The latest

Hello Everyone, 
So I feel very special because I get to blog today on my sisters mac! It makes me very happy! So I feel like it has been forever since my last blog so let me fill you in on what has happened lately! I was suppose to get my Chemo last Friday the 7th but my protein in my urine was too high. This is what tells the doctors that my kidneys are functioning good or bad. Which it was too high so I could not get it. So we returned this Friday and I had to do a 24 hour urine test which sounds so delightful let me tell you! It is where you have to collect your urine for a whole 24 hours which shows how your kidneys are functioning. So we went in to clinic and my counts were good and my kidney function was good! So I was able to get Chemo this week! My doctor told me and my mom Karen that he thought it would be good that I only get one more dose of the infusion of chemo. I will continue to take my daily oral chemo but the infusion is the one causing the kidney problems and heart problems. When I was in Memphis I got something that was called elongated q-t which is where the beats of the heart are longer than what they are suppose to be. When it is longer than what it is suppose to be I could just drop over dead at any moment. They fixed this by cutting my list of drugs in half that I cannot take like benadryl. This makes it very difficult when I have symptoms to find something to use to make me feel better. So with not getting this infusion my kidney function and my heart should get better! I have still been so tired and we have not figured out the cause except I am sure a lot of it is just from being on chemo for so long. I am very comfortable with the idea of giving my body a break. I have complete faith in my doctors and in Jesus. He has never failed me and always has my best interest at heart. Along with my doctors I know for a fact that he always has my best interest at heart. Switching the subject but I cannot believe that Christmas is 9 days away! I am so ready for snow!! Santa always makes a big visit to all the St. Jude patients at clinic! So I don't have much more to say! 
See you all next week!! 
Love you all! 

Cora Peters 

The story

Hey guys!
Sorry it has been a while since I have updated! I have been SO busy! It has all been so exciting! For those of you who go to BV you know it was hope week this past week! It was so amazing all of you were so supportive! I have not herd how much we raised when I hear tho I will put up a post! Then yesterday I got to go to The Story Tour. For those of you who don't know what that is it is a christian concert that I believe 7 or 8 christian artists perform the bible from genesis to revelations in songs. I was also honored to be able to be at the meet and greet after the concert so I got to meet Matthew west, Natalie Grant, Nicole Nordman, Jermey Camp, and Selah. There may have been a few more. It was truly amazing! Matthew west also prayed over me. But the concert in itself was amazing and a beautiful experience! Medical wise i am doing great! I am due for chemo next week so we will see if my counts will be good enough! 
Thanks guys feel free to leave me a comment!
Love you all!
Cora Peters

Recap Wednesday

Hey guys!
Happy day before Thanksgiving! Today is a big day for me! Today I have been fighting cancer for three years. Three years ago today I was in a operating room having a biopsy done of my tumor. I remember the surgeon saying if it is cancer you will come out with a broviak line. Which for those of you who don't know is a like that comes out of your chest that goes into the main vain going into your heart. Yeah I know scary . So of course when I wake up the first think I look for is my line and there wasn't one. So when my dad came in he was crying and I remember just telling him it is ok that I don't have cancer. To my surprise I remember him saying you started to bleed and that I did have cancer and I lost too much blood and they couldn't put in my line. I just sat there saying it would be ok and we would get through it. Today I cannot believe I have been dealing with this for three years. We have had our ups and our downs but we are still here and I am happy and feel good most of the time. I know most of you have no idea what it feels like to be in my shoes. I would not ever wish this on ANYONE! So please say nice things. Cherish Every Moment. You are not guaranteed tomorrow. Be thankful for good health and to have the people you have around you. My counts were good yesterday but I am still EXTREMELY tired I don't really know why I am so tired but that has been why I have not been at school. I get up and my arms and legs feel like 100 ton bricks.

Today I am thankful for modern medicine. I would not be here today if there were no chemotherapy treatments and insulin. I am happy for the time I live in.

I hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends!

Love you all
Cora Peters

Sisters

Hey guys!
I am so sorry it has been forever since I have blogged. My days have been running together. My stomach has been in a sorts of forms lately. They upped my medicine dose so I believe that is the problem. So since I posted last a little bit has gone on but not much! I have been to school a couple of times but not alot because of these stomach and being extermly tired. When I say tired I mean like can't move off the couch and when I do my legs feel weak and my arms are so weak I don't feel like I can lift them. I think it is from my counts being lower than normal. So there is my explanation for not being at school. So today I have been doing testing all day for chemo that I am suppose to get tomorrow. We shall see if I can. With the way I have been feeling I don't know if I will be able too. So that aside, I don't know if you have noticed the facebook thing going around about the being grateful! I know I am fifteen days late but I would like to start a trend on here for the month of november every friday when I post I will post one thing I am thankful for and I would like to hear what you guys are thankful for too! So here we go...

