Fun Weekend & Back to A Somewhat "Normal" Routine (At Least for a Week) - 09/18/2011

On Friday, Kurt and I went for my 10 day checkup after having my 3rd treatment.  My blood work came back really good - my hemoglobin is still a bit low but did increase since the last blood work on treatment day; plus it is not extremely low so it shouldn't be a problem.  I will go back on Tuesday, September 27th and hopefully will have the 4th treatment.  I will find out more on what will follow - my guess right now is that I will have both a PET scan and an MRI to see how the cancer has reacted to the treatments.  From there, I am not sure where they will go.  I could still continue on the Ipi (Yervoy) or they could try me on something else - possibly the newly FDA approved drug.  We'll wait to see what my oncologist says on the 27th. 

This weekend our family went camping at Van Riper for Harvest Fest (campsites are decorated for Halloween and the kids dress up to go trick or treating).  It was a great weekend spent with my mom and dad, my brother and his three kids, other family and friends!

The Ball Family @ Van Riper for Harvest Fest - 09/17/2011
(This picture also shows that my hair is growing relatively quickly)
**Nicest picture we took - not to keen on the fake gun Nathan is pointing at Ashley though!**

Tomorrow I will be returning to work since May 9th!  I was given the okay by my oncologist and neurosurgeon to go back but my oncologist would like me to do a week at a time and take it slow.  Since I am still in treatment, I will be off for those weeks.  We will see how this next week goes and go from there.  I'm anxious to get back to 'normal' life and to see my co-workers!  My top priority though is to keep myself healthy and if it gets to be too much, I will have to slow back down. 

Finally, today is my Grandma Porter's 84th birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'COOKIE GRANDMA'!