The Burkhardt Family Blog

2009-08-13T21:45:00.007-05:00

2009-08-13T21:44:00.001-05:00

No more cancer

2009-07-22T18:14:00.002-05:00

I have been told by everyone that I have not ended the story in the blog. I really am sorry. According to the Doctors they are officially calling me cured and I don't have anything else to go through. Thank goodness!! The radiation was pretty rough. It really burned me up. At first it felt like a sunburn but each day it got worst and worst. By the end I felt literally fried to the bone. After a couple of weeks after I got finished with radiation, the skin got better but, I can still feel the tissue underneath healing. It itches like crazy at times. The other weird part is that it has messed up my saliva glands. i get really dry mouth all of the time and my mouth is constantly producing a really thick mucus. As long as I have something to drink regularly it is not to bad. It does take awhile to get the pasty morning mouth to get feeling normal. The only other weird thing is that my tongue is really weird. About 2 weeks ago it turned all white then I think the tissue started healing and it kind of sluffed off. The new tissue is really tender like new skin. Both textures and extreme flavors really effect it. Each day it gets less sensitive so I think with in another week or so this should pass too. All in all I think I got through things pretty well and don't have to much lasting damage. I was thinking about it, it was exactly a year ago when I talked to Dr. Baker and started this whole process. WHAT A CRAZY YEAR IT HAS BEEN!

Radiation

2009-04-17T20:36:00.002-05:00

The Doctors have decided that I need to have 20 treatments of radiation to insure that I don't need to go through any of this again. Radiation consists of bolting me to the table and laying perfectly still for 20min. There is really no sensation from the radiation but it has given me the feeling of really bad indigestion the last couple of days. I have also have been very tired this week. Please excuse the fat guy in the pictures. I have gained 25lbs since I got diagnosed.

CANCER FREE!!!

2009-03-31T11:13:00.003-05:00

This is definitely the post I have been waiting to make. I met with my Dr. today and he gave me a high five and said, "you are cured." He made sure to say this is not just remission but this is cured and he feels like I will never have to deal with this again. I even get to take the port out. Follow up will be blood work every 4 months and a cat scan every 6 months. After five years then it will go to a yearly check up.

I am really sorry that I have been so bad about posting. But, it has kind of been a no news is good news situation. All of the chemo visits were really the same and rather uninteresting. The part that really surprised me was how well my body held up through it all. Except for a short bit of flu right after I started I really have not been sick at all. Well besides the normal side effects of chemo. Now that I have a clean bill of health it is time to clean out my system and get myself back in shape. I have about 15 lbs that I need to take care of.

If I haven't said it enough. Thank you for all of the love, prayers and support. I know that is what got us through this so smoothly.

We think we are done with Chemo..

2009-03-12T10:41:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday I had what we think will be my last chemo treatment. I got tested after my first rounds were finished and the Doctor wanted me to do 4 more treatments that were basically for insurance. He said it would lower my chances of having to deal with this again. Next week I will get retested and then on the 29th I meet with the doc. again. Hopefully all of this is coming to and end.

It looks like the next step for me now is getting out and finding a job. Well, hopefully I will be able to make arrangements with an investor to reopen HotShots at a new location but that is up in the air at this point. We will see. We are just trying to be positive and have faith.

The many faces of Ellie

2009-03-08T20:47:00.002-05:00

This is what you get when you get Ellie in front of a camera and ask her to make a face!

Mamma's sweet little boy

2009-02-21T22:54:00.002-06:00

Oh I just love my babies! Burke was at work the other night, Ellie was already fast asleep so Aden and I got the chance to just snuggle in our big fluffy bed. We watched madagascar for a while until he started chatting my ear off, so I figured we would turn the movie off and just lay in bed. It was poring down rain outside, so I said " Let's just snuggle and listen to the rain." After about a minute he said " Ya know what mom? I love this, it is just so peaceful." That's it. The end of my story. Just a really sweet boy and a mamma who loves him.

Swimming with the Manatees

2009-01-12T21:44:00.007-06:00

We went to Homosassa Springs Fl. this weekend and went swimming with the Manatees. It was amazing. They are HUGE animals! Our captain of our boat said they are like 5000lb puppy dogs.

He was right. The picture above is of Aden and I. We were in the water for about 20 mins, and here comes this massive manatee straight towards us. He swam straight to me and got about 4 inches from my face and just looked at me like I was the funniest looking thing he had ever seen. I scratched him for a while and then he had enough and went back to the bottom. OH MY GOODNESS!!!
This picture is of Burke(red mask), Aden(yellow mask), and I(behind the boys). This Manatee visited with Burke and Aden for a while and then rolled over to his belly for a rub. That is a manatee belly you are looking at. We had a great weekend. We got to camp for the first time this year. We stayed at Manatee springs state park. The kids got to ride bikes all day. And they swam in the 72 degree spring waters. Still a little chilly for me. We LOVE to camp though, so was good to get out.

