What a Christmas!

Tis' the season to be traveling!

I had a great time visiting all our families this Christmas!  We started Christmas day at our very own house, believe it or not.  We slept in (until 7:45am!) and when Taigen got up, we opened presents. The highlight for her was a note that she got saying that we are going to let her pick out a new cat this week.  After that, we spent the day putting together a Barbie Dream House and watching Taigen's favorite show, Eureka.  We ended the night with an amazing Christmas dinner that Wendy made.

The next day we headed out to visit my mom in Eugene.  We decided not to rush out of town but just take our time.  The drive went well and we got to her house around 7:30pm.  We had dinner and opened presents.  I got one of the most amazing presents from Brianna and her husband Sam.  They wrote to the Seattle Sounders, explained that I am a die-hard fan and asked if they could get something from the team for me.  This is what they got back:

The Sounders are a class-act organization.  This just makes me love them more!

After this we were off to Roseburg to visit Ann (Wendy's Mom) and Ron (Wendy's Step-dad).  After a bit, Wendy's sister Juli and her husband Bill came over from Bend to join us for dinner and presents.  It was a great time!  The next day was just spent relaxing.  I love going to Roseburg because I get to visit a world-renown artist, Kevin Clark.  He does Japanese woodblock printing, which I love, and the crazy thing is that he is known around the world but not in Roseburg.  I find this humorous and sad every time I visit him.

On our way back through Eugene, we stopped to visit Wendy's aunt Ellie.  It was good for Wendy and Taigen to get to see her and visit for a while.  Unfortunately, I had to stay in the car as we didn't want to leave it parked on the street with all of our stuff in it.

Next up, Portland and Wendy's Dad's and his wife Laisha's house.  We had a huge family brunch with that side of the family:  Dad, Laisha, dog Sadie, Wendy's step-bother Jim, his wife Jenn and daughter Jillian, step-brother Jeff, step-sister Janine and her boyfriend Adam.  After brunch we opened presents and had a great time talking and laughing together.  After this, I got another amazing present from the Seahawks - home field advantage throughout the playoffs.  How thoughtful!

Now we are back in Seattle and I must have been on the very nice list or Santa felt bad for me because the Ducks just beat Texas in the Alamo Bowl!  Merry Christmas to me again!!!  They say that positive thoughts, energy and prayers are good for my health so right now I am kicking cancer's butt!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone!

Chris

Merry Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the chemo center.........

Hello all, my new year's resolution is to write more on this blog.  I never thought that so many people would care that I would get "yelled" at when I don't do updates.  So I repent and will do a better job.

A Christmas miracle occurred!  My garage is almost done.  Yes you read that right.  Justin Ferguson, Brad Bliven, Pang Sisavath, Scott Holloway and Eric Parmalee came over and took a big load to the dump, an even bigger load to Goodwill and helped organize my mess.  Thank you so much for helping the Soethes slay the burden of our garage.  Also, big shout out to the Lewis' for setting everything up.  You all rock.

I also wanted to thank everyone for all the meals and childcare you have given us.  It has blown us away how much love and help everyone has given us.  We could not have done this without all of your help.  We are blessed to have such good friends and family.  We love you all very much!

My follow-up CT scan is set for Jan 13th and I will most likely get the results on my chemo appt on Jan 15th.  Please keep praying for me!  

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7.

'Til next time, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Chris

What a weird week.

As I said before, this has been a weird week.  For the past 3 chemos, my bad day has been on the 3rd day.  The first chemo, I was hit hard on Friday.  The next time, Friday was a bit better but still not fun.  Last Friday was not bad at all.  Didn't feel good but did't feel bad.  So I was thinking that I was in a rhythm now.  Wrong!  My last chemo was on Tuesday and I was ready for Friday.  I was set, but on Thursday felt really bad and on Friday I had really bad fatigue.  So bad that I came home on Friday and basically passed out at 8.  Saturday was tired but felt better.  And today, feel "normal".  I was laughing that I wished that I could get a system down to know how I would feel on what day, but what fun would that be!

