Wow! I need to catch up.

Just looked and saw my last blog entry was the end of January as I was going into chemo number 5.  For a guy who has nothing much scheduled to do with his days they sure seem to fill up quickly.

Well I am now one full month out of my last chemo treatment (number 6) that was on February18th. I got a cool certificate and Anna posted it on the fridge; just like the accomplishments I had as a kiddo.

Time sure flies by.  The six treatments went by so quickly.  Made lots of new friends in the infusion center and will actually kind of miss sitting in the recliner with my wife by my side while Cyndy and Jack kept the bags of chemo drugs dripping into my system for 5 or 6 hours. Surprisingly good coffee for a clinic, lots of Little Debbie snack cakes to munch on, and interesting conversations around the room with others battling this crazy disease.

I am sure everyone has unique responses to dealing with chemotherapy infusion but as for me I found it exhilarating.  Perhaps it was from the "good" drugs they gave me to combat the feeling of the "bad" drugs, or maybe just the adrenaline rush of knowing that the chemo they were pushing through my port into my heart was heading on it's way to kill those cancer cells. Either way, I looked forward to chemo days and shooting another bullet against this cancer.

I don't want to give the impression that fighting cancer is fun or without it taking it's toll on me. Fatigue, pain, nausea, and just knowing that nothing is right about what you are going through makes for some long days and some sleepless nights. But praise God that this first stint of the journey is over.

A few weeks after my last chemo I had another PET scan. This time in the Tulsa office of Oklahoma Oncology and a few days later received the results while visiting with Dr.Lynch.  All my lymph nodes responded wonderfully to the 6 rounds of R-CHOP and most of all the tumor in my abdomen, which started out about the size of a football (regulation NFL size, not those wimpy NERF ones), has reduced in size by 80 percent.  While that is great news, we were hoping it was reduced down to nearly nothing so we could proceed with the Autologous Stem Cell Therapy (big words I know) but it wasn't.  Sooo.... I get to have a few more chemo treatments to finish off shrinking away the rest of the tumor.  No more R-CHOP for me... I am moving on to a new therapy called ICE.

NO.... I won't be doing any white guy rap, just a different form of chemo. It will be a little more intensive as the chemo is delivered over three days in St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa instead of the 5 hour infusion in Tahlequah.  Logistically will be a little tougher, but after two rounds they hope the tumor will be gone and we can move toward that final phase of the Autologous Stem Cell Therapy.  Even though the time frame is a bit longer, it will give me the best chance of being cancer free at the end.

Dr. Lynch offered some more encouraging news that if the cancer recurs years from now there is a new treatment that has just been approved by the FDA and it is in the form of a pill.  A pill that kills lymphoma... wow!  Now that is truly a miracle.  And who knows what new treatments may even come after that. 

We will trust God and see what He has in store for me. Again I thank all of you that are praying for Anna and me (and my family).  We have been truly blessed by it.

My friend Josh Maxwell and many others would want me to make sure that I inform you about the Benefit for Brownie they are putting together to help with these medical costs.  I am very thankful I have medical insurance and I appreciate what they are doing to help me deal with the sometimes overwhelming reality of what all this treatment is costing.  

Brownie

Five and Counting

Chemo number five is underway today. Interestingly, there is a nationwide shortage of saline, probably due to the number of flu cases.  Won't affect my treatment. Well, it actually might actually speed it up a bit. After today I have just one more scheduled chemo near the middle of February then sit tight for a month and have another PET scan. Hopefully all of the tumors will have been completely melted away by the chemicals and I can proceed with the final leg of this portion of the journey...the stem cell replacement. Not sure what to expect from this other than the fact that it will keep me in a hospital for a full month. WOW!

My infusion today is being done over in the Tahlequah Oncology clinic, next door to TCH.  They have officially moved out of the hospital. The new room is six or seven times as large as the hospital, which is great because Anna will be able to be next to me for the entire treatment (crocheting dish cloths for some of the staff).

I have been surprised of late at the number of people I come in contact with that do not recognize me. I guess being 90 pounds lighter than I was in July, having a short buzz cut, and no big bushy beard makes me look like a different person. I noticed it a few weeks ago when I ran into one of my former students, Will Grayson, at Walmart. As I approached him with a big smile on my face, he noticed me out of the corner of his eye and quickly looked back down then glanced again at me as I approached him and looked away again, probably hoping I wasn't heading staight for him, but I was. Then when I spoke to him he immediately recognized me. It was kinda funny and surprising to me, but it has happened many times since then and I am getting use to it.  So... If you see a thin guy with a beanie cap on approaching you like he knows you, it just might be me.

Thanks to everyone who is continually lifting  me up in their prayers...it is working.

Good Times!

Ok, so I realize I haven't update in a while so here we go... the Christmas season and the New Year have been wonderful times with family and friends.  My health has been very good and I have felt mostly like my normal self, other than being thin with no fat layer for warmth during these cold day.  Some days I actually forgot that I was fighting cancer. 

After the last chemotherapy, the neupogen shots did their job and kept my blood numbers where they should be and even improving, so I really can't complain. With the good numbers we were able to travel a little bit and see both sides of our family during the Christmas break. It was great.

The day after Christmas I went in for another PET scan.  They did one before my treatment began and now that I am halfway through the rounds of chemo they do one to see how the treatment is affecting me. I met with my oncologist a week after the scan and the word he used to describe his reaction to my PET scan was "ecstatic".  Now that is something I like to hear from my cancer doc.  The tumors in my abdomen are nearly half the size of when we began and all the other lymph nodes that were swollen in my body have reduced "considerably" in size (i.e. one in my chest was 3.5 centimeters is not only 1.1 centimeters).  Praise the Lord!

