1st Chemo In Tulsa!

I got to take Auntie for her first chemo in Tulsa yesterday...despite turning into a 5+ hour ordeal, we had a fun afternoon!! We are hoping that her next treatment will go more smoothly...I think the first is always the hardest (paperwork, etc). She did great...one step farther in kicking this cancers booty!!

Praying For Mrs. Owens

These signs are ALL OVER our school! So sweet!

2nd Treatment...Done!

Kelli and Terry flew out Thursday night, she had her second treatment yesterday with no problems, and flew back home last night!  Quick trip...yay!  She is now set up with a doctor in Tulsa to be able to do some of her chemo treatments.  Thankfully, next week she can have it in Tulsa.  She will still need to travel to Houston the NEXT week for a procedure and a treatment, but after that she should be able to stay home more.

Thank you all who have helped with meals, I know they REALLY appreciate that!  If you still would like to help with that the website is www.takethemameal.com and I can get the password to you! 

Thank you for your continued prayers...we ALL feel them and appreciate them so much. 

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Blondes Have More Fun...

So, my Mom and I went wig shopping with Kelli this week....all I can say is God is a very gracious God.  I was honestly dreading it.  I have hated this part of cancer.  I hate all of it, but this part just made me kind of sick.  I cannot imagine having to emotionally go through losing my hair...I realize that hair is just hair, blah blah blah.  I'm so grateful that the only thing we have to lose is her hair.  I am so grateful that there is treatment to get rid of the cancer.  I have perspective.  But I'm still human and this part sucks.  I know my Auntie and I knew that this would not be fun for her.  I prayed that it would go ok and I prayed for me to be a good "helper" in this.  God took care of the day for us!  We actually had FUN!  

I had told Kelli all along that we would be getting a blonde wig for her because blonde's have more fun, right?!  So, luckily for me, one of the styles (cuts) we liked was only available in this shop (for trying on) in blonde!  I totally think she's a "natural"!!  Ha!!  She was a good sport and let me snap some pictures.  I texted one to Terry and he thought she looked super hot.  I thought we may need to get the blonde one strictly for home, but Kelli advised against it : )  I texted the picture to Gary and he said "blonde's may have more fun but red heads get more attention!  Just ask Cal!".  Like I said, it was fun outing!!  There were no tears, but lots of laughs.  I am so so thankful.

We found two great choices that we brought home with us.  After discussion, I think the choice for Kelli is to go ahead and start back to school wearing one of her new wigs.  She went ahead and got her hair cut really short, which makes it a whole lot easier when it starts falling out.  For her students, this will provide some stability on the way they "see" Mrs. Owens...they won't have to go through several different phases of hair with her.  They will see the wig (which I truly don't think they would know was a wig until she tells them) and that will remain the same for the next year.  

So.  That was wig shopping.  A much better day than I could have ever imagined...thank you Lord!!

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Update On Kelli

I wanted to give everyone a quick update on Kelli.  She is home from Houston; got back home on Saturday.  Other than being tired (both physically and emotionally) from the whirlwind that this experience has been, she's doing well.  Thankfully, her first chemo treatment was tolerated very well.  It's nice that she's got this week to be home for a bit (since it's spring break).  She will travel back to Houston on Thursday night for her second round of chemo on Friday morning.  It will be a quick trip (if all goes as planned) and she and Terry will fly back home Friday night. 

We are so grateful for everyone's continued prayers.  Kelli assures me that she feels them!!  She sees God working mightily throughout this entire experience:
Tuesday, March 4th:  biopsy results revealed that she has breast cancer.
Friday, March 7th:  appointment scheduled with a wonderful doctor at MD Anderson in Houston (this was HUGE to get in so quickly)
Tuesday, March 11th:  flew to Houston, first appointment with doctor at MDA
Thursday, March 13th:  testing complete, results show nothing major outside of initial diagnosis at home (yay!!)
Friday, March 14th:  first chemo treatment
Saturday, March 15th:  flew home from Houston, just in time for spring break!!
This is amazing to me that all of these things have fallen into place so quickly...truly a testament to the graciousness of our God.  Not only has timing been wonderful, but Kelli is so happy with her doctor and nurse and the care she is getting.  Thankfully, God is blessing us BIG TIME throughout all of this.

