Spencer is graduating from high school in June, and they threw a big party with Amah and Poppy, great aunts, great uncle, aunts, uncles, all the Seattle cousins, and a load of friends!
There is a whole set of pictures on yet another slideshow, and you can view them all:
Spencer's Graduation Party.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Congratulations Graduating Spencer!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The "A" Team's California Adventure
Enjoy a slideshow of the "A" Team's trip to Southern California!
Click here: Alexander's California Adventure.
Then click on "slideshow" in the upper right corner. You can view it on slow, medium, or fast.
Enjoy!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Guardedly Good News
Due to computer complications, this message was not posted yesterday like we thought. We apologize for the delay.
It can be overwhelming to relay melanoma cancer information, test results and suggested treatment plans. Our hope is to give just enough information to be helpful and not too much to make things confusing. With that said, here is Bruce's first post with some editing and additons from MB.....all with Bruce's ok, of course!
HERE IS OUR MOST RECENT NEWS:
We saw the Neurosurgeon and the Immunotherapy doctor on Friday, May 11. Both scans were inconclusive, but encouraging.
The Neurosurgeon said that the MRI lit up where the previous brain tumor was. It could be post-operative scarring or evidence of something small growing. Because I do not have any symptoms that would indicate otherwise, his final words were "there appears to be no new tumors, keep an eye on any physical changes (weakness on the right side, seizures, speech difficulties, etc..), and let's do another MRI in 3 months". Bruce said, "Yahoo"!!!
Dr Curti, the Immunotherapy doctor, said that he saw no significant difference between the scans of February and those of May...which puts us in a "static mode". This is not a bad place to be, because the chest tumor, even though it didn't shrink, seemed to have stopped growing. Initially, we were told that there were four new growths in the lungs, but upon further review of the previous CT, the same spots were there in Feb., with no change. This is "guardedly good news" because the IL2 seems to have at least retarded the advancement of the tumors.
The next step is to wait and have another PET scan in 4 weeks. The reason for the wait is that the IL2 from the last treatment is still present in my system, and it will make a PET scan inaccurate if they do it now. The PET scan will expose any active cancerous tumors in the body, and if the spots in the lungs do not "light up", it will mean that they are likely not melanoma tumors but are "leftovers" from previous illnesses. We don't mind left-overs!
We are in another waiting stage but breathing a bit easier. Bruce is excited to keep feeling good for another month and continue to increase his strength and stamina for whatever lies ahead. The kids are doing great and relieved that we did not receive "the worst news". MB is thrilled that we can plan and make it through birthdays, holiday weekends, Spencer's play and graduation and everything else on the calendar with some sort of "normalcy"...as if the Alexander's know what that is!
We want to thank you all for the prayers and acts of serving and kindness you have shown us - they are making a difference in the lives of all of us!! In the past week, friends have gathered twice to pray for us and over us specifically, and we feel that the results of the 2 tests above were radically affected by your prayers!!! We continue to trust, taking one day at a time (is there any other way?), living, loving and laughing and knowing that each day is an incredible GIFT FROM GOD!
In a constant state of THANKFULNESS,
Bruce and MB for A TEAM!
It can be overwhelming to relay melanoma cancer information, test results and suggested treatment plans. Our hope is to give just enough information to be helpful and not too much to make things confusing. With that said, here is Bruce's first post with some editing and additons from MB.....all with Bruce's ok, of course!
HERE IS OUR MOST RECENT NEWS:
We saw the Neurosurgeon and the Immunotherapy doctor on Friday, May 11. Both scans were inconclusive, but encouraging.
The Neurosurgeon said that the MRI lit up where the previous brain tumor was. It could be post-operative scarring or evidence of something small growing. Because I do not have any symptoms that would indicate otherwise, his final words were "there appears to be no new tumors, keep an eye on any physical changes (weakness on the right side, seizures, speech difficulties, etc..), and let's do another MRI in 3 months". Bruce said, "Yahoo"!!!
Dr Curti, the Immunotherapy doctor, said that he saw no significant difference between the scans of February and those of May...which puts us in a "static mode". This is not a bad place to be, because the chest tumor, even though it didn't shrink, seemed to have stopped growing. Initially, we were told that there were four new growths in the lungs, but upon further review of the previous CT, the same spots were there in Feb., with no change. This is "guardedly good news" because the IL2 seems to have at least retarded the advancement of the tumors.
The next step is to wait and have another PET scan in 4 weeks. The reason for the wait is that the IL2 from the last treatment is still present in my system, and it will make a PET scan inaccurate if they do it now. The PET scan will expose any active cancerous tumors in the body, and if the spots in the lungs do not "light up", it will mean that they are likely not melanoma tumors but are "leftovers" from previous illnesses. We don't mind left-overs!