More Chemo

2009-01-12T11:49:00.003-06:00

I met with my oncologist Thur. We have scheduled a PET scan for 1/13. He feels that the results will come back as 'total remission.' That being said he want me to go through 2 more cycles (4 treatments) of chemo. NOOOOOOO! He said that the chance for reoccurance sp? goes way down with the additional cycles. So it is go through this and hopefully never have to deal with it again.

I will let you know the official results of the test as soon as I get them
Burke

It's been a long time

2008-12-31T12:05:00.003-06:00

Wow its been a long time since I have taken the time to post on here. However my logic has been how many times does anyone want to hear, 'I had a treatment, I puked a few time and I don't feel very good this week.' BORING!
But, that has really been the basic story of the last few months. It has been rough but I know a lot of people that have had it a lot worst then I have, so for that I am feeling very blessed.

So yesterday was the 8th and final treatment of the original schedule. So the next step is to meet with the oncologist and get retested. I am hoping and praying that the cancer has reacted well to the treatments and I can be done with this mess. I really don't want to have to go through any more chemo.

So for this cause I am asking everyone who is willing to help for a favor.
In our church we believe in the principle of fasting. We start our fast with a prayer to Heavenly Father to ask for special blessings, then we go for 2 meals or 24 hours with out eating or drinking. In the church we donate the money that we save by not eating to the church to help feed the needy or other charitable needs. Through out the day of fasting we let the rumbling in the tummy remind us of what we are fasting for and it helps to keep a prayer in our hearts for the purpose of the fast. At the end for the fasting period we again close with a prayer to wrap up the fast.
I have seen many miracles brought about by sincere fasting and prayer and would like to invite anyone who is willing to fast with me and my family this Sunday Jan. 4th. Obviously the purpose of the fast will be that all the upcoming testing will go well and I am cancer free. I appreciate the willingness to support me and my family in this.

Also on a good note. It looks like I have found an investor to take over Dad's shares. This is GREAT news because we were really close to needing to close down HotShots because of this craze economy. The new investor actually was our first party that we ever booked right as we opened and he and his family has been coming ever since. It will be great for HotShots, he will come in with some much needed cash and put us in a really positive position going into the new year. I am mostly excited that I will not be unemployed starting out the new year.

As you can see we are being blessed and are VERY hopeful that 2009 will be a banner year for us.

2008-12-10T20:50:00.001-06:00

I swear! Every year Burke and I have the Christmas light debate. He found this picture today and said " Now thats my idea of hanging christmas lights!" You have to realize I grew up with massive amounts of lights on my house. Blinking Merry Chrismas signs on the roof, Santa stop here signs, lights everywhere. Maybe a little reminiscent of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. Oh, and the lights must be straight, extremely straight! But hey thats Christmas to me, and I love it. However Burke does not. So at least I have lights on my house and not a massive bundle hanging from the eaves.
http://www.wiregrasslive.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12057

Lucky Dog

2008-11-25T22:33:00.002-06:00

Burke got out of Chemo today! He went in a little late so the rooms were pretty full. His blood counts were a little low, plus Thanksgiving is on thursday. The sweet nurses had mercy on him and said lets postpone till next week. This is the exact text I got from him at work today. No Chemo. Blood counts were low +thanksgiving.......and I whined. This actually works perfect because it will push the last three of his treatments back a week, which means the treatment that was scheduled for Dec. 23 is moved also. Yay, I get a happy husband for Christmas!All is still going pretty well. He is feeling good, except for the few days after a treatment.Doing good!

2008-11-15T15:00:00.001-06:00

Our cool dog.

2008-11-15T14:47:00.002-06:00

I was playing with pictures and had a bunch of our mutt so I put them together. I know I promised pics of disney next , and I am still working on it. You all know how much I love our animals, and that foster care was put off until after chemo was over. Weeeeell, There was a super cute dog that was going to be put down if she went back to the shelter so she is living with us until she gets adopted. Don't worry I asked Burke first. She is potty trained and everything so no messes in the house. Very sanitary! I couldn't help it! Anyway back to Holly. She is a cool dog. She sleeps with Aden every night, except if Ellie is sick or hurt, then she sleeps with her. When E.J. banged up her lip holly slept with her for two nights until she felt a bit better,and when she had the flu holly was there for her again. She wakes up at 6:30 most mornings and wanders into our bedroom to my side of the bed and sticks her nose in my face to wake me up because she needs to go outside. She also drives to school with aden and Ellie in the morning just for fun. There is something to be said about kids having animals. Aden treats the dogs better than his sister! We love her.

Soon, I promise....

2008-10-28T21:01:00.002-05:00

We had an awsome vacation, how can you not at Disneyworld? I will get pics up and blog it soon I promise. I brought a sinus infection home with me, and burke had a treatment today, so I am just checking in . I'll get to it really soon....promise.

No news is good news......