I have set up a meal schedule if anyone is interested in helping feed the Owens family during this busy time.  The website iswww.takethemameal.com.  I have the password...message/email/call/text and I'll pass it along.  I know that Kelli is planning to get back to her 5th graders next week (that she has missed so much!) and meals during the week would be a great way to help her!

Things we can specifically pray for right now:
*safe travels back and forth to Houston for the next few rounds of chemo
*energy (both physical and emotional); both for Kelli, Terry & boys
*continued well-tolerance of chemo
*good overall health (no colds, viruses, etc) to add stress to her already weakening immune system
*that the chemo works and kicks this cancer's booty!!!

Again, there are not enough lovely words we can say about our friends and family that have stepped up with encouragement and help during this time...but THANK YOU! 

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Home Sweet Home

They're coming home!!  Yay!!  Should be home by tomorrow afternoon.  I've spoken with several of you regarding meals, etc. and that is definitely "in the works" but I wanted to visit with Auntie and see exactly how we can be of greatest help.  I will keep everyone updated!    Thank you for holding us all up in prayer...Auntie already has so many God stories from this trip...He is definitely proving every moment to be in control.

I Love My Family

This just makes me laugh.  Auntie and I were texting regarding flight information, etc. for tomorrow and this was part of the conversation...I love my family!!  My cup runneth over!!

Take Them A Meal

I have the meal schedule set up on takethemameal.com for anyone who is interested in helping with this!  Comment here, facebook, email or text...or CALL ME (ha!) and I can get you the password for the schedule.  Words cannot express our thankfulness for each and every one of you who have been praying us through this!!  Our cup runneth over!!

For Such A Time As This

Auntie rockin her groundbreaking ceremony shirt today for the rest of her tests! We love our school!!

Results

Auntie was able to finish up all of the remaining tests this morning and met with the doctor this afternoon to confirm diagnosis and formulate the treatment plan.  The good news is there were no huge surprises or developments from what she had already learned at home.  I think it was a long and emotionally exhausting day on everyone.  Mom is flying home as we speak and we hope to have Auntie and Terry home soon, as well.  

Chris and I kept Auntie up to date on the groundbreaking ceremonies that had Rejoice abuzz today...I know she wished so much that she would have been there.  She was certainly felt in spirit, though!  I know I've been able to get bracelets to many of you, but I have plenty of extras if you still need some, just let me know!  

Again, thank you ALL so much!  We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love.  We can thank God for a (relatively) good report today and continue to pray for strength, endurance, and peace as Kelli undergoes her first chemo treatment.  Please pray for traveling graces as we work to get everyone back home safely.  

I'll close tonight with a message directly from Kelli to everyone:

"Rejoicing in God and that the prayers of many have stopped the cancer from having spread further throughout my body. I cannot even express the gratitude I have to God and all the Prayer Warriors. It will be a journey, but with God's help and the continued prayers I will be healed. The good news is it originated in the breast. There is no major source somewhere else. He said my tests looked pretty good. There are more lymph nodes affected around the breast and there was a very small spot on my lung, but he is confident that treatments will get rid of that. I may very well have my first chemo here tomorrow or Saturday. Then come home. Dr. Boozer will help set me up with a doctor in Tulsa for following treatments.  Though I will want to continue to see my doctor here (at MD Anderson) for check ups, they say I can keep working as they anticipate the chemo treatments are well tolerated. 24 weeks of chemo. Surgery will come at the end of chemo. Please keep praying for me. I love all of you!"  ~Mrs. Owens

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Busy Place

Mom sent me a pic of the line to get blood work done this morning. She estimated 50-60 people! It is so overwhelming to me. You hear statistics, etc and you "know" how many people cancer affects. But to SEE this many people on a random Wednesday morning just makes it so real. I am thankful our God is bigger than cancer. And I'm thankful that this world is not our home. And although it's a hoppin place, I'm so thankful for MD Anderson and the care they are providing for Auntie.  On a side note...as much as Auntie rocks turquoise and it's "her" color...I think Terry may be taking it over!!  He looks good with a turquoise bag : )

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Praying For Mrs. Owens

Bracelets are here! I've given them to the students and teachers at north. I'll drop some off at south tomorrow. Let me know if you need one!

Warriors

Some of Auntie's prayer warriors met this morning to pray for her. She has assured me she is feeling them!! THANK YOU!!!

