Fantastic News, I'm Clear!

The CT Scan showed that I am clear! Last Friday on 4/22 I got a CT scan and Thursday 4/28 I had my final appointment with Dr. Gupta and there are no signs of disease whatsoever! The feelings are difficult to describe: basically a mixture of relief, gratitude, and excitement. We are very happy to be able to live our lives again and pull out of this "stall". Prayers have been answered and we are   making certain we give thanks to Heavenly Father in our prayers.

I will be on a surveillance program for the next 5 years now to make sure I stay clear. The first year I will be going in to have labs drawn every 2 months, and a CT scan every 6 months. The second year I need to go in to have labs drawn every 3 months, and a CT scan once...years three through five I need to go in for labs every 6 months, and don't need CT scans done. As years go, risk of recurrence drastically reduces. But even to begin with, Dr. Gupta told me the chances of anything coming back are very small. Yess! So now we are going to live life to its fullest.

Next week I'll be having a minor surgery to have my port taken out. I also don't need blood thinner shots anymore starting next week.

I brainstormed a few lessons learned from this experience that I want to keep in mind throughout life:
1. Don't complain and don't sweat the petty stuff in life.
2. Have lots of quality time with family; In other words have frequent memory and relationship building activities.
3. Make life's priorities Family and the Gospel...no exceptions.
4. Love, forgive, and serve others.
5. Strive to be happy and optimistic! Life is to be enjoyed and not dreaded. It is too short to waste on being unhappy.
6. Don't live life terrified of death. It will happen to all of us at some point, so no need to be afraid. And besides, there is a glorious place on the other side.
7. Be the best person you can be and work to improve weaknesses.
8. Learn who Christ is and strive to emulate him... Matthew 11:29 says "...learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
9. Be a planner, organized, and tidy in life.
10. Eat healthy and exercise often.

The 3rd and Final Cycles...

Time flies and we have not updated the blog in a long time, my apologies. As a result this post is HUUUUUUUUUUUGE (As Trump says). A lot has happened since the last blog post. I will talk through things in chronological order. There are lots of pics in this post also :)

First, here's a quick summary on the status of my health: I'm feeling very good. Not 100% yet but very good. I should be completely done with Chemotherapy. All of my blood work has been showing very positive signs, to the point where my doctor is very confident I'm cleared. I have a CT scan scheduled for Friday 4/22 which will confirm everything...I will do a blog as soon as I get the confirmation. I am in remission now and will be placed on a 5 year plan where I will get CT scans every several months, with the CT scans getting less and less frequent as the years go on. The chances of any cancer coming back are small, so we will continue to rely on prayer and move forward with life.

Butterfly Kisses

Chloe putting stickers on my face

For the 3rd Cycle, the chemo week was 3/7 - 3/11. Things went well this time around, there were no complications, just the usual feeling myself getting progressively worse as the week went on. By Thursday and Friday I was feeling pretty weak and sick. The beginning of this cycle is when my body started associating certain smells and tastes with being sick. For example when the nurses access my chest port (they poke me in my port to connect the infusion tubing), they first infuse saline through the tube to clean it, which I can taste. When I first started a few months back this taste didn't bother me, but now it makes me gag. I have to chew gum or eat tic tacs while they use the saline in order to dumb down the taste to make it bearable. Then after they access me they use a plastic bandage called a "dressing" to cover and protect the port. This dressing has a strong plastic smell to it, which also makes me queasy. After I spoke up about this the nurses then used a cloth and tape instead of the dressing, which didn't bother me anymore. But besides that everything went well. Saturday and Sunday I felt sick and weak, so I stayed in bed most of these days, but by the time Tuesday rolled around I started feeling OK. This week we got out of the house once a day or so - like the park or a trip to the grocery store - which is all I could handle then I would get pretty tired.

The following weekend after my chemo week Chels and I went to see Brian Regan live at the Vivent Center in Salt Lake. He is hilarious! He had so many new jokes that we haven't heard before that had us laughing our rear's off. It was great to have a date night, we haven't been able to do that in a while. I was drained after the show!

