Good To Be Busy

Hey everyone!  Leanne here.  The usual author of Team Chin is on the beach in Mexico soaking up some sun.  Can you believe her?!  She sooooooooo deserves it!

Not that I am one to talk.  Ryan and I just spent a long weekend in Phoenix hanging out by the pool which is just what the doctor ordered.  Literally.  He told us to take some time to relax and get ready for the next phase of treatment.  It was so nice to go and relax (and sleep through the night).  We took some time for ourselves to recharge our batteries before this surgery thing on Tuesday.  God is in control and we are resting in that peace. 

We have been busy the last couple of weeks and it has been good to keep my mind off of what is coming.  Don't get me wrong, I am ready to have the cancer cut out of my body and say farewell to it FOREVER!  It is just good to not be sitting home thinking about it all the time.  Leo and I are now in Iowa helping Grammie take care of Mollie while her mom and dad are gone.  I am not sure we are much help but we are loving spending time with Mollie and Grammie. (Crosby, I have space on my lap for you too!)

 

From the bottom of my heart I thank you for praying and offer up these requests as you continue to pray

• Freedom from fear and anxiety as surgery nears. (I feel like I am doing pretty well here but I know that the devil is going to fight like crazy in these next few days to get in my head)
• Safe travel for my family members who are traveling to be with us for surgery and recovery.
• Guidance for Dr. Johnson's hands as he operates.
• That Dr. Johnson would be able to close without any trouble after removing enough skin to get clean margins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Wisdom for Dr. Bloom as he continues to make treatment decisions once the pathology report and scan results are back post surgery.
• Pathology reports come back with clean margins
• Leo to sleep through the night

Happy Mother's Day!

Lots of pics ahead!!! Leanne, Ryan, & Leo celebrated Mother's Day at Target Field by cheering on the Twins. The weather was great and a good time was had by all! Leo loved the hot dogs and cotton candy best :) Enjoy the photos!

   

Leanne enjoyed the sunshine :) and took the opportunity to get a little sun before her vacation this week.

Round #2: 11

Happy Thursday! Today was a chemo Thursday for Leanne. It was not just any normal chemo Thursday though. It was her last one.

Yes, you read that right.

 Her LAST one!

15 treatments later, she is trusting God that it will be her final chemo treatment forever. Praise God for bringing her through this part of her journey. We are trusting Him completely with what lies ahead.

 Fran was the lucky lady who accompanied Leanne to chemo today.

 

Thanks to Carmen who spent the afternoon with Leo! Who, by they way, is sleeping better at night! But, his mommy and daddy (and aunts, uncles, grandmas, and grandpas) still want you to keep praying for him to sleep longer at night.

Surgery is 19 days away. That means Leanne has 19 days to rest, recover, and prepare for the next step. She and Ryan are going to take some time to get away just the two of them(!!!!!). She is also going to go on a little trip with Grammie Fran to spend some time with her favorite niece in Iowa, not to be confused with her favorite niece in Texas.

TEAM CHIN is so thankful for this "break" for Leanne, but we also see it as 19 days to spend lots of time in prayer for Leanne. Please join us in the next 19 days to commit to pray for:

• A restful and rejuvenating trip for Leanne and Ryan
• Wisdom for the Doctor's and Surgeon's as they treat Leanne
• That the surgeon would be able to close without any trouble after removing enough skin to get clean margins
• Pathology reports come back with clean margins
• Freedom from fear and anxiety in the coming weeks
• Guidance for the doctor's hands.
• Leo to sleep through the night

Bat girl & other blessings

Sadly, Leanne was not chosen as the Twin's honorary bat girl. She did receive tickets to the Twin's game this Sunday so Leanne will be spending her first Mother's Day at the ball park. Thanks to all of you who took the time to vote for Leanne!

On another note, Leanne is the lucky recipient of a free monthly cleaning courtesy of "Cleaning for a Reason". It is a cleaning service provided to cancer patients. She will get a monthly cleaning for the next four months. What a blessing this is!

Please keep praying for Leanne!

Round 2: #10

Yesterday was a LONG day for Leanne. She had blood work, an appointment with Dr. Bloom's nurse practitioner, and then chemo. Phew! She was glad when chemo was done and she could go home. Thanks to Leanne's mentor mom from MOPS for spending the afternoon with Leo!

