****Long overdue update****

Friends and family, sorry we haven't been on the ball with updating this blog, but here is a long overdue update of how Mary's treatments are going. After having three rounds of chemo and seven weeks of radiation, Mary has enjoyed several weeks of freedom from the treatments. She has spent a lot of time with family and has been riding her horse at every opportunity. On one of her horse rides, she rode through a patch of June Bugs, which spooked the horse and Mary was bucked off. She landed on some rocks scraping her face and embedding debris. In addition to a black eye, a subsequent infection in her wounds caused a swollen face resulted in a "hellacious" week in and out of the hospital receiving IV antibiotics for the infection. On June 8th Dr.'s did a test on Mary's kidneys, liver and brain to make sure the cancer had not spread to any of those vital organs. The news was good and NO cancer was found. The once softball sized tumor in Mary's lung has now shrunk and split into 2 one-inch sized tumors (the Dr.'s aren't even sure if they are real tumors, or if what is showing up on her scans are actually just scar tissue.) Today Mary began her last round of chemo treatment which will go through the next 5 days. It will be nice for her to have the chemo phase in the past. She will also have one more battle with radiation treatment. Although she has NO cancer in her brain, Dr.'s have explained that lung cancer can often spread to the brain, and as a preventative measure she will receive 15 days of a low dose radiation to her brain. Radiation treatments will begin July 18th. Once the radiation treatments are complete, a PET scan will be done in August. The PET scan will reveal if there are any existing cancer cells in her body. We continue to exercise our faith and prayers in Mary's behalf, and invite you to do the same as she continues to fight this battle.

A bit of good news!

First off- sorry we have not been very good about updating lately, we will try to update more often! Mary's radiation treatments have been going pretty well. The radiation makes her extremely tired and has made her voice a bit raspy. Last week Mary received some extremely good news! They ran some scans to see if the tumor in her lung had shrunk at all, and they found that it has shrunk from the size of a softball to the size of a baseball! Mary was able to take two days off from treatment so the doctors could re-figure the target size of the radiation. Since the tumor is now just the size of a baseball, they did not want to radiate tissue around the tumor that no longer had tumor in it (I hope that makes sense.) We are all so thrilled to have some good news, no one more thrilled than Mary! On the flip side, Mary's hair has started to fall out by the handfuls, which is definitely a big hurtle to jump. The docs and nurses told her that normally people's hair starts to fall out around day 13 or 14 of treatment, but Mary didn't start noticing any of that until day 21. We hope challenging the odds will continue to be a trend for her! Mary has maintained an amazing attitude through all of this, and last week when she found out the tumor had shrunk, she said that everything she has been through seems worth it now!  This week they ran some blood work to see if all of her levels were good enough to do the second round of chemo. She passed with flying colors as all of her labs came back great! Starting this coming Monday (April 4th, Day 29 of treatment) Mary will begin another rigorous week of Chemotherapy. Chemo weeks are definitely the hardest on her. We know that prayers and support from family and friends have been instrumental in getting Mary this far, and ask that you keep those prayers coming as Mary ventures into another difficult week.

