No ifs, ands, or ...
Landon has mad ninja skills...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Bowling to Fight Cancer
Deb has been raising money for the Relay For Life campaign. One of the fund raising activities that her school has put together is a bowl-athon. Fortunately I had enough energy to roll a frame with the kids.
No ifs, ands, or ...
Landon has mad ninja skills...
No ifs, ands, or ...
Landon has mad ninja skills...
Friday, April 18, 2008
More Positive News
I had my second follow-up CT scan on 10-Apr, which followed my 4th chemo infusion by 2 weeks. The CT scans are the primary method of determining how effective the treatments are against the cancer. The interval of the CT scans is 6 weeks, which seems like a long time (even if you aren't the cancer patient). Deb and I also had to wait out another week before we met with my oncologist again. As you can imagine, anxiety sets in as you wait, because you don't know what to expect. I kept running the various scenarios through my head...
1) Will the chemo be effective and I continue on the same treatment path? OR
2) Will a complete miracle occur and there be No Evidence of Disease (NED is what cancer patients long to hear from their oncologist)? OR
3) Will my cancer continue to grow and take us back to square one?
Morgan and Landon had a great idea for us to take our minds off of such things. Let's go fly our kites in the park!
Our kids have wisdom way beyond their years.
We met with my oncologist this morning after my blood was analyzed by the lab. I have been fortunate to have a very large vein in my arm stay intact during my chemo treatments. The lovely nurses who draw blood from me every week grin ear to ear at the thought of how easy the blood draw will be, like driving on the interstate with 4 lanes open all to yourself.
I told my oncologist that I felt like I was improving physically (excluding the 5 days of side-effects after chemo treatments). Wonderfully, he shared that the CT scans seem to agree with my overall feeling of health. The mass in my left lung has decreased significantly again to the point were it is somewhat difficult to see on the CT images. The tumors in my liver have stabilized since my last CT scan.
My doctor noted that he has seen cases in the past for non-active tumors remaining on CT scans for up to 1 year, since it can take the body that long to reject the dead cells. To get a better idea of the level of tumor activity, he recommended getting a PET scan, which is non-invasive test that can detect the level of cancer cell activity. If the CT scan will tell you size of a light bulb, the PET scan will also tell you whether or not it is burned out. My PET scan is scheduled for next week (24-Apr).
I was supposed to have a chemo treatment today (#5), but since my platelets were low I rescheduled for next Friday (25-Apr). Hopefully the results of the PET scan will be available to review with my oncologist next week and we can get a better sense of what the CT results mean. If the tumor appears to be dead, I might get a reprieve from the chemo treatments for a while.
We appreciate all of the prayer support we have been getting from family and friends alike. We are praying bold prayers like many of you and God has answered those prayers today. Praise GOD! Please continue to keep us in your prayers, for encouraging results from the PET scan, minimized side-effects of the chemo treatments, reducing anxiety for both myself and Deb, and protection for our entire family from getting sick.
1) Will the chemo be effective and I continue on the same treatment path? OR
2) Will a complete miracle occur and there be No Evidence of Disease (NED is what cancer patients long to hear from their oncologist)? OR
3) Will my cancer continue to grow and take us back to square one?
Morgan and Landon had a great idea for us to take our minds off of such things. Let's go fly our kites in the park!
Our kids have wisdom way beyond their years.
We met with my oncologist this morning after my blood was analyzed by the lab. I have been fortunate to have a very large vein in my arm stay intact during my chemo treatments. The lovely nurses who draw blood from me every week grin ear to ear at the thought of how easy the blood draw will be, like driving on the interstate with 4 lanes open all to yourself.
I told my oncologist that I felt like I was improving physically (excluding the 5 days of side-effects after chemo treatments). Wonderfully, he shared that the CT scans seem to agree with my overall feeling of health. The mass in my left lung has decreased significantly again to the point were it is somewhat difficult to see on the CT images. The tumors in my liver have stabilized since my last CT scan.
My doctor noted that he has seen cases in the past for non-active tumors remaining on CT scans for up to 1 year, since it can take the body that long to reject the dead cells. To get a better idea of the level of tumor activity, he recommended getting a PET scan, which is non-invasive test that can detect the level of cancer cell activity. If the CT scan will tell you size of a light bulb, the PET scan will also tell you whether or not it is burned out. My PET scan is scheduled for next week (24-Apr).
I was supposed to have a chemo treatment today (#5), but since my platelets were low I rescheduled for next Friday (25-Apr). Hopefully the results of the PET scan will be available to review with my oncologist next week and we can get a better sense of what the CT results mean. If the tumor appears to be dead, I might get a reprieve from the chemo treatments for a while.
We appreciate all of the prayer support we have been getting from family and friends alike. We are praying bold prayers like many of you and God has answered those prayers today. Praise GOD! Please continue to keep us in your prayers, for encouraging results from the PET scan, minimized side-effects of the chemo treatments, reducing anxiety for both myself and Deb, and protection for our entire family from getting sick.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Relay For Life
Dear Family and Friends,
I've decided to take action against cancer by participating in our local American Cancer Society Relay For Life event on May 17-18, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Relay For Life is about celebration, remembrance, and hope. By participating, I am honoring cancer survivors, paying tribute to the lives we've lost to the disease, and raising money to help fight it. Many people have asked what they can do for our family during this time and there just isn't much besides prayer that can be done. This is something we can all do together.
Please help support me in this important cause by making a donation. It is faster and easier than ever to support me by making a secure, tax-deductible donation online using the link below. If you would prefer, you can send your contribution to the mailing address listed below.
Whatever you can give will help - it all adds up! I greatly appreciate your support.
Sincerely,
Deb
To make a donation online, visit my personal page.
To print an offline donation form, click here.
If you choose to make an offline donation, please be sure to notify the Relay For Life participant that you are making a contribution on their behalf. Please make checks out the American Cancer Society and send the complete form with contribution to the local American Cancer Society office at:
American Cancer Society
20450 Civic Center Drive
Southfield, MI 48076
I've decided to take action against cancer by participating in our local American Cancer Society Relay For Life event on May 17-18, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Relay For Life is about celebration, remembrance, and hope. By participating, I am honoring cancer survivors, paying tribute to the lives we've lost to the disease, and raising money to help fight it. Many people have asked what they can do for our family during this time and there just isn't much besides prayer that can be done. This is something we can all do together.
Please help support me in this important cause by making a donation. It is faster and easier than ever to support me by making a secure, tax-deductible donation online using the link below. If you would prefer, you can send your contribution to the mailing address listed below.
Whatever you can give will help - it all adds up! I greatly appreciate your support.
Sincerely,
Deb
To make a donation online, visit my personal page.
To print an offline donation form, click here.
If you choose to make an offline donation, please be sure to notify the Relay For Life participant that you are making a contribution on their behalf. Please make checks out the American Cancer Society and send the complete form with contribution to the local American Cancer Society office at:
American Cancer Society
20450 Civic Center Drive
Southfield, MI 48076
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