I did find out that I was in a play this weekend.  The Tacoma sector of our church had the kids Christmas play today where they talked about Barnabus and they used me as an example in the play.  I had my 15 minutes of fame and missed it!  

Just by the hair of my chinny chin chin

Yesterday was close.  I mean very close.  We now know that my white blood cell count takes a hit when I get my chemo.  After my break, my count was fine.  But this time it was a bit closer.  I needed 3.5 on my count to do chemo and I scored a 3.6 to squeak by.  I told you it was close!  My doctor did say that everything was going great and he has been very pleased with my results.  The cancer markers in my blood labs were down.  He said that it could be due to the chemo or the fact that they had to drain some sludge out when they put the stent in my bile duct.  Either way, good news.  Dr. Gold gave me several fist bumps! 

I did have a very weird weekend.  Normally when I have chemo on Tuesday, my down day will be on Friday.  I decided to see if I could work on Friday so I would not have to take another day off.  I worked it and felt a little down.  So I figured that on Saturday I would feel better.  But on Sat. I felt the same.  Not good, but not bad.  Then on Sunday I was feeling better.  Weird.  I have to say that 2 days feeling 60% is much better then one day at 10%.  I would say that this is a good trade.

Cheers,

Chris

Good News!

On Tuesday this week, Chris had his third chemo session.  He watched some TV shows on his iPad while I was working in a chair close by.  We were both surprised that the whole process went a lot faster - they must be letting it drip a little faster and they overlapped some of the saline with the chemo.  We were done in 4 hours instead of 5!  He is doing great, though a bit tired tonight as is normal about this amount of time after the chemo.  He is hoping to go to work tomorrow, which is normally his achy day but if he doesn't feel any worse than tonight when he wakes up tomorrow, he feels he can get through.  Maybe better to be at school with his wonderful colleagues and kids instead of home alone for too long.  TGIF tomorrow!

The best news was in talking to our oncologist before the chemo session.  He asked if Chris had any change in his pain level since beginning chemo.  Other than some lingering soreness from the surgery last Wednesday, Chris has no longer been experiencing much of the stomach and back pain that he was prior to his diagnosis.  In fact, he had been told by the surgeon last week that he couldn't take any pain medication during the holiday weekend as they wanted to make sure if he had any side effects from the surgery that he would notice the change in pain levels, etc.  He was nervous about going without his nightly Aleve, which he had been taking since the pain first presented in his back in Sept so he could sleep through the night.  He was able to go without it all weekend and slept pretty well, especially considering he had just had the surgery and could only sleep on his back the first night or two.  The oncologist asked why Chris thought he was experiencing a decrease in pain and when Chris said because 'the chemo is working' the doctor said the teacher got it right!  :)

Thanks again to everyone for the prayers, thoughts, delicious meals and Christmas lights hung on our house while we were gone last weekend! 

Love,
Wendy

I have a lot to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We went down to Bend OR to see family and it was a great time.  During this time, I realized that even though I am going through a tough time, I have a lot to be thankful for.

• My family is awesome!  Wendy is such an incredible wife who has been taking such good care of me.  She has been cooking most of our meals from scratch and really has been helping me eat healthier food that will help fight the cancer in me.  Even when I think I am being a burden she says that I am being silly and gives me a kiss.  She is an incredible woman who I am so lucky to have as my wife.  Taigen has been a trooper as well.  She has been so brave and so encouraging during this time.  I am constantly surprised at how strong, funny and loving she is.  I love them both very much.  

• My extended family.  I was so encouraged seeing some of my family in Bend.  My sister-in-law Juli cooked up a storm and served us constantly.  My brother-in-law Bill was amazing.  He showered me with gifts that encouraged the heck out of me.  Thank you so much Bill, you don't know how much your generosity means to me.  My in-laws were there too and they were great!  My mother-in-law Ann is my shopping buddy.  Our joke is that I was the shopper she always wanted because Wendy is not a big shopper at all.

• My Church family is amazing.  I am so encouraged by their prayers and well wishes.  I really don't know what I would do without them.  They say that I am a great example but the truth is that for the last 19 years I have seen so many examples and miracles, that I am just following their lead.  