I am so grateful the the Lord for what he is doing through the prayers of his saints and the medical staff treating me. I am truly blessed to have so many who care about me.  

Thank You! Thank You! for your prayers. The Lord is teaching me much during this time. 

Chemo number four begins in the morning! 

Three Down... Three to Go!

Yesterday was my third chemo treatment and it went wonderfully.  Much quicker and so much less anxiety than with the other two.  I guess I am just becoming a pro at it. (not sure I want to be a pro but oh well)

The medicines they give to me to counteract the effects of the chemo really make me feel good... and hungry. Gonna have lunch today with all the staff guys at Grace Baptist to celebrate my birthday which was back on the 7th during "snowmageddon" here in the 'Quah.  It will be good to fellowship and catch up.

Now that I have had the third treatment, we have begun to see what the pattern will probably be throughout. Chemo day will make me feel pretty good for about three days, then when it wears off the nausea will begin for at least a couple of days but if I stay on top of the oral meds they give for it the nausea can be controlled pretty well (I haven't had to call "EARL" yet during this whole treatment for which I am very, very thankful.... Anna says I have only puked about 5 or 6 times during our entire 29 years of marriage and I don't want to start now). Then I begin to feel mostly normal, although I can tell things are going on in my abdomen, which I am believing to be the tumors shrinking, Praise God!.  When I look in the mirror my tummy is much smaller than it was two months ago. I receive injections of a drug called Neupogen (helping my bone marrow continue to produce white blood cells killed by the chemo) for 4 days after my chemo session.  It does it's job but about 8 or 9 days after chemo by blood levels usually tank out and I have to be quarantined to my house and wear a mask and gloves if anyone comes by so as not to pick up anything that my body couldn't fight off. But then, the drug and my body do their job and about 4 to 5 days later my blood count is back up and stays up until the next chemo. So I have over a week of feeling normal before I do it all again.  Really, not too bad so far. 

Since August, I have lost about 85 pounds. Whoa! That is about the same weight as carrying a child around on my back. Nice to not be so heavy, but man I want a little bit of insulation on these bones to help keep me warm this winter. Trying to eat about every time I feel hungry to build myself up a little.  My doctor says I should drink a shake from Braums every day but it is just so sweet! Still haven't lost all my hair. The buzz cut even seems to be a bit longer than it was and my facial hair keeps growing although my goat tee seems to be going completely white in time for Christmas.

Anna and I got to go out to the Martin's for a Christmas party Sunday night with the young married's class and had a great time in fellowship. Had to wear my mask most of the time except while eating the wonderful snacks ( I can't resist those little smokies wrapped n biscuits... heaven on earth).

We are blessed to have everyone of you praying for us.  THANK YOU!  We count it a blessing and know that this journey would not be what it is without our hope in Christ.  May God bless you during this Christmas season.

Wow!

I truly wish I could express the feelings I have but the words just seem inadequate. As someone who is usually the one to go and help it is humbling to be the recipient of so much love from the hands of those around me. Such as, coming home to find the dead trees in my yard trimmed neatly to the ground and the freshly cut and split wood stacked on my porch,or the huge dead tree dangerously hanging over my house suddenly taken safely to the ground. Men showing up with more saws and log splitters and creating stacks of wood by my shed for the cold days ahead. The siding on the front of my house being completed in hours while I was being tested at the hospital, Meals showing up on our doorstep either ready for the freezer or for my family to consume. A shower of food for the guys at home while Anna attended my bedside in the hospital for over a week,  individuals taking on more than their load or stepping up out of the comfort zone to cover the classes that I was unable to complete, my sons being errand boys on short notice to my needs, faithful friends to see that the worship at Grace continues in my absence from the platform, even through adversity, Knowing the prayers being offered to th Father on my behalf throughout the day and night. Encouragements from friends out of the blue, cards, letters, songs, phone calls from old friends... WOW!  I am a truly blessesd man.THANK YOU LORD!

Chemo number 2...down and done

After many hours at the infusion center, chemo number 2 is behind me. Infusion is so strange as the apprehension turns to a form of excitement knowing they are injecting chemicals aimed at those hungry cancer cells. For some reason, both treatments made me feel like Superman. Enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner afterward with Anna, Ryan, and Micah. Probably ate more in one meal than in the previous three or four days. But they did say that red meat helps with my red blood cell production, so I guess you could say the steak was under doctors orders...oh yeah.

Oh what a week!

Chemo number one nearly did me in. White blood count dropped so low that I could fight off nothing. Seemed to be going ok until Friday night the 15th. Temperature spiked to 102.6 and quickly rushed to the emergency room at TCH. Admitted to MICU and spent the next week battling. So thankful for the prayers of those fellow believers who continually petitioned For my safety and health. Came home on Saturday and was never so happy to be there. These cold days have been spent mostly in front of the fireplace with my sweetie by my side. Feeling stronger each day and trying to get out in the fresh air as much as possible.

Todayis my second chemo and am a bit apprehensive as the time approaches. Praying and hoping for less adverse reactions. 

Oh yeah, my boys had to trim my hair down to an "army cut".Since it seems to be leaving me quickly these days.  I look like a lean, mean, fightin' machine.