Since the last post Karen and I found time for a day trip to City of Rock. We had a lot of fun and Karen was able to actually walk a lot more than last year. James couldn't get enough of trying to climb the rocks and started to cry when we had to leave. The views weren't quite as good as last year due to all the smoke in the air from the fires. In a way the smoke was a blessing since there weren't nearly as many people.
The first week in September was the closing on the sale of our home in Mount Pleasant. It was sad to sell it. It was the place where so many great and happy memories were made. Where we were finally blessed with the children we had struggled to have for so long. I hope the new buyers realize what a special place it was for us.
Karen has resumed chemo though had to skip her regularly scheduled chemo session after Labor Day due to some low blood counts. It didn't affect the targeted chemo the next week. She is actually recovering better after this last treatment and has more energy. On the down side, the new chemo medications have some other side effects. One of those is severe hair loss so Karen has less hair on her head than me now. All just in time for some family portraits this weekend. To help she bought some hats to keep her head warm and protected from the sun.
Braden
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Fourteen years and still going strong!
Since Karen's last post a lot has happened. On July 16th and 30th she went in for her directed therapies. I was able to be with her for the treatment on the 16th though not the 30th. The treatment on July 16th was actually a little harder on her than her normal chemo for the first day or two. Karen really struggled to keep any food or much liquid down for a day. On the second day she was able to eat a little but was really feeling run down due, I think, to the lack of nutrition.
Between the two treatments we moved closer to family and I started a new job. We had lots of help from friends and family packing, hauling and 'unpacking'. Unpacking was really just putting the vast majority of our belongings into storage. Our house is currently under contract and we hope it goes through but know that there is still the possibility of a problem coming up. While we wait for the sale we are also looking for a house. Karen and I both feel it is best to wait until the sale goes through before we make a real offer on anything. Trying to afford two house payments and medical bills would be just a tad difficult.
While waiting for Karen to come out of sedation on July 16th I received word that the daughter of a neighbor and friend had been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. Karen and I decided at the last minute to make a side trip to visit him and his wife during our move on July 18th. I wish we could have spent more time with them but we still had almost 100 miles left to drive and a moving van, a trailer and two other vehicles to unpack at the end of it.
That experience was just one of many that made it so hard to pack up and leave behind all of the people we had come to know and love. When we first moved to Sanpete county I didn't really imagine I would ever be homesick for it but I am. It's funny how a place and the people that live in it can come to mean so much to you in such a short period of time.
Karen's second directed treatment on the 30th was actually more involved than we had thought. As it turns out the directed chemo actually has more side effects than directed radiation. I hope I am getting this right since I wasn't with Karen for the second treatment (no time off yet with the new job). It turns out that Karen also has something called spastic veins (caused by one of the chemo medications) which can collapse and then open back up. It made consistently delivering chemo inside the liver difficult and another session has been scheduled for September.
Today, August 9th, is our 14th wedding anniversary and Karen is in Salt Lake without me again. She has recovered enough from her surgery in July to start her regular chemo regimen again. Friday we went out to eat and then spent Saturday together looking at houses, driving around and relaxing with James and Rebecca. Not your typical anniversary but it's one more we were able to have with each other so I'll take it.
Braden
Between the two treatments we moved closer to family and I started a new job. We had lots of help from friends and family packing, hauling and 'unpacking'. Unpacking was really just putting the vast majority of our belongings into storage. Our house is currently under contract and we hope it goes through but know that there is still the possibility of a problem coming up. While we wait for the sale we are also looking for a house. Karen and I both feel it is best to wait until the sale goes through before we make a real offer on anything. Trying to afford two house payments and medical bills would be just a tad difficult.
While waiting for Karen to come out of sedation on July 16th I received word that the daughter of a neighbor and friend had been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. Karen and I decided at the last minute to make a side trip to visit him and his wife during our move on July 18th. I wish we could have spent more time with them but we still had almost 100 miles left to drive and a moving van, a trailer and two other vehicles to unpack at the end of it.
