Just wanted to let you all know that I'm healing very nicely from my surgery. I went and saw my ENT and Hematologist today and both said that there was nothing new found in the tumor (yay) so this little episode/cancer scare is over for now. The hematologist is still talking with other experts on histiocytosis to see whether or not I will need any type of further treatment. It's a little tricky because it was found in my lymph node, so it can get scary because of everything those glands are connected to. Anyway, thank you all for your concern and messages. Things are looking up!
Lauren
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Health Update
I just wanted to post a little story (well actually kind of a long
story) about what has been going on lately around the Fraley house.
Let's go back a little ways to March...
I was playing a gig out in Santa Monica and whilst resting my head on my hand I discovered a small lump in my neck, right under my left ear, almost under my jaw. I asked my sister-in-law, who is a physician's assistant, if I should get it checked out and she suggested I do so.
I went to see my doctor at the USC Health Center. She said it was probably nothing to worry about because it was softer than a cancerous type of tumor would normally be. She thought it was a lymph node. She ran a few tests from my blood and everything came back pretty normal. She referred to the main doctor at the health center.
A couple weeks later I went to see him. He put me on an antibiotic regiment for 10 days to see if I may have had something viral that was causing the lymph node. The antibiotics didn't have any effect on the lymph node so I was referred out again to an ENT at the medical campus.
The ENT, upon first examination of the lymph node, thought that it was a tumor in my salivary gland because of its location near my jaw and under my ear. He sent me to pathology to get a fine needle aspiration biopsy on the tumor.
(I'll note here that all of these appointments were two to three weeks apart. By the time I had this biopsy, school had ended and it already May!)
The results of the biopsy came back as Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. At one time this was considered a type of cancer. Now, it is only considered "cancerous" if there are multiple tumors throughout the body. My ENT told me that as long as there is only one tumor, it can be removed by surgery and the cancer will not be invasive.
He sent me in for a PET scan, which would show any other tumors if they existed. I don't know if any of you have had a PET scan before, but it was intense! As many of you know, I go in once a year for a brain MRI. The MRI machine can be scary but there's not any needed preparation to get the scan done. With the PET, I couldn't eat or drink the night before. When I went in, I had to drink probably 20 ounces of a thick liquid that coats the GI tract to light it up on the scan. Then I had to receive a radioactive shot through an IV. I had to lay still for 45 minutes to let the radioactive material spread evenly throughout my body. This causes any other tumors to light up on the scan. Throughout the scan, I received more shots of contrast for different pictures and so forth. I couldn't be near Julia for the rest of the day because I was giving off radiation. Overall, a crazy day!
The results of the PET scan was what I was most nervous about. To even think about going on any sort of radiation therapy really scared me! But all turned out well! I only had the one tumor and we scheduled the surgery.
So that is where I'm at now. I had the surgery two days ago. I was only in the hospital for 24 hours. I surprisingly feel really well, I even went to church this morning for an hour. I have some face paralysis because the surgeons had to trace out the nerves in my face and lift a lot of skin and delicate parts out of the way to cut the tumor out. I can't fell my left ear or anywhere around the incisions and the feeling will take weeks to months to return. The incision is glued shut so I can shower and do pretty much anything normal without even a bandage on! It's crazy, you wouldn't know I had surgery unless you move my hair to look around my ear.
So anyway, that's what's going on with me lately. I'll go back in a couple weeks to hear final results of pathology done on the tumor and see where that takes me. But for now, I'm just at home resting and trying to have some sort of summer break with my family!
~Lauren
I was playing a gig out in Santa Monica and whilst resting my head on my hand I discovered a small lump in my neck, right under my left ear, almost under my jaw. I asked my sister-in-law, who is a physician's assistant, if I should get it checked out and she suggested I do so.
I went to see my doctor at the USC Health Center. She said it was probably nothing to worry about because it was softer than a cancerous type of tumor would normally be. She thought it was a lymph node. She ran a few tests from my blood and everything came back pretty normal. She referred to the main doctor at the health center.
A couple weeks later I went to see him. He put me on an antibiotic regiment for 10 days to see if I may have had something viral that was causing the lymph node. The antibiotics didn't have any effect on the lymph node so I was referred out again to an ENT at the medical campus.
The ENT, upon first examination of the lymph node, thought that it was a tumor in my salivary gland because of its location near my jaw and under my ear. He sent me to pathology to get a fine needle aspiration biopsy on the tumor.