Treatment: Beginning week 2

Day 4 of treatment (Thursday March 10th-last week): Chemo and radiation went really fast, it seemed like we were in and out. Mary began having some sharp stomach pains, but only mild nausea. She went for a long walk around Ann's neighborhood and enjoyed some sunshine. (For the first week of treatment she stayed at her sister Ann's house in Springville, and her mom also came and stayed with her there.)  Day 5 (March 11) Mary's sister Kris came down and went to treatment with her, then she got to go back home and spend a great weekend with her family!  On Saturday she felt really good and was able to go out on her new horse (pictured below) and take a nice long ride with her friend Karen. Mary's brother John said the new horse was the best prescription for her! Sunday the stomach pains were back and she didn't feel so well, but was happy to be at home with her family! Day 6 of treatment (March 14th): Mary's kids Trav and Marti, and Austin brought her up to Provo where she had another round of the 5 hour chemo treatment, and radiation. The longer treatment makes her have a really bad burning sensation in her chest (we hope that's the chemo kicking the cancers butt!) They also gave her a booster shot to help increase her white blood cell count, and told her that the shot would make her muscles ache. She felt pretty good that day, but the chemo and booster shot caught up to her the next day. Day 7 (March 15th): Mary's daughter Tori and her hubby Darren brought her up to Provo for radiation (she gets a break from the chemo until day 29-Yipee!) and then went back home where Mary pretty much slept all day (She said she had a "chemo hangover" from the day before.) Day 8 (March 16th) Mary's friend Karen brought her up to her radiation today, she has had a pretty good day so far. After treatment she went with Karen and got a pedicure and indulged in Rocky mountain Chocolate's caramel apples. We will try to continue to update this blog every few days!

Mary's new horse Poco Tommy Sweetness (that is the horses registered paper

name,) but she is wanting to name him something that means brave, courageous,

life, or strength in a different language or something like that. Any ideas on names

 are welcome!

Mary and her friend Karen after their great horse ride on Saturday afternoon!

Her new baby!

Doing what she does best!

One day at a time.....

     A  little over a year ago, Mary found herself hiking endlessly up hill both going and coming in search of a monster bull elk for which she had finally drawn out.  It seemed as though upon cresting what looked to be the top of the mountain, yet another previously hidden by the ridge would loom before her.  Through many days of perseverance, Mary claimed her prize after mastering the daunting mountain’s height.

     Mary now finds herself faced with a very different mountain to master.  A couple of weeks ago, Mary went to Utah Valley Hospital for a routine follow-up x-ray of her neck after getting in a car accident last year. On that x-ray, the radiologist discovered a tumor the size of a softball in Mary’s right lung. Following a few other tests and scans, she was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma lung cancer. Mary hasn’t smoked a day in her life, and according to doctors this kind of cancer is completely unrelated to tobacco use of any kind. Last week Mary had a biopsy of one of the lymph nodes in her neck to check for cancer (doctors were fairly sure that some of her lymph nodes were cancerous) so it was not a surprise when the biopsy came back positive for cancer. She also had an MRI of her head to see if the cancer had spread to her brain. We were all very relieved when the MRI showed her brain cancer free!

     By Mary’s request, this blog is being set up so friends and family will be able to follow her progress, and get updates on how her treatments are going.  Mary is very aware and grateful for all the thoughts and prayers in behalf of her and her family and hopes that this blog will help to keep everyone posted on how she is doing.

     This week Mary has dived into what will be a very aggressive treatment plan.  Day 1 (March 7^th): Rod brought her up to Provo where she will be receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment at the Central Utah Clinic for the next 7 weeks. She received a “jumpstart” of 4 ½ hours of chemotherapy with I.V. nausea medication, and did a “dry run” of the radiation treatment to get her ready to start radiation the next day.  She felt a bit nauseated after the treatment, but nothing severe.  Day 2 (March 8^th) She received an hour long treatment of chemo and went through her first radiation treatment which lasts about 15 minutes each session. She was not given the I.V. nausea medication with this treatment, and later that day she had her first bout of real nausea and didn’t have a great night- to say the least. Day 3 (March 9^th) She received an hour of chemo treatment (along with the I.V. nausea medication) and 15 minutes of radiation. She had a very good day, and did not feel sick at all. She was able to go have a good lunch at Olive Garden, visit her niece Kacey and the new baby at the hospital, and go see a movie.

       The mountain before Mary this time seems foreboding.  The trails are not clearly marked and going may get very difficult through the steepest and roughest spots.  She has confidence in her guides (doctors) and has a strong supporting camp (family) to help push and pull in the most difficult of times.  Though she can’t really see the true top of the mountain, she is content to take it one ridge at a time, with confidence that perseverance will once again win out and her quest will be granted.  Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated and cherished.