post chemo fun.

Hi family and friends,

I have officially been free from chemo (& cancer) for 6 weeks and I'm very grateful to have that behind me.  I had a 5 week follow-up with my oncologist last Thursday and she assured me that my PET scan (to monitor for cancerous activity) is still clear and my ECHO (to evaluate heart function) is good too.  I have been cleared to have my chest port removed (scheduled for Monday Oct 1st!) and my next scan and appointment is 3 long months away.

In other news, before I went back to work in mid-September I was able to take a refreshing road trip with a good buddy to visit another good buddy in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.  We drove 15 leisurely hours across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan to see her home town and then experience beautiful Lake Michigan.

Beautiful Sleepy Bear Dunes... quick to run down (30 seconds) but torture to climb back up (45 minutes)!

Me, Kristin, & Kristen

Erik and I have also made time to see The Boss... twice... in the last month or so.  First at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and next at the Meadowlands in north Jersey.  Erik took the picture below right after he touched the guitar!

Last exciting news for this blog is that my sister Ally came to visit a few weeks ago too.  We had a great time celebrating the 225th birthday of the signing of the US Constitution (also Ally's bday), hiking in Fairmount Park, seeing Finding Nemo 3D, and browsing the Free Public Library.  Also with some good eats mixed in there.

Ally and me early in the morning.  Proof that my hair is growing... slowly but surely.

Carvings dated back to the early 80s... one tough tree.

For now I'm just working and settling into a "normal" life.  Erik and I are looking forward to some uneventful next few months.  Thank you for all your support and prayers over this last baseball season.

Love,
Katy Jo

12th AND FINAL inning. :)

Pure joy.

We are one day out from the 12th and final chemo treatment and I feel so good.  Usually this day is met with nausea and blahness, but with God's grace I feel great.  As we finished this last treatment our nurses presented me with a Certificate of Accomplishment and a very special bell ringing.  

Goofy grin for the bell ringing.

Action shot

Great great nurses

Up next:
PET scan Aug 27 for more follow-up
ECHO Sept 5 to complete the cardiac study I've been apart of throughout these treatments
Oncology appointment with Dr. Nasta Sept 20 (then once every 3 months)... and as long as my labs and tests are ok I can schedule to have my port removed.  :)

As far as celebrations go we will continue to take fun little weekend trips and welcome visits from friends anytime... then our big celebration will be our honeymoon next April in Croatia!

Thank you for more support than I could have ever asked for.  It's been quite an adventure and we couldn't have done it alone.

I've posted this video before... but I can't get over how true the words are so here it is again.

"Beautiful Things"
Gungor

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

Love,

katy

10th and 11th innings.

Hi friends,

This much appreciated leave of absence from work may be making me somewhat lazy... as you can tell by this combo inning post plus apartment pictures.  Everything has been going pretty well here.  Lots of good rest complimented with weekends away and great visitors.  In the last month Erik and I have welcomed 4 out-of-towners (including my mom) and traveled to Fire Island, Boston, and Ithaca to visit friends and family.  We have also had 2 successful innings with pretty tolerable side effects.  Right now I'm looking forward to another month of rest and marking the end of this season with inning 12 on August 16th.  I am so grateful to feel well and know that I am well.  I'm anticipating a few more tests following this last treatment:  a PET scan, ECHO, and pulmonary function testing to ensure everything is still ok, then the appointments and tests will space out and life may feel a little more normal.  Below are some pictures of our new apartment in West Philly.

Welcome to our new apartment.

View from near the front door of our "dining room" table and kitchen

Kitchen close up

Living room

Our funky stairs... soon to have a one of a kind Philly mural

Our upstairs bedroom

Beautiful exposed brick wall opposite our bed

The stairs begin right under the hanging bike

Loft living room

Phillies corner at the top of the staircase

1 more "inning" to go!

Thank you all for the incredible support you've shown us throughout this hopefully once in a lifetime baseball season.

Love, 

Katy

Extra note from my mom:

I have been thinking of the two most beautiful words in the English language.  They are: REMISSION and GRATITUDE.  I go over these words in my mind every day all day.                

Love,

Mom

9th inning.

Life according to Erik:

Baseball is the greatest game on Earth. The most significant, defining reason for its greatness is the one thing that makes baseball so unique.

There is no clock.

Baseball is a game whose cadence is set not by seconds and minutes, but by outs and innings. Three outs each side makes an inning; nine innings makes a game. It’s up to the players (and in some cases, Mother Nature) to decide how long the game will take.

And when it ends.

Katy, as it turns out, is pitching a masterpiece. Her chemo regimen began in spring training, and it will end on August 16. We know this because Katy’s first PET scan revealed a “complete metabolic response” (remission) and the second, undertaken last week, confirmed the result.

