Delayed Results

Things have been a bit crazy around here(as I'm sure they are for just about everyone right now), so unfortunately blogging has been put on the back burner. Sorry for those of you who have been patiently waiting for Brian's update. As far as the pathology report goes, the margins were about as good as they could be, I suppose. They took a wide margin from the bone where the tumor was connected, so those margins look pretty good, but as they really didn't have much room to take from the surrounding tissues they were only able to take a "marginal margin" elsewhere. Meaning that they took as little tissue as possible around the tumor where it wasn't connected to bone. It was a grade one cancer, which is the lowest grade, so the chances of it spreading are minimal, however, all of his tumors have been grade one and have all spread or come back, so routine MRI's and CT scans are still crucial. The doctor is not confident that they won't return, but if they do come back, he will only remove the tumor from now on instead of taking much of a margin. Being in such a critical area, he doesn't want to further damage any organs or tissues.
He started physical therapy last week to try to regain the strength in his right quad. They had to work around several nerves and the one that talks to his quad isn't functioning properly. Three of the four quad muscles in his right leg aren't working. His surgeon couldn't really guess either way if it would come back, but we are hopeful and his physical therapist is positive. He is using crutches or at least his "putter cane" because his knee will occasionally give out, and we learned the hard way that if it gives out, there's not enough functioning muscle to keep him from falling hard.
He is very fortunate that his left leg is doing so well. All of his doctors thought his left leg would give him considerable trouble, but he says it really is about as good as it was before the surgery. This has been a huge blessing, because I'm not sure how he would get around if he didn't have the one good leg.
He's been in a considerable amount of pain since PT, but hopefully that is a good sign. He does at least have meds to dull the pain. He still can't use his abdominal muscles and isn't allowed to lift anything more than a gallon of milk for at least another couple weeks.
He's back to work fortunately. It's uncomfortable and when he comes home he heads straight for the bed to try and recoup for the next day. We are grateful that he is at least able to work though. He's quite the trooper and I'm not so sure if it were me if I would be quite as pleasant to be around. He does a good job of keeping the complaints to a minimum.
Sorry for those of you who got way more information than you wanted, but this serves as a good journal entry for me.

Surgery is Over!

Well, we're happy to say Brian's surgery was a success. They were fortunately able to remove all of the tumors successfully. This was a huge blessing as we were really not looking forward to needing to do this again next month. It turns out he actually had a total of five tumors. The one in the back was a cluster of four separate tumors that were up against each other. Two of them were about golf ball size and the other two were about the size of marbles. They were in the muscle rather than growing off bone, so they didn't need to remove any pelvis back there. The tumor in the front had grown to about baseball size and they had to remove some of the remaining pelvis along with the pubic bone. Along with his other surgeries, this now leaves him without any pelvic bone in front. The front of the pelvis and pubic bone are really just used to hold in your organs, so structurally he is still fine, but they inserted a plastic piece of mesh to hold in his lower abdominal muscles and organs. His lower abs are quite weak along with his left quad, but he continues to make huge strides. I'm always amazed with how quickly he gets going again. Every time the physical therapist comes to work with him, I have to suppress a laugh, because he just gets up and takes off doing way more than either the therapist or I think he can. The surgery was a bit more intense than we were anticipating. He was under for about 5 hrs. and lost about 4 pints of blood. They really had to manipulate nerves(especially his sciatic) and internal organs to get the tumors out in one piece. He is still a bit weak, but his strength is beginning to pick up now that he is finally eating a little solid food. He's headed home with a couple drains for about a week, but they removed all other tubing this morning.
Chemo and radiation were deemed unnecessary. The tumors are sent off for biopsy, and we will receive the pathology report when the results come in. We know they are malignant, but the report will tell us the grade of cancer and if all margins surrounding the tumors are clear of traces of cancer.
He's quite the trooper, and I would be the first to tell you(except maybe my mom) that I'm incredibly lucky to have someone so special as my husband. He's been through the ringer and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for him.

