a couple things...

First - thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my last post.   Y'all are awesome. 

I'm getting ready for Chemo #11 tomorrow.  House is clean, laundry is done, the frig is stocked, and the ipad is charged.  15 days from now we will be DONE with chemo treatments.  Hopefully forever.

And, a few pictures of sweet Elise.  Here she's watching Elmo. 

She looked extra cute in her new boots.

There's not much better than chilling in a basket full of stuffed animals wearing a tutu and eating M&Ms that Grandma brought in an Easter basket. 

A new favorite place to sit and read books.  I asked her to show me her teeth in this picture.  Cute. 

a little photoshoot

Just keepin' it real, folks.  

This is the hat I wear almost all the time at home.  I call it my cancer hat.  Mostly because no one would actually ever wear these hats unless their head was bald.  And cold.  It's super warm and cozy. 

And this is what I actually look like.  Yep.  Baldypants.

Elise doesn't really care though.

I wanted some pictures of this time because I know Elise won't remember.  I had to survey several people before I had the guts to actually post them.  I know when I was first diagnosed this kind of post was actually a little comforting.  It will be okay.  I'll just be a little bald for awhile. 

tea party

It's been awhile since I've posted.  Haven't taken many pictures.  Finally feeling normal again today.  Well, normal with a cold.    Elise and I are both pretty snotty these days.   

Sorry my last post made everyone so depressed.   I really didn't mean to.   It's just that 10 chemo treatments will do that to you.   I'm feeling much better today.    It could be that just this week I received flowers (Thanks Oosterhouses!), an amazing spa gift card (Thanks Linnea!), and a Starbucks gift card (Thanks Auntie Hen!), and several more cards in the mail.   Wow.  Who knew that a depressing post could yield so many presents?   I'm kidding.  I have amazing friends and family that I appreciate so much.  So thank you -- it seriously brightens my day and makes me feel so loved.   We're almost through this!

Elise and I have been having lots of tea parties lately.   My mom thought she needed a tea set and I'm pretty sure she was right.  The Gootes brought this cute little table back from Ikea last weekend.  It's perfect for tea parties.  Thanks everyone.

In completely unrelated news.... the little (aka HUGE) guy from this post is back.  A little water in my mom and dad's basement forced them to look inside the sump-pump, where they discovered our little friend and his girlfriend.   We had duct taped the top to avoid any more frog-in-the-basement issues, but our little froggy friend returned to his beloved sump-pump home.  My dad had to fish them out - which apparently involved him sticking his head in the sump-pump and cutting his neck.  I was informed of all of this by several phone calls back and forth and eventually I was sent proof:
 
Yes - two frogs in the bottom of a Home Depot bucket with a Coke can as a reference for size so we could never be accused of exaggerating.  Who?  Us?  Exaggerate?  You must be mistaken.  :-)  Anyways.  GROSS.   

10 down. 2 to go.

I had my tenth chemo treatment yesterday.  10 chemos is a LOT.  Holy cow.  2 more to go.  Only 2 more.  Chemo was pretty routine.  My doctor keeps telling me I'm his easiest patient ever.  As long as we keep the hot flashes under control and the Ambien flowing, I do pretty well.  :-)  My white counts were pretty low again so I had to go back this afternoon for another Neulasta shot.  

 We're five months in now from diagnosis.  One more month until we're all done with chemo.  I cannot wait.  Then we have another PET scan and we'll meet with the radiation oncologist to see if radiation therapy will be necessary.  It's a big maybe right now.

I am just SO sick of it all.

 I'm sick of functioning on an every-other week basis.  I get all hyper the weekend before chemo to clean my house, get all the laundry done because I just don't feel like doing it after treatment.

I'm sick of being bald.  So not cute.

I'm so sick of feeling so tired all the time.   I'm so glad I have my amazing family who takes Elise and lets me nap.  Naps are the best these days. 

I'm sick of having no energy to sew, or do crafts and cute things to my house.  Luckily my house looks amazingly adorable thanks to my mom and sisters who have an amazing knack for cuteness. 

Only 2 more.  The end is in sight.

Here's a picture of our sweet Elise watching Elmo last week.  Girlfriend loves her some Elmo. 

Sunday Sledding

Today we had lunch out at the lake.  The lake is still not frozen over, which is crazy because we were ice skating on it last Christmas.  (Who am I kidding - I was definitely not ice skating - other people were.)  We ventured out into the snow with Elise again.  She is not thrilled with snow.    But she looks so stinking cute. 

Boots

This girl loves her boots.  She gets them out, brings them to me, and then sits down and puts her feet in my lap.  She wanted to wear her boots.  So we wore boots for awhile.    She's also a little too big for her doll bed.

