Update and the Walk Ahead 5K

Just wanted to drop in and let you all know that Missy is still doing really well! Her chemo dose changed a little, up from 140mg to 150mg, and that seems to be making her just a little more tired. Or maybe she is starting to feel the effects of the radiation, we aren't sure which, but she is definitely not feeling like herself. Still, she is doing great! She had a wonderful holiday weekend with family and has been getting most of her Christmas shopping done online and just relaxing as much as possible. This will be her first week with all five radiation treatments, but so far so good.

Her work is holding their holiday fundraiser today, and all proceeds go to help pay for her treatments. It is so wonderful! She is taking pictures and we will post them soon.

My aunt suggested we post the pictures from the "Walk ahead 5K" that we participated in back in October, and I thought it was a great idea! The team "Melissa's Magnificent 43" raised over $11,000 and I believe the entire walk was over $175,000! Amazing. Here is the post that was originally on my blog after the walk/run.

**Originally Posted on Bio-Girl in October 2010**

We did it! The 5K was yesterday and I am very proud to report that we all made it to the finish line. The team of Melissa's Magnificent 10 became Melissa's Magnificent 43 and was the top fund raising team in the race, bringing in over 9 Thousand dollars! Thank you all so much for your donations to this amazing cause. They will keep the donation pages active until November 1st, so I will leave the button on my sidebar up until then. After that time, if you would like to make a donation to the University of Cincinnati's Brain Tumor Research department you can contact me and I will pass on their information.

The race was a huge success all around. The organizers were expecting 200 participants in the race and were hoping to raise $60,000. They ended up with 1600 participants and raised $138,000. The race course was amazingly beautiful, Starting in Newport, Kentucky, taking us over the Purple People bridge and ending on the river in Cincinnati. Nick and I decided at the last minute to actually run part of the race, and that was fun! We maybe ran 20%... but considering we did no training we thought that was pretty good. We ran the entire portion in KY :). Here are a few pictures from our day. Thanks again for all of your support. I can't tell you how much it meant to our entire family.

Some of Melissa's Magnificent 43! (look how tall Nick looks!)

Family. Yes, I do have on a tank top. I had a jacket over it, but you all, it was so freaking hot. Like 90 degrees hot. But very beautiful!

Sisters

Cici was very excited about her first 5K

Missy and Ashley, who is her great friend who told us about the race and got us all involved!

Me and Nick

Mom and Missy. Adorable

Mom and her girls (yes, we took a lot of pictures before the race. What? We like pictures! Who needs to mess with stretching before a race??)

Crossing into Cincinnati on the Purple People Bridge. Obviously we were very serious about our finish time, seeing as how we stopped for a quick photograph.

Missy with some of her girlfriends who came in from Columbus, Louisville and Chicago to be apart of the race!

Finish! (which oddly enough, was not the same place as the start. So after the race we had to walk another mile to our car. Not the best plan, but the entire walk was so beautiful that we didn't mind!)

One Week Down, Five to Go!

Missy had her 5th radiation treatment today, so we are officially done with the first week. Just five more to go! Each day that passes gets a little harder for her, but brings us closer to the end of these treatments which are so important. We are all heading to my parents house today to celebrate Thanksgiving, and it felt like the perfect time to say how thankful we all are for the love and support you all are showing Missy during this time. We appreciate you all!

A special thanks to Missy's work, who yesterday help a White Elephant auction with all proceeds going to help cover the costs of her treatment and recovery. You all are so wonderful. You have rallied around her and helped so much. It has truly meant the world to her and we wanted to say thank you!

A Little History

Missy had her third day of Radiation yesterday (her 5th day of chemotherapy), and she seemed to handle it very well. Last week was rough on her, but it seems like she is hitting her stride and truly doing amazing. She worked all day yesterday, and then was able to come to our house for family dinner. My aunt, uncle and cousin came by and she had a nice visit with them before heading home to rest. It was wonderful to see her feeling so much like herself again. Thank goodness for her anti-nausea medications!

I thought I would post on here something I wrote on my blog back in September. It basically just a post informing my readers that she had been diagnosed with Brain Cancer. It seems like a good starting point for bringing everyone up to date on her diagnosis.

***** Originally Posted on Bio Girl on September 16, 2010********

My little sister Missy had been having a terrible headache for weeks. It began on the way down to Florida for our family vacation, and never truly went away. It hit a peak when we were out of state to meet Cici, but she called her primary care physician and he told her to take Excedrin Migraine. We picked some up and she began feeling much much better. The headache was still there, but she was able to function. She was able to enjoy the weekend with her new niece. Everything seemed better.