• I am also so thankful for my Hazel Valley Elementary family.  They have also been so encouraging and taking such good care of me.  From the photos (Dave you rock!), to all the great meals that they have given me, I can not thank you enough.  Nicole has been my mentor and has helped me navigate through the emotions and fears.  You rock too!  I do have to give a special shout out to my K team!  I can not express how lucky I am to be a part of such an amazing team.  Stephanie and Angela, you have been so encouraging and helpful I could never thank you enough.  Natalie, I am so grateful for you.  From setting up the take-Chris-dinner schedule to just joking around with me.  Thank you for everything you have done, it means the world to me!

Cheers,

Chris

Surgery Went Well

The surgery went well and Chris is here with me in his nice hospital room because he has to stay the night after all.  They found some sludge (that word again!) in his bile duct that necessitated a muscle at the end of the bile duct be cut as well as the stent being put in.  They cleaned out the sludge for now but needed to make sure there was an exit if more sludge came so that it wouldn't block the stent.  What is the sludge?  Not sure...may be ooze from a tumor.  They will keep him overnight for observation due to some bleeding that occurred when they cut the muscle.  They clamped it but need to make sure it doesn't start bleeding again.  But the good news is that the stent is in place and Chris is recovering nicely.

Wendy

Surgery Today

Chris just left with the anesthesiologist to get prepped for surgery for a stent insertion into his bile duct.  Due to the cancer, the bile duct is at risk of collapsing and causing issues like jaundice.  The surgeon is going to perform the procedure by going down the esophagus again, just like the endoscopic procedure Chris had to check out his gallbladder and biopsy the lymph nodes a month ago.  They will put in a plastic stent (a hollow tube that will keep the bile duct open)...this type of stent is removable, which is good and which also means it must be replaced every three months so we are likely to be here doing this again around the end of February.  The surgeon should be done in about an hour or so.  There is a little risk with this but prayerfully the procedure today will go well and he may not have to stay overnight after all.  What a day to have surgery, the day before Thanksgiving.  We are nothing but flexible these days. :)

Everyone keeps commenting on how healthy Chris looks and how little he has been affected by his cancer and treatments physically.  We praise God for that and thank you again for all of your prayers and good thoughts!  Barring complications, we will be with family in time for dinner tomorrow.  Have a great Thanksgiving!

Wendy

Quick Update

Chris has been having so much fun, he's worn out and gone to bed early without updating his blog!  Seriously, he had a much better experience this week after chemo.  He worked Thursday and Friday and though he felt the fatigue and aches start on Friday night, by Saturday night he was out on a date with me!  Thanks so much for all of the prayers, positive thoughts, and caring coming our way.  We are so grateful to have so many wonderful friends and family.  One good thing that has come out of this is a renewed appreciation for each new day and the beauty of life, love and our relationships.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and spend some time to appreciate all you have.
 
Wendy

I never thought that I would be excited for chemo but......

We are a go!  My white cells shot way up from 3.0 to 14.1.  My disease fighters went from 0.69 to 11.7, which is awesome.  Thank you for all your prayers, positivity and my massage from Veronica!  They worked.

Cheers, 

Chris

No chemo for you!

Round 2 was set.  I felt strong and ready.  Walked in feeling really good only to be told that my white blood cells took a nose dive and that I could not go through my treatment today.  Bummer.  They gave me a shot that was to up my production of white cells and told to come back tomorrow to see if my levels are up.

This really bummed me out.  I felt that the first round went well.  Got sick one day but no nausea.  Nice.  Now I was feeling like I was losing ground, that things were not going well.  Then my awesome wife stopped me and said "this might be a good sign.  The chemo is kicking butt on everything, cancer and your white cells"!  That brought me back off the ledge.  They have a shot to give you so this probably was not the first time this ever happened.  Now they know how my body responds and we can be ready for it next time.  Still a bit bummed but much better.

This is funny though.  My school got these rubber wrist bands for Team Chris.  Every teacher is wearing them to show support (which is awesome)!  The funny thing is that they are Seahawk/Sounders green.  I thought that they ordered this color because.....well you know.  It turns out that gall badder cancer is designated this color green!  The exact color that I would have wanted.  