Brian Regan

My second off week I was feeling very good, which was a blessing because it ended up being a very busy week... Friday 3/25 was my sweet Grandma Donna's funeral :( For the past 5 months or so she has been on oxygen 24/7. Before starting chemo when we saw her a couple times she said she felt well as long as she was on her oxygen. The past couple months started to get difficult for her. She was admitted into the ICU because her lungs started giving her trouble. Things got pretty bad for her for a while but then she started to improve and pull out of it. So when I got the phone call about her passing, it did come as a shock because in my mind she was going to get through. The main theme of her funeral was about the Christlike love she showed for everybody. You felt it every time you talked with her. The other theme was how she loved her family more than anything else in the world. From her kids all the way down to her great grand-kids, we were her treasure in life. One example of her thinking of her family first is when my Dad went to visit her in the hospital one day, and she wasn't in the best shape. She was sleeping when he first entered the room, the moment she awoke the first thing she asked (by writing because she couldn't speak due to the trach in her throat) was "how is Stuart doing?" She thought of her family before herself. I will miss Grandma Donna very much. I couldn't help but reflect on the time I lived with her during my "off track" time back in July-Dec 2009 during the time Chels and I were dating. Just about everyday I came home from an exhausting day of working construction, she immediately made me food and asked about and truly cared about how my day was. That time with her where we had long talks and laughed together I will always cherish. I find comfort in my Grandmas passing by relying on my belief of the Plan of Salvation. I believe there is life beyond the grave as much as I believe I am typing this at this moment. It exists, period. Here are additional reasons for comfort:
    1. Grandma is no longer in pain or discomfort.
    2. She was welcomed home and reunited with her parents, brother, sister and other relatives.
    3. She lived a life worthy of every possible blessing Heavenly Father can give.
    4. Christ overcame death by being resurrected on the 3rd day following his death. As a result,     everybody who lived, now lives, or will live on this earth will receive the blessing of being resurrected and gaining immortality. We will see Grandma again, I have no doubt.

Avi hanging out with my Aunt Lisa at lunch following Grandmas funeral

The day following Grandmas funeral, a lot of family got together at her house to hang out. We talked and laughed, had a huge bon fire, had dinner together, had an Easter egg hunt for the kids, and even made a homemade obstacle course. My Dad and sisters got a bunch of obstacle course stuff (for the kids mainly, but adults couldn't resist) that included ropes, hula hoops, and pool foam noodles, it ended up being awesome. My Dad and cousin Charles rocked it! They got the best times. It was good to be with everybody. As much as funerals suck, the one positive thing is how they bring family together.

Bon Fire at Grandmas House

Avi had a blast on the 4-wheeler

Family pick the Sunday before starting the last round

Mom got to town on 3/26! She came out for my last cycle, which we are so thankful for. Her being out helps me better cope with the chemo weeks. The 4th cycle started on 3/28 and ended 4/1 (one of the best days of my life). The week went alright. I started feeling weak and sick a little earlier, like on Wednesday. And again the smells and tastes I encountered were nauseating. Friday 4/1 was an awesome day. After finishing up chemo I got to hit the gong!

Dad hanging out, we're proud of the Book of Mormon

Last day of chemo

Our nurse Deanne was with us for a lot of my Chemo days, she is awesome

Recovery time took longer this time around. Saturday and Sunday were great because General Conference was on. It was inspirational to listen to the Lords Prophet and Apostles. It was hard to listen to every talk because I felt awful, I will go back and study many of the talks. That whole week I felt pretty sick, I was just waiting for it to wear off but it seemed to linger. I was on the verge of throwing up a lot of the time (never did thankfully) and I had an awful taste in my mouth. 4/12 is when I finally started pulling out of it, and as I write this post I am feeling excellent.

Feeling better everyday, we've been getting outside a lot I love Spring

Thought: I wanted to share a letter I received from my Grandma Donna right before we started chemotherapy and a few months before her passing, It is a beautiful testimony and it gives a glimpse to her character:

"I am so sorry to hear about the challenge you are facing now. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I don't email or know how to work Facebook so I am sending my thoughts through the mail.

