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~*Kristin's Website*~ 
my family at my graduation!!
Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by! I am a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, majoring Animal Science. When I was almost finished with my freshman year in March 2004, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a childhood bone cancer, that had metastasized, or spread to my lungs. I went through 18 rounds of chemotherapy, which brought on 4 fevers and infections that also landed me in the hospital. I had surgery in June of 2004 to remove the main tumor on my right distal femur. The surgeons removed inches of my femur along with part of my knee and replaced it with a chrome rod and a partial knee replacement. Then, in July 2004, I underwent a double thoracotomy to remove the spots on my lungs. I finished up my chemo in November of 2004. In all, I was hospitalized a 24 times, usually for about a week at a time. I had scans in December 2004, and as of then, I AM IN REMISSION! :O)(O:
In October 2005, another spot was found on my lungs. We watched it for a month and it didn't grow. We decided to give it the "3-month test" and check it again in January. By January, it had grown a bit, so I had a thoracotomy on January 26, 2006. The entire spot was removed. It tested positive for osteogenic sarcoma. It was decided that no further chemo would be needed at this point. Thank GOD!
In January, 2007, it was decided that the spot we had been watching since October 2006 needed to be removed because it had grown. On February 8th, 2007, I had another thoracotomy to remove the spot. I'm so glad Dr. Moir is such a great surgeon. He removed the spot and it was sent to pathology. It was positive for OGS again. But, because it was the only nodule he found and it was again encapsulated, no further treatment is needed at this time. Again, PRAISE THE LORD! I can continue on with my senior year care-free!
This was on the front of a card that I got from the CFC FFA:
"What Cancer Cannot Do"
Cancer is so limited..
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot destroy peace,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot suppress memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot steal eternal life,
It cannot conquer the spirit.
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32) For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. 34) Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.
Gospel of Matthew
"I believe in mind over matter.
I believe in the human spirit to prevail.
I believe in miracles and blessings, both big and small.
I believe in possibilities.
I believe that hurdles in life are to be jumped over, not as something to stop us."
"We cannot all do GREAT THINGS, but we can do SMALL THINGS with GREAT LOVE."~~Mother Teresa
*HUGS* TOTAL!
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"Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever." ~Lance Armstrong
"I take nothing for granted. I now only have good days or great days." ~Lance Armstrong
Journal
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 1:33 PM CDT OK, it's Sue...aka Mom again!! Well, yesterday, Mark and I met Kristin at Mayo and.......NO NEW SPOTS!!! It was a very good day! Dr. Arndt told us that Kristin could come back in 4 MONTHS, and hopefully go to 6 months very soon! She also said that Kristin has had so many chest ct scans and there is a concern about radiation so getting to 6 month check-ups would be good. GOD IS GOOD! WE ARE VERY THANKFUL TO EVERYONE FOR THE PRAYERS!! KEEP THEM COMING!
(hey, it's kristin, sorry i haven't updated for awhile. school keeps me pretty busy. sam's going with me to roch. tomorrow for blood and a ct, but i'm sure everything will be fine. prayers don't hurt though... the pink rose is saturday and i'm pretty excited. i'll put up a pic or two sometime next week, i promise. otherwise, mom did a pretty good job on the update...take care!)
NEW PICTURE!!
Hello everyone! This is Kristin's mother, Sue! Kristin had good scans in January and they told her that if she continued to get good scans this summer, she could graduate to 4-month check-ups! Actually, her last lung surgery was February 2007 and she has had good check-ups since then! She has an appointment for scans on Friday, April 4th, and then Mark and I will meet her at Mayo on Monday April 7th for the results of her scans! So, PRAY, her scans show "no new spots"!
She is LOVING college! She's getting good grades and seems to thrive on everything that has to do with college. She comes home when she has to work at the National Eagle Center. She was home for a whole month over christmas and she was getting bored....I don't know if she was more ready to go back to UW-River Falls or if Mitch was more ready for her to go back! It's his big thing to tease her when she's home by saying "I thought when you went to college, you'd stay at college!"....and she takes the ribbing for about oh, lets say 3 whole seconds before she lets him know she's heard enough!! And Kristin and Jarod communicate quite regularly over the internet because no matter what information I try to "fill" him in on that involves Kristin, he always says "Oh, I already know that!--Kristin told me!" They can be such stinkers!
Kristin was asked to the the AGR "The Pink Rose" Banquet by a AGR Fraternity member named Sam Speerstra. It is this coming week-end and I wish I could go and take pictures!!! I don't know who is more excited, her or me!! We got to meet Sam twice over spring break and he seems like a very nice guy. Kristin sure smiles alot when he's around....hmmm!
Well, as a summary, Kristin is working hard at college, thinking about summer employment, Mitch is busy with track and looking forward to baseball, Jarod is waiting for jr. high track to start and looking forward to baseball, and both Mitch and Jarod are looking forward to playing on the same summer basketball team!! As for Mark and I, we say "Let the games begin!" and in between all the games, Mark and I will be waiting for the Buffalo County Fair to watch Kristin show her steer and sheep!!
As soon as we get the results of her April 4th scans, I'll update to let everyone know the results!! PRAY!!!
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Patient Room: Through the kitchen, down the hall, second door on the right HoMe SwEeT hOmE
S2120 St. Rd. 35
Alma, WI 54610
(608) 248-3176
Links: www.campjornada.com Camp Jornada is what it's all about! It's an awesome summer camp for ped. cancer patients, their siblings, or for children of cancer patients. WOOHOO!!!!!!
www.curesearch.org A website for pediatric cancer research stuff...check it.
www.laf.org Lance Armstrong Foundation: AWESOME!!
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