Update

A lot has been going on in the Stephens household!

First, Vicki has been undergoing her radiation treatments and things are going all right.  She's been feeling tired and a little sick from the treatments, but she's making it through.  She's been having a lot of skin irritation, so prayers on her behalf that her skin will hold up so she can finish the treatments would be greatly appreciated.  She has a few weeks left of radiation and needless to say, she can't wait to be done!  We're proud of you, Mom!  You're almost there!

Second, Michael got his driver's license a while back and finally has a car to drive.  He couldn't be happier!!

Third, Michelle got engaged to a wonderful guy named Jory Johnson!!!  We are excited to have him join our family!

Fourth, Jonathan is home from BYU for a little while this spring.  He'll have to go back to Utah in June for some summer courses.  We're happy to have him home for awhile.  :)

Successful Surgery

Vicki had her surgery on February 9th and everything went very smoothly. The surgeons only had to take two lymph nodes, which is a good thing. When going in for her follow-up, the doctor said that her pathology reports came back with the best results they could possibly have!! She is on her way to a full recovery.

The next step is to have radiation treatments which will probably be starting at the end of March. She continues to have herceptin treatments every three weeks.

We appreciate so much everyone's love and support.

Oh Happy Day!! :)

Yesterday Vicki had a mammogram and ultrasound to determine if the tumor has shrunk. If the tumor had shrunk to the doctor's liking, then she wouldn't have to have any more chemo treatments. If it hadn't shrunk enough, then she'd have to have two more rounds of chemo. The results were inconclusive, as scar tissue was making it difficult to tell if there was any tumor left. Luckily Vicki was able to get in to have a contrast dye MRI yesterday evening. The MRI would make it easier for doctors to tell what exactly was going on.

We just got a phone call from the doctor, and the tumor is COMPLETELY GONE!!!!! The doctors told her that she will be able to be completely CURED from this disease. We are so grateful for all of your prayers....We know that they are heard.

Now she will be scheduled for surgery around the second or third week of February. We'll know more Monday morning when she goes in for her appointment.

We are SO excited and grateful that the tumor is gone and that no more chemo is necessary. We could not be happier!!!

Good News

Some good news - we originally thought that Vicki would have to have weekly treatments of herceptin for a solid year. However, this is incorrect. While she has to have weekly treatments while she's undergoing chemotherapy, after the chemotherapy is completed the herceptin treatments will only be every THREE weeks for a year. This is GREAT news!!!

Vicki underwent her second round of chemo this week. They say that with each treatment, the side effects will get worse and worse. This seems to be true, as Vicki has felt much worse this week then she did the first time around. However, we know that it's necessary to go through in order for her to get well. She should start feeling better next week.

This year was the first Thanksgiving having the whole family together again - the past two years Jonathan was on his mission in Colorado. Not only did we have Jonathan home, but we have a new addition - baby Owen. We all enjoyed being together and then as tradition would have it, getting our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Vicki started decorating for Christmas last week as she knew she wouldn't be feeling very well this week. The house looks gorgeous - thanks for making Christmastime special for all of us, Mom!


Baby Owen




















Stairway with Christmas Decor





















Christmas Tree Decorating -in progress

Unpleasant Surprise

As some of you may already know, Vicki was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 25th. The cancer is at stage two (of four) - which is a good thing - and is therefore very treatable. The kind of cancer she has is called Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC). Statistics show that 10% of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have IDC. On the plus side, this type of cancer is not genetic so female family members are at no greater risk of developing cancer. Vicki has a great team of doctors that have wasted no time in getting her treatment started. We are all staying very positive and know that Vicki will be just fine.

Her treatment plan will include chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. The names of the drugs she will have through chemo are taxotere(T), carboplatin(C), and herceptin(H). She is scheduled for TC treatment every three weeks for the next three months and will have herceptin once a week for the next year. All of these drugs are administered through an IV. During her "on" week of chemo, she goes in for treatment two days in a row. The first day is to administer the chemo. The second day is to flush the chemo out of her system and give her a shot called Nuelasta to boost her white blood cell count.

After her chemotherapy is finished, they are hoping that the tumor will be completely gone. If not, she will have two more rounds of chemo. Once the tumor is gone, then surgeons will remove the tissue where the lump used to be. On the plus side, there should be no disfigurement from the surgery. At the same time they do the surgery, they will be checking the sentinel lymph nodes to make sure there's no cancer there. After the surgery, she will have eight weeks of radiation.

Vicki had her first round of chemo this week. She went in on Tuesday (Nov. 4th) and Wednesday (Nov. 5th). This week she also had a heart test and next week she'll have a body scan. She is feeling okay - she felt a little queasy from the chemo but started feeling better today. Her legs are still very achey and the veins in her arms are sore from all of the IVs. Vicki has requested that everyone please pray for her veins - they're going to be going through a lot the next year.

We really appreciate all of your prayers and good thoughts - please keep them coming. They help so much. We will continue to keep everyone updated as things continue.