October 6th Prayer Request

Couple prayer requests to throw out if anyone wants them. I am improving on the steroids. No more headaches or strobe lights in my right eye! Yay! The worst part now is dealing with side effects from meds. The seizure med makes me low and the steroid makes me high! So… I’m not sleeping much.  Tomorrow I am having a follow up lumbar puncture to make sure the meds are working, although based on side effects, it is fairly clear to me that they are clearing things up! Not very excited about the lumbar puncture, but it wasn’t awful last time. Praying it goes even better tomorrow. This isn’t my favorite season in life, but my kids are so sweet to me. No school to deal with this week and this inflammation is treatable, it’s not new disease! Counting my blessings!

Sept 3 and 5 Diary of a brain issue…

From emails to our prayer group.

This was the beginning of an auto-immune reaction which my oncologist believes Yervoy, a treatment I finished mid 2012 triggered in my stable brain tumor. It caused swelling around a dead tumor in my brain.

Sept 3- Hey all. I am at sprouts. Danny is on his way to get me. I am having flashing lights in my vision terribly. This is the same symptom I had with the brain tumors before. This time it’s much worse. Waiting on a call to see if I need to go to the er. Please pray it’s simple inflammation and not new tumors and that it will go away! We are abandoning a car at sprouts. Danny might need help getting it later. Thanks all. I feel fine, my vision is just incredibly impaired and I’m scared about what this might mean.

We are picking up the kids right now and taking them to Grammie’s school. Then heading to UMC’s ER for an MRI to see what is going on.

UPDATE: MRI results just in. No new lesions in her brain!!!
SO RELIEVED!
I think we’ll be out of here shortly and will pick up the kids from Martha’s parents on the way home. Thank you for lifting us up today. Please continue to pray for our Martha.

Sept 5- Another reason for celebration tonight. I saw an ophthalmologist today and my eyes are fine. There was some suspicion that my symptoms were caused by uvitius, a side effect of immune disorders (which my past and present treatments can emulate.) Thankfully my diagnosis was ocular migraine without pain and there is no reason to follow up at this point. It was quite a scary experience because it was so similar to my brain tumor symptoms, but we are thankful for a clear MRI and eye exam! Oh, and a clear skin check from my favorite TWO dermatologists today!

If only this was really the end of that journey…

Aug 17- Pray for Amy

I have been doing great since my surgery, but I wanted to post a request for prayer for one of my melanoma friends, Amy. Amy named my tumor that I just had removed for me (it’s name was Beelzebub.) Amy has a scary tumor of her own named Roscoe. Roscoe is in Amy’s heart! Boo hiss! Amy is on the same anti-pd1 trial I am on, but is having her treatment paused because she is having major blood count issues and they are having trouble finding a reason. Would you be willing to pray for this sweet woman who checks on me even as she wages her own battle? Pray for wisdom for her doctors and that she can get back onto her treatment. Anti-pd1 was working to beat back Roscoe and I want her to get her next dose! You can read more about Amy’s journey on her blog.http://nashvegasmom.wordpress.com/

Aug 14- Getting out of the house post surgery

Forgive the cross posting, please! I attended Parent Information Night tonight. My kiddos have fabulous teachers this year! I am excited for the possibilities the new year brings! It was SO good to be out of the house for a bit.
I am feeling good. My pain level post surgery is much lower than my tumor pain was pre surgery. Hoping that without the tumors, my immune system will be able to focus on reducing some of the tumors in my lungs and my armpit!

Decisions and Possible Surgery

Tomorrow afternoon Danny and I will meet with my oncology surgeon to discuss having my painful surface tumor(s) removed. We would appreciate prayers as we communicate with him and also hopefully will be able to talk to my main oncologist about our plan moving forward. We want to make sure that surgery doesn’t prevent my entering any trials nor do we want to delay further treatment and allow melanoma to gain footing while I recover from surgery. It does encourage us that both of my oncologists (surgical and melanoma specialist) feel that my disease is stable enough for me to take a treatment break to have this surgery. We believe removing these tumors will lessen my chronic pain and improve some quality of life issues. Please pray for wisdom and clarity for both of my doctors as well as Danny and me. Also, please pray that my main oncologist would be available to step in and consult with us during this appointment. I am so blessed to be treated at my clinic where the doctors work so closely together. Thank you all!

Introductions

I’m Martha. I’m a wife, a mom, a former teacher, a God chaser, a fact lover and researcher. I have stage 4 Melanoma, it’s the “bad” skin cancer. When I was diagnosed it was in my lymph nodes. It’s now tried to move into my lungs and brain and I have a few large tumors under my skin that I can feel. In mela-land we call those “sub-qs.” I’m am in a clinical trial and planning to kick ass!