Testing, Testing

That was the theme of today...testing, testing and more testing!  Overall, it was successful in that all of the ordered tests were able to be set up pretty much like clockwork.  They were able to get a lot taken care of today.  Kelli has to go for the remainder of the tests starting tomorrow at 6:30am.  By mid afternoon she should be finished with the last of the tests and able to meet with the doctor again.  Hopefully for an "official" diagnosis and treatment plan mapped out.  Exhausting few days to say the least, but we are so grateful for how quickly things are moving along.  We are praying for energy and endurance for tomorrow, as well as no surprises (unless they are good!) in the official diagnosis and treatment plan. 

I've had several people asking about the boys.  They really aren't officially "boys" at almost 21 and 23...BUT they'll always be "the boys" to me!!  And it's my blog so I'll call them what I want to : )  Anyway,  both Jake and Chris are doing well.  They are staying busy with work and school and following the mandatory daily text check-in with me that I've required!  Ha!!  Please continue to lift them up in prayer, because it doesn't matter how old you are, your Momma is always your Momma.  I have to say I'm so super proud of them...I went by tonight to grab their laundry so I could do it for them and Chris told me "I just put a load in!".  Excellent husband material right there, ladies!!

I posted earlier about our "Praying for Mrs. Owens" bracelets that came in today...I have lots of them so if you need one, let me know.  I also posted a picture of mine on instagram with the hashtag "prayingformrsowens".  I want to encourage everyone to do the same...how fun would it be for Auntie to be able to see all the places and people who are praying her through this!!  As I was up at school passing out bracelets, I was overwhelmed with the amount of "praying for Mrs. Owens" posters that are ALL OVER our school!!  So cool!!  I tried to take pictures of most of them that I'll include in another post!  Auntie has seen the pictures and is so tickled with all of the love that is surrounding her.  She said that she very much feels all of the prayers. 

Again, thank you all so much...we are so blessed!!

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Information Overload!

The first appointment with the doctor went very well.  They were given lots of information regarding potential diagnosis, treatment plans, etc.  Almost too much information at once!  Mom said she was taking notes as fast her hand could write the whole time!  The doctor wants to spend tomorrow and possibly Thursday doing a wide range of tests.  Some will be repeats of what has already been done here at home, some will be new tests that have not been done yet, all just to confirm what exactly we are dealing with.  Overall, today was a positive day.  We praise God for safe travels and for this first visit going smoothly.  What we can specifically pray for in the next 24 hours:  

Energy!  Kelli, Terry and my Mom are all pretty exhausted from traveling and navigating the grounds of MD Anderson.  Please pray the tests go well tomorrow.  Please pray for Kelli to have peace throughout her day and that the tests only confirm what was found here at home and nothing new.  Unless that new might mean better!!  

I also want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who is joining with us in prayer.  We are overwhelmed with your kind words, notes, texts, emails, etc.  You are a blessing to each of us!!

I'll update tomorrow as I know more!

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with My victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Auntie

Several weeks ago, at a routine mammogram, Auntie’s results showed up with something the doctor felt should be further investigated.  After investigation, they determined that a biopsy was necessary.  Auntie went in for that biopsy on Monday, a snow day for our school.  I actually was excited that it was that day and that it meant she wasn’t going to have to miss school for this.  I celebrated our snow day on Tuesday for the same reason; she wouldn’t have to miss school to go hear the results…of which I was CERTAIN would be positive, no-big-deal results.  It’s crazy how literally your whole life can change over the course of an hour. 

On Tuesday, March 4^th, we found out that Auntie has breast cancer.  To say we are in shock is an understatement.  There have been lots of tears, lots of prayers, and lots of research.  We have a wonderful family friend (who I truly suspect is an angel) that has helped us from start to finish in getting Auntie an appointment at MD Anderson in Houston.  There are not enough words to describe how thankful we are to Mollie for helping us through this tough time…she has calmed us and fought for us and would not take no for an answer in getting us in at MD Anderson!!

Auntie, my Uncle Terry and my Mom all leave on Tuesday morning for Houston.  Auntie’s first appointment is mid-afternoon on Tuesday.  We need your prayers.  Pray for peace for Kelli, strength for Terry and my Mom, bravery for Jake & Chris, knowledge and insight for all of the doctors involved.  Please pray for a quick and clear diagnosis and treatment plan for Kelli. 

Thank you for all of your love already shown to our family and thank you for your prayers.  I will update with more information as I receive it.  God Bless!!