Category by Elizabeth

It was a quick summer and we packed a lot into it.  We began with Adalyn’s first birthday and her first steps, soon followed by Justin’s final chemo treatment.  After a few weeks of recovery, we headed out for a week at Conneaut Lake for some well-deserved R&R that kicked off with a fun party that included many, many friends and family.  I returned to work the first of August, Adalyn started in the Waddlers I room at daycare (our baby just can’t be that big already) and Justin went to Chicago for six days for a work conference.  We returned back to PA for Justin’s fantasy football draft and visited with good friends in Pittsburgh on our way back home.  Whew! No wonder I am so tired! We’ll have more details on our summer fun in subsequent posts.

This past week, however, had to have bee...

Yesterday was Justin’s last treatment! Woohoo! While I am feeling super excited about moving forward, Justin’s excitement is a bit tempered.  He’s feeling the usual fatigue and sluggishness that come post-chemo, but it seems a bit different this time knowing that the healing process begins today.  We went through our usual routine for treatment day; taking Adalyn to daycare, blood-work, meeting with the doctor, then treatment.  We went out to lunch afterward and then picked Adalyn up from daycare.  Then we came home to this…

Adalyn is loving these balloons!

Such pretty flowers!

Thank you to our anonymous supporter(s)! This surprise was such a treat to come home to and certainly lifted our spirits even higher. Have a happy 4th of July, everyone...

Happy Birthday to our baby girl!  Our lives changed in an instant (2:44 p.m. to be exact) one year ago today. She has been such a blessing and we couldn’t be more proud of her.

Here’s our baby, Adalyn Grace, one year ago.

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We did!

We can make this short and sweet!  We found out today that Justin’s PET scan showed NO signs of cancer!  This is exceptional as we were hoping for a reduction in the cancer activity but got even better news.  Today was treatment 5 and we officially have 3 more left.  The countdown to July 3 begins today.

Justin’s PET scan was Friday.  We’re really looking forward to the results, hoping that we’ll find out that he’ll need four more chemo treatments rather than eight. A good report would mean that he is halfway through treatment!

Justin is doing great so far.  His fourth treatment went smoothly and he actually experienced fewer

Mother’s Day 2013

side-effects than the third.  This is likely because we weren’t traveling this time; however, he also did a much better job of balancing rest with activity.  He has come down with a cold over the past week, but he’s hanging in there.  Managing all of the side-effects and other issues that come along is the name of the game...

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for Team Mistretta.  It’s been awhile since our last post, so we have a lot to catch you up on!

Two weeks ago Adalyn’s Nana and Papa Jones came for a visit.  They played with her while Justin and I went out to lunch then went into work for a few hours.  We’re both so behind at work that we were thankful for the time to get caught up.  On our way into town we picked up this old wooden high chair at a yard sale.  My goal is to paint it for Adalyn’s first birthday.  I have dreams of her looking so sweet with her smash cake smeared all of her face in this high chair that matches her birthday party theme perfectly (and then I become an overnight Pinterest sensation!) “Dream” is the keyword, but miracles do happen!

On Sunday, we received word that J...

Nana, Adalyn and Tucker on their daily walk

Adalyn’s Nana Mistretta stayed for a visit last week.  Adalyn had fun with her.  She got to stay home from daycare and they went on daily walks to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Justin and I got regular photo updates throughout each day, Nanas are so high-tech these days!  We were afraid that Adalyn would become a bit spoiled, but Nana did a great job keeping her  in a routine.  Justin and I took advantage of the in-home childcare and went on a date to The Melting Pot in Reston on Tuesday.  It was so much fun.  The night was a big splurge for us, but it was really nice to spend some time together just the two of us.  He even brought me flowers when he picked me up from work...

Justin had his second chemo treatment yesterday.  In oncology vocabulary, he has completed his first cycle. Each cycle has two treatments and we’re hoping for four total cycles.  If we’re talking in football terms, we’ve finished the first quarter and are hoping to finish the game without overtime.  At halftime (after 4 treatments or 2 cycles), Justin will have a PET scan to determine how well we’re winning the game.  In the treatment of Hodgkin’s, the PET scan (according to the oncologist) is uniquely helpful in effectively predicting  how many cycles Justin will need to reach cure.  Let’s hope that our season is more like the Steelers of ’08 and less like the Steelers of ’12.

Since Justin’s mom is here with us for the week, she went with him for chemo...

The time leading up to the first treatment can be full of many emotions, but it is overall a very uneventful day.  Here’s how it went down…

Our day started at Justin’s chiropractic appointment just before 8 a.m.  After an adjustment, we dropped Adalyn off at daycare, then headed to the oncologist’s office where Justin would have his first chemotherapy treatment.   Before going into the office, I gave Justin the photobook that I made for him.  It included photos and messages from his family and friends, even Tucker had a message for him.

He was really surprised ...