2008-10-16T23:08:00.002-05:00

Well we haven't blogged in a while because there isn't anything overly exciting to mention, well maybe a few things. Burkes last treatment was a little weird. There was a fill in nurse and she just did things a lot differently than the other two nurses he has had. He actually got fairly sick while at the hospital, which usually doesn't happen until a day or two later. That was on Tuesday. Sunday morning he woke up and his neck and the area where his port is was very sore, enough to wake him up through the night. So he called the on call oncologist and he said " not normal, head to the ER". So we yanked the kids out of their classes at church, went home, changed clothes, ate lunch, and off we went. We drove to the ER across town because my sister in law is an RN there. The kids and I sat in the waiting room for a while, then we went exploring. We though we might go check out the babies. No viewing windows at this hospital, bummer. That adventure killed about 30 mins. I though we could sit for a while. YEAH RIGHT!!! Our sweet little EJ is not much of a sitter. So we went out to the car and fished out the church bag with books and crayons and stuff. Theres 10 mins. At this point EJ is practically climbing the walls, hanging upside down from chairs, playing leapfrog from chair to chair, doing all of her ballerina moves for the entire waiting room to see. BTW she decided to keep her dress on so every 2 seconds I was saying "Ellie pull your dress down, Ellie cross your legs, Ellie when you do a headstand people can see your skivies". I GIVE! So we were going to try going to the playplace at Mcdonalds and run off some energy. The one by the hospital has no toys. Crud. So lets try Chick-fil-a. Nope not open on sunday, but they are in the same parking lot as Sams Club which is great because my gas light has come on. While pumping gas I stand still long enough to realize that I am extremely tired. By this time we were back on our side of town. Much to the chagrin of my children,("but moooooom you said we could get McDonalds") we went home and took a nap.Burke called a couple hours later and said he was done. They did a port study, basically they shoot dye through the port to make sure it is functioning right, and they also did an ultrasound to make sure there were no clogs or anything. Everything is fine. Nothing a little tylenol couldn't fix. And yes my kids did get McDonalds on sunday. We went after picking Burke up. Sometime a girl just needs some fries! I mean the kids do..........

Ahhh...

2008-09-29T21:29:00.002-05:00

I cant get rid of the blue! I am so proud that I found a fall background for our blog. I can change all of the font colors and everything, But I can't get rid of the blue!!! I know one of my blogger friends out there can help me! I can't stand the no matchie....

