phone. He is as cute as a button and as active as a yo-yo! Brandi stays busy taking care of all the homefront while Russell works and provides the money. I truly don't know who has the toughest job but it sure seems like Brandi is constantly on the go. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of the household budget, running the kids around everywhere. I know Russell works hard, too, dealing with all the dogs in the business environment. But, all in all, they seems to be happy most of the time and that makes me happy. I am still working approx. 3 days a week. Its nice to have extra money for a change, especially in this bad economy. The California state budget is in a bit of a pickle this year and I'm hoping and praying that I don't get layed off as part of the new state budget in July or, if its late, in August or September. Again, fingers are crossed. Even if I do get layed off, although it will be quite a challenge, I will get back to the writing and see if I can finish the book. So there is an upside of getting layed off, after all. I will write here again as time permits....sorry that sometimes there is such a long break between blog entries. Until next time....

RUSSELL HAS CANCER!!

Yes, you read that right. On January 11, I got the news that no mother wants to hear. My son, Russell, has testicular cancer. I was at work when I got the news, Brandi was more than upset, and at first, I just tried to calm HER down. Then, after hanging up with her, I went outside and absolutely lost it. I went home, got on the internet, and learned everything about this awful disease. The first thing I learned was if you had to get cancer, this would be the one to get. Very curable...90% cure rate. But the whole thing is still way scary. He had surgery to remove the affected testical about 1 1/2 weeks later. Since then, while getting healthier by eating healthy, exercising, taking supplements, he has been tested, probed, imaged, etc. etc. to determine his therapy course. Finally, after 2 months, he is starting a rather new and cutting edge treatment today. The new treatment consists of one massive dose of chemo that enters his body intravenously over only a half hour's time. From what I understand, this is a full course of chemo but condensed into a half-hour treatment. 30 days from today, he will start a full 3-4 week schedule of radiation. Cancer will be completed gone or, at least, this is our wish. And there is no reason to think otherwise. This new treatment was developed in the UK over the last 10 years or so, with a 96.9% success rate. I believe Russell is the first to undergo this treatment in the USA. I need to add, also, that this new treatment was developed by the best cancer doctors in the world so they tell us there is no reason to doubt it's ability to cure my son's cancer. So here I am today, sitting on the edge of my seat. It is 8:30 in the morning, I've been up for hours, and Russ will start his one-shot chemo at 9. We have no idea how Russell's body will handle the chemo. Of course, I hope he sails right through with a minimum of discomfort. I will know soon. Fingers crossed. Prayers to the universe have been said. I will post again in a few days.