We had the privilege of Skyping with Leanne during chemo. We met her friend, Sarah, via Skype and got to see one of Leanne's favorite nurses, Holly.

Leanne never ceases to amaze me. Her perspective in the midst of this trial is incredible and a challenge to all around her to see life as she does. Read this post, Warning: Baldie Below, and you'll see what I mean.

As surgery approaches, please keep Leanne in your prayers. Please pray specifically for:

•  Wisdom for the Doctor's and Surgeon's as they treat Leanne
• That the surgeon would be able to close without any trouble after removing enough skin to get clean margins
• Pathology reports come back with clean margins
• Freedom from fear and anxiety in the coming weeks
• Guidance for the doctor's hands.
• Leo to sleep through the night.

Thanks for your partnership! We could not do this without you!

Surgery

Normally I would be posting about chemo today, but this is Leanne's week off! Instead of chemo, Leanne got a much needed massage.

The Care Team met on Monday to discuss Leanne's plan for surgery. Her surgery is scheduled for May 29th. She will have chemo on May 3rd and 10th  as long as her counts are high enough. At this point, radiation is planned for after surgery. Leanne will not be able to have reconstruction until after radiation is complete. They want to give her some time to heal and get radiation in without trying to stretch the skin too quickly.

As far as surgery goes, the surgeon will have to take some skin in order to get clean margins. (Meaning the surgeon wants to get all of the cancerous tissue in that breast) 48 hours after surgery the final pathology report will come back. If the margins are not clean enough, they might have to go back into surgery again. Once the surgeon has clean margins, if the skin does not close they will have to use a flap of skin from her back to close.

So, as you can tell, lots of changes are in store for Leanne. Please keep praying for her. Here are some specific requests from Leanne:

• That the surgeon would be able to close without any trouble after removing enough skin to get clean margins
• Pathology reports come back with clean margins
• Counts stay up for two more chemo treatments before surgery
• Freedom from fear and anxiety in the coming weeks
• Guidance for the doctor's hands.
• Leo to sleep through the night.

Baby shower

Leanne's friends at her school in Alexandria had a baby shower for Leanne and Leo this week. So, Leanne, Fran, and Leo headed up north to celebrate!

Leanne, Ryan, and Leo were blessed with lots of great gifts!

  

Amy enjoyed her snuggle time with Leo :)

  

And Leanne enjoyed getting to spend time her friends.

  

Thanks for taking the time to celebrate Leanne and Leo!

Round 2: #9

Today was not just any old Thursday, it was a chemo Thursday filled with lots of appointments. At 8:05 Leanne, Ryan, Chris, and Fran headed down to Dr. Bloom's office for the first appointment of the day. Dr. Bloom continues to be pleased with the results of the chemo and gave the OK on his part for surgery to happen when the surgeon determines. Praise the Lord the tumor has shrunk enough for surgery to be a possibility right now. God is so good!

Next, it was chemo time! Holly was Leanne's chemo nurse today.

 

 Leanne is so thankful for nurses like Beth and Holly for taking such good care of her. Fran and Ryan were the chemo buddies for today! Mary was the lucky lady who got to spend the day with Leo. Thanks Mary!

 

Miss Mollie and I were some of the lucky ones who got to Skype with Leanne.

 

Mollie loves her Skype time with Auntie Leanne. As soon as she hears Auntie Leanne's voice, she immediately begins signing "please" for her to start singing. And Auntie Leanne never disappoints!

  

I know for certain that every member of TEAM CHIN is so thankful for the gift of technology!

Then, it was time for Leanne's appointment with Dr. Johnson, the surgeon. He also gave the OK for surgery to happen. (Praise the Lord again!!) All we know at this point, is that surgery will be in about 6 weeks. Dr. Bloom and Dr. Johnson are meeting on Monday with the care team to discuss whether or not Leanne will have chemo in the 6 weeks leading up to surgery. I will post an update when we know more about their plan for Leanne's treatment.

We are so thankful for your continued prayers!!! Please keep them coming! Here are some specific requests:

• Pray for wisdom for the doctors as they meet on Monday and continue to make decisions regarding the plan for Leanne's treatment
• Pray for Leanne and Ryan to continue to have peace about the plan of treatment, whatever it may be
• Pray for Leanne, Ryan, and their families to ultimately trust God's plan for the Miller's
• Pray for Leo to continue to sleep longer at night. He has been sleeping great the past few nights! Thanks for your prayers!

