Chemo Today

Chris is having his eighth round of chemo starting today.  He is also on Spring Break so is busy resting up.  He has been having some additional stomach and back pain so we talked to the oncologist, Dr. Phil Gold and oncologist nurse Alice today about it.  We are hoping it is due to the Aleve he has been taking as it can be hard on the stomach. The pain is in a different place than the tumors so hope is good.  He will stop taking Aleve and start taking something else the doctor gave him to see if that makes a difference.  He also got an appetite stimulant to take in the morning which will hopefully help him want to eat more.  He has lost quite a bit of weight, which isn't good at this point.  Of course, he is eating so healthy that it is hard to calorie load...so ironic he is facing this issue.

Taigen and I are hanging out while Chris is sleeping during the last half of chemo.  She came down to do some artwork with a wonderful lady that works at Swedish.  She really likes these afternoons where she can come do art, see her daddy and have a treat.  We just finished up at Starbuck's and are about to head back soon.

Here are some pictures from today (mostly!):

Chemo #2 is the brown bad in the middle, cisplatin.  It needs to be protected from the light so in a cellophane-type bag.

 

 My love!

 

Oops!  How did this one slip in here?  Oh well, a goofy pic from our Super Bowl trip!

The Results Are In!

Chris and I saw his oncologist today and got the results of the CT scan from Monday.  The good news is that there is no progression of his cancer and maybe a tiny bit of regression!  We were worried that it was progressing because he has been feeling more discomfort in his stomach area and back, which were the initial signs of the cancer.  They don't know why he is feeling more discomfort now and why his cancer markers have been going up but the doctor thinks it may have had to do with the old stent that was replaced on Friday in his bile duct.  The sludge that accumulates can cause a blockage, even with a stent, especially the longer they are left in and we had left the original one in almost a month longer than they normally stay in. 

We are staying with the current treatment plan another 9 weeks and will have another CT scan at that time.  This is day 1 of his seventh cycle of chemo so he has had six complete cycles, for a total of 12 chemo treatments so far!  He has been a champ through this whole process and continues to do well.  We are working on getting him to eat a bit more as he is losing his taste buds and is not wanting to eat as much but he should not lose more weight if he can help it.  Oh, the irony of life. :)

Chris here...I thought that I would add something since my awesome wife has been blogging for me.  I want to thank everyone for their prayers and good thoughts.  God is so awesome and he hears everything that you send his way!  Please keep up the good work for me!  It means so much to me and my family!!

Cheers!

Catching Up

I know Chris will be updating his blog soon but I wanted to catch everyone up on where we are at with treatments, etc.  Last Friday, Chris went in for endoscopic surgery again to replace the stent in his bile duct.  The first time he had this done was the day before Thanksgiving, and this was very similar but luckily he didn't have to stay the night in the hospital this time.  This time they put two stents in, side by side, so that they will drain more efficiently...picture a figure 8 inside a circle...the drainage can go through each of the circles as well as on each side where the indents are.  He should be able to go 6 months this time before needing a replacement stent, which is great. 

He was in and out of the hospital in 5 hours on Friday, though the actual procedure took about half an hour and he was grumpy to be there that long for such a short procedure.  It really had a lot to do with the fact he had to fast from the night before, he couldn't even drink water on Friday, so he was hungry and thirsty until about 6pm.  He was very grateful to not have to spend the night as he doesn't sleep very well in the hospital with the nurses checking on him all night long (not to pick on the nurses as they are great!) and the bed is always moving - they do that now so you aren't as likely to get bed sores when you are an inpatient for an extended time.  Unfortunately he didn't sleep well that night at home either.  He described it as his insides felt like someone had been poking around in them, which of course the surgeon had done when placing the stents.

On Saturday, Chris took on more than he should have and paid the consequences Saturday night and Sunday but he seemed to be feeling better by this evening after staying down all day today.  Tomorrow, on Monday, he goes in for his next CT scan after work.  We are praying that we'll get good news on Wednesday when we see our oncologist and hear the results of the CT scan.  If the cancer is not advancing or is shrinking, he will continue on the chemo regiment he is on now.  If it has started growing again, we will need to change to a new chemo and that is a big unknown for us.  While it is discouraging to be on chemo continuously and I know it is getting harder on Chris, the chemo treatment that he is getting now allows him to maintain a good quality of life and continue to work, travel, play, etc. with family and friends. 

We do want to thank everyone for the healthy meals that you've brought us as well as your positive thoughts and prayers as it is all making a difference!  The doctor has said that he has never seen anyone go through the chemo Chris has been going through for the last 4 1/2 months as well as and with as few side effects as he has had.  And though both Taigen and I have gotten the crud that has been going around, Chris has not...Thank you God!

Please keep up your prayers and positive thoughts and we will let you know what we hear on Wednesday.  Take care and love to all of you and your families!

