Things about Sam and Leslie

Last Day of Chemo!

NO MO’ CHEMO!

It’s over. We ALL did it! A MEGA THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO GOT US HERE! If you are reading this blog, YOU got us here. This was an enormous team effort. We did it! We did it! We did it!!!

We had five of the happiest and saddest days at the hospital this week. We’ll miss all of our Vanderbilt friends, but we are overjoyed that our long days of receiving treatment are finally over.

SO WHAT’S THE PLAN NOW?

We will rest happily. Our new beginning has begun. We will start our lives over with a fragile new not-so-normal normalcy. We couldn’t be happier. We know that we will have a new list of challenges for next year, but we hope it will be easier than this past year. Sam will soon be getting stronger. He has his first set of scans in three weeks. We expect the scans to be cancer-free and we plan to take a vacation as soon as we get the “all clear” from the doctor. Life is about to get a lot more fun!

We came home from the hospital to a decorated and clean apartment! Thank You!

 THIS PAST YEAR

Over this past year, we had many bad days and scary nights. Over and over again, I found myself thinking, “If Sam can just make it through the day…” and “If we can just make it through this night…”. I always thought Sam would get better and life would get a little easier. That never really happened. From the diagnosis till now, life has been difficult in so many ways. I can’t imagine many things scarier than the nights we were up all night or at the hospital early in the morning. Sam’s days were plagued with illness and mine with heartache. Every now and then, we got a few good days in a row, or a week if we were lucky, but nothing more than that. It’s strange for us to live a life in which we don’t look forward to many things. Besides visiting with friends and family, we haven’t looked forward to anything but THIS day and it’s finally here. Whoop! Whoop!

Since the diagnosis, we have gotten mentally stronger, wiser, and more patient. We stopped questioning, “Why us?” and started thinking, “We’re going to get through this and we’re going to be a million times happier and more appreciative because of it.” We stopped complaining early on and tried to get through each day smiling if we could.

I spent a lot of our hospital time reading books written by cancer survivors. In one of my favorite books, someone wrote, “Cancer was the worst thing that happened to me. Cancer was the best thing that happened to me.” We think that is exactly what it has been for us.

Cancer has been the worst thing because of the unbelievable amount of stress, horror, and ups and downs we’ve been through this past year. Our world has been grim since April. This cancer will probably be the source of worry for years to come. It’s been the best thing because of all of you. We have laughed so much this year. Once you or the person you love is diagnosed with cancer or any illness, you kind of lose your inhibitions and start living the life you’ve always wanted. As cliché as that may sound, it’s true. Even though we consider ourselves unlucky, we are very lucky for going through this together, and with all of you. Throughout this year, we’ve learned the importance of positivity, family, and love. When you combine that with our desire to laugh and have fun, we have to believe we’ve got a good thing going for us.

THIS BLOG

This blog has been an outlet and a major source of entertainment for us. It has been a challenging and fun distraction. It’s hard to be sad when someone emails us comparing BB’s rear end to J. Lo’s. This blog has allowed us to keep everyone informed while putting us in touch with new friends all over the world. To every cancer patient, young and old, stay in touch with us and we hope you too can find a way to laugh.

THE FUTURE OF THIS BLOG

The blog must go on. Our updates will not be as frequent as they have been, but we look forward to keeping everyone updated on Sam’s progress in 2012. This blog is a part of us and the cancer community that we love which has given us so much love and hope in return.

MANY MANY THANK YOUS

We can’t thank you all enough for taking this journey with us. We read and reread every comment, email, and card you sent us. From Nantucket to Australia, you have all left a handprint on our hearts and we’ll always be thankful for you.

CONGRATULATIONS SAM AND THANK YOU VIDEO!

Moms, you are the best people on this planet.

With all the love in the world and warm holiday wishes,

Sam and Leslie Bledsoe

Let The Countdown Begin!

If everything goes as planned, we will finish chemotherapy on December 23rd!

Hey everybody!  We just finished our 13^th round of chemotherapy!  We had a successful two days of treatment and we’re thrilled to be finished with another round.  With the completion of each round comes a bigger smile, so you can imagine, our smiles are pretty big at this point.  It sounds awful to wish time away, but when faced with a rigorous treatment schedule and being so sick so often, we can’t help but wish the days away.  We only have one more round to go!  Sam’s last round of chemotherapy is scheduled for December 19th-December 23rd.  Because we are nearing the end of this part of the adventure, Sam and I took some time this week to figure out what we’ve been through this past year.

Sam was diagnosed with a malignant bone cancer 232 days ago.  Since then, we’ve had 105 scheduled appointments.  He has had 13 rounds of chemotherapy.  He has had 3 surgeries.  He’s had to get lab work done 58 times.  He has gone to the infusion center for treatment 46 times.  We’ve spent 10 nights in hospital rooms.  I’ve had the unfortunate duty of giving him 78 shots and will give him 10 more before this thing is through.  And finally, we hope to be on the beach in 42 days.

This journey has been grueling and incredible.  In fourteen days, we’ll finally breathe a sigh of relief.  We both fully understand that this particular cancer doesn’t have an expiration date.  There will always be a chance of the cancer coming back, but we’ll worry about that if it happens.  We’ve done all that we can do and we believe that the cancer will never return.  There’s no way we’ll ever be normal again, but in two weeks, we’ll begin to be more hopeful and happier than we’ve been in 232 days.  Normal is boring anyway.

Throughout these last several months, we’ve learned that family and friends are all that we need in life and we will never take a day in good health for granted again.

Almost too much cuteness for one picture.

We plan to rest over the next week and stay away from the hospital.

Good idea Theo and Nina!

Thank you for being a part of our support team and another thank you for getting us this far. We love you so much.

With love,

Sam and Leslie Bledsoe

P.S.  Thank you for always making our trips to the mailbox so fun.  After two days at the hospital this week, we came home to a mailbox full of loving cards and funny packages.  We have new friends in Little Rock and a new friend in California.  Christina, keep your head up and stay in touch.

P.P.S.  Matt-thanks for the Bob Marley sweatpants from the Philippines.  Sam’s wardrobe is now compete.