Home sweet home :)

My apologies for not updating this in so long! However, as usual, things have been nothing short of crazy lately.  Let's see how I do catching this all up in a somewhat short nutshell. haha. Matt made it to Alaska, finally cleared out up there, and has made his way back home to Annapolis. Which means that starting next week he will officially begin work at Fort Meade (and I will be at home by myself all day...what to do..lol) Luckily for him, timing worked out that he was able to see a lot of his buddies return home from their deployment in Afgahnistan while he was up in Alaska. This was quite the blessing, not only to give him a break to re-charge, but it was also important to him to be able to see all of his guys home safely. Thank you again to Deidra and Burley for taking care of him for a few weeks. :)

While he was gone, of course I had to find something to do to entertain myself.  Fortunately for me, I was lucky enough to have lots of family come visit. Mom spent two weeks at our house helping me clean, organize, and decorate for Fall. Our house actually looks like our "home" now, more than just a house we are in. It's funny how something so simple can be such a huge comfort. As if that was not enough fun; dad, Nancy, Luke and one of his friends made the trip down for the weekend and we took a short jaunt over to the Eastern Shore, made it downtown for a great seafood dinner, and even saw some of the awesome boats downtown during The Boat Show.

Now with all of that good news- there has to be a few set backs I suppose. Mom had initially came to MD so she could take me to my treatment on Monday while Matt was gone. Well we woke up bright and early Monday and went to Baltimore, but apparently life had different plans for me that day. Unfortunately my blood work came back that day showing my levels were too low to receive treatment, I would have to take some medicine for a week and come back again and try the following Monday. As if that wasn't bad enough, the low levels also earned me a first class ticket for giving myself a shot every Thursday after I had treatments. Yuck! I've said it a million times, and probably a million more, I hate shots and anything to do with them.

 So that day I was pretty bummed out. (I know, you would think not having to get nasty medicine pumped into ya for a week would be a good thing- but I'm an odd duck and being pushed back a week on my overall goal was hard to handle). However, after a bit of moping and complaining to anyone and everyone around (hah) I sucked it up, and low and behold it turned out to be a good thing. It's kind of funny how sometimes our body knows what we need a bit more than we do! The week off was great! I finally felt "normal" again, no fatigue, no headaches, I was able to galivant all around Annapolis with mom for a few days and welcome my husband back home, feeling good. It's the small things these days that count. :) So Matt and I went back to Baltimore Monday for treatment #5, and it all went well. Bloodwork looked great again, the infusion at the hospital went well, and my nurse even showed up on time at the hospital, AND at home to take me off of my pump! (For those of you that hear me vent on a regular basis, you know this is an accomplishment! hahah) Even more good news, our insurance company cooperated with providing us the shot that I need to take the day following treatment, so we were able to bring it home with us and administer it at home, rather than driving back to Baltimore Thursday morning just for a quick shot. Huge relief! However, that was about all that the shot was good for. lol. It was NO fun giving the shot Thursday- and believe it or not, I didn't get a pretty colored bandaid OR a lollipop for being good during it. I think I need to discuss this with my nurse. lol. Luckily, there were no side effects from the shot so far though- great news!

Since I was feeling well- Matt and I decided to pack up and head to PA for the weekend. We have a meeting with Dr. McLaughlin in Pittsburgh Monday afternoon, (he is an awesome guy- if anybody ever needs to see an oncologist, I highly recommend him!) so we decided to make a long weekend trip out of it and see some family and friends while we are home.  So far it has been a wonderful trip- perfect timing to be back in PA, it has been absolutely breathtaking seeing all of the leaves changing colors. We have also had a chance to see most of the family so far, Matt has been terrorized by our 3 nieces for an entire night, and we even took a trip to Benezette today so I could show Matt the famous Elk herd our area is famous for.  There were so many elk out today, and even more people! We tried our best to snap a few pictures for you all to see.

I hope you all are getting to enjoy the beautiful fall weather just as much as we are. Thank you all so much for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes- please know that they are certainly working, we see that each and everyday through different blessings. Please keep them coming! The love and support from all of you is exactly what we need to keep fighting the fight. God Bless! :)

Meghan and Matt

T-Shirts... continued

Wow! I'm pretty speechless after looking at all these again. It's nothing short of amazing to see all of the support from you all pouring in! I swear I am like a little kid on Christmas each time I get on Facebook and see a new picture. (Just ask Matt or my mom..lol). It's hard to explain just how much this means, and how much it helps me want to fight this nasty thing even more. I know Kalen had mentioned in his previous post that they are all on Facebook, but I figured I would put all of the ones that I have to date for you all to see as well. :) And the even better part? There is still more support coming! Some of out friends from Alaska are getting in on this next order (can't wait to see those pics!), friends from NC and SC, and even friends that I ,unfortunately, haven't talked to in years are joining in to support- Ania Terry you made my day the other day by ordering one!