(I'll note here that all of these appointments were two to three weeks apart. By the time I had this biopsy, school had ended and it already May!)
The results of the biopsy came back as Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. At one time this was considered a type of cancer. Now, it is only considered "cancerous" if there are multiple tumors throughout the body. My ENT told me that as long as there is only one tumor, it can be removed by surgery and the cancer will not be invasive.
He sent me in for a PET scan, which would show any other tumors if they existed. I don't know if any of you have had a PET scan before, but it was intense! As many of you know, I go in once a year for a brain MRI. The MRI machine can be scary but there's not any needed preparation to get the scan done. With the PET, I couldn't eat or drink the night before. When I went in, I had to drink probably 20 ounces of a thick liquid that coats the GI tract to light it up on the scan. Then I had to receive a radioactive shot through an IV. I had to lay still for 45 minutes to let the radioactive material spread evenly throughout my body. This causes any other tumors to light up on the scan. Throughout the scan, I received more shots of contrast for different pictures and so forth. I couldn't be near Julia for the rest of the day because I was giving off radiation. Overall, a crazy day!
The results of the PET scan was what I was most nervous about. To even think about going on any sort of radiation therapy really scared me! But all turned out well! I only had the one tumor and we scheduled the surgery.
So that is where I'm at now. I had the surgery two days ago. I was only in the hospital for 24 hours. I surprisingly feel really well, I even went to church this morning for an hour. I have some face paralysis because the surgeons had to trace out the nerves in my face and lift a lot of skin and delicate parts out of the way to cut the tumor out. I can't fell my left ear or anywhere around the incisions and the feeling will take weeks to months to return. The incision is glued shut so I can shower and do pretty much anything normal without even a bandage on! It's crazy, you wouldn't know I had surgery unless you move my hair to look around my ear.
So anyway, that's what's going on with me lately. I'll go back in a couple weeks to hear final results of pathology done on the tumor and see where that takes me. But for now, I'm just at home resting and trying to have some sort of summer break with my family!
~Lauren
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Test from iPad
Well once again I have fallen WAY behind on the blogging. That aside, my sweet husband bought me an iPad for my birthday. I saw that blogger had a mobile app so I'm testing it out. Here are some pictures of Julia from this last weekend:
It was a really special weekend for us. For those of you who know, or don't know, we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Adam and I have been working toward a goal of being sealed together as a family in the temple for a while and we finally did it on December 3rd. For anyone who doesn't know what this means, I'm always happy to answer questions or you can check out Mormon.org for any questions. Anyway, it was so special and I am so grateful for my beautiful family and all we have accomplished with Heavenly Father's help!
It was a really special weekend for us. For those of you who know, or don't know, we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Adam and I have been working toward a goal of being sealed together as a family in the temple for a while and we finally did it on December 3rd. For anyone who doesn't know what this means, I'm always happy to answer questions or you can check out Mormon.org for any questions. Anyway, it was so special and I am so grateful for my beautiful family and all we have accomplished with Heavenly Father's help!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Massey's come to visit!
Our last little adventure for the time being was having our friends Corey, Shouna, and their baby Charley coming to LA to visit us for a week. Corey is a really good friend of Adam's from their days at OU in the school of engineering. They're full of stories and memories and it was so great to have them visit! We took a small trip to San Diego for the first part of their vacation and we went to San Diego Zoo! It was sooooo much fun and the little girls loved it!
Here's what the girls looked like every time we got in the car. This was from the lack of any sort of nap or nap schedule, and sleeping all together in a hotel room! Poor babies.
Part of San Diego Zoo is a children's zoo where they can pet certain animals. They only really had goats out at the time we went but Julia was definitely intrigued!
I've been a little obsessed with elephants lately, maybe because I recently read Water for Elephants and watched the movie, but I was excited to see the elephants at the zoo!
After the zoo, Adam and Corey got a little surfing lesson from Shouna's cousin who lives in Encinitas. They did pretty well! Adam has done some surfing before but it was good to get some tips from a real pro. :)
We all took turns over the week reading to the girls. They both enjoy books so much, it's great!
After we got back to Los Angeles, we did a little sight seeing. We took the Massey's to LA Live for dinner one night at the ESPN Zone.
Here's the girls enjoying the Zone: Such a cute smile from Charley!