Week of treatment #2

2008-09-28T20:30:00.003-05:00

*Due to the graphic discriptions in this post. Reader descresion is advised.*
Its time for me to sit down and pound out another blog. I have known that I need to do this for a couple of days but I actually have been a little hesitant. As I said in one of my first blogs I am not someone who likes or wants ANY sympathy. That is not why we are doing this. We are writing this all down for a number of reasons: 1. It will make a good journal for looking back on this whole situation someday. 2. Keep our family and friends posted. 3. As kind of an education for others that have not been through this.
That is really why I am am going to put down all of my feelings from this last week. And, I have learned that unfortunately that I don't even share my feelings and thoughts enough with Shelly. I'm sorry. I just am not good at placing any of my weak burden on anyone. Even my terrific wife.
Anyway, back to the post. As we said last week was great. The cancer is really shrinking and I was feeling better than I have felt in months. I didn't realize what a toll the cancer was ravaging on my body. I went into this round of chemo, on Tuesday, in pretty good spirits. The chemo went pretty good. I noticed that this time my sense of smell and my reactions to the taste of some of the drugs was really heightened. The taste is a lot like the aftertaste of straight lemon juice. While that does not sound that bad, when it is combined with the nausea and the drugs going crazy in your body, even the thought of it right now makes me a little ill. Other than that the chemo went pretty smooth. I had a nice visit from Jimmy and Karen and I was really grateful that I took the time to shave my chest. The tape coming off wasn't bad at all.
Wednesday started out OK, but at about 3 I started puking my guts out. It went on for hours and it wasn't just little gags it was clean absolutely everything out my system. I couldn't even keep water down for more than a half hour. I actually got worried enough that I called my doctor to see what I could/should do. He told me to add some benadryl to the nausea medicine and if it was still bad in the morning to call him back. I really don't mind puking. I am the kind of person that if I eat something that doesn't sit right I will go in the bathroom and take care of it. I figure it is a lot better to do it that way then to be miserable while it works its way through my system. My biggest concern was how complete the episodes were and how I couldn't even keep anything down. I really was scared we were going to have to take me into the hospital and I was going to get hooked back up to the IV. I think even harder then that though was the psychological part. If it was going to get this bad how was I going to make it through this. Wednesday was REALLY hard on me that way.
There was really nothing at that point that Shelly was able to do for me, the kids were getting very restless, and we had been given tickets to the circus so Shelly loaded up the kids and the took off. I got a call about a 1/2 hour later that they were coming back home. As you have already read they all came home and they ALL were sick. It was a very long miserable night for all of us. Actually by about 10:30pm I was able to keep a little down and was feeling a little better. Oddly enough it brought my spirits up a little to have everyone sick because I realized that I wasn't sick from the chemo but I was sick from a bug.
Side bar: I learned this week that chemo sick and bug sick are VERY different. When I had the bug once I had the urge to throw up there was no stopping it and once I started I kept going until there was not a drop left in me. With the chemo the nausea comes in waves. There not so bad that you can't get trough them most of the time. If you do end up needing to get sick its not that bad. I usually retch a few times and most of the time it never really even produces that much vomit. It is never to the point that I am worried about getting dehydrated or malnourished etc. For me when it hits it is easier to excuse myself to the bathroom, let myself take care of it, and then I feel better and I can go on with what I was doing. Sorry about being graphic, but I thought it was an important distinction for me to make.
Thursday turned out to be pretty much a lay around day. Stomach cramps/bloated, very tired, and waves of nausea. Again Shelly was giving me a hard time about being pregnant. Friday I felt better and I had stuff that I HAD to get done at HotShots. So I went in and took care of a group that had a big reservation for a meeting, lunch (as good as Olive Garden normally is, even the smell of it was pretty bad), and a team building exercise. It went good but about half way through I really realized that I was not going to be able to make it out to FT Rucker for a BIG advertising event that I had scheduled for that night. I was already to whipped. I REALLY struggled with that. With HotShots struggling like it is right now HotShots NEEDS any and all advertising that I can come up with. So I went back and forth with getting someone to go with me to getting someone else to take my place...... But when it boiled down to it I could send a couple of guys out there to take space but that would be all they would be able to do (along with car troubles and a couple of other variables). If I wasn't able to go our time out there would not be very effective and it wouldn't be worth it. Unfortunately I was not able to suck it up so I had to cancel our participation in the event. This was another BIG psychological blow for me for the week.
Saturday was pretty good. I was able to put in a pretty good shift and felt decent all day(only a couple of waves of nausia and my stomach wasn't aching to bad). By the time I got home I was tired but able to hang out some with Shelly and the kids. I had been asked earlier in the week to teach a lesson at church and I really do enjoy teaching and it usaully pretty easy for me to throw something together. But as hard as I tried on Saturday I could not get my brain/thought together enough to do anything. I figured it would be better in the morning but it wasn't. Even through Sacrament meeting I couldn't get my brain to work. Again this was really hard for me. I felt like this is something I should/need to be doing and I can't. I really don't do well with that. Then as Sacrament went on it was Fast Sunday (for those of you who are not members that means that once a month our church sets aside a Sunday to fast, or to go with out food for 2 meals which we donate the money that we save as an offering to help those who are in need) Also on Fast Sundays during Sacrament meeting the time is set aside for the bearing of testimonies. This is an open format in which any one can stand up and bear a short testimony. One on the Sisters in our ward Sister Stinson has been battling cancer for the last couple of years has spent basically the last year and a half in Houston getting many treatments along with stem cell transplants. She has gone through so much more than I have. She is truly an inspiration for me. I don't know if I could do what she has done. Thankfully she is currently in remission and was able to come home this last week. As she stood there and bore her testimony of how blessed she is and how she would do it again because of the blessings it has brought here I got very emotional. I guess I really threw myself a pity party. I know that I have had it pretty easy so far. I know that I am going to beat this. But if I am getting this down over having an upset stomach, a little nausea, mouth sores(oh yes, another wonderful treat), and not being able to work as hard as normal this early on, and she is so strong after ALL that she has gone through. How in the world am I going to make it. More than physically, physiologically this week has been really tough. I know some how I am going to get through it what other options do I have.

All of that being said. Tonight I am felling much better. I have talked about all of this with Shelly and my parents. I know I need to better at that. This is not something that I can handle as an island. I need to talk. I am also thankfull for all of the kind thoughts and prayers. They really do bouy me up. I also am feeling much better today, no real nausia, and I was able to eat pretty normal. Hopefully the same pattern that I had last time holds true and I should wake up tomorrow feeling good and have a really good week.

Enough for one night. Good night
Burke

Oh what a night.......

2008-09-25T19:38:00.002-05:00

What a fun night we had last night! Burke was not feeling good all day, just kinda "Bleh" again. We figured it was because of the chemo the day before. Towards the evening I started to feel a little yucky, but we had free tickets to the circus so supermom took the kids. Burke stayed home because he had started vomiting(sorry bout' the graphics). Off we went to the circus, got our seats, cotton candy and sodas. We were there about 20 minutes when Aden said "Mom I don't feel good, I don't think I can do this". So we left the big-top and headed home with the promise of "we'll try again tomorrow". We had to make a stop for gatorade, and a thermometer for Burke on the way home( if his temp goes over 101 he gets a trip to the ER). As soon as we got home Aden ran to one bathroom and vomited, Ellie ran to the other and did the same. We got the kids settled down and to bed with their buckets beside their beds and about 45 minutes later I figured it was my turn and I started in with the vomiting. Meanwhile Burke is still at it. I got the chills, Burke seemed to stay away from the fever somehow. I have to say I do believe clorox wipes are straight from heaven. Everyone is back to normal today, and yes we made it back to the circus tonight! Oh what a night!!!!!

