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.