Lately Julia has loved to wear accessories of other people's. She loves to put them on, smile real big, run to the mirror (if we're at home) to look at herself, then take them off. Look at those teeth!
It has been so fun to see family and friends over the last month, I'm sad the summer is coming to a close! :(
Lauren~
Here's what the girls looked like every time we got in the car. This was from the lack of any sort of nap or nap schedule, and sleeping all together in a hotel room! Poor babies.
Part of San Diego Zoo is a children's zoo where they can pet certain animals. They only really had goats out at the time we went but Julia was definitely intrigued!
I've been a little obsessed with elephants lately, maybe because I recently read Water for Elephants and watched the movie, but I was excited to see the elephants at the zoo!
After the zoo, Adam and Corey got a little surfing lesson from Shouna's cousin who lives in Encinitas. They did pretty well! Adam has done some surfing before but it was good to get some tips from a real pro. :)
We all took turns over the week reading to the girls. They both enjoy books so much, it's great!
After we got back to Los Angeles, we did a little sight seeing. We took the Massey's to LA Live for dinner one night at the ESPN Zone.
Here's the girls enjoying the Zone: Such a cute smile from Charley!
Lately Julia has loved to wear accessories of other people's. She loves to put them on, smile real big, run to the mirror (if we're at home) to look at herself, then take them off. Look at those teeth!
It has been so fun to see family and friends over the last month, I'm sad the summer is coming to a close! :(
Lauren~
Oregon
Our trip to San Diego was followed by a long drive up to Oregon for a two-week visit that included my younger brother Clay's wedding. Bring on the highlights!
This was one of the first pictures I took when we got to Oregon. My sister and her three kids were staying at my parent's as well so Julia had a great time playing and watching her cousins. One of Julia's favorite activities was playing in a fountain my mom has on her back porch.
I didn't take many pictures at the wedding but here are a few: This is my mom, sister, and I at the wedding. It was at a beautiful location out in the country outside of Portland and it was a perfect day!
Here's Julia on a little bridge that went over a creek to the place where the ceremony took place:
I found that I didn't get many pictures of the bride and groom but I snapped this shot during the ceremony: A beautiful bride and handsome groom! Also, look at my niece, the flower girl, and my nephew, the ring bearer! Too cute!!
Here's Adam and our nephew, Taylor, all dressed up for church the following weekend. Handsome boys!
Julia enjoyed the wonders of my parent's house and property, there was so much to see!
Here's Julia with her Grandma, Julie, and her Great-Grandma, Judy. The three J's!
A few of us took a hike up to Punchbowl Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. It's a favorite spot of ours to sight see and jump in the water. Here are the newlyweds on the way up!
We got to spend some really nice family time together including hanging out on the patio by the fire:
My dad has a couple motorcycles so we took some trips into the Gorge. Here is my dad and I in front of Horsetail Falls:
I hope this isn't getting boring.....anyway, the boys took a floating trip down the Sandy River and Julia joined in the fun of making sure the boats would hold their air:
And finally, we were there for the 4th of July. Here is Julia in her little outfit on the 4th with my parents:
Wow, there were so many good times in Oregon, it was hard to choose these few highlights! Hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures....
Lauren~
This was one of the first pictures I took when we got to Oregon. My sister and her three kids were staying at my parent's as well so Julia had a great time playing and watching her cousins. One of Julia's favorite activities was playing in a fountain my mom has on her back porch.
I didn't take many pictures at the wedding but here are a few: This is my mom, sister, and I at the wedding. It was at a beautiful location out in the country outside of Portland and it was a perfect day!
Here's Julia on a little bridge that went over a creek to the place where the ceremony took place:
I found that I didn't get many pictures of the bride and groom but I snapped this shot during the ceremony: A beautiful bride and handsome groom! Also, look at my niece, the flower girl, and my nephew, the ring bearer! Too cute!!
Here's Adam and our nephew, Taylor, all dressed up for church the following weekend. Handsome boys!
Julia enjoyed the wonders of my parent's house and property, there was so much to see!
Here's Julia with her Grandma, Julie, and her Great-Grandma, Judy. The three J's!
A few of us took a hike up to Punchbowl Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. It's a favorite spot of ours to sight see and jump in the water. Here are the newlyweds on the way up!