'The gospel is a thing of joy. It provides us with a reason for gladness. Of course there are hours of concern and anxiety. We all worry, but the Lord has told us to lift our heads and rejoice.' Quote by President Gordon B Hinckley.

I think about you all the time and your little girls. I am feeling good having to stay on Oxygen 24/7, but that's okay. May the spirit be with you and the Lord bless you is my prayer. Love always.

Grandma Donna"

Grandma holding Avi on her blessing day. She will be missed.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Things are looking good! We had a meeting with the Gupta (Dr. Gupta, our oncologist) yesterday and it looks like the CT scan results are positive! Chemo is doing it's job on the battlefront and knocking cancer out. The nodules in my abdomen have gone down from 9 mm in size to less than 3 mm in size...so our Doctor confirmed that two more cycles of chemo should seal the deal and get us through this, so we are extremely grateful. We know prayers have been answered and Heavenly Father has been watching over us. So around mid-April I should officially be complete. A light at the end of the tunnel has certainly appeared. Another interesting thing to note is the small specs on my lungs - It turns out they have not gotten larger in size and they have not gotten smaller, which means they are not cancerous after all. Instead they are dust or something, we don't know for sure what they are but hey its not cancer. Our doctor said they find these things when doing CT scans on patients, and they are harmless. So because these aren't cancerous, this brings me to a stage II as opposed to stage III cancer.    

Found by Google'ing

Yesterday we went to the library. I wasn't wearing a hat, I felt like going bald. As we were leaving I walked by a 10 year old boy and he looked at me, giggled and said "you look like Lex Luther!" I haven't thought of that before but he has a point, I took it as a compliment. There are far uglier villains out there.

Lex Luther - The Villain on Superman

Wednesday 3/2/2016 we went to the Provo City Center Temple open house with my in-laws. We had such a good time! My favorite part was seeing Avi's reaction as we walked through the beautiful temple and saw the white rooms, remarkable woodwork, and stunning chandeliers. She was skipping the entire time during the walk through and she had the happiest look on her face! She was singing church songs most of the time and she even told me "Dad, do you feel that warm feeling in your heart! That's the Holy Ghost!" My heart melted seeing her demeanor that way as we walked through.

Me and the Fam in front of the Provo City Center Temple

Me and my beautiful wife!

Gorgeous Avi-Bird and Chloe-Bee

It was such a treat to have my best friend Jeff come out to visit! It was a coincidence because he flew out here from MN on a work trip for the week and we were able to get together a couple times. He came over to my Grandparents house on Friday 2/26 and to my in-laws on 2/27. It was a great time hanging out, we reminisced and laughed a lot... Of course we talked about the time we got arrested for climbing on top of an elementary school at night back in the day haha. He also got me and Chels hooked on "Words with Friends", that scrabble game on our phones. Now Chelsea and I play him and his wife Molly all the time. I keep getting my butt kicked but whatever its still fun! I have asked Chels to maybe let me win once in a while, and not tell me she's letting me win...

It was awesome having Jeff come out to Utah!

Having my Mom here was so nice. She was extremely helpful and it was so enjoyable to have her company. It made that rough week of treatments (for cycle 2) more bearable. We spent a lot of time with her and it was sad to see her leave. She is also planning on coming out for my last tough week (cycle 4) of chemo, which will be excellent. She found out about an effort the Huntsman Cancer Institute has recently launched called "five for the fight" where you write on your hand why you are joining "the fight" against cancer, then you post a picture showing your hand to social media using the hashtag #fiveforthefight and tag 5 friends who will join in donating $5. Mom and I participated. Click HERE to be taken to the website to learn more or donate if you feel inclined. 100% of the donations go to furthering cancer research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I know from personal experience that the Huntsman is a phenomenal cancer institute that treats every patient with top notch care, and they are cutting edge with their research.     