              Today I am thankful for my sister Dorian. She is always there for me even when I am a pain in the butt! I am also thankful for my nonbiological sisters Shannon, Kalie, Janelle, Julie. You all thave stuck with me through good times and bad! So there is my first post of thankfulness! Now its your turn!

Love to you all!
Cora Peters

Scans

Hey Guys!
So my week has been crazy good! I have gone to school twice maybe 3 times I don't remember! But it has been a good couple of days! I have been super busy! I am working on hope week t-shirts now and it is alot of behind the scenes work that I did not expect! So tomorrow I have a chest CT scan which is where all my tumors are so if you all of you could say some prayers that they will show improvement but ultimately we want them to be GONE! I believe in miracles and I am praying for one! Also I have been getting alot of charlie horses in my hip and ankle so to pray for those to stop also! Other than that I am doing homework and working on hope week! So not much going on please continue to share my blog!
Love you all!
~Cora Peters

Positive Attitude

Hey guys!
Sorry it's so late! I had a busy day today but it was good! My protein was low enough that I could get chemo so thank you for praying! All my blood counts were also really good! I should be getting my license tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited? Please pray for me not to be nervous and to pass haha! I want this so bad!! My views on my blog have gone through the roof so thanks for sharing my blog!! Continue to share tho!! This weekend I am going to see pitch perfect so I will let y'all know how I like it! I've heard it is really funny! So not much to talk about but it feels great to have some positive news! Continue to pray for the other family's dealing with this horrible cancer some are less fortunate than me! I don't think I would be here if it wasn't for one God and two my positive attitude. You would be surprised how you thoughts affect the way you feel! So be happy and live another day!
Much Love
~Cora Peters 

Good VS. Bad

Hey Guys!
As I sit here on my couch with a blanket and my sweats on and some taylor swift going I can say life is good. Yes my life is overwhelming at time but there are too many good times to out rule all the bad.  Yesterday I got a call from my doctors saying that my protein output it really high and has doubled in a month which is bad. This means that my kidneys aren't functioning like they should. So for those of you who don't know much about me I am also I diabetic. Not controlling your diabetes can also lead to this problem. So of course my doctors are leaning toward it being diabetic related but I don't think it is. Being my age with diabetes and cancer is seriously terrible. I don't feel "normal". I don't feel like I can compare myself to my friends at all. I always feel like I don't fit in. I wish I could be fun and silly and crazy... but I can't. This is something I really struggle with. If I wasn't sick I would be involved in everything. So back on track first it is not normal for kids my age with diabetes to slack off with their diabetes during there teen years but my problem is its not just diabetes its cancer also. If I just had diabetes no problem. So the past couple of days have been hard to grasp. Because of this problem I could possibly be taken off this medicine which terrifying me. I have been on this for almost a year and a half but I am doing so well on it. I don't have any side effects except for this problem. So please pray pray pray this problem goes away on its own and that I can continue on this medicine.  The day before yesterday we were also visited by our friends from Canada! We love them so much! She taught my mom and sister how to braid in a pink piece of hair called a highlight for hope! So we did that and visited and had some chili! So as I am preparing for hope week and having make up homework and I am doing a St. Jude walk coming up and trying to fit in time for friends its all so overwhelming so if you facebook me, email me, or text me I am sorry if I take a little bit to get back to you! So please leave me a message here and let me know what you think!
~Cora Peters

Blessing In Disguise

Hey guys!
It has been a crazy day! First off I woke up late! I hate being late and having to rush getting ready. It stinks! But my day didn't get much better. I forgot to charge my phone the night before so my phone died about 1/4 into my day. Then I wasn't ready for chemo today. Then finally things started looking up. While waiting to see the doctor I met a guy that was a junior in college. Him and his dad were there to get chemo. He was there because he had relapsed from having hodgkins lymphoma. We talked for a little bit and I found out they were getting ready to go to Memphis for a bone marrow transplant. It defiantly brought me out of my bad mood! So we exchanged e-mails and talked some more. So if you guys would keep them in your prayers that would be great! Also there is a 3 year old little girl named alivia who has 1-2 months to live if you would also keep them in there prayers too that would be awesome! Not being able to get chemo today was kind of a blessing in disguise because this year I am doing hope week at bv and chemo was going to fall right at week of that! Also a St. Jude walk I wanted to do was going to fall right at the day after I get chemo so know I am going to surpass all those! So just remember know matter how bad your day is find something positive to look at! I am asking you guys to share my blog with everyone! I am open to having this blog as big as possible! I think I am going to keep Fridays as my day to blog so every Friday at least look for a new blog from me!!!
Love you all!!
~Cora Peters