That experience was just one of many that made it so hard to pack up and leave behind all of the people we had come to know and love. When we first moved to Sanpete county I didn't really imagine I would ever be homesick for it but I am. It's funny how a place and the people that live in it can come to mean so much to you in such a short period of time.
Karen's second directed treatment on the 30th was actually more involved than we had thought. As it turns out the directed chemo actually has more side effects than directed radiation. I hope I am getting this right since I wasn't with Karen for the second treatment (no time off yet with the new job). It turns out that Karen also has something called spastic veins (caused by one of the chemo medications) which can collapse and then open back up. It made consistently delivering chemo inside the liver difficult and another session has been scheduled for September.
Today, August 9th, is our 14th wedding anniversary and Karen is in Salt Lake without me again. She has recovered enough from her surgery in July to start her regular chemo regimen again. Friday we went out to eat and then spent Saturday together looking at houses, driving around and relaxing with James and Rebecca. Not your typical anniversary but it's one more we were able to have with each other so I'll take it.
Braden
Friday, July 10, 2015
Half way thru craziness
June 29th I went in for another blood transfusion. Two units this time. The July 1st was the mapping procedure to make sure the Y90 radiation will work like they want. (And so far so good.) July 2nd was the bowel reconstruction surgery. I just got out of the hospital July 8. They were able to do a bowel resection, so no colostomy for me. :-)
While we were in the ER in June Braden was offered a job with IHC in Logan which he accepted. He starts July 20th so we are hurrying to pack and get the house listed for sale. Okay, I'm not doing any of the work, I just get to direct people which I am not good at. Usually I jump in and help even if I am out of energy. There are a lot of people coming to help so this should go fast. We have seen so much love and support where we are that it is hard to leave, but we feel good about the job and know that every thing will work out for the best.
Love you all. And thank you for your support, love and prayers. We truly feel blessed.
Karen
While we were in the ER in June Braden was offered a job with IHC in Logan which he accepted. He starts July 20th so we are hurrying to pack and get the house listed for sale. Okay, I'm not doing any of the work, I just get to direct people which I am not good at. Usually I jump in and help even if I am out of energy. There are a lot of people coming to help so this should go fast. We have seen so much love and support where we are that it is hard to leave, but we feel good about the job and know that every thing will work out for the best.
Love you all. And thank you for your support, love and prayers. We truly feel blessed.
Karen
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Off again on again...
Karen is out of the hospital and at home now. The surgeon has her on his schedule for July 2nd. There are three likely scenarios that could play out. They will look with a scope first to see if there are lots of little tumors that don't show up on a CT scan. If that is the case nothing will be done. If it looks like there is enough good tissue available they will attempt a resection. If their is too much damaged tissue they will perform a colostomy. We are hoping for the resection scenario.
After the appointment with the surgeon we had thought the directed radiation treatment would be delayed but after a few phone calls and some questions it looks like it is still a go. The oncologist and radiologist both say it shouldn't affect recovery from surgery too much with how it is currently scheduled. The surgeon agrees but did say the bowel prep prior to surgery will be made more difficult and uncomfortable with a sore leg due to the incision and catheter insertion during the mapping procedure. Karen has said she is willing so I'll do what I can to help.
My help usually involves cracking jokes and twiddling my thumbs while she does all the hard work. Some day we'll know why she had to go through all this. Until then we just keep plugging along, hoping for the best and raising our little miracles as well as we can.
Braden
Y90
So the insurance has approved the Y90 procedure. The one where they use an artery in my leg to insert radioactive pellets to my liver.
It takes three appointments to do the procedure. The first is to map the blood vessels that go to my liver to make sure that the pellets will go to the cancerous areas without affecting too much healthy tissue. They use die covered pellets for this and then do a CT scan a few hours later to see where the pellets ended up. It is an all day thing, but if it doesn't show the doctors what they want to see then we don't move onto steps 2 and 3. This will happen just before the 4th of July.
If all goes well then mid July we have our second appointment where they go in and inject radioactive pellets into one half of my liver. Two weeks later they will go in and do the other half.