Super Fun Week=Super Long Slide Show

Christmas came early this year for the Bitner Bunch...in LAKE POWELL! Mom and Dad Bitner treated us all to an amazing Christmas present this year by taking us to Lake Powell, complete with hotel stay, jet skis, boating, food and fun. Quite generous I know. We were all able to make the trip as a WHOLE family. Something that has not been possible in a while with Dan on a mission and is not likely to happen again in the near future since Dave leaves in February. It was beautiful! We had a wonderful time and took home lots of great memories.

Halloween Madness

Yesterday we had such a blast. We started out by going to my mom's to make carmel apples. My sister and I called my mom to see if we could come do them at her house and she went ALL OUT. She went out and bought some of this amazing carmel, chocolate and nuts. These don't just look awesome, they taste divine.

The fun certainly didn't stop there. Next it was on to Nat and Spencer's for a kickin' Halloween bash. Nat pulled out all the stops. First the kids played pin the heart on the skeleton, then made spider cupcakes, and then we all made carmel apples. It was so, so much fun. Everything was decorated so cute and nearly everyone came in costume with only a couple party poopers(Brian included).

Note on Fred and Wilma, Nat made these costumes the night before. Talk about multi-talented.

Preschool Party

Today was Lucas' Halloween party for preschool. I was able to go help out in his class, so of course I had to break out the costume. This is us just before we left. Henry would laugh every time he saw me and Lucas would just stare and ask what I did to my face. I got a few good looks while driving in the car.

Ahh...Fall

Welcome Home Dan!

After two years of service, Elder Dan Bitner has returned home from the Denmark, Copenhagen mission. Good to have you back Dan! Thanks for being such a great example to our boys.

Let the festivities begin!

I thought I loved the holidays before I had kids, little did I know just how exciting it could all be. Beginning with Halloween and up until New Year's, we try to pack in as much fun as possible. I believe I have my Grandma Elaine to thank for that one. I'm even dressing up for Halloween this year(stay tuned for those pics)! Last week we went on our annual hayride and picked pumpkins. Next up, gingerbread haunted houses, pumpkin carving and carmel apples. Did I mention I love the holidays?

Which one...which one?
This one!I love me a big blue sky(and little boys)!

A Wave of Emotions

Yesterday turned out to be quite the eventful day with a bit too much excitement for us. First of all, Lucas started preschool. He's been looking forward to this day since we found the school in May. I was probably more nervous than he was. I'm so excited for him and think it will be a great experience for him. He can't wait to go back next week and play with all of his new friends.

Unfortunately, Brian got some bad news from his doctor. He's been having some pain for a month or so now and finally decided to go in to see the doc after his routine tests. Brian has two more tumors. They are both about golf ball size and are indicated by the black dots in the picture. He has to get another CT scan to get a better view of the tumors and then his doctor wants him to get a second opinion as to the best procedure. The reason his situation is so unique(aside from his rare bone disorder-hereditary multiple exostosis) is because these tumors usually stop growing when he stops growing. The probability is really only about a 2% change for another growth, and this now makes for his 4th and 5th. He will get them surgically removed within the next couple of months, but the debate as to whether chemo or radiation is necessary will depend on the second opinion. His doctor thinks it really won't help in this case and we are praying that is merely reiterated by a specialist. We are extremely blessed that Brian is able to get these routine tests and has such a wonderful doctor. We are so grateful for the amazing support system we have, but I know Brian is really ready to be done with surgeries. Hopefully they can figure out why this keeps happening and get it taken care of once and for all.

A Must Read

One of my favorite things to do is get so into a book, that I stay up all hours reading. I recently found just such a book thanks to my sister's recommendation. Anyone looking for a good read has GOT to get their hands on this book. I absolutely couldn't put it down. It's fiction, but based on the author's Great-Grandmother's journal entries. I don't know how much is fact and what is purely storyline, but Sarah must have been remarkable even if she endured a fraction of what this book tells. What an incredible woman with a heart wrenching story. Amazing!