Well played God, well played!!   

What black cloud?

So ever since I go the news, I have felt that there has been this black cloud hanging around me.  No matter what I was doing, there it was.  In the back of my mind, no matter how much fun I was having, my black cloud would be there.  Hanging out with my daughter, yea this is fun but I am really sick.  Exercising, yea but will this make a difference because I am sick.  Thinking about the holidays, wow I hope that I don't bum people out because I am sick.  

Well I am happy to day that Sat. and Sun. were black cloud free.  I hung out with my daughter and had a great time without any clouds on my horizon.  Went to see the Seahawks destroy the Vikings and the only black cloud I saw was over Minnesota's bench.  

Now I am not saying that the black clouds are gone and will never return.  I pray that this is the case, but I bet I will have some cloudy days.  I am just determined to celebrate the days that are clear because they feel really good.  I am so thankful for them.  Because I know that these will carry me through the cloudy days.  I know that the clouds can't last forever and God will bring the Sun.

Cheers!

Chris 

What a difference a day makes!

Friday was not a good day.  It started around 2 am when I woke up in pain, dizzy and feeling generally horrible.  I figured I should set up a sub for my class so I stumbled downstairs to my computer.  The bad thing was that I had no sub plans and I felt really bad for doing this. 

I then took some medication and slept fairly well.  I have to say that my K team is amazing.  They helped the sub and took care of her!  I can not thank them enough for this.  I helps so much knowing that I can count on them and that they have my back. 

Friday was a jumble of bad thoughts, not feeling well and laying on the couch.  I wish that I could say that I attacked the day with strength and courage but that is far from what happened.  I don't think that I was prepared emotionally for my "down" day.  I kept thinking that this was not my plan and that I somehow let my family down by getting sick.  I know that this was wrong but that was where I was.  I can say that I have never felt this way.  I tried praying but even that was hard.  Luckily my awesome wife and daughter came home early and everything started to clear up.  Taigen said that she has never seen me cry this much, but she thought that it was good that I did not hold my feelings in.  She is great!  I really didn't want to do anything that night, but my awesome bible talk came over and we just sat around taking and telling crazy stories.  It was just what I needed. 

Saturday was a much better day.  We took Taigen to swim lessons and Wendy and I lifted weights, which felt really good.  We then went to brunch at an organic "hippie" restaurant, which was really good!  Wendy then went to get her hair cut while I took my daughter to see movie.  It was great just hanging out with her.  Well, all being said, I hope that I am better prepared for my next "down" day.  I don't think that it will take me so much by surprise.  That is at least the hope.

I just wanted to thank everyone who has sent the encouraging posts on my blog.  You are awesome and it helps me sooooo much! 

Cheers,
Chris
  

Chemo!

Back to school.

First day back from chemo and as Ice Cube said "today was a good day".  Felt really good and was super encouraged by all the emails and comments I read.  Thank you soooo much.  It can feel lonely sometimes but all the well wishes really lift my spirits.  You are all so important in this whole thing.  Keep praying and sending positive energy this way.  God loves it and I need it.

You all are the best!

Today is the day!

I am sitting here hooked up to the machine as I am starting my chemo adventure.  But first I have to tell you about the great weekend I had.

I wanted to take a trip with Taigen before all this started.  Originally we were going to take a trip to Portland by train but a doctors appointment made this hard.  So when asked where she wanted to go she said Leavenworth.  So we headed up after church on Sunday to stay the night.  IT WAS AWESOME!  We ate German food, had giant pretzels, shopped and watched Eureka in bed in our Jacuzzi suite.  I loved spending time with my awesome family. 

Monday I had my first acupuncture.  I told the doctor that I was a skeptic but she said that she welcomed skeptics.  I have to say it was pretty cool and relaxing.  This, along with nutrition help, will help with my chemo.

This morning I met with my Oncologist and I was told of the first miracle God has performed.  My CT scan  showed that the cancer was widely spread through my gall bladder and lymph nodes, which is not good.  But the doctor said that he is mystified and can not figure out why I am not jaundiced and racked with pain.  Miracle 1...check!  The nurses were also keeping an watch on me during the chemo treatments to see if I would have any adverse affects.  I didn't, which is good.

