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.