Complete Remission

I had my first PET scan since finishing treatment last week. I didn't announce it to everyone because I was feeling quite anxious about the whole thing. I don't know why I thought not telling everyone would help but I guess I just didn't feel like discussing it and thinking about it every minute of the day leading up to it, even though I still did. Plus I think I am a paranoid freak and any little thing out of the ordinary automatically makes me think the cancer has returned. It's exhausting and annoying.

Anyways, I got the results back this afternoon and the test came back Normal, meaning I am still completely cancer free. Apparently, even though I was in remission before (or so I thought) making it to this hurdle and still being in remission now means, according to my doctor, I am in 'Complete Remission.' Who knew I had to reach this to be in complete remission...but it feels good.

I feel so relieved to have the first scan since being done with treatment over with. Hopefully the others ones will get a little easier. I don't have another scan now until July. YEAH! This is a huge relief and it feels like a weight off my shoulders to not have to worry about it any longer...it was a long couple weeks leading up to today.

So as you can tell if you've been reading my other posts recently, this blog is going to turn into a sort of what's happening in Sheri and Shane's lives. It's really not that exciting but I like to keep track of it, so feel free to continue reading, or not. The posts might not come all that often but we do plan to do some traveling this year so stay tuned for that.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Shane and Sheri have had quite an adventurous year. Most of you know the details of what has gone on this year but for the few who do not, here is a summary.

The biggest highlight was that we got MARRIED this year. What an amazing day our wedding was, one we will never forget. The day was perfect, what more could we ask for. We love being married and have enjoyed the change and new experiences it brings.

Sheri was also diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma 5 weeks before our wedding. Chemo started the week before the wedding and lasted until the end of July with another month of Radiation afterwards. She is happy her hair is growing back and she is feeling good. Being married and cancer free are her two favorite terms for the 2008.

Shane moved his office, sold his place and made a clean cut from living in Utah County to Salt Lake County. Sheri also sold her place and together we bought a new home in Draper. We love our home and moving into a place together has been nice. We live in a great neighborhood and now enjoy teaching the 6 year olds at church.

Amongst the marriage, chemo, and moving we managed to get in a few trips this year. Orlando, St. George, S. California, Boston, and N. California were all fun times and we were happy to get away from life for several days.

We want to thank all of you for blessing our lives this year. More then ever we have appreciated our family, friendships, the prayers, and the many kind thoughts and deeds in our behalf. We are especially grateful to the Lord for his tender mercies and blessings in our lives this year.

2009 will bring more marriage, more cancer free testing, more vacations, and hopefully no moves!

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy 2009!

Shane and Sheri Glover

Tim Tam Slam Party!

Last night was our annual Tim Tam Slam party. For those who don't know what that is, Tim Tams were introduced to me on my mission. They are very yummy biscuits (cookies) that you can buy in Australia and other places. They are chocolate cookies with a chocolate soft center. They used to be hard to come by here, however, Target now sells them...yeah! Now...you can just eat a Tim Tam, no problem. But to Slam a Tim Tam is a whole other experience. The slide show will show the process but basically you get a mug of hot chocolate, bite off the ends and suck the hot chocolate through the cookie as it melts, and while using no hands, slam the whole cookie into your mouth without letting it disintegrate on the counter or into your hot chocolate.

So every year around the first snow fall (we were a little late this year) we get together to carry on a tradition of Slamming Tim Tams. It started with just a few of us and have grown. This year was a lot of fun and so I put together a slide show of our night.

Thanks everyone for coming, it was a lot of fun!