Cora's Hope

Hey guys! 
Sorry I have not posted in a while! I have been busy with school, doctors appointments, and enjoying life! If you didn't know I have trouble sleeping at night.... hints why its so late! The good thing is my everyone in my family are heavy sleepers! So I am going to start trying to pick a day that I blog every week! So I am loving junior year so far. I love being with my friends and seeing them everyday. Well almost everyday! So just to get you up to speed on what is going on I am still on chemo but I don't have to go to Memphis every three weeks any more! YAY. I go to OSF St. Jude once a week for lab work and on every third week I get chemo. But its not bad I don't get sick from it. I get to get my license hopefully by the end of the week! I am super excited about that it has been a constant struggle trying to get that! So guys if you see me at school don't be afraid to talk to me. I promise I don't bit. haha. I promise to be there as much as I can. I feel like sometimes people tend to hold off getting to know me or talking to be to make sure I am going to stick around because in 8th grade is when I got sick and I couldn't go to school. Then freshman year I started of at school because I was cancer free but then I relapsed (it came back) and I was gone again. I feel like people in a way feel like they cant trust me being there. Trust me I am going to try my hardest to be there.  So ya I am going to try to stay as positive as I can on the site from now on! So drop me a note and when I figure out a day that I am going to start blogging on for a set day I will let all y'all know! So drop me a note or something and tell me something positive that is happening in your life and I will comment back!
Love you all!
Cora

Cora's World

Hey guys!
So tomorrow I am going in for chemo! Which isn't the most fun! But it will be a lot easier because I was suppost to be getting it last Thursday. So I got my EKG out of the way! I couldn't get it last week because I got a UTI ( urinary track infection) trust me not fun! Which consisted of me not being able to get my chemo. So tomorrow I will go in for a 30 minute infusion. But before that They will access my port - for those of you who don't know what a port is it is a medical infusion device that they surgically implant so that it saves your veins so your arms don't have to be stuck mine is right under my coller bone so they numb in then they put the needle in and hook me up to fluids. Then they get counts, we wait, and then we see the doctor, then we get chemo. What gets me through the day is knowing we are going shopping after! As most girls are at this time I am very excited for prom! I've got my dress and my shoes but no accessories yet! So I just wanted everyone to know if you have any questions about anything please leave me a comment and I will try to respond to those! I appreciate the feed back it lets me know that you guys like what I am writing! Also let me know what could make it better and help you understand what I am going through right now! I would like to encourage all of you to think about someone other than yourself. There are hundreds and thousands of kids out there that are fighting for their life! Not only with cancer but other very serious conditions! So the next time you complain about something you think is huge think about it from somebody elses prospective. Your problems are small compared to some!

Thanks for reading,
Cora

The minute we crossed back over from Memphis to Arkansas it was a relief. As of this last trip to Memphis I am done going to Memphis! I still have to go to Peoria every week and get chemo every 3 weeks. I am hoping to get back to school toward the end of next week. This last Memphis trip was very special to me. One because I was so happy to be done and two I got to share it with a very special lady. My scans were good mostly the same but still good! The lady a got to spend it with was Julie Locke. She lost her son Dax to cancer at the age of 2. He would be 5 this year. Everytime I am with her I get encouraged. She turns everything into something better! She now has a foundation and is working toward raising 1.7 million dollars to run St. Jude for one day. Her big thing is to forgive everyone. I am so excited to be coming back to school. Next year tho BV students get ready for hope week! We are going to go up against Princeton of who can raise the most money! I am really excited for this!! I can honestly say I have the best friends in the world! No matter how late we get together we do! Staying up till 2 A.M talking is the best! Thank you everyone for supporting me. I am excited to be getting to start seeing everyone at BV again soon!

~Cora

2 to Go!