Nothing big this week.

2008-09-22T08:55:00.002-05:00

I know it has been a few days since I posted. I think the main reason is there really was nothing to post. On Monday I got my appetite back and have felt better then I have in a couple of months. I haven't felt tired and I have had good energy. I guess before the diagnosis I thought I was worn out with the stresses of life, but it turns out the cancer was taking its toll.

So I spent most of the week trying to get stuff done for HotShots. Me not feeling well, and all the time spent taking test etc., has really taken its toll on HotShots. Our numbers have been pretty bad this month. The good news this last week I was able to get some good stuff done and made a great deal with the ITR (entertainment sales office on FT Rucker) on FT Rucker to do some sales for us.

The other fun this week was it was the Learn-a-thon at Aden's School this week. This is the big fund raiser for the school for the year. Shelly was in charge of one of the groups so it was a VERY busy end of the week for us. Thursday and Friday we both spent about 8 hours a day at the school. Luckly this is only once a year!

As I said there was nothing on the cancer front but a very busy week.

It's been a couple days....

2008-09-14T21:13:00.002-05:00

Still doing good. Burke is a little bit tired these days and has to take frequent naps(I wouldn't complain on that one). I tease him because all of the symptoms he has remind me of morning sickness. Is this payback for what a baby I was when I was pregnant? He has to have his nausea meds and some food before he gets out of bed. He is not really eating large meals, more just grazing all day on whatever he fancies. We went through an entire family size box of Chees-Its in one day between him and Aden. Guess I'll go to Sam's club next time! Ellie is still in heaven keeping Daddy fed and hydrated. All she says after school is "Where's Daddy?" and if he is at home she goes straight to him and assess the situation. If he is in bed, so is she! Aden's best role in all of this is to just keep us all laughing. Some of the stuff this kid comes up with is amazing. He is very quick witted. Definitely still mama's boy though. Any chance he gets to ride in the passenger seat of my car he will hold my hand as we drive down the road. I wonder how long that will last? Overall we are all holding up pretty well. If this is as bad as it gets we are in good shape. Burke is still able to go to work. He might not be as productive as usual but he is still there and feeling useful, earning his paycheck! And I am just trying to be Superwoman and pull it all together. So far so good! SJB

2008-09-12T22:16:00.001-05:00

First T-Shirt Order

2008-09-11T16:01:00.002-05:00

We are going to make the first order of Cancer Sucks shirts on Monday the 15th. If you would like to get one please let us know size and color. They are $15 if we have to ship them the shipping is $5.

It's shrinking....

2008-09-10T20:54:00.002-05:00

Today has gone amazingly well. Burke has felt no side effects at all. In fact the tumor on his neck that we could feel growing has already started softening. He woke up this morning and was like " Oh my gosh I can breath!" He also has a tumor above his left lung that has been causing him to cough and have little bit of a hard time breathing. He has had a ton of energy today and has been on the go all day. He has not been able to go a full day without a nap or some kind of rest for at least two weeks now. We know that it is the 2nd and 3rd day that are usually the worst as far as the nausia goes so we will see what the next few days bring. So far so good. We'll keep you updated! SJB

Chemo day #1

2008-09-09T21:43:00.003-05:00

Well it all began today. I got to the hospital at 9:30 am. After the initial regular check in stuff the nurse went to access my port. They said that there is not to many nerves in the skin in that area, while that may be true, when you are accessing it with a framing nail it hurts. I got the numbing cream for next time so hopefully that will make it feel better. After the needle was in she flush the port to clean it then tried to draw blood. She was unsuccesfull so we hooked me up to an IV bag to see if we could flush it. In the mean time she had to draw the blood out of my arm so we could get my blood tested to make sure all of my levels were ok to get the treatment today. The Port never would draw so they sent me downstairs to run some dye through it to make sure there was no problem with the placement. I was told that I must have a good immune system because it had formed a clot and basically turned it into a one way valve. So it works to put stuff in but At this point it looks like we wont be able to make draws. (what was the point of the port again:))

Since the Dr. gave it the OK we went in and did the drug treatment. The nurse gave me some pre-drugs (pain, nausea, ...) then the 4 chemo drugs. I actually fell asleep for about an hour during the treatment. I got wrapped up around 3:30pm just in time for Mom, Dad, and the kids(Shelly had been hanging around and supporting me all day) to stop by. I really wanted the kids to see me with the line in and to see that it didn't hurt me. So the nurse did the final flush and disconnected everything. By far the most painfully part of the day was removing the tape on my chest. I think that she removed about half of my chest hair at the same time. I will definitely shave that part of my chest before the next treatment.

