Update and some new pictures

I had my 6th radiation treatment today. There isn't much to update on at the moment. I am feeling no side effects so I am thankful for that. The worst part is still the drive. So much time on the road. I love my doctors there. They are so nice and friendly. Everyone is alway shocked by the fact that I was pregnant during all this. Here are some new pics of hubby and the baby which I thought were just adorable. She loves her daddy and turns her head and stares whenever she hears his voice. I love her little snowsuit that her daddy picked out! And there is a new pic of me with the headband I just bought. It may be hard to tell but my hair is thinner by about 50% from what it was before chemo. I bought headbands because it adds some *umph* to my hair I think. I hate how thin it is but I'll be thankful that I didn't lose it all. I hope it thickens up fast. It's too thin even for a ponytail. It looks silly and slides out. Then the last pic is of me and my daughters Angelina and Mikayla :) Enjoy!

Port Surgery Today and Radiation number 5

So I got my port removed today. I was totally freaked out because for the surgery to put it in I was totally put to sleep. This time? They kept me awake and used a local anesthetic. I hate those because they burn so bad at first. He pokes me all over with this thing. Yes it hurt pretty bad. But you know, I grin and bear it. He says he doesn't like the scar I got. It shouldn't have gotten so wide and he doesn't know why it did. So he says he'll cut the scar off and try to make a thinner line this time. So he starts to cut and towards the end I feel it. OUCH. He injects more anesthetic. Then cuts more...a few cuts later I feel it again. He injects more anesthetic. By then I am good and numb and I feel tugging and hear the skin snipping. Then he gets that done and starts the removal of the port. He says he'll pull the tube out of my vein first, so I feel pulling and tugging (which is pretty gross feeling). Then he gets the tube out. He shows me. It's SOOO much longer than I expected. It's quite long and I can't fully explain it.The tube looks blue. Then he says he'll now remove the actual port part which is the big round part. He pulls and tugs more and says it's coming out really easy. But it feels incredibly weird. I feel some liquid start pouring down my side and onto my back. I am thinking it could be blood but it felt cool, not warm like I'd expect. It WAS blood. Anyway he gets the port out, and shows me which is totally cool because I have had this thing for almost a year and never saw it. I wanted to see it. So then he says he wants to make it heal better and for the scar to not be as wide so he was cutting away some *fibrous tissue* from under the area where the scar will be. I have no idea what that means or how it helps...but OK. The nurse giggles and says he's cutting away some fatty tissue and then laughs and says I don't have any to spare. I like that nurse by the way. ;) Then he cuts and snips and pulls...and I try not to look while he pulls this chunk of flesh out of me. Yes ewww. :) Anyway he then stitches me up. I have no idea how many stitches I got but it felt like a whole lot. I am all bandaged up right now so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to really get a look at it. I am portless now! Wooooot! I am so glad it's gone.

Daddy and Gabbi

I haven't posted a picture of Daddy with Gabriella yet, so I am now. I took this picture this moring. Oh and I'll include her little Christmasy pic too. :D

Stress

Well, my hubby goes in to the hospital to talk to the financial people on Monday. Yes, being sick is NOT cheap. Throughout this whole thing I have had many many bills. One trip on Life Flight is $15,000. Yes....and I flew twice. The bill from the biopsy surgery and one night in the ICU was over $28,000. Take my 5 day stay when I had the first preterm contractions at over $23,000 and then my one day stay the second time I had preterm contractions, my port surgery and the cost it will take to remove it. Now add in all the gas to get to the appointments....all the sonograms and high risk appointments. Yeah so anyway the bills have piled up. We have good insurance so much of this has been covered but the hospital has said we still owe about $9,000. We have copays and deductibles and all that. So Jason will go talk to them and see what we can work out. So far we have no Christmas tree and no presents for anyone. I don't think we'll have much this Christmas. I could care less if I get anything...I just want the girls to have a nice Christmas. I was referred to the American Cancer Society for mileage reimbursement, since we have a 1 1/2 hour drive one way each day and of course the drive back totally 3 hours....at the price gas is now it adds up. Not to mention hubby is going back to work and that is a 2 hour drive from where we are at. We would have moved closer to his job already if it wouldn't put us 4 hours away from where I get my treatments. So we are in the middle now. We'll be moving sometime in january. We are looking for a place. We want to buy, but I don't know if it will happen. Medical bills have hurt our credit. Our overall score isn't so good at the moment. We are trying to fix it thought. Ughh these are just some stressful things on my mind and I know for a fact they are more bothersome to the hubby. He bottles it up and it gets him really stressed out. I just get on my blog and vent about it. It helps!

3rd Radiation Treatment Down!

I have 17 treatments in total and I have done 3. I need prayers though because we are having some ice storms this weekend. I want the roads to be clear when we travel on Monday. I do not care for driving on ice! So far I am not feeling much for side effects. It seems I am doing okay at this point. Gabbi is sleeping right now, making some noises. I wonder what she dreams about. She moans and sometimes seems to actually laugh or giggle. But she is only 3 weeks....so I am not sure what she is doing. Now she is kicking her legs and making a sad face. Hmmm do babies have bad dreams? I wonder strange things. :) It's been a long journey getting my sweet baby here but I am thankful for every single second I have with her. God gave me such a wonderful gift. I have four beautiful little girls. I couldn't ever ask for something more wonderful. I didn't do much today. It's Saturday and I do not have treatments on the weekends. So I get to relax. My mother in law has been staying with us while I am going through radiation to help out. She left last night to go visit her mother. Her dad ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. He is about 90 years old so please remember him in your prayers. It's odd. My mother in law moved very far away, came up here to visit us. We happen to live about 50 minutes from her mom and dad. So her dad got sick and she was able to visit him! I think that's pretty amazing. I am going to add a few more pics. Baby is fussing so time for me to go! :)