Check back tomorrow for pictures of a baby shower for Leanne and Leo!

Faithful Warriors,

Thank you so much for partnering with us in prayer!  I can truly feel your prayers and the peace that can only come from God wrap around me. Would you please partner with us in lifting up the J family today.
Woodland School lost one of our own last night.  Judy J went home to be with Jesus after her own courageous battle with cancer.  Please lift up her family.  Her husband is Bill and they have three kids (similar ages to myself and my two sisters).  Please pray that they find peace in knowing that Judy is no longer in pain and that she is a part of the biggest party!
Right after I found out last night Ryan and I were talking and praying for the J family and it started to thunder.  I am not a big fan of storms at all but Ryan and I were rejoicing in the fact that Judy was having the time of her life with JESUS!!!

I leave you with the words of another favorite song.
When I don't understand I get to choose you, when I don't understand I get to choose to love you god. . . And you are good God, and you are good to me.   (I Breathe You In God- Brian and Katie Torwalt)

from Leanne:

Taken from Leanne's blog:

My heart is light tonight. I am continually amazed at the love and support of people!  I cannot tell you how many people have shared the link about the honorary batgirl contest.  People from all different times in my life, people that I talk to regularly and others that I have not talked to in years and others whom I only know by association.  Whether or not I win is not the point, the point is that I feel sooooo loved to know that people care enough to want to share.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each person that has shared the link or voted.  I am truly humbled by your support of me as I walk what has been the toughest journey of my life.  Knowing that you are behind me gives me confidence and energy to continue walking each day at a point in my journey when it is easy to get frustrated and tired and want to quit.
I am also constantly amazed at how God provides opportunities to remind me of his love.  The sunshine, a smile from a stranger, a song I love on the radio, a parking spot near the door on a day when I am tired.  Each week as we leave the Gathering at church I reflect that the music was just what I needed to hear.  You see, I LOVE the music part of worship and find comfort in songs because they remind me of the promises of God.  Tonight was no different.  We sang two of my FAVORITE songs tonight and as I head into another week and the beginning of another three week round of chemo I leave you with the promises of those songs. . .

Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me.  And I never, ever have to be afraid, one thing remains. . . (One Thing Remains- Jesus Culture)

I will bring praise, I will bring praise, no weapon formed against me still remains, I will rejoice, I will declare, God is my victory and he is here.  All of my life, in every season, you are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship. . . (Desert Song-Hillsong)

Round 2: #8

The cutest, little red-head was one of Leanne's chemo buddies today! (Isn't he getting to be quite the chunker!)

Grammie Fran was also there to help keep Leanne and Leo company. The nurses were pretty excited to see this little guy! And Leanne too :)

Dr. Bloom (her oncologist) saw Leanne today and continues to be pleased with the results of the chemo! Praise the Lord! Please keep praying for Leanne in the following ways:

• Wisdom for Dr. Bloom and Dr. Johnson (her surgeon) as they meet with Leanne next Thursday to discuss the next steps of her treatment plan
• Peace for Leanne, Ryan, and their families as they trust in God's sovereign plan for Leanne's treatment
•  That the medicine would continue to effectively shrink the tumor
• Leo to keep sleeping longer and longer each night!

Care Calendar Update

Some of you may have noticed the Care Calendar set up for Leanne and Ryan has no open dates. While I know so many of you have been faithful to help in so many ways, no openings is a good thing for the time being!

Leanne and Ryan feel like they are in a good routine right now and are able to take over the responsibilities from the Care Calendar.

However, with surgery sometime in the future, Leanne and Ryan will need your help once again. So, enjoy the time off and I will let you know when TEAM CHIN needs your help in this way again.

Round 2: #7

Leanne had some very special friends go to chemo with her yesterday!

 Amy and Patti (two of her teacher friends from Alex) joined her yesterday! Thanks for spending your personal day with Leanne :) She was so thankful you were both there with her. And thanks to Auntie Aimee for watching Leo!

Leanne saw Dr. Bloom in the hallway and he continues to be very excited about the results of the chemo treatments. What great news! We are so thankful that God is allowing this medicine to keep working.

