yeah! today was my last radiation treatment. it feels so good to be done. i go for a follow up in a month to make sure my skin is healing the way it should. on dec. 2nd i get my cathter removed and after that just follow up visits with my various doctors. thanks you so much to all of you who watched my kids, brought us food and kept us covered in prayer. we will forever be grateful. i love you all, jennifer

good morning. things are going pretty well. i am getting tired of going to treatment every day, but i only have 9 more to go. i met with my primary oncologist, dr abubakr, on monday and he was pleased with my progress. we made an appointment to have my catheter removed on dec. 2. my skin is a little itchy, but not to bad. thank you emily, kathy d. and carol for helping out this week with elisabeth. she so enjoys the visits. thanks for all your prayers, jennifer

treatment is still going well. my incision has closed up and i will be starting accu-boost on friday. elisabeth and i finished our "kids against cancer" meetings last nite and it was a little sad. our group hopes to get together occasionally to see how everyone is doing. thank you emily, joanne and connie for taking care of elisabeth. thanks in advance tina for watching her tomorrow. i really appreciate it and she loves it. i think i have about 3 more weeks of radiation, then the big stuff is over. looking forward to that. thanks for all your prayers, jennifer

finished my 2nd week of radiation and so , so good. i was a little tired but i think it was more due to a cold than the treatment. tomorrow is the making strides walk at the beach. i'm looking forward to it. thanks to everyone who donated and those that are coming to walk with me. thanks too to you ladies that stayed with elisabeth this week, emily, joanne, connie and tina. you are all a blessing to me and my family. my incision has pretty much stopped draining (finally!) and i just keep a band-aid on it. my prayer request is that i continue to rejoice in what god has done for me through all this. sometimes when i listen to others who may not have such a good prognosis or who are having a harder time, i feel as if i have no business being positive about any of this. i know it is the enemy trying to steal god's glory and i do try to keep it lifted in prayer but if you all could keep that in your prayers, it would really help. thanks, jennifer

i went to rad. today and after waiting for an hour with some patients, they sent us home with no treatment. the machine had shut down. i was told this could happen occasionally. the equipment is very sensitive and shuts down if it detects the slightest problem. hopefully i can get going again tomorrow. they said it should be ready in the morning but to call before i come. not much else to report. hope has a cold that i think she shared with us, that's about the only thing she is good at sharing! :) i feel like i have a lot to keep up with so i try to write all my appointments down, even those that happen every week. i did meet with my surgeon today. my incision is still draining a little. he said it is doing fine though and looks good. thanks to emily who watched elisabeth today while i went and sat the radiation office. it was a big help knowing she was having fun with abby and jacob. elisabeth and i reall enjoyed the "kids against cancer" meeting last week and are ;looking forward to going again tomorrow night. love you all, jennifer

i have had 2 doses of radiation. no side effects yet. those probably won't start until next week, maybe the week after. elisabeth and i went to something called "kids together against cancer" tonite. it was put together by a social worker at my rad office and a social worker from st. vincents. we have dinner and then kids go in a group with a volunteer and we adults go to another area and work on a craft and discuss our feelings. then we get back together and talk to the kids about what they did. it was fun. we have 3 more to do. i am looking forward to them. my incision is still draining a little. i keep thinking it's done, but it still does enough that i have to keep it bandaged. there is part of my radiation treatment called accu-boost that i can't do until this heals so please continue to pray about that. thanks so much, jennifer

we had a blast in orlando for elisabeth's 6th b-day. then it was time to get back to real life. i went to my rad. office on friday for a "dry run" of what will actually be happening when i start on monday. it's pretty simple. i just lay down with my arm over my head for about 12-15 min. and the machine slowly rotates around me. last nite mom and i went to a survivors party at the beach. it was fun and made me realize i really should get into a support group. i feel good emotionally, but it was nice to be with others who have gone through all this. please pray for my treatments. they start mon. and go for 6 1/2 weeks. thanks to all of you on board for staying with the girls. it is a real relief to not have to worry about that. love, jennifer

i met with my surgeon today. my incision is finally looking like it's done draining. yeah! i go back to see him in 2 weeks. i start radiation on monday. please pray that everything goes smoothly and that my skin responds okay. i am looking forward to the cancer walk on oct. 10th. the website is makingstrides.acsevents.org/firstcoastbeaches. i would love to see alot of you there. thanks, jennifer

my incision is still draining. now it seems to have a strange odor as well. i go tomorrow to pick an antibiotic. please, please pray that it stops soon. i am so tired of it and having to wear bandages all the time. it doesn't hurt, which is fortunate, but i have to careful with things like bathing or blood starts dripping everywhere. it's just aggravating. please, please pray! thank you, jennifer

i am still draining from the incision. my surgeon says it should stop soon, but if it doesn't he'll have to try something else. he says it healing well so hopefully it will stop in the next few days. i had my port flushed today. i had to go where i got my chemo treatments. it was nice being there and not getting chemo but it did bring back the reminders of that time. the smells and all made me anxious to be out of there. i start radiation on the 28th and go for about 6 weeks. i am looking into a program similar to the "make-a-wish" foundation called "memories of love". sid, the girls and i can go to orlando for 5 days, all expenses paid, including several theme parks and all meals and accomedations. we will probably go early next year. there is also a program for children of cancer patients to help them explore their thoughts and feelings on what is going on. i'm going to be doing that with elisabeth pretty soon. thanks so much for the continuing prayers and encouragement. when i feel weak, i think of what the has done for us and am able to gather my strength and go on. love you all, jennifer

