My annual half marathon

This past Sunday was the Capital City 1/2 marathon (and marathon, 5 miler) in Olympia. We had the best weather....sun, but not too hot. Normally I don't wear my headphones, but I saw many people with them on this year...so I wore them as well. Usually there is some sort of rule about headphones, but I didn't see it anywhere in any of the rules and they didn't make an announcement either. I run with headphones when I train, so I knew it would be really nice to have them for a race as well. Anyway, it was great to have them. I was in my own little world this year and didn't pay too much attention to other people....I could run my own race! This was the best 1/2 marathon I've ever run (I think I've done at least 10)...I felt awesome! I didn't set any records, but it was the best I'd ever felt. I kept at a steady pace of 9 minute miles, until I had one mile at 9:30. I knew I would have to make that time up somehow. It wasn't too difficult because I ended up making that up and was also averaging under 9 minute miles. Even at the finish line I was still feeling good where I normally am totally wiped out usually feel like falling over at the end. This year I just ran through and didn't even have to take a breather. I really think that spin class has helped tremendously because it has helped with recovery time. Anyway, I loved it and its been awhile since I've actually liked running a 1/2 marathon. I'm looking forward to my triathlon in June!

My time was about 1:55:27 with a pace of 8:48/mile; 19 out of 91 in my age group. Last year I did 1:55:50...but this year I felt a ton better!

Birthday Boy

We all decided to take advantage of the last of our beautiful weather (for a few days), so we ventured down to the "Point" to have a picnic birthday lunch and do a little fishing. Grammie Sue and Pawpaw Aaron came last Wednesday to help us out and be here for Grayson's birthday. They have been working very hard and today was nice to get a little relaxation. We didn't catch any fish, but we had a nice time regardless!

Sue has been cooking and cleaning like crazy and has made us some meals that we were able to freeze for upcoming chemo treatment weeks. Aaron fixed our gates that have been broken for quite some time...this was a pretty big project too! He also mowed and weed-eated; fixed our fire-hazard light switch; moved some pieces of lumber that had been sitting on our driveway pad for years; worked hard at trying to figure out why our dryer doesn't seem to dry (the dryer works---the vent hose not so much); and did many other clean up chores. We are so grateful for all their help and really appreciate all that they've done! Grayson has really enjoyed having them around also and will surely miss them when they leave tomorrow.

Just a little birthday yummies...more to come next weekend.

Happy Birthday Grayson!

Its hard to believe that three years ago today (at 2:18pm) we were blessed with our little baby boy! We were so happy to finally have him join us...and our lives have been changed ever since!

Here are some pictures from the first days of his life:

And....here's our little 3 year old!

Happy Birthday Grayson!

We love you!!

Gotta watch my language!

Ok....so, sometimes I don't have the most impeccable language and things just slip out.  I definitely have a hard time pretending that I have perfect language when I'm around Grayson...I'm definitely "myself".  Anyway, about a week ago (Friday before last) we were over at dad's to visit and do a couple things in the yard.  Dad was on the riding lawnmower getting his "mowing therapy" in while Heath decided he would get the blow torch and fry some weeds around the place.  I mentioned to Heath that he should make sure that he doesn't start the Pampas grass on fire (this grass was about 6-8 ft tall).  Dad laughed and said, "yeah, I did that one year".  So, I go inside to get Grayson and as I'm coming outside I notice that Heath is running to the house because the Pampas grass is on fire!  So of course I say "Holy Sh*t!" because the thing was totally torched and was getting the other bush next to it on fire.  And, of course my kid is now going to start saying what I just said.  He just kept yelling it randomly and it was really quite funny.  Its not like he hasn't heard it before, but it really stuck this time.  Anyway, in the meantime Heath finds a bowl and fills it up with water...which barely did any good at all.  I'm running around trying to find a dang hose.  I find one, hook it up, turn it on and run it out there.  Yank!  Too short....oops sprayed Heath instead!  (Dad is laughing about now and wishes he had a video camera...he was quite amused by the whole thing and just sat there on his lawnmower watching us act like chickens with our heads cut off).  So, now I go find another hose and switch it with the short one.  By now some of the fire is out because Heath probably made about 20 trips with the water in the bowl.  It was quite a funny time!

