let's start

at the very beginning ... (written by Leanne)

God created the heavens and the earth. . . ok ok I know that is not what you are looking for. . . I will try again. . . At the very beginning. . . it was a cyst.  Two doctors confirmed it and I felt confident in their diagnosis.  They told me to just watch it and let them know if it ever changed or grew.  That was March 2011.  Fast forward to June, Ryan and I get pregnant.  I continue to watch the cyst and it does not change over the summer.  Mid-September I notice that the cyst has grown and is starting to hurt.  I call the clinic and they advise me to wait until my appointment the next week.  At the appointment (September 27) the doctor decides she wants an ultrasound of the cyst. September 29th: I have the ultrasound done and get a call the next day saying they want me to meet with a surgeon.  October 3: we have the meeting with the surgeon.  He wants to do a biopsy.  October 6: I have the biopsy done and we wait for results.  October 10: the surgeon calls and says he wants Ryan and I to come in the next morning and he will not give any information over the phone.  October 11: we meet with the Surgeon and the Certified Nurse Midwife I have been seeing throughout my pregnancy.  They give us the news  and let us know that they are referring me to the Piper Center at Abbott Northwestern in the cities.  We get really scared and nervous, pray, and call our parents to come to us. We spend the rest of the morning at Marty and Mandy's house being distracted by their two beautiful little boys as we did not think we could drive home and did not know where else to go. (We are soooooo blessed with good friends)  We eventually meet up with our parents and spend the afternoon at home in Fergus deciding on what our plan will be.  Wednesday we go to my parents house and are surrounded by some of the greatest people in the world Tim, Danielle, Crosby, Katie, Bret, Mollie, and Aimee.

Fast forward to Thursday, October13.  We (Ryan and I and both sets of our parents) meet with Dr. Johnson, the surgeon.  We feel calmed by the discovery that we can do chemotherapy and other treatment while I am still pregnant (There are two kinds of chemo and I will need both. One is safe during pregnancy and the other is not. The one that is safe to have while pregnant I will start soon and the other I will have after Grover makes his/her entrance into the world).  We talk about surgery and he lets us know that it is not if but when. He and the big, huge team of doctors and oncologists will meet Monday, October 17, to talk about my case (they do this for every case) and decide which will come first, chemo or surgery.  We also meet with Dr. Bloom, the oncologist who laughs at my answer of "duh" to the question "why are you here?"  He answers a lot of questions and wants to start treatment right away.  He decides that because of the risk of infection and the way that chemo will lower my immune system that I not return to school this year.  He recommends that we be transferred to a perinatologist (high risk pregnancy doctor) and think about doing chemo in the cities because other places might not be comfortable giving chemo to a pregnant person.  (This is also because Dr. Bloom, Dr. Johnson, and the Perinatologist are all at the same place and can easily communicate with each other to streamline my care)

We have an appointment Monday (October 17) with the perinatologist and will get to find out if Grover is a boy or a girl.  We want to check on Grover and make sure everything is alright before we start treatment.  We will also find out what the doctors decide is the plan for treatment and surgery.

Please pray for us as we journey on the long road ahead. Check back Monday to find out who is growing in me!!