Oh my, the time has just flown since I was in memphis last! I had gotten home the night before hoop jam. Saterday morning I sat down and started a blog but never finished it! Today I just got on and seen that I had not wrote since then. I leave for memphis on monday. Tomorrow (friday) I will be going to Eureaka High School to speak for the Dax Locke Foundation. If you dont know what that is it is about a 2 year old boy who lost his battle against aml m7 a leukemia 2 years ago and his mom is working at raising 1.7 million dollars for st. jude. That is how much it caughst to run st. judes for 1 day. I will also be going to the st. jude clinic for blood work. Saterday I will be packing and getting ready to leave and on sunday my parents are taking me to hannibal Missouri to meet up with my aunt who is taking me to memphis this time. This is the big one! If my scans are good we are going to bring the treatment back to peoria and finish it there! It is such a relief to be able to bring it back to peoria! They are like my family. Hopefully I will be able to attened school more often! Well I will be upating again soon!
Thanks Cora<3

1-30-12 Trip

The more and more I go to Memphis the more and more I hate going. We spent 14  hours in an airport trying to get to Memphis. We make this trip every 3 weeks. It was also our 3rd attempt to get there. So after we get there we have to get a cab which is very scary st. Jude's usually has a company there to pick us up which is a lot safer! But it was to late for this company to run. So we took a cab. We got into our room at 12:30 A.M our first appointment in the morning is at 8. So we went to bed and got back up in the morning and got going. They always tell you not to eat if you are having any test done just in case you get contrast ( I do anyways!). I had CT, echo and EKG. So I got those done and I was done for the day. Wednesday I had MRI which takes about an hour and a half and then I had a meeting with my doctor and then I got my chemo packed and came home thank goodness there were no delays and no cancellations! My scans came back good there was some shrinking and some were even gone! We are planning on moving the medicine from Memphis to Peoria after 3 more times!! I am so tired of the trip I am grateful for everything Memphis does and st. Jude has done they have given me an extended life that I would not have had but I have truly just ran dry of energy. So if these next scans come back improved and still looking good We will move this to Peoria! Which means I will be able to be in school more and home alot more! I love being able to spend time with my friends. They mean the world to me and I know I can call on them at anytime with anything and they will be there for me! Thank you so much for everything you guys have done and given me support. This morning I woke up feeling sick. But I had to get up I had a doctors appointment my doctor is pretty cool we are alot like family. We call him doctor Al. My blood counts came back good and almost normal and he said he thought I looked good. They are doing so extended blood tests to check my thyroid because I have where I am really hot and really cold back and forth. Tonight is my dads birthday so we celebrated and now are watching movies. Frank is coming over later but for now this is all. Feel free to leave me a note! Thanks

Unplanned Hospital Stay

I have been fighting this for over 2 years. After awhile it gets quit tiresome. On Wednesday night we made a unplanned visit to the hospital because I had thrown up. They kept me over night and hydrated me. By morning they had pumped me so full of fluids my face was puffy. At 10 A. M. the nurse came in and said I was free but they wanted me on home I.V fluids ( I really hate home fluids) I have to carry around this big bag of fluids everywhere i go. But it meant I got to go home which I desperately wanted. So we are waiting around and 1 rolls around then it turns to 2 then to 3 then to 4 and finally to 5. We are getting a little antsy to get out by now. Finally the coordinating nurse comes in and tells us that are insurance denied the order and refused to pay so they had to find a place that would mix them and insurance would cooperate. So long story short it takes 2 hours for the fluids to be mixed and they had to come from moline to Peoria. So the doctor came in and said we could just go home and the fluids would come to the house directly. So then we had to have home heath care come and hook me up and take my blood pressure and temperature and listen to me breath. Trust me its not fun. So as I lay around listening to Kari Jobe I feel very grateful to have doctors and parents and friends and family who care. Tomorrow will be our THIRD attempt to leave for Memphis. This will be course 9 and we have a full year from right now. I also have to have an MRI, CT scan, and Echo EKG when I am down there. On the plus side the temperature in Memphis this week is in the 60's with lows of 50's!! Bring out the Capri's!! I still have to pack and I have home heath coming to de access me which just means pull the need out of my port. Well I will try to blog again on Wednesday.

A visit from strangers!

Today I got a visit from a very special person. In this picture are a couple from Canada that have been following my caringbridge since the beginning. They are traveling to Georgia to see family but on their way they wanted to stop and meet ME! I sometimes feel like a celebrity! But you have to understand sometimes it feels really overwhelming. But this mornings visit was very nice. When someone has been following you and your progress for 2 years that is dedication and I am very happy I got the opportunity to meet this very net lady. I also wanted to talk a little bit of what I want to come out of this blog. I want to use this blog one for connecting with my classmates and so they can get a little idea for what its like to be in my shoes but also I would like to use this for questions anyone has and a place for you to leave me messages and stuff about what is going on in school. So here it goes...
Day 1- Today has been a pretty good day so far (its only 11:45). This blog thing might actually be a good thing:) We will see! You will probably learn a lot about me that you didn't know. I tend to put on a good act ( I'm very good at making a bad day look like a good day). Today I shall read huckfinn!! I'm not really looking forward to it! I also have to study for my earth science test we will see what I get done...