P.S.  Blood test results came back good.  Platelet count was actually up from last week - so no transfusion needed.  I rock at chemo. 

Playing Outside

It was SO nice outside today.  Unbelievable for Michigan in January.   Elise and I decided to venture outside for awhile.  Playing outside with Elise looks like one of these three scenarios at any given time:

• Elise trying to run into the neighbors yard mudpit, me stopping her and therefore royally ticking her off.  She then screams, sits down, and refuses to walk.  
• Elise trying to run into the street, me stopping her and therefore royally ticking her off.  She then screams, sits down, and refuses to walk.  
• Elise playing happily with a ball/tricycle/bark/rocks.  

It was probably pretty hilarious if any neighbors were watching.  I basically follow her around until she tries to kill herself by running in the road or becomes ankle deep in mud.   Other than that we had loads of fun.  :-)

a little video

This one is too cute not to post.   Everyone that's not our immediate family will probably think this is boring.   Elise still doesn't say mama.   Apparently that's a hard word. 

I'm doing pretty well too.   Lots of naps around here.  It's taking longer to recover from chemo towards the end of treatment.  Last week my mom took Elise in the afternoon and I slept for 4 straight hours.  It was heaven - thank you so much Mom!  I have to have some bloodwork this week to check my platelet count - it was pretty low last week at treatment and they want to check it again in case I need a platelet transfusion.  Fun stuff. 

We still don't have any more snow!  Fine with me - makes winter feel shorter and spring will come sooner! 

First Snow! {and PET Scan Results}

We finally have snow!  We got a couple inches overnight on Monday.  Elise was very very interested in Daddy snowblowing the driveway. 

We took her outside for a little while to see what she would do.  She could barely move.  And her thumbs wont fit into the thumb part of the mittens so she can't hold anything. 

She of course headed straight for the only stairs in sight.  Elise loves stairs.

Daddy pulled her around on the sled for awhile.  We were all getting a little cold. 

I took a video of the cuteness but accidentally deleted it.  Argh.  We'll do it again soon!

We had my 9th chemo treatment yesterday.  Everything went smoothly and now I only have THREE left!  I can't believe it.  So far I'm feeling pretty good still, so I hope that continues.  Elise and I are just hanging out in soft clothes today.  We also got PET Scan results.  Everything looks really good.  My scan was considered "PET negative" which means nothing lights up.  Active cancer cells light up on this type of scan.  So that's really good news.  There is still a small 2cm mass, but that may always be there - the doctor said it could be scar tissue but it should be nothing to worry about.  He still recommended I finish out all 12 chemo sessions - just to be absolutely careful.   He did said I may not need radiation, which would be great.  We will meet with the radiation oncologist towards the end of my treatment to be sure.  


So there's an update for ya.  It's almost naptime around the Goote house.  Here's hoping Elise sleeps a long time so Mommy can too!

Year in Review

I thought I'd put together a little highlight reel of 2011.  Can you believe Elise looked like this a year ago??  Elise sweetie, please stop growing!!!  In January we spent a lot of time in the Baby Bjorn, drooling, took a trip to St. Louis to meet our cousins, and attempted more baby food.

In February we discovered our toes and survived the "snowzaster" of 2011.

March took us to Arizona and we started crawling!

In April we met some more cousins in Springfield, IL, mastered the sippy cup and turned 9 months old. 

In May we took the first boat ride of the year, celebrated Mother's day, and spent some time at the Lake. 

June was HOT.  We wore lots of sunscreen.  We also took some swimming lessons and had our FIVE year anniversary. 

July was busy!  Elise turned 1, started walking, and we had some family pictures taken.  I had some nice hair in July...sheesh.  Everyone take a second and be glad they have hair.  I remember thinking then I was having a bad hair day.  Bahaha.  That family picture was taken about two weeks before I was diagnosed. 

August was pretty huge for us.  The beginning took us to Ludington with the Gootes - so much fun.   We also sold our house, and I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  August was rough to say the least.

September we started my treatment, and took Elise to Robinettes.  My hair started to fall out and Elise fell in love with her soft blanket. 

October took us to a farm where we picked a pumpkin and petted some goats.   It was also Elise's first Halloween!

In November Elise wore Grandma's baby sweater, we put up Christmas decorations way too early, and spent Thanksgiving in Peoria.  We also bought out new house!

December was filled with fruit snacks, pigtails, and presents. 

This year has been a little tough.   We honestly could not have done it without our family and friends - so thank you thank you thank you.   Next year is looking more optimistic.  We'll be done with cancer, I'll grow some hair back, and we have a few really fun trips planned.  It's only getting better.  

I have my 9th chemo treatment tomorrow where we'll get the results of my PET scan last week.  We're really anxious to hear and we'll keep you posted.