The point of my story was that Grayson is still saying "holy sh*t" at quite appropriate times I might add.  Last week when the rain was pouring down I said "holy moly"....to which he says "holy moly sh*t!"  He also talked about the time when daddy started the fire at pop's house...."holy sh*t".  I try really really hard not to laugh when he says all this because it is quite funny hearing it from an almost-3 year old.  Anyway....today he did say "holy moly" with out the other part....maybe its out of his system.  By the way, he does know it in German too...but, for some reason this doesn't bother me.  

Chemo: Round one, day 2 completed

Just a quick update to let everyone know how Heath is doing so far with his chemo treatment. Yesterday, we met with a new doctor, Dr. Sui to go over his blood markers and ultrasound results and answer any questions we had. We still have Dr. Wang, but because she is only in that office on Thursdays and Fridays, we were given Dr. Sui as well so we could have someone to go over things with at any time. We both were pleased with him....he was very nice and intelligent at the same time and answered all our questions. So...it turned out that Heath does have a small tumor in his right testicle (2x2x1 cm approx). This explains where the cancer came from. Now we can officially call it metastatic testicular cancer. Sure makes it a lot easier to explain it to people now. Since it hasn't spread to any of his organs then he is still in a 'good risk' category.

Heath will be checked periodically to see how the chemotherapy is working. This is done by checking tumor markers in the blood. Many testicular cancers secrete high levels of certain proteins, such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). These proteins (called tumor markers) are important because when they are present in the blood, it suggests that there is a testicular tumor. A tumor may also increase the levels of an enzyme called lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). In Heath's case his HCG was 80 where normal is 0-4; LDH was 785 where normal is 550 (not too extremely high in his case) and is AFP was normal at 1.9 (normal is 0-9).

He will also be monitored daily during his week(s) of treatment with bloodwork to check his platelet count, RBC count and WBC count. If these numbers are not in the reasonable range then it can delay his treatment.

We were at the treatment center for most of the day yesterday between bloodwork, doctor visit, chemo treatment and chemo class. Today was a much shorter visit with just bloodwork and chemo. Things seem to be going well and he really hasn't had any nausea yet....just fatigue and a slight headache. This morning he looked pretty good and it wasn't till after today's treatment when he seemed a bit more off. As I write this he is out for a little walk in the sun (with a hat on....since he is more susceptible to sunburn). He receives anti-nausea meds through IV during treatment with oral meds at home. Because chemo has a cumulative effect he may not experience any nausea for several treatments or even until the next cycle.

Tomorrow we meet the natropathic oncologist at the office before his chemo and then he also will start accupuncture on thursday.

Heath's Blog

Heath just started a blog today after taking a much needed 'personal day' to reflect on things, chill and do some research. His blog will be focused on his journey in life and journey through cancer treatment. I'll still blog about what's going on with him and our life, but for a more in-depth look into the life of Heath....check it out! :)

http://lifetimeofopportunity.blogspot.com/

We just found out today that instead of what we originally thought was going to be a 3 day chemo treatment every 3 weeks is going to be 5 days of it! Yowza!

I've decided that I need to accept help that is offered during this time (with help from my counselor). So....for those of you that have asked what you can do to help, I'm sure that I will definitely need it at some point. I think the biggest things that will be helpful are meals and help with watching Grayson. Since I don't quite know how things will go yet....I may need more help with other things as well. Thank you all so much for supporting us throughout this process! We really appreciate the love, positive thoughts and prayers that are being offered. We are truly blessed with awesome people in our lives...and we just want you all to know that!

Tricyle riding and puppy visiting

Grayson rode his tricycle all the way up to 'Grandma' Debbie's this morning. This is the first time that we have gone out on the road since he first got his trike a year ago for his birthday. He plays with it all the time on the deck, but I just noticed the other day that we was pushing the pedals. So....we ventured out and decided to head up to the ol' Homestead (Gary and Debbie's)...just up the street. We arrived just at feeding time for the pups! Rune had 10 gorgeous pups about 5 wks ago...so they are just now at that stage where they are playing and getting their personalities. So darn cute!!

'Uncle' Tone-tone and little male pup

Mama and lambs

Could they get any cuter?!