i went to the radiation office this morning. they put marks where the beam will go and took pictures with a CT scanner to get the position correct. i go back on the 25th for a dry run and then start treatment on the 28th. i also talked to one of the social workers who told about some volunteer opps. at their office. she was saying they have meetings sometimes and people share their survival stories. they also have groups where survivors are matched with newly diagnosed patients to help them through the process. so much of what she said was exactly what i've been praying about. i was so excited! after radiation is finished, i plan to look further into it. i've also been thinking alot about some things i have learned in this journey and one thing i want share is to not hold resentments. our lives are to precious and sometimes too short to hold grudges. forgive and let go. you will be happier for it. just give it to god and he will carry it for you. i did and it made all of this so much easier to bear. love jennifer

the incision is still draining a little. it is a nusiance, but it doesn't hurt. sid changes my bandage everyday and each day has a little less blood. hopefully it will stop pretty soon. i go get marked for radiation on friday. after that i don't have much in the way of treatment plans for a while. i am planning for elisabeth's 6th b-day. we are going to the magic kingdom. i'm very excited. we haven't been to disney in a while. i am also trying to set up my making strides team. i'm not sure how to get it so that friends and family can sign up on-line. i'll keep you posted about that. love, jennifer

a bit of excitement here tonite. my surgeon told me to watch for any swelling and if it started to hurt to let him know. well, i have had some swelling, but no pain. around 7:00, i went to take a bath and noticed that the incision where the tumor had been was very swollen and stretched so much my skin was shiny. i had sid look at it and he said i would be fine until tomorrow when i see dr. hagan again for a check-up. i got in the tub and a few minutes later i look down and see blood pouring into the tub. i yelled for sid. he said everything was okay, it was dark red and probably an abcess. we called my surgeons call service and a doctor called back and suggested i hang over the sink and let the blood drain out. i did and eventually it slowd down and finally stopped. sid put a new bandage on and then about an hour later, i looked down and my shirt has a big bloody spot on it. sid cut off the shirt and now i am re-bandaged and hoping for no more bleeding! thanks for listening. love jennifer

i got my drain out on thursday, yeah! i just have some bruising and tenderness that is slowly going away. i have a check-up in the morning with dr. a. i have a check-up on thursday with my surgeon and then things are pretty quiet until i start getting prepared for radiation. i am wanting to do the "making strides against cancer" walk on the beach on oct. 10. that is a saturday and it is a 5k walk. anyone interested in walking with me or sponsering me please send an e-mail to sidjen1@gmail.com. thanks so much, jennifer

i meet with my surgeon tomorrow and hopefully get this drain out. it doesn't hurt but it is a pain to have this tube dangling all the time. my hair is starting to come in. it's fuzzy right now. it's hard to know what color it is, some looks gray and some looks brown. pretty much like it was before. my left arm is a little sore from having to take on the burden more. i will have to be careful from now on about how much weight i am putting on my right arm. it's tough since i'm right handed. but i can do all things through christ who strengthens me! this is a small thing to deal with and it won't slow me down much.

hello. i had my operation yesterday. everything went smoothly. i stayed overnight and got home around 10:00 this morning. i feel okay. a little stiff and sore, but no real pain. i have a drain that i empty about 3 times a day and i have to keep track of how much is draining. when it is only doing a small amount i can get the drain removed, hopefully on monday. thanks for all the prayers and support. leslie, i wish i had a chance to talk to you after the surgery, but you could tell i was pretty out of it. thank you for coming up here to be with me. thanks kathy for checking in with me yesterday as well, it meant a lot to see you. and finally thank you, thank you, thank you to my daddy, grandparents and mom for being there with me. i love you all, jennifer

hi. i know its been a while. there has not been much to report. i have been keeping busy painting my family room. it's almost done. i go tomorrow for surgery. i'm not sure why but dr. abubakr decided i should not have my port removed yet. the surgery is set to start around 7:30 am and should be done by around 9:00. i will have a drain for a few days for my lymph nodes and that will be removed next week. thank you shama for all the yummy food. i don't know how much of it i will get, but i know sid and the girls will enjoy it and it's nice to not have to worry about it. i will update after surgery as soon as possible but it may be a few days. thanks for the prayers, jennifer

i met dr. ackerman today. he will be doing my radiation. he was very nice, as were the others in the office. i feel good about them. he was happy with all my test results and felt i probably would not have any major side effects from the chemo. i go back to him on 9 / 11 to get "mapped". they will line up the beams and get the info into the computer. then on 9/25 i go for a "dry run" just to show me what will be happening. i start radiation on 9/28 and go for about 6 weeks. lots of love, jennifer

i met with my oncologist this morning and he was very pleased with the results of all my tests. the MRI showed that all traces of cancer were gone from my lymph nodes and the tumor has shrunk so much it is hard to see. this was of course great news. he also said i could have my port removed if my surgeon and i wanted to do that. he said he is 99% sure i won't need chemo again. i am so excited about this, although part of me (probably the enemy) is a little fearful of getting my hopes up like this, only to one day face all this again. i am trying to give all that to god, but sometimes i weaken and the thoughts come in. i do believe though that i know if it comes up again i will have the strength to fight again just like this time. the lord has led me through this and he can do it again. i am believing though that this is it. i meet dr. ackerman tomorrow. i will learn more details about radiation. love, jennifer

hi . sorry i have not updated in a while. there is not too much happening ight now. i get a PET scan in the morning. i meet with my regular oncologist on monday and meet my radiation oncologist on tuesday. i feel very well. i don't really feel the need for naps as often as i used to either. i am planning on painting my family room. hopefully i can get it finished before my surgery. i want to get out and do yard work, but the heat is still very hard on me, so i guess that will have to wait a little longer. please continue to pray for us as we start on the next phase of our journey. love you all, jennifer