Monthly Archives: December 2009

Well, I’m finally out of the hospital and done with chemo, the last day and a half was kind of rough, but I’m surviving and very thankful that chemo is over.  Someone asked me today how I was feeling… and I told them I felt like a dead fish… hence the picture.  We moved into our new housing unit last night, and everything is really nice.  We have a great view of the Space needle, where it sounds like they might be setting off fireworks tonight, we’ll see if I can stay awake   This morning I had an appointment at 10am with Dr. Lucas, and then I have another appointment this afternoon at 3pm for my daily injection of Nuepogen.  This shot helps boost my blood counts. 

I hope everyone has a very safe…and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

my nurse getting suited up to handle the chemo

Good morning!

At least it is morning while I am writing this, the internet is down right now, so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to post this note. 

Well, so far so good.  I arrived in Seattle Sunday night, and then Monday morning I had breakfast with my parents and my brother Matt and his family.  After breakfast we headed to the hospital to be admitted.  Yesterday I received 2 of the chemo drugs, one took 6 hours (Rituximab), the other took 2 hours (etoposide).  I rested ok last night despite the many interruptions to check my vitals and take my blood. 

Right now I’m waiting for my doctor to arrive to approve my blood tests to begin the next chemo drug (Carboplatin).  Last time, this was the one that was the worst.  It only took an hour, but it really set me back.  My mom stayed the night in the hospital with me last night, and this morning we took a little walk.  She pushes my IV stand while I trudge along.  We went 3 laps around the wing, and I thought we were done, and then she wanted to double time it for one more lap.  So the race began…I think we tied… only because neither of us can get too far ahead or behind or my IV tubes will come out.

Well, one day down… hopefully only 2 more days to go until the chemo is done and I’m discharged.

Shaved Head...#2

Merry Christmas to all! 

Last night, Dec. 23, I celebrated Christmas with my mom and dad, and my brother Benjy and his family: Susie, Annie, and Riley.  There was a discussion earlier in the day whether Santa would know that we were having Christmas early and whether he would show up early.  My 89 yr. old grandpa said it best, and convincingly, ”as long as you believe that Santa will come… Santa will come”, and he did!  We had a great evening as we read and reflected the True Christmas story in Luke 2.  We also had a great time exchanging gifts.

My hair has been falling out fairly significantly over the last few days, and so I finally decided to have Benjy shave it after our evening was over.  It is much colder now than the last time I shaved it during the summer, so I’m going to have to find myself a new hat.  This weekend I am going to be flying back up to Seattle, but this time I could be up there for up to 4 weeks.  I’m going to be admitted to the hospital December 28 for 3 days for another cycle of R-ICE chemotherapy.  After I’m discharged, I will stay at the new SCCA (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) house, a temporary housing unit for cancer patients and their families.  Beginning January 5, I will begin going through tests and appointments preparing for my bone marrow harvest.  Depending upon how fast my blood counts and bone marrow comes back from the chemo treatments, will depend on how long I will stay up there.  It’s likely they may be able to get enough bone marrow in the first pass, but it’s also possible it could take multiple passes to get enough. 

Contrary to what I had originally thought, they are now able to extract the bone marrow from my blood instead of having to stick my hip bone.  If my veins are good, they may be able to just do a vein-to-vein procedure.  But, if they are not, then I’ll have another surgery to insert an additional port into my neck.  The blood would then flow out of my PICC line, go through a dialysis type machine which extracts the bone marrow, and then return the rest of the blood back through the new neck port.  I’ve often been complimented on my great veins from several nurses   … so hopefully they can just do the vein-to-vein procedure.

A highlight from last week was that I was able to get out of the house and attend our company christmas party and enjoy an amazing hunk of prime rib…and cheesecake!  You can only follow a diet for so long before you need to occasionally break down and have some real food!  Maybe I shouldn’t be posting this in case any of my doctors are reading…oh well, it was worth it!

Again, thank you all for the many prayers and encouragement notes you have sent me.  I LOVE hearing from all of you! 

God is GOOD!

I want to start out by THANKING EVERYONE for the overwhelming amount of prayers, comments, encouragement, cards, cd’s, books, flight vouchers, $$$, fiesta bowl offers, etc.

At this point, I am doing well.  Every morning I wake up and I keep waiting for the nasty side effects to hit, but so far, none have come yet.  I am definitely weak and tired, but other side effects have not hit.  A home health nurse was here the other day and she wanted to check my pulse rate after I had walked a little bit.  So I walked to my bedroom, to the kitchen, and then back to my rocking chair, and my pulse was 157 bpm.  So, I guess I’m still a ways away from being in shape for a triathlon   But I still think I could take most of you in a short one on one basketball game!!!   I should also note, that today the nurse gave me a mental health test… there were many difficult challenges such as telling her what today’s date was and spelling “world” backwards, BUT, I want you all to know that I passed with flying colors!