Since I got released I have felt pretty good. I feel a little floaty like I took a bunch of cough medicine and my stomach feels like it is a little upset but really nothing major today. We will see how I feel tomorrow. I have been told day 2 and 3 are the worst.

Burke

Our life outside of cancer......

2008-09-05T11:51:00.003-05:00

Although the main focus for our family right now is getting Burke healthy, believe it or not we have a lot of other things going on too.
Burke has gotten HotShots on a really good track with the help of our amazing staff. We are so incredibly thankful for them especially at this time when Burke is not able to be there all the time. He can actually take time off and not feel like the business is going to go under. They have stepped up BIG TIME in the last month. So if you all are reading this THANK YOU for making at least this part of our life a little easier.
But for the most part you all know what is going on with Burke.

Aden is in second grade(I swear he was just born yesterday). I just had a conference with his teacher and she said he is a joy to have in class. He learns very quickly, and doesn't have to be told twice when learning new concepts. He is very positive in class, and is always happy to do what he is asked to do, but...........he talks too much! You would not believe how much this boy can talk. He wants to know everything, or he knows everything and is going to tell you about it. He has recently become an expert on Hodgkins Lymphoma! He is a REALLY good diver and we recently signed him up for the local swim team, he is pretty excited about that. He thinks Michael Phelps is the coolest.
E.J. is in preschool 5 days a week this year, and on to Kindegarten next year. She Looooves school. She is so social and has reports of what she and all of the other kids in her class are doing everyday. She is Daddy's little princess. On the days he has a surgery or is not feeling well she loves nothing more than to climb into bed with Burke and watch TV, or get him some water, or make him some tomato soup with Mamma. She is his own personal little nurse, and she is in heaven. She starts dance class on Monday and is so excited to be in a class with two of her friends from church. Her latest hobby has become painting. I will sometimes get between 5-10 paintings in a day. My fridge is FULL!
And then theres me! Before we found out about Burkes cancer, I was a foster Mom for the local animal shelter. I have had 3 pregnant Mama dogs, and helped them through birth. We keep the dogs at our house until the babies are 6 weeks old and ready for adoption. We have also fostered a few young dogs that just needed to get out of the shelter for a while. All in all, we have had around 40 dogs through our house in the last 6 months. I will definitely pick this back up when Burke is healthy again, but for now we need to keep our house as sanitary as possible. I will hopefully be starting an online course, and getting my associates as a veterinary technician soon. For the most part right now I am just doing the best job in the world and being a mom. Oh Yeah! We are going to Disneyworld in October so I have that to obsess about. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Burke thinks I might have a little OCD when it comes to Disney. What can I say it's the happiest place on earth! AND we get to bring my niece Makaila this year, which makes us all Sooo happy! I have some awesome friends here in Dothan that are so helpful when it comes to all that we are going through. I still have the same best friends from home that I had 15 years ago +1 and they are my sounding board for when just need to vent. Family is Numero Uno in my life, and I am so thankful for My parents and Burkes parents, and our brothers and sisters. I am very blessed for all of the amazing people that have been put in my life, and for the way I was raised. Sometimes you just dig your heels in and bulldoze your way through whatever life throws at you. I am realizing I get that from my mom. Thank You for all of the love and support!
SJB

More Good News

2008-09-04T15:37:00.002-05:00

I met with the oncologist today. The bone-marrow came back perfect, mugga was good, the Pet scan looks like I am at a stage 2. I have some cancer on both sides of my neck and in the upper part of my chest. All and all really good stuff.

The best news is he said the 8 courses of chemo is out the window. He thinks we are going to go with 4 courses (possibly 6) and some radiation. I like the sound of cutting my chemo treatments in half.

I am scheduled for chemo on September 9th and 23rd and the next Dr on the 23rd to see if the doses are right.

He did forget a test. I have to get a Pulmonary Function Test. I guess one of the Chemo drugs can do damage to lung function so they want a base line.
Burke

You can call me "Radio-Active Man"

2008-09-03T21:29:00.002-05:00

Today I had my first PET scan. It was rather interesting. The radio-active isotope that they use only has a life span of 110 minutes, so it is made everyday and delivered from Birmingham. The shipment was late so I had time to get to know the techs and learn about the procedure. Basically they gave me a very small IV (no they didn't use the new port, why did they install it again?) and injected me with a sugar solution laced with radio-active materials. The solution is absorbed by active organs (ie. heart, brain, kidneys...) and the cancer. I had to sit around, holding as still as possible, for about an hour while it all processed. Then they put me in the scan machine (it is the same scan machine that they use for CAT scans) for about 25 minutes and took pictures. They then can overlay the CAT and the PET scans so they can tell exactly how much and where the cancer is. Of course the techs can't officially "read" the results but he did let me look at all of the pictures and showed me how they were layered. I could easily see the cancer on both sides of the neck and in my chest. The really good news is there was no "hot-spots" anywhere below my heart. That means that it has not spread below my diaphragm or in other words it really looks like I am at a stage 2. Great news!