I am passionate about sun safety for adults and kids. I hope to use this blog to post updates about my cancer journey as well as tips for keeping you and your family sun safe! I have a 6 and 8 year old, so I am experienced at wrestling sunscreen on squirmy kids. I am also hoping to post many sunscreen reviews. What do you want to know about sunscreen? Chemical vs. mineral? Application tips? How to protect that pesky part in your hair? Stay tuned!

Now we are six!

Now We Are Six – A.A. Milne

When I was one I had just begun
When I was two I was nearly new
When I was three I was hardly me
When I was four I was not much more
When I was five I was just alive
But now I am six, I’m as clever as clever;
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.



Abigail Emma was born on June 6, 2006. She is our 6-6-06 baby and this June she turned 6! We told her this was more than just a mere golden birthday, it is a platinum birthday with a special birth date like hers! Here are some of my favorite baby photos of Miss Abby. She was such a sweet newborn. I had a number of complications during and after my pregnancy and she was SO good while we needed her to be good. (She is still such a good girl, but a much more feisty version of good!)



This photo reminds me of this Eloise Wilkin illustration from my favorite book as a little girl, Baby Dear.


My little bug after a bath! She was chunky, but compared to her big brother at the same age, she seemed so tiny!


Joey and Abby are the best of friends and still play together ALL THE TIME! I am so thankful they have one another and pray they will stay lifelong friends.

Abilicious, we love you so much and have enjoyed the past six years with you more than we ever could have dreamed. You made our family complete. Thank you for making me play everyday! I love you!

And an alarm clock made all the difference…

Our school district made a huge change in schedule on us this year. Last year Joey’s school day was from 9-3:30. The afternoons were so short and packed with homework, dinner, and early bedtimes for my sweet kindergartner. This year, school is from 7:45-2! I love our long afternoons. We have time for homework AND playtime! The mornings, however, are tricky to get everyone up and out the door for the school bus at 7:12! Joey bounces out of bed wide awake each morning when his Anakin Lego mini figure alarm clock sounds at 6.




My Abby-girl, however, does not bounce as easily out of bed in the morning. In fact, dragging her out of bed each morning has become more and more difficult. Yesterday, poor Danny fought with her and didn’t have her dressed until 7. So I decided to give her my old cheap-ie alarm clock to use in an attempt to help her be responsible for getting herself out of bed in the mornings. She wasn’t very excited about the “gift” at first, but after we pretended to be asleep and hit the snooze button when it went off, she decided it was big stuff! She proudly showed off her new alarm clock to Grammie and Daddy before bed.




So, did it work??? Like a charm! She bounced right out of bed and brought me her alarm to turn off (she can only manage the snooze button) and was dressed with teeth brushed by 6:15!!! Here’s hoping the charm of the alarm clock lasts more than one morning! I think Santa may be bringing her a Littlest Pet Shop alarm clock for Christmas! Instead of an alarm ringing, it meows and barks. Perfect for my sweet girl!

Post Surgery Update

Dear friends,

 

Thank you SO much for the encouragement and prayers. My surgery today went pretty well. There was a rough patch when there was an area they were working in which wasn’t numb. It was quickly corrected, but brought out my barely held in tears. Thankfully, it was the greatest team working on me and they kept me talking and distracted.

 

My team of doctors (oncology dermatologist, oncologist surgeon, and the best melanoma oncologist in AZ) talked about my case and they agree that my next step is localized radiation. So I will be meeting with a new member of my team in the next week or two, a radiation oncologist with hopes of beginning radiation on my back as soon as my incisions heal.

 

For the next few days, I will practice taking it easy and following some lifting restrictions. I’m not the best at this, so wish me luck!

My history with Melanoma

2009

September 15  Dermatologist removes “unconcerning mole” from my back

September 17  Diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma

October 2  Wide excision of mole area and sentinel lymph node removal in left and right groin

October 21  Removal of all lymph nodes from left groin

December 16  Port install and first high dose interferon treatment

2010

January 12  Finish high dose interferon treatment

January 19  Begin lower dose self injections

June 18  Port removal (horrible experience!)

June 30, 2010 Danny begins new job

August 9, 2010 Joey begins kindergarten

December 24, 2010 Last dose of Interferon

December 30, 2010 CT/MRI

January 7, 2011 Appointment with Dr. Cranmar, told a tumor was found on CT

January 21, 2011 Surgery to remove tumor

February 3 Clean CT scans

March 14, 2011 Begin DERMA trial

June 3, 2011 Clear CT scan

June 16, 2011 See Warneke about concerns of lumps on surgery scar

July 6 Surgery to remove tumors

August 8 Joey begins first grade, Abby begins kindergarten

August 26, 2009 Clear Scan

September 12, 2011 Derm appointment finds recurrence of lumps under scar

September 26, 2011 Surgery to remove tumors