Anne was able to ring the bell on Friday afternoon to signify the end of her cancer treatment. She will be back for periodic check ups this year and some prophylactic antibiotic treatments, but her treatment is over.

Anne will have surgery to remove the port that she received chemotherapy through the first week of April. That is the last big hurdle. We expect that surgery to go well.

Anne’s family was able to join us for the bell ringing ceremony at the treatment center on Friday to help us celebrate. Anne doesn’t love big crowds and loud noises, but she wanted to really signify the end.

There haven’t been many recent blog updates because there haven’t been any developments or events. We have been moving back to life as usual. Anne is anxious to get things squared away with her Clemson registration for next year. She is also anxious to have new hair growth. We are still waiting on that.

A copy of the video of Anne ringing the bell is on my Instagram. You can reach out to me via WhatsApp if you would like to see it and you are not on Instagram. This platform does not support the video.

I will post again after Anne’s surgery in a couple of weeks! Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support.

Today was Anne’s last round of chemotherapy. She and Stephen left early this morning for the hospital and they finished in record time today. I was able to join them for lunch, so we could all celebrate the end together. We are so proud of her.

Anne has a PET scan scheduled in March, and continued antibiotic treatments for the next six months. We know many of you are as anxious as we are for the results of the PET scan. We have every reason to hope for good results!

Anne has another tough few days ahead of her as she recovers from this final round of chemo, so please continue to send all the prayers, good vibes, and love her direction.

Anne goes in for Round 11 tomorrow. It has been a long, hard month for Anne and the rest of the family. We had a wonderful, lazy Christmas and New Year. We stayed healthy – that was our goal. Anne is struggling with bone pain in a significant way between her chemo cycles as a result of one of her medications. While this is a “normal” response to the medication, it has been difficult for Anne. The pain is constant for most of her two-week recovery period between the chemo cycle. We are just really anticipating being finished.

Stephen’s birthday was last weekend, so we all went out for lunch. Clark couldn’t eat much because he needed to make weight for wrestling, but the rest of us ate way too much. Anne had ramen (no spicy), so it was good that she could find something on the menu. Stephen is traveling this week for work and he also has travel in February.

Clark is at the end of the wrestling season. We aren’t sure how long it will be – it depends on post season wins. It has been a difficult season for him physically and emotionally. He has learned a lot about setting boundaries and taking care of himself.

Anne has another month of chemo, then we wait for the results. We have every reason to hope for good results. That is what all four of us are focused on as we do our part.

As you can see, Anne is doing really well. She is enjoying hanging out with friends. There was a neighborhood Christmas cookie decorating contest – Anne is #6. We think her sweater cookie has a good shot at winning. Anne, Cassie, and Lillian are planning to go to Discovery place tomorrow, and I think they are going to have an amazing time.

Anne is struggling with food and appetite. Foods that she used to love do not appeal to her anymore and she has a very strong gag reflex to most things right now. We are trying to plan most of our holiday activities to not be centered around food – it is harder than you might think. Earl, Ami, Evie, and Aiden are coming over to watch a movie with us on Christmas Eve, and we will just have some appetizers on the counter if people are hungry. We are so blessed by our family who are just willing to adapt and make it special.

The past couple of weeks have been hard for all of the Ostendorf family members. Anne has continued to struggle with sleep and then she has her new challenges with food. Clark has been finishing the semester and trying to cut weight for wrestling. Clark also had a pretty bad virus last weekend. We were worried not just about him, but about him exposing Anne. Thankfully, Anne did not get sick, and Clark only missed a day of school and a weekend wrestling tournament. It was the first time Clark ever missed a wrestling event, and that was hard for him. Stephen and I have both been pretty busy at work, and we both have a full January and February work calendar. 

Anne has kept busy with puzzles (thank you to my friend Garrett for a new 2,000 piece puzzle that promises to be very hard). She also was able to tutor a student in Algebra 2, and that was such a positive experience. Anne has a strength for explaining math in a way that people can understand. If her first method doesn’t work, then she says, “oh, this other way might make more sense to you.” I love that about her, and I know she loves talking about math. Anne also has started learning to crochet and make carpets. There is this special tool that you use to make carpets. It is fascinating. She has also purchased wire, rocks, and other materials for a 3-D art project that I just know is going to make a big mess – she is very happy.

Speaking of art…my brother, Earl, was one of Anne’s first art teachers. He is an illustrator, and his company has a major Christmas Sweater contest every year. Everyone is an artist and they all make their sweaters/shirts for this event. The contest is intense and the bragging rights are very important. I thought you might want to see Earl’s submission to this year’s contest. To give you perspective, I don’t think he has ever won the contest. He works with some crazy-talented people.