The one thing they told me that I had to avoid children and pregnant women for 24 hours because of my radio-active levels. So basically I had to semi-quarantine myself for the day to not expose anybody else to me. Ellie and Aden had a hard time not getting their standard hugs and kisses this afternoon. They were both very sweet and painted me pictures and brought them to me at work. They brought them in and set them on the desk next to me and blew me kisses. I promised them that I would give them a goodnight kiss and tomorrow everything would be normal. That seemed to help but Shelly said it definitely was hard on them tonight.

This has a scary/pain scale of a .5 Yes there was a needle involved but it was a VERY small one and everything thing else was rather relaxing.

Port update. All I took was a couple of ibuprofen and I was fine today. The stiffness in my neck is all but gone. The site is still a little tender and sore but really not that bad. The worst thing that I have found so far is that a seatbelt shoulder strap goes right over the top of it so I can't wear it properly.

Burke

Infusa Port

2008-09-02T20:03:00.002-05:00

What a day! Burke had to be at the Hospital at 5:30 this morning to get his port put in. He drove himself so that I could stay home and get the kids up and ready for school. As soon as I dropped Ellie off I went to the hospital to pick him up. This might sound a little gross, but this is how a port is put in: they make a slit and insert the port just under the collarbone above the heart. It looks like he has got a marble under his skin. Then they make another slit and insert the tube that is connected to the corroted artery in the neck(thats the gross part). As soon as everything is in they connect the two and we are ready for business. Now every time he goes to have his chemo they just tap in to the little marble area and he won't have to have an IV every time,which he is very happy about. The best thing about a port is that in about two weeks, when the cuts from inserting the port are healed, he will be able to go swimming with the kids and stuff. The doctor said everything went really smoothly, and they can use the port tomorrow for his PET scan instead of an IV. His neck is very stiff, he actually took one of his painkillers today after we got home(amazing!) That kind of tells you how painfull it is now, he actually took a painkiller! He said he is already starting to feel better tonight though, so hopefully this one won't take too long to recover from. We are really hoping to start Chemo on thursday and start getting this thing out of his system and get on with life.

shelly

Labor Day Weekend in FL

2008-08-30T21:34:00.002-05:00

We decided since I have so much going on this week, start chemo soon, and Aden has school off on Monday that we should head to Florida for the weekend. It actually worked out very nice because Dad flew down to get the house ready for the Hurricane. The kids are very exited because they haven't seen him for few months. Unfortunately Mom's work ethic, and the fact that a last minute plane ticket is REALLY expensive, made it so she couldn't make it down to be with us. So if she asks we had a horrible time:) Hopefully Mom and Dad can at least stop by before the get called out again.

We are homing for a nice relaxing weekend before we have to head back and do battle with life.
Burke

Actually a pretty easy week

2008-08-28T13:45:00.002-05:00

This week has turned out to be pretty quite. I had the Mugga scan on Tuesday and I was supposed to have the PET scan on Thursday but that got rescheduled to next week. I am feeling really good and gearing up for the craziness to start next week. Actually I am a little sore today because I FINALLY got the floors done in the kitchen and dinning room. We wanted to get a couple of thing completed before treatment in case I have to take it easy for a while. A BIG thanks to Chase, Terry, Gerrad and all of those that were more than willing to help. The help and motivation was/is really appreciated. The best part is Shelly loves the floors so that one big one off the list:)

Next week will be interesting:
Tuesday: I get my port put in.
Wednesday: I have the PET scan
Thursday: Oncologist appointment. We are going to review all of the test from the last few weeks. Determine exactly the stage of Hodgkin's (where and how much cancer there is). AND schedule my chemo treatments, we even may have one that day.

I guess its time to get this going so we can get it over with!
Burke

"Cancer Suck" T-shirts

2008-08-28T13:27:00.005-05:00

Shelly and I have adopted the motto "Cancer Sucks." that how we feel. It sucks but it is definitely not the end of the world and there is so much to be thankful/hopeful/blessed/ feel really good about everyday. How could we see all of the miracles going on in our lives and get feeling down. We know our Heavenly father loves us and is keenly aware of our situation. Yes it sucks and it will be hard at times but we will get through it

This is the shirt that we had made up mostly to for us and those who want to support us. It is also a little bit of a fund raiser to help with all of the fun new doctor bills that we are now dealing with.

Click on the title Cancer sucks to see the shirt.

They are going to be white shirts with black printing or black shirts with white printing. They will be available in all sizes and either regular t-shirt or ladies cut. I have a great guy (thanks Foy graphics ) that will make them up in small batches as they are needed.