First Attempt at a Garden

This year we decided to test our gardening abilities to see just how green our thumbs could be. We got started quite late(mid-june) and by the time we had everything planted we thought we just wasted a bunch of money. Well I guess we underestimated our soil because we have vegetables coming out our ears. I am continually cutting everything back to make enough room for everything to grow. Due to some spider mites, some of the squash aren't doing as well as at first, but I think we will get our fair share before the season is over. We decided to let a couple of the zukes grow while we went out of town to see how big they would get. This is what we came home to. While they might taste pretty bad, they make a fun picture. It's been a lot of fun and I think I could really get in to this whole gardening thing.

Man of Many Faces

Lucas cracks me up with all his facial expressions. This is my latest favorite. It's his "that's no good" face. It makes an appearance several times every day and always makes me smile.

4th Annual Bitner Cabin Trip

About 5 years ago, Brian's parents purchased a cabin up in Island Park and every year we all go up together during the summer. We really have a fun time rafting down the river, visiting Yellowstone, riding the 4 wheelers(Henry especially liked this one), playing games and just being together. This year proved to be just as fun as ever. Everyone was able to make it except Dan who is finishing out his mission in Denmark. We missed him, but only a couple more months and he'll be home. It was beautiful up there, so of course every chance I got I was dragging the boys out for photos. We love Grandma!

Gotta be my favorite!

Brotherly Love

This momma Moose and her baby came to visit us nearly every day.

Henry and "Ba-pa"

Beautiful Morning

We can't wait until next year! Thanks Mom and Dad Bitner for the wonderful weekend!

Boys Trip

Last week I was able to go up to girls camp for a night and Brian took the boys up to the Bitner cabin with his dad and brother. They even stayed up there a couple extra days after I got back. I missed them, but I must say, those were probably two of the most productive days I've had in a long time. I had to share some of the cute pics Brian got. The last one cracks me up.

Goin' crusin' on the 4 wheelers.
Stranded

fishing out on the lake

Fun Filled July

It seems like the fun for July was non-stop, going from place to place. Along with other adventures, our most exciting trips were the Wilding Cabin and Bear Lake for the Bitner reunion. Both seemed to end too early. We had a blast.

Utah Valley Marathon

On June 13th, 2009 Emily successfully completed her first marathon. She completed the 26.2 miles in an unofficial time of 4 hours 24 minutes and 33 seconds. Quite a few family members traveled to Provo to cheer her on. Every time we saw her through out the race, she still had a smile on her face. I wish I could say the same about the other thousand people in the race. We cheered her on through mile markers 10, 14, 18, 20 & the finish. Emily's uncle ran as well and after completing his 39th marathon he said that this was one of the toughest races he has participated in and that he had never seen so many people walking. Emily has been training for a long time and all of it finally paid off. She can say that she has done a marathon; something that most people won't ever do in a lifetime. When Emily gets her mind set on something, she never fails. Way to go Em!!!

Mile marker 10.

Emily's biggest, smallest fans.

Mile marker 14.

Lucas pulling his mom across the finish line at 4:24:33.

Check out the bling. Way to go Em!!!

Happy Birthday to Henry!

They don't come any sweeter than our little Henry. This past year has been an absolute joy with him and it's gone by way too quickly. I just can't get enough of his chubby feet and big blue eyes. He already had his party on Saturday, so I had to post at least one first cake photo.

Okay, two.

Memorial Day Run

This post is a little late, but I had to get some of these pictures on here. Last week for Memorial Day, there was a local race going on, so Lucas and I joined in the fun. I did the 5K and Lucas did the kids' mile. It was the cutest thing. He is still talking about his "run with the kids." I was so proud! He may have been the last one in, but for that first hundred yards or so, he ran his little heart out.

Waiting for the kids' mile to start.

Coming in the last stretch.

He even got a medal for finishing.

It was a lot of fun, and we hope to find another one soon.