Clark is in the height of wrestling season. He placed for the first time ever at an individual tournament a couple of weeks ago. It was such a great experience for him. Stephen and I were both able to go to his home meet at Catawba Ridge on Wednesday night. The picture below is before the meet, and it is the first time I’ve seen him out on the floor doing “his Captain thing” before the meet. Here is a link to a Fort Mill Prep Sports article about the meet from Wednesday night. Clark won both of his matches. The second match was one of those crazy, heated matches where everyone was yelling. The coaches from the other team seemed way too intense (and said some ugly things), both teams were on their feet screaming, and all the fans were yelling. It was an intense back and forth, and I was so nervous. Clark won. If he had lost he would have moved on and been fine, but I think having a winning moment like that will stay with him. Wrestling is such an interesting sport because you want to win for your team, but you are on the mat alone. I was glad that Stephen and I were both there and that Anne felt good and didn’t need us at home. (Clark is the one in the black sweatshirt in the picture. You can only see his back).

We have a relaxing Christmas planned. Anne has chemo next week after Christmas. I was thinking about writing how thankful we are as this year ends? I also thought about writing what a hard year it was, and that we are looking forward to starting a new year…. Those sentiments do not seem authentic. The truth is that we still feel very much in the thick of things, and I don’t feel particularly reflective as 2023 comes to an end. I know there will be time for everyone in our family to reflect, but right now we are managing, mitigating, and moving forward. We are doing our best to do that with love for ourselves, love for each other, and love for all of you who love and support us.

Merry Christmas!

Anne will be 2/3’s of the way through her treatment tomorrow! Last chemo treatment was a bit tougher for Anne and we are expecting tomorrow to be hard. Anne can “taste” the chemo now as they give it to her through her port and it makes her more nauseous during treatment. Anne didn’t finish her entire treatment last time. She and Stephen had to go back to finish the antibiotic portion of treatment a few days later. As we move forward, we have a new plan to help with the nausea and “taste”. Anne and Stephen will leave at 8:30 for the hospital tomorrow morning and won’t get home until 4:30 – it will be a long day.

Anne has managed to stay healthy and her blood counts have recovered well in-between treatments. Anne went to the Teen Holiday Meet-up at the cancer center last week. It was good for her to meet some other people her age also going through cancer treatment. Many of the kids were too sick to participate. These moments always give us a good perspective as we go through this experience. We are thankful for Anne’s health during treatment, and we are thankful that her cancer is treatable. Anne enjoyed making a ginger bread house at the holiday party (her house is the one on the right). There was another 18-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl that she was able to talk with. I believe the hospital social worker has plans for another meet-up for the kids.

We have been preparing for a low-key Christmas. Stephen has done most of our shopping on-line. We are blessed to have friends and family in town. My parents are in Atlanta, so we will miss seeing them. Anne has chemo the week of Christmas, and Clark has several wrestling meets and tournaments around Christmas and New Year. It will be nice to just take it easy and enjoy spending time together.

We are halfway through Anne’s treatment plan. We had a great Thanksgiving. Anne was able to eat a lot of her favorite foods. It was an off week for her on her treatment cycle, so she felt good. Because of the holiday, her chemotherapy schedule has changed and she will now have chemo on Mondays starting next week. Ami made Anne’s favorite dessert – chocolate no-bake oatmeal cookies. It was a really good day.

My mom had surgery on her foot on Tuesday. She had skin cancer removed. The surgery went well, but she has been in a good bit of pain. We were all worried about her, and we are glad the surgery is over. It was sad to not see them over Thanksgiving. I know some of their friends from church brought them meals.

We decorated for Christmas this weekend. We wanted to take advantage of Anne feeling good. It will be nice to come home from chemo tomorrow to a cozy Christmas house. Clark also has his first Wrestling Meet this week for anyone who wants to come out and watch. It is at Catawba Ridge on Wednesday night. His first tournament is in Greenville this weekend (Dec. 1st and 2nd) at Eastside High School on Friday night and Saturday.

Anne is tutoring in Algebra 2. She started last week, and is so excited to have her first client. It has been so good for her to have something else productive to do. I hope that she can continue to take on more clients next semester when she finishes chemo.

I know many of you might be wondering where we are in Anne’s treatment plan. We are officially half way through. Anne is doing well. We hope she continues to stay healthy – especially during the winter months with all the viruses that go around. Once Anne finishes her treatments, we will wait several weeks (6 to 8) before she has a PET scan. The hope is that PET scan will be PET Negative. If it is negative, then her port will be removed. She will continue antibiotic treatments for six more months. That will take her through to August. In August, we hope to be sending Anne off to Clemson for her freshman year.

I hope you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for the care and love you continue to show Anne and our family!

We have had an adventurous two weeks. Last weekend Anne, Cassie, and Lillian went to a fall festival, carved pumpkins, and went to the Renaissance Festival. After three days of non-stop activities, Anne was exhausted. She had a great time and slept all day Sunday and Monday to recover. I think it was fun for her to feel “normal” again.

