2nd round of chemo is in...

Hey everyone - sorry I havent' updated in a little while. Things are a little busy around here with another babe thrown into the mix! Micah has been doing well - we were a little concerned because on Monday we saw the ped. and he was still losing weight, but we had another appt this morning and he is finally gaining, so that's great news. He's been a great baby otherwise - he sleeps great and doesn't fuss during the day at all, which is soooo nice. Mike and I have been able to take turns at night, too, because of the formula thing, which has been nice for me. :)

I had my 2nd round of chemo yesterday, which went quite well. They still kept out the Bleomycin because of the risk of lung problems with that drug, and they want to shrink the tumor a little bit more so that I don't have ANY shortness of breath before starting that drug. So I had just the AVD yesterday again. I asked the nurse if I would get more nauseous the further along I get with treatment and/or with the addition of the Bleo, since I didn't get sick the first time, and she said nope, since I didn't get sick, I should be good. That was great news to me. They also gave me the steroids again yesterday, so I was ready for another sleepless night, but I slept like a baby last night!!! So hopefully I won't have as much fatigue this time either. YAY!

I talked with Dr. Anderson yesterday too, and he is still concerned about these clots I have in my jugular and subclavian veins/arteries, so I have to have another ultrasound next week to see if I will have to be put on Lovenox to get rid of them. He wants to make sure there is some blood flow on both sides before he puts the port for my chemo on the right side. Hopefully with the tumor shrinking, the veins/arteries of my heart are less compressed and I will have more blood flow pressure up through my jugular and subclavian to open them up a little. We'll have to see what the test shows next week. I will also need a PET scan in the next couple of weeks to see if there are any more tumors in the rest of my body, but he wants to wait a little bit until I'm a little further along postpartum-wise.

Postpartum-wise, I feel great. I had a few rough days when I came home from the hospital - Mike said this happened with the other kids too, I just don't remember. I'm not sore at all anymore and feel pretty much back to normal. I'm still having headaches, but I'm pretty sure that could be from a combination of hormones, stress, and the crazy clots in my neck. Other than that, I can't complain. :)

Hannah and Collin have been pretty good with Micah around - Hannah loves to just sit and look at him and she was so excited to hold him the other day. Collin - yikes. He's a bruiser and loves to touch Micah, but we are still working on "gentle touches." We definitely can't leave the 2 of them in a room alone yet!!

Well, thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers and notes of encouragement. Things are going much better than I could have ever hoped for, and this has to be from all of your prayers for sure!!! Much love from the VanderVliet family of 5!