Tuesday, October 30, 2012

october iPhone pics...

a few of our favorite moments of october brought to you by my iPhone and instragram...

an ice cream date with friends at sweet firefly...
jack loving his BLUE kookie monster ice cream

sweet friends enjoying a sweet treat
 a lunch date with my boys (mark and jack)...
the perfect fortune... i have been so reminded of how blessed i am with so many true friends.
 a trip to waco to spend time with friends and cheer on the bears...
grant and jack sporting their new baylor t-shirts.  sic em bears!!
an evening with cody and besty-- games, art, pizza making, chinese food, and lots of good conversation...
cody, jack, and o eating their pizza creations.  yummm!
 going back to church after surgery and having breakfast with these two...


Monday, October 22, 2012

sarcoma journey, surgery...

god has been so gracious and given me a peace that can only be from Him, but the day of surgery i was still consumed with anxiety about my little girl who is only 24 weeks old.  she is not developed enough to live outside of my body, but i really need to have this surgery so i chose to trust in the lord that He would protect her and me.  i chose to pray continuously that surgery would be successful and that she would not be affected by it.  god is so good!  the 2.5 hour surgery was very successful and the tumor was removed completely with clear margins!  they did have to remove an entire muscle in my left thigh to get those clear margins, but praise god for a successful procedure!! i then spent the next two days in the hospital recovering and resting on the anti-partum floor.  i was glad to be on a specialized floor where they could monitor the baby and care for me.  the next two days were restful, full of visits from family and friends, and even some big accomplishments on my road to recovery.  i felted so loved by all my family and friends that were there to support me after surgery.  their smiles, hugs, and visits lifted my spirits and reminded me of how blessed i am to have so many people in my life that love me so well.

i didn't take any pictures, but i did have one very unexpected friend show up in my hospital room and i couldn't let her leave without a pic.  katie, all the way from haiti, came by for a visit.  she happened to be in town for a family event and surprised me with her visit.  so thankful for her.  :)

besides my concern for my little baby girl, my fear was my mobility.  would i be able to walk since they removed a muscle?  would i have to have physical therapy?  so when they brought in the walker and asked me to stand up and walk i was nervous.  mark was by my side and my mom sat in the hall to watch, and i did it!!!  i walked all the way around the floor of the hospital with the walker.  my mom sat with a nurse and shed a few tears, as if i was 12 months old again and taking my first steps.  i was thrilled!!  i had a big ole smile on my face and so thankful to the Lord that i was clearing another hurdle on my road to recovery.

a few more visits from the doctor, a consult with a physical therapist, and then i was released to go home!!  now home to rest and go to lots of follow-up visits...

Thursday, October 18, 2012

sarcoma journey, the beginning...




i am not even sure how to begin this series of post or what direction it will take, but i am certain that i need to blog about it because it has been a BIG event in my life.  i am not an eloquent writer so i am confident this will not due justice to my emotions, lessons learned, and blessings gained through this journey, but at least it will be documented before i forget some of the "juicy details."

sarcoma defined by google, a malignant tumor of connective or other nonepithelial tissue- cancer.

sarcoma defined by stephanie bowlin, an unforeseen medical diagnosis that has changed me and shown me how blessed i am.

i guess i should start at the beginning (for myself and for the other two of you who might be interested)...  i was 22 weeks pregnant and i thought i was having some strange side-effect to the pregnancy where just my left leg was swelling.  after a couple of days of this swelling i decided i should call the nurse and ask about it because in the back of my mind i was thinking it could be something that might not should be ignored, like a blood clot.  my nurse then passed along my symptoms to my doctor who then ordered me to go to the hospital for some evaluation in labor and delivery.  i was annoyed at this point.  the last thing i wanted to do on a friday night was sit in labor and delivery, but i did as the doctor requested.  after a couple of hours in labor and delivery, several hundred questions later, plus some poking and prodding i was released.  l & d doctor and nurse saw no reason to be overly concerned so they sent mark and me on our way and told me to follow up with my regular obgyn on monday.  once again, i was a good patient and called my doctor first thing monday morning.  :)  she decided that she wanted me to have a dopler test on my leg to rule out the possibility of a blood clot.  so that afternoon i went back to the hospital for the dopler test.  i confidently thought they would find nothing and i would be sent on my way.  when the technician finished the test she told me that there was no blood clot, but that my obgyn wanted to see me upstairs in her office.  i was not alarmed by this at all, and went upstairs to visit with my doctor.  i assumed that she would examine my leg and give me the clear to go home.  i went upstairs and i was immediately ushered into a room where the nurse explained that they found a large vascular mass in my leg and that i needed to see a vascular surgeon today!  today?  ok, now i start to think things are not ok at all.  the nurse explains that i have been "worked in" at dr. sanders office and he can see me in about 30 minutes.  i leave from there, call mark, tell him to come to the hospital, and walk across two hospital buildings and find myself waiting to meet with a vascular surgeon.  thankfully it was not long before mark showed up.  at this point i have a piece of paper in my hand that concludes the findings from the dopler and explains that there is a mass measuring 18 cm long in my leg.  i am still not panicking, but i am starting to process things and wonder what this doctor is going to tell me.  soon we are called back to an exam room and we meet dr. sanders.  he explains that the dopler test is very inconclusive, but that he is concerned about the mass.  he can't tell us what it is or what the treatment will be, but he refers us to dr. casas who is sarcoma specialist and an orthopedic vascular surgeon.  dr. sanders also orders that i have an MRI done to get some more information about the mass.  i am scheduled to have the MRI that same week.  the MRI was fine.  not something i want to do often, but painless and not as uncomfortable as i thought.  the days that follow the MRI are some of the longest days i've ever experienced.  i was waiting for dr. casas' office to call, i was waiting to hear if he would even take my case, i was waiting for the results of the MRI.  lots and lots of waiting.  i don't like to wait and my husband likes to wait even less than i do.  finally, we got the call from dr. casas that he would take me as a patient so we scheduled an appointment with him for the following week.  now more waiting!  did i mention the waiting was the worst part!!  we met with dr. casas (one of a small group of sarcoma specialist in the metroplex).  he explained that the MRI gave more clues as to what the mass could be, but i would need to have a biopsy to diagnose it accurately.  he explained that he felt very strongly that it was one of two types of masses and that either one would require surgery as soon as possible to remove it.  so back to the hospital i went and met dr. appel, radiologist.  i had a biopsy where dr. appel took a few samples of the mass out using a needle. the procedure was a lot better than i was expecting and surprisingly not very painful.  i began processing the idea that surgery was in my near future and that now i am 24ish weeks pregnant.  i was not concerned about my body, but consumed by the thought of putting stress on this little girl growing and developing inside of me.  we had to wait until our next appointment with dr. casas to get the results of the biopsy.  about a week later, at our next visit with dr. casas, we learned that i have a sarcoma tumor, cancer!!!  ok, so now we know.  mark and my family i am sure a completely freaking out, but everyone is staying calm for me.  i want it out of my body as soon as dr. casas will schedule me for surgery.  we schedule surgery for october 18, 2012.  3 days after the official diagnosis of sarcoma...

Friday, October 5, 2012

an ice cream kind of afternoon...

with a sweet friend at one of our new favorite spots, sweet firefly...

blue kookie monster ice cream is always delicious!
sweet friends.  olivia + allison
an afternoon of yummy homemade ice cream, games, laughter, sweet conversation, and lots of napkins.  :)  a perfect way to end our week.