Mom and I participating in "Five for the Fight" with the HCI

Me, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Avi

Thought: I wanted to thank all of you for your continued prayers - let me tell you they are working. The sustaining we have felt through this so far and the good news we have received recently we attribute to all the prayers. Although I still have two more cycles left (one full week of chemo and two weeks off composes 1 cycle), we are certainly thoroughly thanking God for our good progress... I was reading in the Book of Mormon when the prophet Alma decides to give up his role as the chief judge of his people and instead travels to other lands to preach the gospel, and a scripture caught my eye in Alma 7:23 when he's preaching to the people in the land of Gideon, "And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive." It is important to pray to God all the time and talk to him and ask him for things we stand in need of, it is also important to not forget to give him thanks for things we do have and for prayers he answers and blessings he gives to us.

Cycle 2; Week 1 "Strength"

So here we are in the middle of our second week of our second cycle and we're still recovering from week one. Stuart  had a pretty long week one(2/15-19/16). Just to recap each "cycle" for Stuart includes one full week of chemo (Mon-Fri) everyday for about 7hrs a day, and then two weeks of no chemo treatments. So like I said that leaves us with a long first week of chemotherapy.

This basically sums up the way Stuart and I felt about week 1. Haha!

It started off OK  Stuart had lots of visitors this week. His Dad spent the majority of the day Monday with us at the HCI. A couple hours on Tuesday and then also came back to see him again on Friday with his little sister Taylor.

Stuart and his Dad Larry Monday morning at the HCI

Then Stu's mom flew into town on Monday(2/15/16) and came to see him for about the last hour of the day. On Tuesday Cindy(Stu's mom) took Stu to his chemo infusion. Tuesday proved to be kind of a rough day for Stuart there were a few hiccups that day. Apparently his machine kept beeping and he was getting pretty anxious about it. It turned out to be that the machine was detecting little air bubbles in the Etopicide chemo. so it kept on beeping even though everything was actually OK. Anyway, the beeping of the machine made Stu pretty nervous and he started having a strange pinching feeling in his heart. This worried all of us because it continued a little into the evening and we ended up calling the doctors office and they set up an EKG and Chest XRAY for the next day. Then that night when I gave Stu his blood thinners his "port" that he just had implanted the Friday before started to bleed. I called and spoke with a doctor and she told us not to worry and that the bleeding was probably connected to the blood thinner shot. She told us that she would have someone come and look at his port the next day just to make sure that everything was looking alright and recovering well from the surgery.

Stuart and his Mom, Cindy, on Tuesday

So, Stuart and I went to his appointment on Wednesday but before we got things started we got his chest XRAY and they cleaned up his port access and he got the EKG. Once the doctors looked at the results we were given the OK to get things rolling for that day. All of his results came back normal and the doctor checked his port and everything looked good. We also had a visit from one of the clinic doctors that work at the HCI. She was really kind and checked Stu out. She said that everything looked and sounded good. She also said that she thought that the "pinching" Stuart was feeling in his heart was likely caused by anxiety. She recommended that he get some Adavan in his IV before receiving any of his chemo drugs. The Adavan calms Stuarts nerves before the chemo drugs and fortunately it has really worked at taking away the pinching feeling in his heart and calming Stuarts nerves. He also started to find ways to relax and calm down during his chemo appointments one way is by listening to classical music and just having some peace and quiet.  We were really relieved to hear that things looked normal with his heart. For awhile we were worried that the chemotherapy was causing problems with it and that really scared us because we just didn't know what we would do.

This pic pretty much sums up the fear we felt on that day.

Fortunately, the rest of the week went pretty well. We went to his appointments and came home without any major problems. Friday they gave Stuart an at home injector of "neulasta" which is a drug that helps Stuarts white blood cell count stay up. It is a really interesting little device because they just put it on his stomach and a catheter inserted itself under his skin which Stuart said he could hardly feel. He said it just felt like someone barely flicked him in the stomach. Then the following day the drug injected into his system. Things went really well with this because the drug didn't cause him so much pain. We figured out that he needed to take Claritin about a half hour before it injected and the device injected the neulasta really slowly. It took about 45minutes total for the neulasta to inject into his system, that was much better than having to drive three times to SLC to get a shot of neupagin. I wont lie though week one took its toll on Stu. The way Stuart looked from day one to day five was a pretty drastic difference. By day five of chemo Stu was really tired and pretty weak. But he's been getting some rest and little by little he is coming around.