So another hour or so and I should be good.  1 down, more to go but I am strong and I promised Taigen that I would never give up! 

Till next time,

Cheers!

Chris

One small step!

Hey all,

Today I went in to get my portacath and was in and out with no trouble.  It was a lot quicker than I thought.  This is going to make appointments much better because they won't have to stick me for tests, blood or treatments. Nice!  I will take any good news that comes my way.  

Many people have asked how I have been doing.  Other than the C word hanging over my head, I feel normal.  No real pain or troubles.  I know that is probably going to change but again...any good news.  

I know that God is powerful and can wipe this out of my body!  That is my prayer.  I think that our church could use another miracle and I would be happy for God to use me in that way!  

Thank you for all the prayers and messages!  It means a ton!  

Cheers,

Chris

What has happened so far...

This particular journey started for us apparently a year or so ago but we didn't know about it until last week.  Based on some initial stomach pain that referred to back pain in early September, Chris went to see his chiropractor to see if his back needed an adjustment.  The chiropractor identified the source of the back pain as nerve pain from the gallbladder or liver and told Chris to see his PCP.  Chris went in for that appointment a few weeks ago.  The PCP referred Chris for an ultrasound, which seemed to indicate that there was some sludge in the gallbladder.  An MRI was ordered to know for sure.  The MRI returned results that were disturbingly referred to as 'never seen this before' and an endoscopy was scheduled. 

The endoscopy was last Tuesday, just a week ago.  During this procedure a camera was put down the esophagus to take a look at the gallbladder and surrounding lymph nodes and organs.  Biopsies were taken of the lymph nodes between the gallbladder and the pancreas as they looked irritated.  We spoke with the specialist on Wednesday evening and found out the lab results had indicated a diagnosis of gallbladder cancer.  He set up an appointment for the next day with Dr. Gold, a GI cancer oncologist at Swedish.

The nightmare began that night for us as we were in total shock at hearing 'cancer'.  What had begun as a 'normal' gallbladder issue (so many people were telling us they had had their gallbladder out after finding sludge or stones that caused the same initial systems) had all of a sudden taken an unexpected and totally alarming turn for a bad situation.  We didn't sleep much that night.

We went in Thursday for our appointment with Dr. Gold.  He made the situation more real and alarming in some ways and more hopeful in others.  Chris's diagnosis was given as stage 4 gallbladder cancer, metastasized through the lymph nodes over to the pancreas, though we don't know yet if it is in the pancreas.  There has been some progress in the research the doctor told us, and that a combination of two chemo treatments was found to be more effective and that some patients did well on this cocktail.  The appointments were scheduled for a CT scan on Tuesday (11/5/13), the portacath insertion on Thursday (11/7/13) and the first chemo infusion next Tuesday on (11/12/13). Chris will do chemo the first and eighth day of every 21 day cycle. 

We met with our ministers, Jay and Carol Kelly, and our dear friends, Scott and Lisa Lewis, last Sat to pray together.  We asked that our entire church congregation be told of the situation, that it is urgent and that we ask for their prayers daily.  We did pray with the church on Sunday, with one of our elders, Greg Brumley, laying his hands on Chris as is Biblical.  Greg also came to our house last night to anoint Chris with oil and pray over him with our family as it describes in James 5:13-16 (entire section put in for context):

The Prayer of Faith

13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

We have a lot of hope and faith based on our personal belief in a loving God that this situation will work out well in the end whatever happens.  We ask that you pray if you are a spiritual person or send us positive thoughts as fits your beliefs that Chris can heal from this illness and live a long, happy life with his family.  Thank you so much to those that love us, have already helped us, have called, sent email, and texted, and to all those that will help us, encourage us and pray for us during this time.  We hope this blog keeps everyone up to date as we want to share the progress with everyone but can not possible keep in touch with everyone individually.  Please let Chris know you are visiting the blog by leaving comments, even just to say hi.
 
Love,
Chris, Wendy and Taigen