 As you all SHOULD know by now, Boise State is playing in the Fiesta Bowl on January 4.  This was something that I had wanted to go to, but it doesn’t look like it is going to work out because my bone marrow harvest is scheduled for January 5th in Seattle.  I had originally thought I could fly down and be back in time for the harvest, but the doctors have advised against this.  At this point, I’m not supposed to shave, cut my fingernails, be around children, or be out in crowds, because my immune system is so weak.  It is critical that my bone marrow not be compromised for this procedure. 

I have wondered, and many have asked, why they would do a bone marrow harvest AFTER chemo, and not before.  The reason is because right now it is possible there could be small cancer cells in the bone marrow.  The high dosage chemo that I am going through basically kills everything, including the bone marrow, but 5 days after a chemo treatment there is usually a “surge” of new bone marrow that is produced by the body.  This fresh new bone marrow is what they want to harvest. 

Once again, I can’t THANK YOU enough for everything all of you are doing for me!  My spirits are high because of the great support I am receiving from everyone.

Thanks to everyone for the numerous encouragement notes and prayers!  I can’t tell you how much it means to me and my family.  My mom and I finally made it back home last night.  My last chemo drug was finished at 6am, and then I was finally discharged from the hospital around 1:30pm.  We missed our original 3pm flight, but got on the next flight at 5pm.  I got the VIP wheelchair service through both airports.  We arrived to Boise with several inches of snow on the ground.  At this point, I’m staying at my parents house, so I’m not exactly home sweet home, but it’s close! 

I had a good rest last night, which was much needed.  So far today I am pretty weak, but doing fine.  The doctors are projecting my blood counts to continue to drop until they hit the bottom around day 10.  For the next while, I’m pretty much without an immune system, so I’m not able to go out into crowds, etc. 

Thought you might enjoy a nice picture of some snow and sunshine from my parents house!

Beautiful snow and sunshine looking out of my parents back patio

I was strong enough to sit up in a chair to watch the Texas Nebraska game.

Well, after a long day yesterday I was hoping for a nice restful last night, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.  They began my first chemo drug around10pm or 11pm, and it ran until 4am, which is when I received my second one.  During the time of these drugs, the nurse checked my blood pressure and vitals every 20-30 minutes all night long, making it very difficult to sleep.  I received my third drug about 10am on Saturday, which only lasted about an hour, but it was by far the toughest one yet.  My blood pressure was dropping fast as I received that drug, but I fought back!  At 1pm they started me on another one that lasts for 24 hours.  This one doesn’t seem to be as bad, as I’m feeling a little better, and the nurse doesn’t have to check on me as often.  I was hoping for a good rest tonight, but right now I have the hiccups, and they won’t go away!  Anybody have any suggestions?

Well, today is finally starting to wind down, and my mom and I are sure TIRED. 

We had a good flight this morning (even though I was selected for an extra random security check), and arrived at the Vascular center to get my picc line inserted.  The surgery seemed to go well, but my left arm is still a little sore from where they put it in. This one hangs out externally about 3-4 inches, so I have to make sure I don’t snag it on something. 

We then went to the Cheesecake factory for lunch, and killed some time at Barnes and Noble before my appointment at the clinic.  We had another good consult with both Dr. Lucas and Cunningham as they explained further in depth the upcoming treatments and expectations.  I also got a bone marrow procedure done, where they jammed a needle into my hip bone and extracted some marrow.  The local anesthesia hasn’t warn off yet, but I’m sure as hard as he was working on that thing my hip is going to be pretty sore tomorrow. 

We got admitted into the hospital about 6pm, which is where I am now.  We are now just waiting for my blood results to come back before they begin the chemo treatment tonight.  There are 3-4 drugs that they will be administering to me over the next 3 days. 

My view of the Seattle skyline from my hospital room on the 12th floor

Just wanted to pass a quick update on what my schedule is likely going to look like this weekend.

Friday:

7am- Flying with my mom from Boise to Seattle

10:30am- Surgery to insert a temporary port into my chest

2:00pm- Appointment with Dr. Lucas, Nathuropathic Oncologist

3:30pm- Appointment with Dr. Cunningham, Oncologist- also going to get a bone marrow procedure done to make sure the cancer hasn’t spread into my bone marrow, and also to test to make sure my bone marrow is good enough to harvest for a possible future bone marrow transplant.

Friday night through Monday- I will be in the hospital and they will administer the high dosage chemo over the course of these days. 

Sometime after Monday I’m hoping that I will have enough strength to fly back home. 

On a side note, Jake and Benjy took me racing last night at FastLanes.  Benjy and I were both kind enough to let Jake win

Jake, myself, and Benjy- all suited up for our race!