Tomorrow is the BIG day!

Happy Monday Everyone! 

So much has happened since I blogged last time! It's been a busy week and a half and I honestly haven't gotten to writing a blog until now. I am very sorry for that and I know a lot of you have been waiting on an update from my appointment at the hospital since Thursday. 

I am going to keep this a little shorter than normal, because it's pretty late at night here in Norway and tomorrow is a very big day! But I just wanted to update everyone :) 

Again, thanks for all the amazing messages, the prayers, and all the support! We are extremely thankful for every single one of you! So thanks again! 

Last week was very relaxing at my parents house, I was able to rest a lot, eat a lot and walk a lot! But mostly, spend quality time with them, my brother and watch A LOT of Olympics. What a perfect timing to be sick? The winter Olympics make the resting time so much better!! (Yes, it's all about staying positive)

On Thursday, Ryan flew back from the US. He had done an incredible job of packing up everything in our house in Oregon, put things into boxes to bring here, some things were packed away in storage and just organize everything so we could officially move out of the country! What a crazy ride!! (Special thanks to Ryan's mom, Nick and Ryleigh for helping him  pack and move out!) Ryan brought 14 items with him on the plane, including many boxes, skis, bike, suitcases and more! (Also special thanks to Blake for helping Ryan at the airport!) My parents and I brought two cars to the airport to be able to fit everything. Then my parents drove back to Lillehammer with one car and Ryan and I took the other one into Oslo, where we had my doctors appointment only few hours later. 

The appointment at the hospital went really well! I had been extremely anxious for it for a whole week. I just didn't know what to expect and I felt like every time we saw the doctors after the diagnosis, there was something new and worse than last time. At least that's what it felt like to me. Thankfully, there was nothing like that this time. The doctors and pathologist had looked at everything from Iceland (imaging, samples from my spleen and paperwork) and agreed with the diagnosis that I had. It was honestly kinda relieving to hear, even though it's a horrible diagnosis, at least we didn't have to start from scratch again, trying to figure out what was going on. The doctors informed us that they wanted me to start chemo therapy as soon as possible and that it would probably be first thing next week (now this week). We were able to ask questions and they explained to us more how everything would work around the treatments and all that. Long story short, the chemo will be given to me for 3-4 days every 3 weeks. I will be admitted to the hospital during those days. During the 3 weeks between treatments, I can pretty much do whatever I want and the encouraged me to live my life as normal as possible during that time. The chemo therapy they are giving me is a specific type of chemo that is for angiosarcoma and they are hoping that my body will react to it well. However, they did say that the type of angiosarcoma has very little evidence and research and has very poor prognosis. It's hard to hear, but I have decided that I am going to fight everything I have, every step of the way and hope there will be a miracle and I can be cured from this horrible disease. It's a very strong type of chemo and they told me that I will be losing my hair (most likely 3-4 weeks after my first round of treatment). UGH! Literally soooo scary! I have been very sensitive about that part and I literally can't imagine how it will feel to lose my hair and not have hair for awhile. Something about the hair just made things seem so real! 

Ryan came up with this amazing idea of me doing something fun with my hair before I lose it! First I wasn't sure about it, but then I jumped on it and I am super super stoked! On saturday, I went and cut my hair short (a lot shorter), dyed it (I have never dyed my hair before), and cut bangs. WOW! So much change, but so much fun! I was so excited to try something I have often wanted, but never had the courage to do it! But now, I had nothing to lose!! Aaaand just like Ryan said, we might as well have fun with it and look at things in a more positive way! I am very happy with my new haircut and it was super fun to feel a little wild and step out of my comfort zone. 

On Thursday night, Ryan and I also got our apartment! We have our OWN place! We are so so happy to finally have a place that's ours. It's a very cute and cozy apartment and I will definitely share some pictures of it when we are fully settled. It's located in Lillehammer, which has been our dream town to live in for 2 years. Yay! We are very excited for the months to come in our apartment. The treatments are still in Oslo, but the doctors had told us that we could pretty much live wherever we want between treatments as long as we are close to any hospital. So we decided to move to Lillehammer, both to be closer to my parents, but also because we have always planned on moving there!! (the plan was to move there after I graduated, but hey! now we get to live there a couple of years early). 

On Sunday (yesterday), Ryan and I headed to Oslo, where we stayed at a hotel beside the hospital. We have a very busy week ahead of us here in the hospital. Ryan is able to stay here at the hotel the whole week, which is super amazing (this hotel is specifically for patient's spouses and close family). Today, it started with kidney testing, where I had one appointment in the morning with an injection and then I had to come back 4 hours later to do blood testing. With this they are able to look at my kidney function, which is important before starting chemo. Tomorrow is the BIG day!! It will start with blood tests in the morning, then I will be admitted to the hospital and receive my room. After that, I will be prepped for a procedure to place a central catheter in my chest. This is so I don't have to get new IV's and way too many pokes with needles throughout the upcoming months. THEN, I will be starting chemo around midday. I have been super nervous about starting chemo the last week, but somehow, since I got here, I have felt more at ease with it. I think I feel like I am accepting it more, but also that everyone here is so nice, really makes a difference. I definitely still feeling nervous, but it's less :) On Thursday, I am doing a heart exam and on Friday I will be doing a CT scan of my lungs. I should be done with chemo on Friday as well (hopefully if everything goes well) and we will be able to go back home to Lillehammer. This week is going to be crazy busy, but I am so glad that Ryan can stay with me during the day at the hospital and then he will just sleep at the hotel over night, which again is literally 30 seconds away. Super nice!! 

Also! Last week, I took my finals that I "missed" in December during finals week due to being sick. I had 3 exams left and I was able to complete them over zoom with my professors from Oregon. It was a huge relief to get those out of the way before the new chapter starting tomorrow. I spent some time studying for those, since things felt very rusty after not looking at any of the material for over 2 months. But all exams went very well and I passed :) yay! 

Lastly, the doctors told us that the type of chemo that I will be doing will not make me infertile and that it will only at most lessen our changes of becoming pregnant a little bit. This was a huge relief and made us very happy! (especially after the doctors had told us that we wouldn't have time to freeze eggs before starting chemo). 

Hope everyone is doing well! Have a great week :) 

Here are some pictures from the last week! 

Fun date with my mom! We went to "pannekakehuset" in Lillehammer. 

        The stuff Ryan brought to Norway! haha! Moving across the worlds really isn't simple

Blake! Thank you!!! 

NEW HAIR, NEW ME!! 

Little family outing in Lillehammer! Always a blast! I love being able to see them so much.

First round of blood tests from this morning! Whoop whoop! 

Little exploring in Oslo between appointments at the hospital! 

Ryan and I celebrated Valentine's day by going to out dinner downtown Oslo! We were also celebrating last night before starting chemo! Double the celebration and double the fun! 

Until next time! 

- Maria