We are in another waiting stage but breathing a bit easier. Bruce is excited to keep feeling good for another month and continue to increase his strength and stamina for whatever lies ahead. The kids are doing great and relieved that we did not receive "the worst news". MB is thrilled that we can plan and make it through birthdays, holiday weekends, Spencer's play and graduation and everything else on the calendar with some sort of "normalcy"...as if the Alexander's know what that is!
We want to thank you all for the prayers and acts of serving and kindness you have shown us - they are making a difference in the lives of all of us!! In the past week, friends have gathered twice to pray for us and over us specifically, and we feel that the results of the 2 tests above were radically affected by your prayers!!! We continue to trust, taking one day at a time (is there any other way?), living, loving and laughing and knowing that each day is an incredible GIFT FROM GOD!
In a constant state of THANKFULNESS,
Bruce and MB for A TEAM!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Happy Anniversary Bruce and Mary Beth!
I stopped by the A's house only to discover that today is the big
TWENTY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY of this lovely couple!
Just thought you all should know!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
AN EXTRA DAY TO PLAY!!
Well, it's Wednesday and we are still here in CA! Our plan was to fly home Tues evening, but due to my rushed on-line reservations, I had Spencer & Mikaela flying home on the 1st and the rest of us flying home on the 2nd. Thankfully, I realized this BEFORE we went to the airport. Unfortunately, we had already checked out, ran around both parks that morning doing our "last minute" rides and souvenir buying, and arrived back to the hotel totally exhausted. We had our huge pile of luggage waiting curbside for the shuttle when I realized my "little" mistake.....the date was only off by 1!
Anyway, I had less than 20 minutes to call the airlines, change reservations, check with hotel availability, get online to verify info, round up the kids, make sure the luggage did not get loaded on the shuttle and then nicely ask bell services to load back up our huge pile of stuff. Our friends-the Labossiers-had a good laugh with us as they headed to the airport with correct tickets to catch their plane!
We were definitely having a "California Adventure"...the Alexander way!
The kids asked (really begged) if we could NOT do anymore Disney that day. They immediately went to their room to lay down, kick their feet up and chill out while Bruce took a much needed nap. We had a nice dinner together as a family, a walk through Downtown Disney and all had a good night's rest.
We had a great brunch this morning with some fun Disney characters, loaded and packed up everything AGAIN, Bruce and the boys went to do "last-minute" Disney rides, MB called bell services (with much fear and trembling)and we will be catching the shuttle in an hour. We made the best of our extra unexpected 24 hours together, and we look forward to being home tonight....really, we are coming home today!
We had an amazing time as a family...so many laughs, doing fun things, making special memories, with Spencer & Tracy catching most of it on camera. Bruce was Mr. Sunscreen and Mr. In-The-Shade, being very careful with any sun exposure. He was glad to have the time resting in Palm Desert prior to Disneyland. He had to take a break everyday and rest, but did pretty well keeping up with the rest of us. He now needs a vacation after our vacation. :)
We have many more fun stories and pictures.....keep posted for more details of The Alexander Adventures!
As Tigger would say,
TTFN (ta-ta for now),
MBA for the A Team
Anyway, I had less than 20 minutes to call the airlines, change reservations, check with hotel availability, get online to verify info, round up the kids, make sure the luggage did not get loaded on the shuttle and then nicely ask bell services to load back up our huge pile of stuff. Our friends-the Labossiers-had a good laugh with us as they headed to the airport with correct tickets to catch their plane!
We were definitely having a "California Adventure"...the Alexander way!
The kids asked (really begged) if we could NOT do anymore Disney that day. They immediately went to their room to lay down, kick their feet up and chill out while Bruce took a much needed nap. We had a nice dinner together as a family, a walk through Downtown Disney and all had a good night's rest.
We had a great brunch this morning with some fun Disney characters, loaded and packed up everything AGAIN, Bruce and the boys went to do "last-minute" Disney rides, MB called bell services (with much fear and trembling)and we will be catching the shuttle in an hour. We made the best of our extra unexpected 24 hours together, and we look forward to being home tonight....really, we are coming home today!
We had an amazing time as a family...so many laughs, doing fun things, making special memories, with Spencer & Tracy catching most of it on camera. Bruce was Mr. Sunscreen and Mr. In-The-Shade, being very careful with any sun exposure. He was glad to have the time resting in Palm Desert prior to Disneyland. He had to take a break everyday and rest, but did pretty well keeping up with the rest of us. He now needs a vacation after our vacation. :)
We have many more fun stories and pictures.....keep posted for more details of The Alexander Adventures!
As Tigger would say,
TTFN (ta-ta for now),
MBA for the A Team
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