Wendy

What? A new blog post?

Believe it or not, yes.  I finally got to it and here I am.  Than you so much for your continued prayers and well wishes.  I know that these are doing as much as the Chemo is in fighting this caner.  Please keep on keeping on.


As everyone can expect, this journey is one of many ups and downs.  I just want everyone to know that I have been having a hard time with food.  Not that I don't have awesome and delicious food, thanks to many of you who bring me the best food one can ask for.  Not that I don't have an appetite, which I still do.  I have been having a hard time with how limited my diet has become.  As you may well know, I have cut sugar, dairy, gluten, fats, processed foods and most oils out of my diet.  I know, what do I eat.  Mainly very healthy food that has been helping me fight the cancer and many side effects of the chemo.  I know that I have joked before about being the healthiest that I have ever been while being the sickest.  The trouble comes when I notice just how much food that is all around me at any given moment.  I miss the days when I could just randomly choose what I wanted for dinner instead of strategically planning and researching the options.  I wish that I could go back to the ease of grabbing a bag of chips when I wanted a snack with out seeing what kind of oil they use.  Just today, I was in the store hungry and wanted to get a snack.  I picked up some peanuts and read that they add sugar to them.  Why do they add sugar to peanuts?!?!  

I know that my health is much more important than snaking on some chips, but it gets tiring.

Oh well, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

Cheers,

Chris

SUPER BOWL!

WOW!  That sums up what it was like to be at the Super Bowl.  It was crazy.  Everywhere we went in Manhattan there were Hawk fans yelling "Go Hawks" and "Seahawks"!  I am not kidding when I say there was 10 to 1 Hawk fans to Bronco fans.  And we were not disappointed with the play on the field.  I heard some say that it was a boring game, well I disagree.  The game was awesome.  We needed a win like that to get the national respect that this team deserves.  The day after the game we woke up to find 8 inches of snow on the ground.  That was cool because I always wanted to see NYC in the snow.  Funny thing is that we got out of JFK fine but it wasn't until San Fran that our flight was cancelled.  Probably just lingering hard feelings from the NFC championship game.  Thank you again to Mack, Zoe and Lisa for making this whole trip possible!

Some sobering news is that the cancer markers in my blood have been on the rise.  So please keep praying and sending good thoughts.  I know that I need them and they help so much!

Silver Linings!

All throughout this experience, Taigen has been pointing out all the good things or silver linings that have come our way.  She pointed out that she is getting lots of play dates with all of her friends, that amazing meals are being brought to us to help fight the cancer and keep me healthy, and that so many prayers are going up to God for me!  These have all been incredible and the love that has been shown to me and my family has been humbling and inspiring.

The latest silver lining came to me on Thursday when I found out that my friends Mack and Zoe Strong were able to get me and Wendy Super Bowl tickets to buy.  WOW!  I can not even believe that I just typed that.  The Super Bowl!  With the Seahawks!  Mack works for the NFL in addition to doing Seahawk broadcasts and he worked his magic to make this kid's Make-a-Wish come true!  Thank you so much Mack and Zoe!  I know that you were swarmed by people asking you about tickets, and it means so much to me that you thought about me and wanted to encourage me in this way.  I will never forget this!

Chemo has been going good.  The doctor is still very pleased with how I am responding to the treatments. I was hit kind of hard on Thursday and Friday when I started feeling that I was coming down with the flu, but no, it was just chemo.  Thankfully I am coming out of that and this is my break week.  This is the week to have off!  God worked it out!

Cheers,
Chris

Top half of the class!

Hi everyone,

I know I've been silent for the past couple of weeks so I'll fill you in a bit on what's happened.  After New Years Eve, which was an amazing evening with my wife and friends on a Lake Union cruise, we went to get a second set of eyes on my case at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA).  The doctor and staff were great but after that meeting we were a bit bummed out because mentally it put us back to the beginning of this whole process. We just weren't prepared for that.  We did learn about some trials that I could possibly get into but I would have to get off my treatments that seem to have been working so far.  Also the doctor said that surgery is not a great option because I would go off chemo to get the surgery and he has seen, in most cases, that the cancer spread to other parts of the body during this time.  Not really encouraging. 

But on to some good news.  I had my first follow-up CT scan at Swedish on Monday since my diagnosis and original scan.  Just got done talking to my doctor and he told me that most of the time he is telling patients with this type of cancer that their cancer is growing, which is not good.  He told me that everything is stable with no growth and in fact, one tumor actually shrunk by a 1/4.  Feeling good with that. So same chemo, same plan for the next 9 weeks and then another scan.

Everything else is going great.  Still no pain, no nausea, no massive hair loss and the Hawks are in the championship game.   Go Hawks!  Just about to get hooked up so more later (and sooner :) )

Cheers, Chris