  Like I said earlier Cindy got into town on Monday of last week and has been here for about a week and a half now. It has been so nice to have her here to visit and of course the girls have loved spending time with her too. She took the girls for a solid 3 days last week which was really good for Stu and I we were able to catch  up on some sleep and didn't have to worry about getting the girls to a babysitter and picking them up tired and lets be honest a little cranky ha.  I missed those sweet little girls the second they left. It was nice to sleep but I was pretty anxious to have them home, and I appreciated them all the more when they got here. Chloe was happy to see us but Avi had so much fun with her Grandma that she cried when Cindy left to go back to Stuart's Grandma and Grandpa Roger's. I'm glad she feels so comfortable with her grandma I think over and over again how grateful we are to have such a great support of people who love our girls and take such great care of them while we are going through these treatments.

One other way that Stu is finding to relax is by playing piano. I have loved listening to him play. :)

So far this week has been much lower key. Stu felt really good Monday but is back to feeling pretty weak as of yesterday (Tuesday2/23/16) and today. On Monday Stuart got a call from his oncologist. She said that she wanted to get another EKG and an ECHO done on his heart. We did those today as well as a CT scan. We should know the results of these tests soon but hopefully everything comes back clear. The good news is that the oncologist also said that his tumor markers had gone back down which is a pretty good sign that the chemo is working. So hopefully we get good news when we get the CT results back later this week.

When I was thinking about a thought  I could share today I thought of the scripture in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." This week especially we have felt less than strong. We have felt worried, worn out and weak. Especially my sweetheart Stuart. Watching him look and feel weak has been the HARDEST thing I've ever had to endure. But even in those moments of weakness we have been strengthened through Christ. The strength hasn't necessarily come from within ourselves but it has come through other people. We can feel the strength of your prayers and we are always so grateful for your words and thoughts of kindness. We need your support now more than ever. I truly believe that Christ uses us, his followers, to "strengthen" others. For myself so many times a simple you can do it has taken me from the point of wanting to give up to being able to continue forward. This is the hardest thing we have ever done but with the support of you all and of our Savior we truly do receive strength. You, our friends and our family, are the ones who pick us up.

For me, another source of strength comes from my sweetheart. He strengthens me even though he is the one going through all of the physical treatments of chemo and scans. His attitude and love uplift me. I am so very grateful to have him for my husband and to know him the way that I do. I'm sure that those of you who know Stuart know exactly what I mean when I say that he is one of the best people I have ever known. Through all of this my love for him has grown more than I ever imagined it could. I have prayed for him harder than I ever have before and I have felt God's love for him. He truly is an outstanding son of God, and I am SO grateful to be his wife for time and for all eternity.

Cycle 1; Week 3 "Up's and Down's"

This is Stuart again. The 3rd week has had its ups and downs. First off, the best part about this week is how I have been feeling. Because I haven't had chemo in a while I have had my strength, my appetite has been up, and I have felt like myself for the most part.  I've been very cautious whenever going out (which I don't do very often) due to a low white blood cell count, by wearing a protective mask so I don't get sick.

My hair loss is something we are still getting used to. It all started around Saturday 2/6 when my beard started coming out in clumps. I would pinch my beard, pull, and a clump of whiskers came out, it was the strangest thing. Then a couple days later my hair started doing the same thing. I decided to shave my head in stages so I didn't terrify my daughters. First I buzzed my hair short and I shaved my beard. When I came out of the bathroom both my daughters looked at me wide eyed, and were very surprised (Little Chloe was a little frightened, Avi just sort of giggled) but they warmed up to it fast. My hair was still coming out in clumps, so two days later I completely shaved my head. The girls are OK with it, Avi asks everyday "Daddy, can I touch your bald head?". When Chloe touched my head she got frightened, and jerked her hand back, a lot like if she had just touched a snake or a slimy stingray at the zoo...

Me my bald head and my girls...

