CONGRATULATIONS!

Introducing Shaun William Thistlethwaite, Esquire.

Shaun passed the IL Bar Exam.

Chemo Drug Cocktail

After discussing with Shaun's oncologist, we now have a new cocktail of chemo drugs to try out. I think there are some real advantages to switching up the drugs. For one, he won't be on the drug that causes the neuropathy. He will also be on a relatively new drug called cetuximab. Its a target specific drug against cells expressing EGFR (for all my sciency friends who read this). By blocking the growth signals to the tumors, we hope they will shrink. The major side effect (they all seem to cause varying degrees of awfulness) is an acne type rash. Studies show some correlation between the severity of the rash with the effectiveness of the drug. So hopefully the next time you see Shaun he will be hideously ugly with a nasty rash on his face. Ok, Shaun could never be ugly, but we can hope for effective treatment. They will evaluate in a couple of months and then maybe in January or so we will see if another surgery is an option or if we even want to go that route. Chemo starts Monday and will be every other week. Lets hope for effective drugs, minimal discomfort, and strength through this hard time.

Bryce and his canyon

Shaun, Bryce and I took an impromptu trip out west to see Zion and Bryce Canyons. I think it is fairly obvious why we chose to visit Bryce Canyon and if you don't know what it is, you should google it. Or look at our pictures to see how amazing a place it is. We flew in and out of Vegas and drove to Zion and then Bryce canyons. There are lots of stories from the trip, but I'll just tell you that we had a wonderful time and got lots of fresh air. The air was pretty thin in areas so maybe we starved those tumors for oxygen and the trip was therapeutic in more than just a psychological way. And for good measure Shaun ate a lot of plant life just in case they have anti-cancer benefits not discovered yet. Anything that helps.

One of the big features of our trip was to see the stars at Bryce Canyon. Its been said that you can see 10 times as many stars there than in any other open field. We can attest to this now. True, we didn't actually count the millions of stars, but we did lay out above Bryce Canyon after dark and was amazed by the sight. If you ever want to feel infinitely small, that is a good place to go.

Hiking was also a big part of the trip so its a good thing we had a hiking backpack for Bryce. Now Shaun and I are both in reasonably good shape (him better than I) so we expected to be able to do the easy to medium hikes without any problems. Well I guess when you add 35 pounds of dead weight (he slept in the pack a lot) on your back, it makes things a lot more challenging. Add the elevation changes and steep cliffs and we were in for a challenge. But we powered through and got some amazing views of the tops and bottoms of canyons. The trail down Bryce canyon was a bunch of switch backs down the face of the canyon (see picture) then we got to walk around the actual canyon floor which was covered in fir trees. Such contrast from the red rocks surrounding the beautiful green trees. But what goes up must come down or I guess in this case the reverse. We had to climb back out of the canyon. Luckily Shaun had Bryce for this stint because it was really hard! But we made it! And were totally exhausted the rest of the day.

Enjoy the pictures. I think the Natural Bridge was my favorite view, but they are all amazing. I will have more in snapfish if anyone is interested.

Picture, family and Shaun Updates

Well, the summer is coming to an end which I can tell by the household hanging out at a Wheeling High School football game tonight. As it cools off, Shaun, Bryce and I want to spend even more time outside. This past weekend we visiting my sister Amy and her husband Dan. Bryce still is pretty wary of his Uncle Dan, but we did see some sweet moments when they held hands by Lake Springfield. While in the capital of IL, we enjoyed the State Fair!! Bryce got to see lots of animals which normally he just hears his mom and dad imitate (poorly). His eyes lit up when he heard all the sheep and was in total awe of the little ducklings. Finally, he could see yellow ducks like in books and his bathtub not the brown ones out in the lake.
We also got to hangout with Shaun's friend Ravi and his wife Jen who also live in Springfield. Their daughter, Naya, is about 2 months younger than Bryce so they were perfect playmates. They even shared a first kiss. It was precious, and all caught on film. Bryce needs to learn to keep his mouth closed, but otherwise, adorable. We wish we weren't so far away so Bryce and Naya could play together more often, they really played well.
Also this week, Bryce went to the Brookfield zoo and showed me all his favorite spots. The weather was cool enough that all the animals were out and about, including the bear sloth that has not moved in over 25 years! (According to a guy who has been going to the zoo that long and claims he has never seen him move). Despite some huge molars coming in and a bit of a cold, Bryce was the perfect little boy at the zoo. We all had a wonderful time.
So thats the Bryce and family updates. As for Shaun, he is doing well, really strong but preparing to get stronger before his next round of treatment. His latest scan found some whatnot on his liver so his doctors are working together to devise a suitable plan of attack. Probably surgery and possibly chemo before, after or both. We should know more in the next couple of weeks. Look out for Shaun as he buffs up on P90X and eats 3000 calories a day to prepare.
Enjoy the pictures.

Ugh!

I can't find the camera anywhere!! On my to do list for this weekend was to find the camera/flip so I can update the blog with pictures of Bryce's bedroom and our activities of the weekend. I failed. But, we had a wonderful time at the Morton Arboretum. Bryce loved the windmill and the water pumps. I love watching him play in nature, no toys or distractions. Just time for him to explore and use his imagination. I think those are some of his happiest times, hanging with me and his dad out in the middle of some trees with a stick in his hand. Thanks for a lovely weekend Bryce and Shaun! Love you!!

Ahhh, summer time.

Ok, so its been a month since I posted anything, sorry. We have of course been busy and have several new updates to share. First, we moved into the "lake house" in Arlington Heights with the Dunn family. The move went relatively smoothly, nothing a little spackle can't fix. We are getting close to having everything put away, but not quite there yet. But the house is great, we've all enjoyed the backyard and the proximity to the park. After every meal, Bryce heads to the back door and wants to play outside. And of course he loves playing with all of Eliot's toys, he is lucky Eliot is good at sharing. Pictures of the house will come once it is "done" and Shaun finishes painting Bryce's room. Spoiler alert: its a Winnie the Pooh 5 hundred acre woods theme and super cute.

Last week Shaun also took the bar exam. YAY!! He is finally done studying. It was a lot of work and a lot of memorization, but he feels confident he did the best he could. Results are posted in October. Until then, he gets to relax, play with Bryce and take care of the house. Oh and try to find a job, that would be nice too.

As far as Shaun's health, he is committed to doing the P90X program (in 90 days this time) and eating better. The bar exam took a tole on our eating habits, but he is back to eating good food, working out and overall living a very healthy lifestyle. We don't know what the future holds with his cancer or what further treatments he might need (if any!), but we are willing to do what ever is necessary to get him healthy.

This weekend a high school friend will be taking some family photos for us. The last photo shoot with her was a great success, but we didn't get any pictures of just Shaun and me. This time around, I wanted to of course get pictures of the whole family, but focus on Shaun and my love for each other. We celebrated our 7th anniversary this year and can only hope for 50 more.

Better Thal family picture

something was missing in the last one, this one is much better.