I think that is an awesome idea that Team Bullers has to have a Team Meghan profile pic day if y'all are up for it, and having it as a celebration day once this chemo is over sounds fantastic! (Just a side note, I am 33.3% done with this nasty stuff... for those of you that know me, I'm terrible at math, I didn't do that calculation on my own, a fellow colon cancer fighter figured it out for me. haha) But none the less, 4 down, 8 more to go, and then I would love to see your profile pics supporting Team Meghan.

I also would like to thank all the faculty and staff at Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School. Yesterday Matt and I received a heartwarming note with a very generous donation from their CARE days at the school. Thank you all so much for your help!

Now for a quick update- We are rounding the bend leading in to treatment #5 on Monday. I am hoping it will go as well as #1,#2, and #4....#3 was a little bit hairy and a pain in the ass. But I am going in positive! Side effects haven't been too bad this time, thank God, and I have been able to maintain my weight so far. Matt is in Alaska for a few weeks, which is somewhat of a double edged sword. It's great that we finally know he will be here with me in Annapolis for the next year, however, it is a real bummer that he is stuck up in Alaska for so long and will be missing the next treatment. I'll be missing him for sure, as this will be the first treatment without him. I don't think the nurses will know what to do without him sprawled out in the bed sleeping next to me. lol Luckily, Jim (my step dad) has been flexible enough that he is okay with me stealing mom for a few extra days, and she will take me to treatment and hang out for a few days after until Matt gets home. I will be wearing my Team Meghan T-shirt to this treatment to get some autographs from my nurse Joanne and my doctors.

On a note aside from all the medical bs- mom has been here "visiting" since Monday. I say it like that, because my mom doesn't really know how to visit or vacation...haha She has been working since she got here, which is a complete godsend for me! We now are no longer living out of totes and boxes, our house actually looks lived in, and we have a freezer stocked full of food for treatment days where we don't feel like cooking. Tomorrow, I am giving her the day off and we are getting out to at least do some "window-shopping". Also, Dad, Nancy, Jenna, and Luke are coming down Saturday morning. It will be great to see them again finally, and to show them around Annapolis! :)  I am one lucky girl to have such great family and friends willing to come visit and put up with me so I am not too lonely while the hubbs is away.

Please do take a minute to send some good thoughts and lots and lots of prayers Gary Gerber's way. This whole situation is such a nasty one to deal with, that I wouldn't wish upon anyone, and my case was even fairly straight forward. Some of the bumps and hurdles that I have heard he has had to overcome, he certainly deserves some love and support! Great news that he is home though, speaking from experience, hospitals are no place to recover, and there is nothing quite like the comfort of your own home when you're feeling down. Keep your chin up Coach, keep fightin' and it'll get better! Also, I know I mentioned this on Facebook and Kalen did as well, but if you can, please stop by Bill Mitchell's fundraiser on October 14th. He and his wife could really use your support, plus it is spaghetti- who doesn't like spaghetti!? Bill and Lara, you have all the support in the world coming from Matt and I, and we are keeping you in our prayers daily. Stay strong, and defy the verdict!

Thanks again for all of the love, support and prayers- can never have too much of that! Maybe someday, as the article from MD Anderson put it, dying from cancer will be as common as dying from pneumonia. We just have to keep searching.  Hope all is well with everyone and you all get to enjoy a wonderful weekend!

Tshirts and stuff

Most of the shirts from the first order have been handed out, just a handful left. The second order looks to be over 100, so that would be well over 400 shirts total. Crazy to think about the amount of support Meg has! There are some real cool photos on Facebook if you have access.

Matt is in Alaska, so my mom is down in Annapolis with Meg. My stepdad Jim has lost over 20 lbs with my mom being gone so much, so we had him down for dinner last night so Trish could fatten him up. I also stole a couple hours of drywall help.

Team Bullers ( Autumn and Paul) are pushing for a Facebook profile pic day of folks in Team Meghan tshirts. If things work out, we may try to coordinate that with a chemo anniversary for a little extra good vibes for Meg.

Meg seems to be doing well. Sometimes we have to remind her this is hopefully just a temporary inconvenience.

I hear Coach Gerber just had surgery and after a couple bumps in the road is back home. Try to send some well wishes his way if you have the opportunity. Also, there is a fundraiser for Bill Mitchell in Ridgway on Oct 14 for those that can attend. This is a fight for everyone, so Meg encourages you all to support anyone that is fighting this nasty disease!

Peace and good vibes to all! Keep you prayers and notes of support coming.