The Bushgang Blog

I just spoke with Dr. Clifford, the surgeon, about 5 minutes ago. He said Steph did very well and that there was nothing that looked abnormal. He removed some breast tissue and what looked like 3 lymph nodes . It is all being sent to pathology and we should know the results on Tuesday. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! NEXT STEP: Steph goes to the radiologist on Monday to prepare for radiation therapy. She will actually get three little tattoos to line up the radiation machine the same way each time! Gary and Genny can know say their little girl has three tattoos . I know that will make them happy. ;-) The radiation therapy is roughly a 6 and 1/2 week long process, 5 days a week for about 20 minutes each treatment.

Short and sweet. Sonogram Wednesday to determine the exact location for surgery. Steph is going to have a lumpectomy this Friday. Please be in prayer for her quick recovery. NEXT STEP: Radiation - this will hopefully start next week.

Sorry for the lengthy delay in posting a new reply. There has not been much to tell thus far. Last post was treatment #3. Tomorrow is treatment #6. That is right, #6! That is the last one, thank God. Reader's Digest version: Steph has remained strong through out the treatments. Thank you all for the prayers! It has been very consistent in that she is down and out the first 10 days after a treatment and then she feels better until the next one. Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the next treatment and doctor's visit. We have been talking with the doctor about how the treatment is progressing. She has mentioned on several occasions that Stephanie has been the patient of the season. She has responded to treatment very well. So well in fact that the doctor is going to take her case in front of a tumor conference, date to be determined. A tumor conference is where a number of doctors get together and discuss treatment options for patients. In Stephanie's case, her doctor thinks her case i

Sorry for the delay in the reporting everyone! I had some access trouble. I hope everyone is ready for some great news... Last Tuesday was Stephanie's 3rd chemo treatment. That means she is halfway through! During the normal process of going in for treatment, we meet with the doctor. The doc asked about stuff like changes in symptoms and other junk then feels the lump as an informal tracking method to see if the tumor is responding to the chemo. (Remember, they will do another MRI when chemo is finished to really tell the degree of success on the chemo.) Anyway, the 1st piece of great news is that when the doctor went to feel the lump, she could not find it. Before, it was very noticeable! Now, NOTHING! Praise God!!! 2 nd piece of great news, the BRAC test came back negative! As a reminder, this was the test to determine whether or not Steph was at risk genetically for cancer coming back. This could not have been better news. This means she will not need a mastectomy or a histe

You should have seen Steph when she was reading the email and looking through the pictures that were sent to her yesterday. It was a great thing to do and Stephanie was truly touched and overcome with emotion. The first picture is Tom. He used to work with Steph. The second is Steph's boss Kelly and his son Dane. She is always talking about how much she loves Dano! (Sorry Kelly, she doesn't have exactly the same level of affection for you!) The last picture on the left is Nelson and Lisa. Stephanie has working with Nelson for the last nine years. I know these are four guys that Steph has really enjoyed having as part of her life. I for one am glad that when she is not around me, she can be surrounded by such great people! This Thursday is Steph's next treatment. The first one was a little tougher than expected so we are not looking forward to the next one at all. I guess we are in that we will then be able to say, two down and four to go. Steph was just looking at the ti

Stephanie and I were at the hospital most of the day with her hooked up to the pump administering the various bags of drugs. The experience from my point of view was not bad at all. Everyone was very nice and we were able to watch a movie and read a while. Steph started experiencing some mild flu-like symptoms last night and it has continued through today. She is getting along pretty well so far. She actually mentioned that the tumor is bothering her today. Since the chemo works on rapidly developing cells, it appears this is a good sign. Perhaps the tumor is already being destroyed by the drugs! I'll keep you all updated with a new post really soon.

UPDATE: Tuesday evening, we received a message from the doctor that the PET scan results we had been waiting for were in and the news is great, THANK GOD!!! The cancer is primarily located in the left breast with very little in the lymph nodes under her arm. So little in fact that he is not worried about it at all. This is truly an answer to many prayers. Although we are walking into the valley, God's light is still shining upon us. We are so grateful to everyone that has been praying for us! This morning we went to the hospital to have a port-a-cath installed to ease the administration of the chemotherapy drugs. It is commonly referred to as a "port". It was inserted just below her right collar bone. The procedure took about 3 hours from arrival to departure. NEXT STEP: Cycle 1 of 6 for chemo begins on Tuesday, April 17th. The plan is to also draw blood for the BRCA test. This will help us determine the right approach for making sure the cancer has as little a chance o

Steph took this picture last Friday morning. She had left him on the island in the kitchen quite happy and when she returned just a few minutes later.....he was out cold, holding onto his blanket with his thumb in his mouth.

We took Levi to the doctor yesterday for his 4 month check up. He is very healthy! In fact, his vitals came back as: Weight: 18 lbs 3 oz (95%) Height: 25 1/2 inches (75%) He was cleared to start eating solid food. We started him off this morning with the same single grain rice cereal we have been putting in his formula...Mom just made it really thick! We put extra pictures on the website . Please go check them out! Enjoy!!

He just continues to amaze us with his progress at 14 weeks!

Go check out our new website . I have put out several pictures for everyone to enjoy!! www.BushCrew.com