In a way I feel like Charlie Brown. If it was Halloween time I would make a perfect model for pumpkin carving..."If we draw the eyes like this, and the nose like this, and the mouth like this..."

"Thank you Charlie Brown, you were a perfect model"

It was great seeing my old man. He's been coming to Utah lately to see me as well as my grandma Donna. Grandma isn't doing to well, her lungs are starting to shut down. She's in the ICU right now, she could get better (we're hoping!) or she could get worse. Really glad I got to see her a couple times before I got started with chemo, we continue praying for her.

Dad and A-bird

Dad and Chloe-Bee

The week was great, but I won't lie Friday, Saturday and Sunday were kind of rough. Friday Chels and I went to the HCI to have my minor surgery to have the port put in my chest. The port is extremely nice because I won't have to get poked anymore. I won't have to get poked for IV's or for drawing blood. And blood clots won't be an issue anymore because the port is accessed in a large main vein, instead of small superficial veins in my forearms. Plus I'm still on blood thinners, Chels gives me a shot in the stomach every morning and evening and she's getting really good at it, it's not too bad. Back to the surgery on Friday, the worst part was getting an IV in. For some reason my forearm veins were being stubborn and the nurse had to poke me 4 times to finally get my vein to work! Sheesh. And before this I had to get my blood drawn, so getting poked a total of 5 times within an hour wasn't fun. After the IV was in, we went to the operating room where I lay on a table and they set up a curtain to block my view from where they would be putting the port in my chest. They gave me sedation drugs in my IV so I was very drowsy and out of it the entire time, although I did feel the two numbing shot's they gave me in my neck, that sort of hurt but after that I didn't feel a thing. I was in such bliss with that sedation. The surgery was fast, only about 30 minutes.

Me and Chels right before going in for surgery

 
Because my white blood cell count was so low from chemo, following my surgery we went to get a neupogen shot in my stomach. This stimulates white blood cells to help fight infections, sicknesses, fevers, etc. and the side effects of this shot are sore bones and joints. We also had to go in to the HCI Saturday and Sunday to have this same neupogen shot in order to prepare me for chemo the following week. The sore bones and joints weren't too bad Friday, Tylenol did a great job taking off the edge. After the shot on Saturday however, I felt like I got run over by a cement truck. My lower back, hips, and shoulders were very achy. Good thing we got prescribed a strong pain killer (Oxycodon) to help with Saturday and Sunday. After taking that I felt pretty good.

Starting today, I will have chemo Monday-Friday from about 7:30a-1:00p. Then 2 full weeks off, then we'll repeat that cycle 2 more times. The good news is no more bleomycin, which made me sick before. And no more getting poked in the arms. A huge blessing is my Mom is coming to town for 10 days, she got here today and it will be so nice to spend time with her... and to dump our beautiful girls onto her a little haha. Chels really needs to catch up on some sleep cause she's been carrying extra weight with me being tired. 

Thoughts: In John chapter 16, Jesus is speaking with his disciples about his death and resurrection, and how he has Heavenly Father by his side, and that the Holy Ghost or comforter will be sent to his disciples after his resurrection. John 16:33 stood out to me, the Savior says, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." In this world and life, we are meant to be tested. We are meant to go through tough times, they will make us stronger. And if we rely on the Savior, being of good cheer is possible because He will help us through it. 

Cycle 1; Week 2 "The Wind"

Hi everyone, this is Chelsea (Stu's wife). We realized that it has been a while since there have been any updates on here so sorry about that. Things have been a little nuts around here. Overall, Stuart has been feeling OK. Mostly tired, and a little queasy here and there. I wont lie though week 2 has been rough. On Tuesday 2/2/16 Stuart went in for his infusion of Bleomycin  for this week. I'm going to be using that word a lot this post so to save myself the headache I'm just going to refer to this as B. This was a rough one. Stu came home around 10:00a or so and by 11:00a he was feeling pretty sick. He spent the rest of that day in bed. I gave him all three of the nausea medications that day and they all seemed to just barely take the edge off. While it was really hard to see him go through that I just kept thinking that it was just a means to an end and I tried to help him see it that way too. Fortunately, that day ended. Ha.