But as with any masterpiece, the pitcher will face challenges along the way. No game is completed without the threat of a game-changing hit by a scrappy opponent that refuses to accept defeat.

In our case, the confirming PET scan results have not obscured the fact that, every two weeks, Katy’s body is poisoned by a concoction of medicine designed to heal her. These bi-weekly medications have had a cumulative effect on her body. Fatigue, light-headedness, and nausea have been exacerbated by a vicious heat wave in Philadelphia that has made even her healthy husband feel the ill-effects.

The compounding effect of these treatments has taken its toll. Last week, we decided that the best remedy would be a leave of absence from Katy’s job. Her boss – an incredibly supportive, understanding woman – agreed that taking some time off was the right decision. For the next eight weeks, our primary focus will be on getting this beautiful woman healthy.

Both Katy and I continue to be amazed by the generosity of our friends and family. Your consistent love and support has sustained us through this difficult time. We are confident that God is working through you, and through us, in these challenging moments for a greater good that He will reveal in His time.

Nine innings in the book. Three to go.


In other news:

We have been so blessed with visits from friends and family.  Most recently Katie and Natalie from OKC came to Philadelphia to see some of the greatest fireworks in the country.  After quite an adventure we were able to enjoy a wonderful show.

Erik and I also just moved into our new apartment in West Philadelphia, we'll post pictures soon.

Thank you for continuing to support and care for us, we couldn't do it without you.

Love,
Katy and Erik

8th inning.

Guest blogger #3 - DAD

After a great lunch at Gold Standard in West Philly

"My only knowledge of cancer treatment has been with my mother and my mother-in-law -- two elderly ladies (wonderful people) but old by my standards -- that's what I knew about cancer treatment.  Boy was I in for a surprise when I went to my beautiful young daughter's treatment.  I saw a lot of young people going through treatment that I had always considered what older people when through.  What an awakening -- my beautiful young Katy sitting in the treatment chair getting drugs to save her life.  I met her oncologist, Dr. Nasta, who is wonderful.  I know now why Katy likes her so much -- she is wonderful, as are all the staff at this wonderful facility.


Now on a different subject.  I could not ask for a better son-in-law than Erik.  I am so thankful that Katy found Erik and Erik found Katy -- they are truly soul-mates.  This is the end of the eighth inning -- four more innings till the end -- and the restart of a wonderful new start for Katy and Erik."


Love,
Dad

two peas in a pod.

7th inning. (etc)

Hi friends,

I’ve been spoiled these last few weeks in having my family tell my story, so please forgive the length and tardiness.  It was so special to have my mom in town for my last treatment and to see her perspective in her writing.  While she was here we enjoyed a nice weekend in NY and met Erik as he returned from Spain… and of course went to a Phillies game (at Mets Citifield).  

In this blog I wanted to of course play catch up for the 7^th inning and also try to express how grateful I am for the love and support that Erik and I continue to receive on a daily basis.  I recently went back through all the cards we’ve received, and I was overwhelmed by how many people have taken the time to show how much they care.  I wish that I could adequately thank everyone and give that recognition here, but I know that would take quite a long time and still wouldn’t be enough.  I did want to share something truly remarkable that Erik and I received a few weeks ago.  It’s a hand-stitched Phillies quilt depicting a patch of every logo since the beginning (the year 1900 I believe) and with a very special extra patch on the underside:

We loved it even when we thought it was just baseballs

The quilt deliverers Kristin and Bethany

I was so moved by this gift, in part because this was made by a remarkable woman that I’ve never even met.  She knows Erik well, however, and I know her daughter, but someday I hope that we meet.

In other big news, last Monday, with the help of wonderful friends, including Erik, we shaved my head.  It had become such an emotional burden to pull clumps of hair out each day and clean up the mess that this seemed like the right decision.  I won’t lie and say that it was easy, in fact I cried through the whole experience, but I have hope that the next time I have hair it will mean that I am well.  For now I’m sporting the head scarf, but I haven’t completely discounted a wig, we’ll see.

As for the 7^th inning, I can gratefully say it was one of the best yet with very little nausea.  As part of the "half-way point" my oncologist recommended an ECHO (heart ultrasound) and pulmonary function testing to make sure my heart and lungs were unscathed by the chemo.  It turns out that even though I haven't noticed it, my lung functioning has been worsened by the chemo -- with the most likely culprit being the "B" in ABVD (Bleomycin).  It's also believed to be one of the least active of the 4 so it's been nixed from my treatment plan.  This was the good news because that meant no more IV Benadryl (which leaves me lethargic and nauseous) and hopefully no more allergic reactions.  (They were right!).

Since this inning I've been to Baltimore (for the Phillies) and spent some good time with friends and worked as much as possible.  For the 8th inning my dad will be in town so I'm hoping this next one is as easy as the last.  I hope everyone else is doing well too, I'd love updates anytime.  Thanks for reading.

Love,

katy