We had a visit from Aunt Mary and Uncle Tim this week! They drove all the way up to visit with us for the evening. It was so fun to see them and catch up. They brought Anne a fuzzy blanket that she can use during chemo and to just snuggle and stay warm. Earl, Ami, and Evie were able to visit with us too. Stephen was out of town with work, so he missed out on the fun. The dog officially loves Uncle Tim more than us now, and I know she was sad to see him go home.

Anne felt great after the 4th round of chemo and did great with her symptoms this time around. Four rounds of chemo is technically two cycles in Anne’s treatment regimen. After two cycles, Anne’s doctors wanted another PET scan to see how she was responding to treatment. We had the PET scan on Tuesday night at 8:00 PM in Albemarle, NC (almost two hours away in rush hour traffic). Earl, my brother, drove Anne and me to the PET scan since Stephen was out of town and it was really late at night. We made it home before midnight. The doctor gave us the results of the PET scan today, and it was PET Negative – that is a good thing!

The plan is to continue with the treatment plan because it is working, and do a PET scan at the end of her treatment. We still have several cycles to go, but we are very happy with the news.

Anne did round five of chemo today. Anne’s regimen takes four hours on top of having labs drawn and a visit with the doctor, so it is always a long day. The car ride is always long too – she is exhausted. But we are thankful to be at a great facility where Anne is getting amazing care. The nurses who administer her chemo are wonderful. She had a window room today, which is always a fun treat. Our goal now is for Anne to stay healthy for the rest of her treatment.

Wrestling season officially starts on Monday for Clark. Our schedule is about to get pretty crazy. He is very excited, and we are happy for him. Stephen is home from the kick-off with their new big project. He started a new online class a few weeks ago that he is enjoying too. For two weeks in a row now, I actually participated in a jiu jitsu class that I did not teach (and I rolled), so we are all getting our groove back.

Anne and I are not particularly good at taking selfies. This was us getting in the car on the way home from chemotherapy. It was a pretty good day. All of her blood work came back very strong and that was fantastic news before starting another round of chemo. The staff where Anne receives chemo are fantastic, and they always take good care of her. The team was really happy with how Anne’s side effects went last treatment cycle, so we are hopeful that we have a good plan moving forward to manage the side effects.

The doctor has ordered a PET scan and we hope to have that scheduled in the next couple of weeks. That is pretty standard after the first two cycles (four rounds of chemo equals two cycles) because the team wants to make sure her treatment plan is working as anticipated.

There is an organization called Caps for Kids that gets celebrities to sign baseball hats for kids with cancer. Anne was given the opportunity to write down the name of someone that she would like to have sign a cap for her. Anne did not pick a typical celebrity – she picked the engineer Mark Rober who does the YouTube videos about glitter bombs and other fun videos. He has a fun video about a backyard squirrel obstacle course that you can watch here. He signed a hat for Anne and sent an extra hat to her from his Crunch Labs. She was happy.

Anne’s high school Calculus teacher reached out this week and sent her some great materials to help her with her Calculus. Another friend sent a website resource that she can use with practice problems. We are happy that she now has a plan to work on Calculus and Physics, and we are grateful to Anne’s former teachers for their help. She has several art projects planned that involve building too. It is fun to see her mind focusing on constructive things.

We are also going to take advantage of this time off from school and responsibility to work on Anne’s sleep habits and schedule. She really began to struggle with sleep her senior year, but the stress of having to get up the next morning for school was always looming as we tried different approaches to sleep. We are going to use this time off to try to reset with sleep. There is a holistic oncologist at Anne’s treatment center who is going to work with us. We are excited about this opportunity for some downtime for Anne to build habits that will hopefully help her with wellness for her lifetime.

This weekend starts Anne’s hard recovery week, so prayers for Anne to stay healthy are appreciated. We know you are all continuing to remember Anne. We remain grateful.

This is just a quick update to let you all know that Anne had a great week after chemotherapy. She didn’t have to go to the Emergency Room. She felt pretty good. Her friends came to visit several times. She and Cassie made candles (pictured above). Friends brought us some food and bought us some food. And, Anne has some new hair.

A physics teacher from the high school reached out and is going to give Anne work next semester to help her stay sharp with her physics. Anne is also hoping for some help with her Calculus. She is planning to skip the first and second Engineering Calculus classes at Clemson, so she doesn’t want to forget things.

Clark had a day off from school yesterday. He spent most of the day playing video games, but he did take Anne to the park and out to eat – I think Clark paid. We are enjoying having him home more this month because there is only “conditioning” for wrestling. The official wrestling season starts in November, and then things will get a bit crazy.

Anne’s chemotherapy at the end of this week will officially be a third of the way through her treatment plan. That feels like a pretty big accomplishment. Those of you who pray can pray for Anne’s bloodwork to come back strong for her treatment at the end of the week. You can also pray that Anne finds some things to do at home that are constructive and good for her mind and spirit.