Please keep praying ...

• Pray the chemo would continue to shrink the tumor
• Pray for wisdom for Dr. Bloom as he makes treatment decisions
• Pray for peace and contentment for Leanne as she trusts God's plan
• Pray for God to continue to show himself faithful to Ryan, Leanne, and their families
• Pray for Leo to continue to sleep longer at night :)

Happy Easter to our TEAM CHIN friends! May you rejoice in the power of Jesus' death and resurrection like never before this Easter.

Fundraiser!

As many of you know, Leanne is a 5th grade teacher at Woodland Elementary in Alexandria, MN. However, due to the place God has them in life, Leanne took the remainder of this school year off to focus on beating cancer and taking care of precious Leo.

Even though she is not there day to day, her school has certainly not forgot about her. The students organized a fundraiser this year and wanted to donate the proceeds to the American Cancer Society in honor of Leanne and another teacher at her school who has also battled cancer.

So yesterday Leanne and Aimee headed north to Alexandria for the presentation of the check to the American Cancer Society.

Here are all the sweet kids gathered for the assembly. Look at all that pink! (the kids wore pink and yellow to honor Mrs. Miller and Mrs. J.)

One of Leanne's best teacher friends, Amy, helped with the assembly. Here she is with the three students who also organized the fundraiser.

Leanne got a chance to speak for a few minutes and was presented with a medal from the American Cancer Society acknowledging her fight against cancer.

Here is Leanne with two of her former students who helped organize the fundraiser.

Leanne and Amy

Leanne's class made these awesome signs for her!

Leanne was able to spend some time with her students! I don't know who was more excited, Leanne or the students.

Thank you Woodland Elementary!

Vote for Leanne!

Thanks to the MLB for celebrating all the women who have faced breast cancer in their lives! They are going to honor one woman at each team's Mother's Day home game. That woman will be the honorary bat girl. So this is where you come in! We need your votes!!!!

If you are on Facebook, you have probably already seen this on Leanne's page, But just in case you have not seen it yet, please click on the "Vote for Leanne" link below and it will take you to her voting page. Click on her picture and then click on the read button at the top of her picture. Once you get to her personal page, scroll down and you will find where to vote!

Vote for Leanne!

I have figured out you can vote more than one time from each computer, so copy the link to your favorites and vote as many times as you want :) Please feel free to pass this on!

Voting ends April 5th!

Round 2: #6

And a happy chemo day to all the TEAM CHIN readers! It truly was a happy day for Leanne! She was pretty anxious about her appointment with Dr. Bloom (her oncologist) today, but she also knows that God is good no matter what happens.

Dr. Bloom was very pleased with the results of this round of chemo! He was almost in tears he was so pleased :) When Leanne was first diagnosed she had some blood work done to check the level of the tumor markers in her blood. They were around 150 when initially tested and after her first round of chemo that number was down to around 110. In the month after Leo's birth, when Leanne did not have any treatment, the number rose to 200. But today, the number was down to 50. Yes, you read that right! FIFTY! And for all of you (like me!) who have no idea what those numbers mean, they consider anything under 40 to be normal. Praise God for allowing the chemo to be so effective to shrink the tumor so much!

In light of those results, Dr. Bloom wants to do two more months of chemo. However, he will check in with Leanne at the end of April and the end of May. And as we have learned in the past, we are holding loosely to those plans because they can change at any time!

Chris, Fran, Leanne, and Ryan went to the appointment with Dr. Bloom, but only Fran and Ryan went with Leanne to chemo. Thanks Kathy for spending the afternoon with Leo!

 Thank you so much for your faithfulness in prayer for Leanne and TEAM CHIN. God is doing big things and it is amazing to watch His plan unfold in the lives of Leanne, Ryan, Leo, and their families. Please keep praying for:

• The tumor to continue to shrink
• Continued wisdom for Dr. Bloom and the other oncologists as they treat Leanne
• Strength, patience, and contentment for Leanne and Ryan as they continue on in the battle against cancer
• Leo to start sleeping longer stretches at night
• God to continue to show Himself faithful to Leanne, Ryan, and their families

Round 2: #5

Today is Thursday and you know what that means, it is chemo day. Leanne had her 5th post pregnancy chemo treatment today. It was extra short because they only had to do one type of chemo and extra special because of the visitors!