On the off weeks from radiation I will still be receiving my chemo treatments. We also have two family reunions in July. It is going to be one crazy month, but the timing seems to be working wonderfully. There was only one day where it looked like I needed to find help and then my sister tells me that my niece can come help.
I love my family and the way we come to each others aid. We are a crazy lot and don't always agree with one another, but when someone needs help there is usually someone who can come.
This post was originally created prior to Karen's latest hospital stay.
It takes three appointments to do the procedure. The first is to map the blood vessels that go to my liver to make sure that the pellets will go to the cancerous areas without affecting too much healthy tissue. They use die covered pellets for this and then do a CT scan a few hours later to see where the pellets ended up. It is an all day thing, but if it doesn't show the doctors what they want to see then we don't move onto steps 2 and 3. This will happen just before the 4th of July.
If all goes well then mid July we have our second appointment where they go in and inject radioactive pellets into one half of my liver. Two weeks later they will go in and do the other half.
On the off weeks from radiation I will still be receiving my chemo treatments. We also have two family reunions in July. It is going to be one crazy month, but the timing seems to be working wonderfully. There was only one day where it looked like I needed to find help and then my sister tells me that my niece can come help.
I love my family and the way we come to each others aid. We are a crazy lot and don't always agree with one another, but when someone needs help there is usually someone who can come.
This post was originally created prior to Karen's latest hospital stay.
Monday, June 22, 2015
May/June Update (Just roll with it)
It has been a long time since my last post. In that time a lot has happened. Karen's treatment has been changed up and will be changing even more in the coming weeks.
She has been reduced to a single drug (5FU) in preparation for some directed radiation treatments. Her oncologist referred her to a radiologist at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake. The appointment was the Friday before Memorial Day and went well. He gave us a rundown on the treatment and a generic plan and then left it for us to decide. We talked it over and think it's the best option at this point.
One of the nice things about this type of treatment is that the side effects are not as severe as with traditional radiation. A line is inserted via an artery in her leg. It is then run to her liver where radioactive beads are released. Because of how the blood flow works to the tumors the diseased portion of her liver will get a significantly larger dose. It's not perfect and they will have to do a premliminary mapping session to see how the blood flows but we are confident.
Unfortunately the liver is more easily damaged by radiation treatments so repeat sessions are limited. They do have other directed options that have the same delivery method but use chemo medications instead. Using the chemo medications it is possible to repeat the treatment.
Our holiday went well after Karen's appointment. We were able to visit family and visit graves. We weren't able to make the trip last year since Becca was still on oxygen at the time and Karen was still recovering from her own hospital stay as well as adjusting to the chemo regimen. We are blessed to have kids that travel so well. We are usually able to drive for 2-3 hours at a time before they need breaks. It was nice to be around lots of family and catch up with them. We don't get to see many of them nearly as often as we would like.
The above portion of this post was written prior to June 22nd. When I originally said her treatment would be changing up, I had no idea how much...
June 22nd
Today Karen was admitted to the hospital. Her hematocrit level tested at 18 this morning where 40 is normal. Her oncologist called before I had left for work to give us the results. He has never called that early so we knew it probably wasn't good news. It wasn't much of a surprise to have him advise her strongly that she needed to head into the ER.
Karen and I talked it over and decided against a repeat of going to the local ER and then having her go via ambulance to another hospital. Instead we packed up the car and headed to another hospital where she was taken into the ER and then admitted. Her hematocrit was tested again and came back at 16.6. Lower but within the margin or error between labs.
After Karen was in the ER I took the kids to stay with Karen's sister a few minutes away. Once they were settled I headed back over and stayed with her for the rest of the day. When I left they expected to test her levels again around 2AM and reevaluate.
Karen's oncologist raised the possibility of surgery to stop what they believe is bleeding from the tumor in the colon. She has an appointment with a general surgeon on Wednesday if she isn't still in the hospital. The current thinking is they will raise her blood levels and stabilize her in preparation for surgery as early as the end of this week.