Then on Wednesday 2/3/16 he started feeling and looking better.  He took a nap from about 10:30a to 12:30p and when he woke up he told me that he was having some pain in his left arm where he had gotten his first IV last Monday. It looked a little swollen and felt a little warm when I touched it.  We figured that we would watch it close and if things progressed any further we would call the nurses at HCI. Well, things progressed. Around 5:00p just after dinner we noticed that the rash on his arm had started to travel up his bicep and that his shoulders had what looked and felt like a light sunburn on them. So we decided to call the nurses, and she told us that she wanted us to go to the Urgent Care up at the U of U; so off we went. And we were there for about 3hrs with hardly any answers. We did find out that his white blood cell count was low mostly bc after drawing his blood the entire staff taking care of us came in wearing a mask just to be safe, to keep Stu from getting sick. So finally around 11:00p we arrived home with only the answer that we would get a call from our oncologist the next day. So the next day a nurse called and set up an appointment for Stuart on Friday at 3p.

Stu at Urgent Care at the U of U

Friday, 2/5/16  lets call Friday "good news, bad news day". So we go to the appointment at HCI and filled our doctor in on what has been happening. I'll start with the bad news... Before ever starting chemo last week(week 1) they drew Stuart's blood and tested it for any signs of tumor markers. Up until now there hadn't been any but this time they found elevated levels of one called BHHC (I think). Anyways, that changed Stu's plan a little. Basically, now we know that those specs on Stu's lungs are in fact malignant(a fancy term for cancerous) and we are being switched from preventative care to actually treating him for cancer. This took him from a stage 1B to stage 3 cancer(ugh). So basically what that means is at least 2 more chemo cycles. We also discussed the rash on Stu's arm and shoulders and noticed that the "sunburn"  was also on the top of his head, as well as what looks like scratches on his stomach that are part of the rash that he is experiencing. Anyways what that meant was that he is essentially allergic to the B chemo drug, and that he would not be able to have any more of it. Which also means more chemo cycles. Bringing us to grand total of 4 cycles, so 3 more to go with only the "EP" part of the "BEP" regimen. I wish I could say I was done with the bad news... We also, discussed the swelling and soreness in Stuarts forearm. Which, after getting an ultrasound done on it ended up being a blood clot in a superficial vein. So now we get to give him blood thinners everyday twice a day for 6 weeks. The blood thinner greatly reduces the risk of the blood clot growing into a more important vein and causing him harm. So then in several weeks the blood clot will scar up and that vein will no longer be used. Good thing it is in a superficial vein. However, this also means that I get to give Stu a shot in the stomach twice a day. Oh joy.

So whats the good news? The good news is that the B drug is the drug that made Stuart the sickest and that's the one that we don't have to get anymore. Yay. The good news is that we are going to have a "port" surgically put in Stuart's chest so that he doesn't have to be poked a thousand times the next few months. And we wont have to worry so much about blood clots. The good news is that he still has an above 90% chance of getting rid of it. The good news is that we are in really good hands at HCI. And the good news is we still have the support and love from all of you. I won't lie we have had a rougher time looking at the bright side. But there is one and like my Dad said "It all leads to the same place right?" Right.

Lately we have been talking a lot about the story in Matthew 14 when Peter walks on the water. At first the disciples were on the ship being tossed about by the waves and the Savior walks toward them on the sea. Then He bade Peter to come to Him. Peter with all his faith steps on the water and begins to walk. He actually walks on the water! Then the wind comes. Peter looks around and gets scared. Then he starts to sink, and pleas for help."And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"(Matthew 14:31). Sometimes I feel like Peter gets a lot of flak for sinking. But that is exactly what happens to all of us in every trial. I know right now we feel a lot like Peter. We have the faith to walk on the water and whether the storm of cancer treatment, but I promise you that there is going to be wind and we are going to get scared and sink just a little, because we are human. I promise you that we are going to need help. But I also promise you that the Savior will immediately help us, just as he would you. And with a gentle rebuke He will remind us that we can trust in Him.