We got to spend some really nice family time together including hanging out on the patio by the fire:
My dad has a couple motorcycles so we took some trips into the Gorge. Here is my dad and I in front of Horsetail Falls:
I hope this isn't getting boring.....anyway, the boys took a floating trip down the Sandy River and Julia joined in the fun of making sure the boats would hold their air:
And finally, we were there for the 4th of July. Here is Julia in her little outfit on the 4th with my parents:
Wow, there were so many good times in Oregon, it was hard to choose these few highlights! Hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures....
Lauren~
San Diego, the first trip
This is the first of three posts involving the events of the last four weeks. Our busy month following Julia's birthday started with a trip to San Diego for Adam's brother's wedding. It was a beautiful weekend and we were lucky enough to stay in La Jolla, my favorite part of San Diego! Here are a few highlights:
The families met in Old Town for some Mexican food! Here is Julia and I watching some fresh tortillas being made!
The night before the wedding we all met at Mission Bay for a bonfire. Julia had never really been at a real playground before and she had a great time! Granted she was a little tired but she never cries or whines when she's outside, just lacks a smile sometimes haha.
Here we are the day of the wedding. All the little girls were in matching dresses, the sisters and sisters-in-law were in black with matching sweaters and the men were all in black suits with green ties.
The wedding was followed by a lunch at a nearby hotel. Here's a cute smile by my sweet girl!
Yay again for summer!
Lauren~
The families met in Old Town for some Mexican food! Here is Julia and I watching some fresh tortillas being made!
The night before the wedding we all met at Mission Bay for a bonfire. Julia had never really been at a real playground before and she had a great time! Granted she was a little tired but she never cries or whines when she's outside, just lacks a smile sometimes haha.
Here we are the day of the wedding. All the little girls were in matching dresses, the sisters and sisters-in-law were in black with matching sweaters and the men were all in black suits with green ties.
The wedding was followed by a lunch at a nearby hotel. Here's a cute smile by my sweet girl!
Yay again for summer!Lauren~
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Julia Turns One!
I thought before Adam, Julia, and I start on our three weeks of summer travels and weddings, I should probably write about her first birthday. We had such a great time celebrating! I can't believe my little baby is a year old already but it's been such a great year with her and I can't wait for what is to come! For her birthday we had a pool party over at Adam's brother's apartment which is here in Los Angeles pretty close to us. The day consisted of swimming, barbecuing at the pool, Julia napping for two hours during her party, and opening some gifts. Rather than write more, I'll just post some pictures because that's what everyone wants to see anyway, right?!
So we learned that Julia, despite her constant bravery and toughness, is a very dainty eater when it comes to digging into her food. She had never had sugar before so we kind of expected her to dig into this cupcake we got her. She picked at it a little but didn't really like it or even get really messy! Fine with me!
I catch myself staring at her all the time, isn't she so cute?! Well the hair needs some work but you know what I mean, it was a pool party after all....!! Here's about how messy she got: (Do you like the birthday crown I made for her?)
Opening some gifts: A new butterfly purse from Great Grandma!
Here are a couple gifts Adam and I got her: The first is a trike that for now sits on a rocker, but can then turn into a bike she sits on and we push her around, and then eventually one that she can pedal herself. She loves it!
And another present we got her is a little table with two chairs that Adam and I refinished and painted so she could have her little tea parties or whatever girls do at their tables!
A couple more pictures: Playing with new toys and rinsing cake off before re-entering the pool
Happy first birthday to my sweet angel!
Lauren~
So we learned that Julia, despite her constant bravery and toughness, is a very dainty eater when it comes to digging into her food. She had never had sugar before so we kind of expected her to dig into this cupcake we got her. She picked at it a little but didn't really like it or even get really messy! Fine with me!
I catch myself staring at her all the time, isn't she so cute?! Well the hair needs some work but you know what I mean, it was a pool party after all....!! Here's about how messy she got: (Do you like the birthday crown I made for her?)
Opening some gifts: A new butterfly purse from Great Grandma!
Here are a couple gifts Adam and I got her: The first is a trike that for now sits on a rocker, but can then turn into a bike she sits on and we push her around, and then eventually one that she can pedal herself. She loves it!
And another present we got her is a little table with two chairs that Adam and I refinished and painted so she could have her little tea parties or whatever girls do at their tables!
A couple more pictures: Playing with new toys and rinsing cake off before re-entering the pool
Happy first birthday to my sweet angel!
Lauren~
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