That means the original schedule for the directed radiation therapy has been thrown out the window. Something we have learned living in a rural area over the last few years is that when something unexpected happens that you just roll with it. A few years ago I can't imagine being this calm with so many changes and challenges being thrown at us. I feel the Lord is and has been supporting us all along in this trial directly and through friends, family and even total strangers.
Braden
She has been reduced to a single drug (5FU) in preparation for some directed radiation treatments. Her oncologist referred her to a radiologist at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake. The appointment was the Friday before Memorial Day and went well. He gave us a rundown on the treatment and a generic plan and then left it for us to decide. We talked it over and think it's the best option at this point.
One of the nice things about this type of treatment is that the side effects are not as severe as with traditional radiation. A line is inserted via an artery in her leg. It is then run to her liver where radioactive beads are released. Because of how the blood flow works to the tumors the diseased portion of her liver will get a significantly larger dose. It's not perfect and they will have to do a premliminary mapping session to see how the blood flows but we are confident.
Unfortunately the liver is more easily damaged by radiation treatments so repeat sessions are limited. They do have other directed options that have the same delivery method but use chemo medications instead. Using the chemo medications it is possible to repeat the treatment.
Our holiday went well after Karen's appointment. We were able to visit family and visit graves. We weren't able to make the trip last year since Becca was still on oxygen at the time and Karen was still recovering from her own hospital stay as well as adjusting to the chemo regimen. We are blessed to have kids that travel so well. We are usually able to drive for 2-3 hours at a time before they need breaks. It was nice to be around lots of family and catch up with them. We don't get to see many of them nearly as often as we would like.
The above portion of this post was written prior to June 22nd. When I originally said her treatment would be changing up, I had no idea how much...
June 22nd
Today Karen was admitted to the hospital. Her hematocrit level tested at 18 this morning where 40 is normal. Her oncologist called before I had left for work to give us the results. He has never called that early so we knew it probably wasn't good news. It wasn't much of a surprise to have him advise her strongly that she needed to head into the ER.
Karen and I talked it over and decided against a repeat of going to the local ER and then having her go via ambulance to another hospital. Instead we packed up the car and headed to another hospital where she was taken into the ER and then admitted. Her hematocrit was tested again and came back at 16.6. Lower but within the margin or error between labs.
After Karen was in the ER I took the kids to stay with Karen's sister a few minutes away. Once they were settled I headed back over and stayed with her for the rest of the day. When I left they expected to test her levels again around 2AM and reevaluate.
Karen's oncologist raised the possibility of surgery to stop what they believe is bleeding from the tumor in the colon. She has an appointment with a general surgeon on Wednesday if she isn't still in the hospital. The current thinking is they will raise her blood levels and stabilize her in preparation for surgery as early as the end of this week.
That means the original schedule for the directed radiation therapy has been thrown out the window. Something we have learned living in a rural area over the last few years is that when something unexpected happens that you just roll with it. A few years ago I can't imagine being this calm with so many changes and challenges being thrown at us. I feel the Lord is and has been supporting us all along in this trial directly and through friends, family and even total strangers.
Braden
Sunday, May 3, 2015
April 24 (CT Scan #7)
I have procrastinated writing this post because we got mixed news.
Good news first, the original spots in my lung and liver are stable. That means no major change. Stable is good. The bad news is that they saw several new small spots in my liver. My oncologist wants me to go to a radiologist and see if they think that I am a candidate for a directed or targeted radiaton to go along with chemo treatments. It is a fairly new form of treatment, but they have been seeing good results with colon cancer. They go in thru a vein and deposit a small amount of radioactive material into my liver and do a very localized radiaton treatment. Hopefully that means no burnt skin and less symptoms. I've been told that radiation in general doesn't have as nasty of side effects as chemo. *fingers crossed* We will know more when I meet with the radiologist at the Huntsman Center in SLC just before Memorial day.
God has a hand in all things. I have been told to trust my doctors, that they will be guided to the best option for me. Radiaton kind of scares me, but with God all things are possible. So I will trust in him and try not to take council of my fears.
Each new day is a blessing. And I plan on having many more. For I have plans for tomorrow.
Good night and God bless you all for your prayers, support and encouragement. Thank you.
Karen
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