Day 5 of Chemo

I only have a couple more hours of chemo today then I'll be wrapping up this week! The next two weeks will be lower key - I only have to come in on Tuesdays for 2 hours, which will give me some time to rest and recuperate. I'm still feeling alright, although this morning I did feel very BLAH... Light nausea, some heart burn, weird taste in my mouth, cottonmouth, and tired. However after taking some anti-nausea medicine, and having the delicious smoothy for breakfast Chels made for me I felt much better. Chels has been with me during treatment all week but today we felt the girls really needed her, so my father-in-law dropped me off at the HCI. I'm completely fine flying solo today because I was exhausted this morning so all I did was sleep anyway. I even got my own small room today, not one of the pods. The bed in here is larger and more comfortable. I still have all my hair in case you're wondering.

Chels has been right there at my side this whole week!

Man am I glad to have gotten the hiccup issue fixed! Hiccups were attacking me Tuesday and Wednesday. I brought this up with my nurses and it turns out the steroid they were giving me in my IV has a tendency to cause hiccups, so my oncologist gave the nurses the green light to use a different type of steroid, and ever since the change was made the hiccups are no longer a problem!

One highlight from this week is when my IV cart toppled over and landed on the floor. Here's what happened: I was reclined in my chair getting some rest, when all of a sudden I got slammed with a "I have to pee NOW" moment...I adjusted my chair to sit me up, not realizing that my IV cart was snagged on the chair. I saw the IV cart start to tip over in the corner of my eye and it was like time froze...it was a gut wrenching feeling. When it hit the floor there seemed to be a ripple of panic that spread through the area. The IV cart started beeping, everyone in the area looked at me, 4 nurses rushed over, it was intense. Luckily everything was fine though. They set the IV cart back up, nothing was damaged, no leaks, and I was back on track. Thankfully my IV didn't get yanked out of my hand either. It was embarrassing but I was told that I wasn't the first. Now I am extremely cautious of the whereabouts of my IV cart when I adjust my chair. I think I'll blame this on the "chemo brain", which is a real thing. Chemo can cause people to be fuzzy and not think straight, so right now I'm going to milk that excuse while I can...  

In one of my earlier posts I talked about the man my grandparents connected me with who had the same type of testicular cancer as me. He went through it 5 years ago. As it turns out he is a student at the U of U and was able to drop by and visit me yesterday! It was an absolute pleasure to meet him in person. Up until now we had talked on the phone several times and have texted a lot, and he has been nothing but a source of comfort. Chels and I had a great visit with him for about 30 minutes and we talked and laughed and had a good time. He told me when you get through it, something changes. You feel different about life and you have a different perspective on life. After he beat his cancer he decided to switch careers and go back to school to become a Physician Assistant so that he could help patients and be an inspiration to them.  

 Me and Brian

I made a friend this week in the infusion center named Chase. He's 22 and he has been going through chemo for about a year now. We've been chatting for about an hour each day. We hit it off right away, talking about our cancer experiences, and about future goals after getting through this. He was kind enough to give me lots of advice on mitigating the side affects of chemo. He's got a few weeks off after today, but I'm sure I'll catch up with him in a few weeks when we're both in at the same time again. He showed me his Mine Craft world he created on his lap top, pretty sweet!     

One thing I have enjoyed this week are the therapy dogs that have been coming through. I learned that it's a volunteer bases, an owner and their dog (who has to pass a training) come through every week or two weeks. One of the dog owners we met is an advanced breast cancer survivor. I will say, the dogs were cute but in my opinion they don't compare to Cash's happy smiley face. The light bulb went off in my head that me and Cash are going to be a team when I get through this! I'll get him certified and take him through to see patients. He has a special gift of brightening people's days.   

One of the therapy dogs sitting on my lap (watch the Minkey blanket little guy!)

 Cash would make a phenomenal therapy dog, just look at that face of his...And there's cute Chloe with a photobomb.

It was great to have Grandma and Grandpa Rogers stop by and visit me today! Grandpa is getting over a small cold so he is being cautious wearing the mask! They will be taking me home here in a few minutes.

Grandma and Grandpa Rogers!