Numbers and Results

So at work this week I have been putting together my year end contributions. I have to include all projects, tasks and results that I've completed this year. It is what they use to determine my raise and job security. So I've been going through my year and as I put down all my job related accomplishments, I really wanted to add in this list:

12 rounds of chemo
13 radiation treatments
3 surgeries
9 consultations/other doctor appts.
6 scans and tests (2 PET, 1CT, bone marrow, EKG, diffusing capacity)
8 different doctors seen this year
296 hours of sick time (which is actually only 14% of working time)
8 lbs gained, 4 lost
15 inches of hair lost, 2 gained so far
16 hats
1 wig
3 fevers
0 throwing up (thank goodness for anti-nausea medication!)
10 neulasta shots
10 baths for my aching bones because of my neulasta shots
$170,000 in Medical Costs
$1500 of which I paid
1 GREAT Health Insurance Plan
too many to count…nurses and blood draws (fyi to the nurses, I have floppy veins)
1 Body free of Cancer!
2 houses sold, 1 bought
1 wedding planned
1 amazing husband
9 months of marriage
250 (appx.) Thank you notes written (I really am blessed by all of you!)
4 trips (Florida, St. George, California and Boston)

I left it all out of my work list, but if I got to give myself a raise for my personal accomplishments this year, I would give myself the highest raise if I do say so myself.

Mostly I just thought all the numbers were interesting and wanted to remember them.

This also reminds me why I keep telling people that life is normal and almost a little boring...which I LOVE!

NKOTB Forever!

Saturday night was a night to remember! I went with all of my sisters, Brigitte and Michelle to the New Kids on the Block concert. Christy came all the way up from California to go with us.

(All of my sisters...and me)


My sister, Michelle, made us all NKOTB shirts to wear...and NO we were not embarrassed to wear them! Thanks Michelle!


I haven't screamed that much in years. As they came out on stage I had chills and had total flashbacks to when I was 16 and went to their concert with my sisters and Michelle at the LA Forum.


I felt like I was 16 again the way we were all screaming. It didn't matter that 19 years had past since that concert, it was as good as the first time.


They actually sounded good and I even like their new music that just came out. We had a blast, screamed our lungs out, couldn't stop smiling, and had a great trip down memory lane. Our ears were ringing as much as they did the first time, only this time we had to/got to drive ourselves home instead of getting to the car and finding a sleeping dad who had waited in the parking lot for us the entire time. What a great dad we had...well we still have a great dad, but he was a terrific sport for taking us 19 years ago when we were too young to go ourselves, and then sending us in and waiting!

Our Trip to Boston

Shane and I were in Boston last week. My work sent me there for a conference so Shane decided to join me when the conference was over and take some time off to enjoy the sites of Boston. It was sooo nice to get out of town and relax a little (although we did a ton.)

We were able to see all the sites of Boston and also get out of the city. We drove up to Maine for one night and were able to see the beautiful fall colors. We had a great time and I am already trying to think of where we can go for our next trip.

Here are some, ok a lot of pictures, from our trip:

Nubble Lighthouse - York, Maine


Puffin Inn - Ogunquit, Maine


Celtics vs. Knicks Pre-season (I secretly cheered for The Knicks, don't ask me why, but I used to be a big Knicks fan!)


Fenway Park


USS Constitution


Bunker Hill Monument - Yes we climbed all 294 steps to the top, the view was beautiful. My quads burned, it felt good!


Where everybody knows your name...


Fabulous trip! What more can I say?

Update on Normal Life

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I posted last. Time is flying by again and life is back to normal. I love normal life. Just busy living normally. Work has been a little crazy and then just trying to get things done around the house before winter sets in. We had our front yard landscaped so it's been nice to not have to look at dirt when we drive up.

I have had 2 doctor's appointments in the last couple of weeks. One with Dr. Harker, my oncologist and then one with Dr. Avizonis, my radiation doctor. Both appointments have been pretty uneventful. Just follow ups to see how things are going. No scans yet, but they didn't feel any bumps, which is always good news. Next scan and follow up appointment will be the beginning of January. I am feeling pretty good. Still little things here and there that are lingering around but overall pretty back to normal. They told me that all this stuff stays in my body up to a year so although I will feel back to normal, small things can stick around for a while.

My hair is growing, you'll see by the next post. It finally feels like I have the ability to have a little style to it.

So I just wanted to update you that life is good and normal, just how I like it.