They are only $15

Give us a call or email us if you would like one.
Burke

2008-08-26T20:06:00.002-05:00

Bone Marrow Biopsy

To say that I was nervous going into this would be an understatement. I know that I am going to be going through a lot of tough stuff, but I was definitely the most scared of having the biopsy. You hear of so many horror stories about how painful bone marrow testing/transplants are that I let myself get really worked up. I knew I was going to think about it all night so I actually took the muscle-relaxer/sleep aid that I had. This is the first time that I actually taken anything. I had my biopsy last Friday I got to the doctor and got checked in they got me set up in my room and started the IV. The nurse was really nice but she will NEVER start an IV for me again. It was defiantly the most painful one that I have had so far. After a few minutes they wheeled me (I am having a really hard time getting used to getting wheeled around) into the procedure room. I said hi to Dr McAllister, my Oncologist, and they had my move on the table sunny side up. Within seconds the next thing that I remember is talking to Shelly back in my room. Supposedly I was awake the whole time but I have no memory of it.

The procedure consists of putting a needle in to the bone and sucking out a little bone marrow. Then on the way out the doctor takes a little sample of the actual bone for testing. They then send it off to make sure that the cancer has not spread into my bones. He took the sample from my hipbone in my lower back. Basically if you put your hands on your hips the location is where your thumb is. They do it there because there is really no meat on top of the bone and it is a large bone.

After they let me out of the hospital I went home and slept it off until about 1pm. After that I really felt pretty good. It felt a lot like I got hit in the back with a paintball. It was sore but really not that bad. By Saturday the site was a little tender but not bad at all.

On the bad/scary scale I give it about a 3 out of 10. If I have to do it again it will not be that big of a deal.

Now I have heard that some doctors do this procedure with just local anesthesia. I will never do it that way!! Sedation is definitely the way to go!
Burke

2008-08-26T19:34:00.001-05:00

Plan of Attack

The plan of attack is I have a few more test to make sure what stage I am at, put the port in my chest and then we start chemo. The Chemo will be every other week and we will start with 8 treatments. Doctor McAllister seems pretty hopeful that the 8 treatments are all that I will need. We may have to add a couple more chemo treatments and possibly some radiation it all will depend how the cancer reacts. But Doctor McAllister said that it is his goal to have me cancer free by Christmas!!

PROCEDURES

Chest x-ray. DONE They use this to see if they can see any other lumps

Excision of supraclavicular node (ie they opened me up and cut out a sample of the cancer) DONE. They take a look at it at the lab in the hospital and if they have a questions they send it off to another lab. It took about a week to get the results back

CAT scan. Done. They scanned me from the top to bottom. They do this to see any masses in my body. The weirdest part is when they add the dye to the IV. It makes you feel hot and tingly

Bone Marrow Biopsy. Done. see the other blog this one earned its own full comments.

Mugga Scan. Done. They put in an IV and pull out some blood. then they mix the blood with some radioactive isotopes, let it sit for about a 1/2 hour then put it back in my body. Then they lay me on a table take "pictures" actually is more like 2 15min. videos. the hardest part was definitely holding still foe 15 min. at a time with nothing to look at or listen to.

PET scan. like a CAT scan with another solution they put in my IV that makes the "hot spots" glow. They overlay this on the cat scan and can see exactly how much and where the cancer is.

Port. It is placed in my chest so they can hook the IV's up to it and take out blood so I wont need to get poked every time I go in.
Burke

In the begining there was a wierd lump.

2008-08-20T18:13:00.001-05:00

It all started with a weird lump the popped up just above my collar bone. I was just getting over a canker sore in my mouth that got a little infected. As it was finishing up I felt the infection run down my neck and it made a big puffy lump right above my collar bone. It stuck around for a couple of weeks so I asked my Stake President (who happens to be a surgeon) how long until I need to start getting concerned about this. He told me, 'if it's not gone in a couple of weeks get it checked out.' A couple of weeks went by and while the swelling did go down the rubbery lump never went away. So I asked a friend from church(who happens to be an ER doctor) what doctor he recommended, he asked what was up, checked the lump out, and gave me the "thats not good"look. That freaked me out. So I got an appointment with our family doctor. He felt my neck and said " Here's what were gonna do". I went across the hall for blood work, downstairs for x-rays, then back upstairs for a work in appointment with a surgeon. Of course nobody will say anything to you so all we had was maybe, and what ifs. This was all on Friday. On Monday they had me in surgery to remove the lump, and lo and behold there were more lumps. The surgeon said that if all goes well they will look at the biopsy here, but if they need to take a closer look they will send it off. They sent it off. A couple days later I got a call from the doctor that said we need you to come back in and get a full body CAT scan because we saw a few things in your chest. So I went back in got the head to toe cat scan and waited for my next appointment. By this time Shelly and I had the puzzle pretty much figured out that I had lymphoma. At the next appointment the Dr. came in and said" well Burke, this is your worst day and this is your best day. It is your worst because you have cancer, it is your best because you have Hodgkin's" He was a little supprized at our reaction because we didn't freak out. We knew it was going to be a challenge, BUT we were feeling very blessed.
Burke