Fran went to chemo with Leanne while Grandma Miller stayed with Leo! Deb has been in Eden Prairie helping Leanne, Ryan, & Leo out for the past few days and they are soooooooooo thankful she is there. I am sure she enjoyed her afternoon with Leo :)

This guy visited Leanne at chemo today and brought some shamrock shakes with him! Thanks Dad!

Leanne also spent some time face timing with Tim.

 Leanne has an appointment with her oncologist next Thursday before chemo. They will reevaluate the treatment plan and decide where to go from there. There is a lot up in the air right now and Leanne and Ryan need your prayers.

• Pray that Leanne's white blood cell counts stay in the high range so she can still have chemo
• Pray for wisdom for the doctor's as they make treatment decisions
• Pray for patience for Leanne & Ryan as they continue on in this journey
• Pray for peace and contentment for Leanne & Ryan
• Pray that Leanne would have the strength to fight the mental battle that comes along with cancer
• Pray for Leo to start sleeping longer at night :)

Round 2: #4

 Leanne had her 4th post pregnancy chemo treatment yesterday. While Fran and Leanne were at chemo, Mrs. Schuh stayed with Leo. (thank you!) 

The plan is still to do two more treatments and then meet with the oncologist to discuss the next step. Please keep Leanne & Ryan in your prayers. Please pray for:

• Peace and contentment for Leanne, Ryan, & their families as they trust God's plan.
• Good health for Leanne.
• God to give Leanne the strength to continue to fight the mental battle that comes with cancer.
• Leanne to stay ahead of any pain and side effects from the chemo and other medications she is on.
• Continued wisdom for the doctors and nurses as they plan Leanne's treatment.

Hijacking this Blog!

Hey everyone!  It is Leanne.  My older sister Katie usually updates the blog but I knew she would not post about this in the way I wanted to so I decided to hijack the blog and post myself :-)  These two wonderful people came to stay for a whole week two weeks ago. 

 

God sure knew what he was doing when they decided to visit because that was the week I ended up in the hospital.  WHAT A BLESSING to have such awesome help while I was not feeling well and not able to keep up with the things I wanted to be able to do.  I was lucky enough to have Mollie to help me hold Leo. . . 

 

She helped me feed Leo and gave me diapers. . .

 And she also helped me look at him and give him some love. . .

On a more serious note, I am so thankful for Katie and Mollie and the help they were while I was not feeling well.  Katie, along with Aimee (my younger sister), and my mom were amazing!  They took turns getting up with Leo in the middle of the night for a whole week so I could get rest and get better. . . Seriously, these people are amazing!

I am going to be real with you (not that we aren't usually) but I am going to be brutally honest and ask for some very specific prayer requests, :
*Cancer is a tough mental battle.  I struggle each day with fear and doubt and the devil attacks my mind in crazy ways.  These attacks come when I am tired and when I am alone and my mind just begins to race.  Please pray that I would continue to fight this mental battle and trust God and his awesome timing and plan.  (I have been working really hard on this but it is a constant struggle)
*One of the medicines that I take for three days before chemo causes pretty intense bone and muscle pain.  Like pain I have never felt in my life.  Please pray that I would be able to stay on top of the pain and that it would not increase with each dose of the medicine.
*The plan for my treatment is constantly evolving and changing based on what happens in my body.  This is tough as lots of people (including us) want to know the plan.  Pray for patience and trust as we let our knowledgeable doctors and our great physician in heaven lead us down this road. 


Thanks for being a part of my team.  I can't even begin to explain how much it means to know that I have the love and support that I do from all over the world!  I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!!!!!!!

Update

Leanne had an appointment with her oncologist this week to check how her tumor is responding to the chemo and to make sure her white blood counts are up where they need to be. While the oncologist is pleased with the effects of the chemo thus far, they would like to do another round of chemo. So, she will have three more treatments then a week off. Then back to the oncologist for another check.

Please continue to pray for TEAM CHIN:
-Pray for continued health and strength for Leanne
-Pray for peace for Leanne as she struggles with fear
-Pray for Leanne, Ryan, and their families to continue to trust God's plan
-Pray for Leanne to continue to find her strength in God