Over the next few weeks the headache lingered on. She went to the doctor. Several times. They thought it was a sinus problem. They thought it was migraines. They just weren't sure. Finally her PCP sent her to a neurologist. She thought it was a pinched nerve. She thought it was migraines. She said the Excedrin was causing part of the headaches and she needed to go off it. At no point in any of these visits did they actually scan her head.

On Friday, August 27th she was at work (she works at the hospital) and her head was hurting so badly, and she knew when the Excedrin wore off it would be unbearable, so she went down to the ER. The doctor was positive it was a migraine, but said nobody should have a headache for seven straight weeks and not have a CT scan. That is when they found it. A large brain tumor in her frontal lobe. At first he didn't think it could be cancer because it was so large, but once an MRI was preformed he became pretty positive that it WAS cancer. She was sent home Friday afternoon with surgery scheduled for first thing Monday morning.

Monday August 30th my sweet little sister had brain surgery to have her tumor removed. They say the surgery went very well. They got most of the tumor. Most but not all. They said they knew they wouldn't be able to get it all. It was a tumor of the brain, not from someplace else in the body. This means it was impossible to tell for sure where the tumor stopped and the brain started. The tumor was located right against the speech center of her brain, so he wanted to take as much out as possible without jeopardizing her ability to talk. He did an amazing job. That same night she woke up from surgery talking and was her perfect normal self. She felt like crap of course, and had one hell of a headache, but she was still her. Still Missy. Perfectly her sweet self.

She spent the next couple of days in the hospital and came home that Thursday. Amazingly, she went back to work (part time for now) this week. We are still waiting on all the lab results to find out the type and grade of the cancer. The doctor believes it is a non-aggressive, slow growing cancer. The best you can hope for once you find out you have brain cancer. The said as long as it is grade 2 or lower she will most likely only do radiation treatments and not chemo. We will find out all those details soon. The waiting is hard, the not knowing what comes next.

She is so strong. Stronger than I could ever imagine being. She has faced this situation with such grace. I feel the desire to stand between her and this situation. To try to protect her somehow. She is my little sister. My baby sister. It is my job to watch out for her and keep her safe. She does not need this. She doesn't deserve it. But that is not how these things work. You deal with the hand you are dealt, and she is dealing with hers amazingly well.
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I wanted to let everyone know that although I am writing the majority of posts here at Kicking Cancer, all comments are being emailed directly to Missy. So, if you are wanting to send her an encouraging word as she continues to fight, she will see each and every one!

**Thank you all so much for your love and support. We cannot ever express how much you have meant to Missy and our family. Many of you have asked how to make donations to help Missy during her treatments. We have set up an account in her benefit, which is tax deductible, at Fifth Third Bank. Donations will be used to help cover medical expenses and cost of living during her treatment and recovery. They can be dropped off at any 5/3 Bank location, or can be mailed to the address on the left sidebar. Donations can also be made through Paypal by using the donation button, also on the left. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.**

Welcome to Kicking Cancer

Hi Everyone! This is Sarah, Melissa's sister, and I will most likely be doing the majority of the blogging over here at Kicking Cancer. Melissa (Missy to me...so that is what I will most likely call her around here) was wanting to start this blog to keep everyone informed on her treatments. Since she isn't really up to adding something new to her plate right now, you all get me! I will do several posts over the next few weeks to chronicle the past few months since her diagnosis, but for today I just wanted to say the blog is here, and will hopefully be kept up to date as she fights.

Missy started her radiation and chemotherapy treatments on this past Thursday, November 18th. The first day of her treatments were very difficult for her. The chemotherapy made her very sick and she vomited most of the afternoon. Friday she changed her anti-nausea medication and it helped a lot. She was emotional, and her stomach was unsettled the majority of the day, but at least the vomiting was under control. This weekend she had a break from the radiation, but still had the chemotherapy. She spent the majority of her time relaxing at her house and seems to be doing good. She is very tired, and it is clear these medicines are hard on her body, but she is doing amazingly well. Tomorrow will begin her first full week with radiation and chemotherapy, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers while with your families for Thanksgiving.

**Thank you all so much for your love and support. We cannot ever express how much you have meant to Missy and our family. Many of you have asked how to make donations to help Missy during her treatments. We have set up an account in her benefit, which is tax deductible, at Fifth Third Bank. Donations will be used to help cover medical expences and cost of living during her treatment and recovery.  They can be dropped off at any 5/3 Bank location, or can be mailed to the address on the left sidebar. Donations can also be made through Paypal by using the donation button, also on the left. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.**