Posts
Hi everyone. Gary is okay BUT we NEED prayer like nobodys business.
Dr. Barth feels that chemo has taken Gary as far as it can at this point. Gary needs to start on Molecular Therapy ASAP. These drugs have proven extremely effective in stopping cancer from spreading and diminishing tumors all together. There is a problem.
Our insurance carrier - AETNA. They are fighting our doctor and their argument is that the chemo and readiation seem to have worked so why would we approved you for such expensive drugs. These drugs have been approved for other cancers but not bladder. Bladder cancer seeems to be somewhat of a "sleeper".
Dr. Barth feels that Gary NEEDS these drugs and he is currently fighting the insurance directors now.
We need prayer:
1. Pray that Dr. Barth can plead his case with these directors and that the directors listen and see the need to approve these drugs.
2. Pray that Gary's body is preparing to receive these drugs so that we can continue to kill of the cancer.
These drugs collectively (there are 4 - 2 oral, 2 IV) cost upwards of $60,000 per month. Hopefully our insurance company places importance on Gary's life! With prayer God can do anything!!! We have a 50/50 shot of getting them approved so please GET PRAYING!!!
Love, L&G
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Saturday
Love the hot weather! I am so ready for summer. The boys love being outside and I love eating dinner all summer long in the backyard or at the beach. It could not come soon enough as far as I am concerned.
I brought "thumper" home. I just asked Gary why he called himself that and I think it is an affectionate name for his very swollen ankles and legs. I guess it is better than tree trunks. :)
We are home and in bed. My teeth are sore and the boys are finishing up their pizza before bedtime. Zach is at a sleepover with Cole and we are channel surfing. I think we have landed on Walk The Line.
We had baseball the first part of the day and Gary made it through all three games. Then he went home to rest before meeting all of our friends at the Las Flores pool for swimming and fun. Needless to say it was a fun and long day.
Gary has an appointment with Dr. B on Monday at 2 PM. We will find out when chemo will be then. I will keep all of you posted.
Off to snuggle and have a relaxing rest of our evening.
Get to church! God is waiting for you!!!!!
Have a great Sunday!
Love, L
I brought "thumper" home. I just asked Gary why he called himself that and I think it is an affectionate name for his very swollen ankles and legs. I guess it is better than tree trunks. :)
We are home and in bed. My teeth are sore and the boys are finishing up their pizza before bedtime. Zach is at a sleepover with Cole and we are channel surfing. I think we have landed on Walk The Line.
We had baseball the first part of the day and Gary made it through all three games. Then he went home to rest before meeting all of our friends at the Las Flores pool for swimming and fun. Needless to say it was a fun and long day.
Gary has an appointment with Dr. B on Monday at 2 PM. We will find out when chemo will be then. I will keep all of you posted.
Off to snuggle and have a relaxing rest of our evening.
Get to church! God is waiting for you!!!!!
Have a great Sunday!
Love, L
Friday, April 25, 2008
Night Wanderer
Gary is doing well. For the first time since December Gary is back in our bedroom! We have slept in our own bed for 3 nights now! We had to resort to sleeping downstairs and making that the "new master bedroom" because Gary could not get in and out of our bed. We have a really high sleigh bed. It was so difficult with the amount of pain Gary was in to even attempt the climb in and out! So, I guess that means he is feeling a little better as of late! That is a good sign.
No chemo until next week. He has had a nice long break. I think mentally it has been great for him.
We finally had a chance to watch The Last Lecture yesterday and that was so amazingly powerful! Prof. Pausch is a man we should all model ourselves after. Gary and I both had tears in our eyes as he described his life now that he is dying. Powerful.
Well, I have been through dental hell the last week. Until I hit 30 I had never even had a cavity! My teeth are straight (never had braces) and I have always prided myself on having great teeth! Until now. I brush and floss and brush and floss! What more can I do to prevent future AWFUL things like what I am going through now?
As you might notice, the hour of the morning is 3:38 AM. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT I wake up around this time in excruciating pain. Throbbing. Awful. Nasty pain.
Turns out my dentist (I have Blue Cross HMO - first mistake) has made a costly mistake and has caused this mess I am in now. My dentist put a new crown on my back molar (#18) about 8 months ago. After 5 attempts of making a crown, they told me they finally got a good one from the company. That process of ordering and trying to fit it in my mouth took over a month. 5X they ordered a new one. I should have known. Whatever. It never fit quite right but after enduring the month long process of sitting back and letting them screw with my mouth I called it a day and took this crown and walked away.
Fast forward to now. I was flossing last week and brought the floss up and a part of my tooth broke off. Yikes! It hurt because it was down to the gumline.
I go to the dentist. This time, I go to another dentist because there is NO WAY I am going back to the other one for this kind of dental work. Unfortunatley, the same tooth that my dentist crowned 8 months ago, has serious decay in the crown because the crown was doen totally inproperly. Imagine that! Dr. Staph said the crown resembled a marshmallow and it was unacceptable. He is kind enough to write a letter to my dentist telling them that they did a crappy job and that I should get a refund. Who knows. The letter might help and actually help to recoup some of the cost.
So, the decay was under that tooth and the tooth next to it. Do we all know where I am going with this?
DOUBLE ROOT CANAL and 2 crowns! Does anyone have any idea how much that costs? If I told you and you have never had dental work done you would completely cringe!!!!!!
So, tomorrow at 3:30, I have to go to Newport and to meet with the Endodontist and Anesthesologist and be put under because after a 2 hour attempt today to do the root canal Dr. Cavalleri could not get my "hot teeth" numb! 3 hour procedure tomorrow. I hate the dentist!
Now,like I mentioned previously, I am in constant pain. 24 hours a day. I have been medicated over the past week with vicodin and ibuprofen. I am tired of waking up every night with severe pain.
Rant. Vent. Rant. Vent. Sometimes I need to rant and vent! Oh well. Just another one of life's speedbumps!
Now that the meds are kicking in I will try and go back to bed. Friday is going to be a long day! I can't eat or drink ALL DAY! Poor me!
Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!
Pray that I do not get nervous going under today. I always tell Gary it is no biggie and now I find myself being a total chicken!
Lots of Love,
L
No chemo until next week. He has had a nice long break. I think mentally it has been great for him.
We finally had a chance to watch The Last Lecture yesterday and that was so amazingly powerful! Prof. Pausch is a man we should all model ourselves after. Gary and I both had tears in our eyes as he described his life now that he is dying. Powerful.
Well, I have been through dental hell the last week. Until I hit 30 I had never even had a cavity! My teeth are straight (never had braces) and I have always prided myself on having great teeth! Until now. I brush and floss and brush and floss! What more can I do to prevent future AWFUL things like what I am going through now?
As you might notice, the hour of the morning is 3:38 AM. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT I wake up around this time in excruciating pain. Throbbing. Awful. Nasty pain.
Turns out my dentist (I have Blue Cross HMO - first mistake) has made a costly mistake and has caused this mess I am in now. My dentist put a new crown on my back molar (#18) about 8 months ago. After 5 attempts of making a crown, they told me they finally got a good one from the company. That process of ordering and trying to fit it in my mouth took over a month. 5X they ordered a new one. I should have known. Whatever. It never fit quite right but after enduring the month long process of sitting back and letting them screw with my mouth I called it a day and took this crown and walked away.
Fast forward to now. I was flossing last week and brought the floss up and a part of my tooth broke off. Yikes! It hurt because it was down to the gumline.
I go to the dentist. This time, I go to another dentist because there is NO WAY I am going back to the other one for this kind of dental work. Unfortunatley, the same tooth that my dentist crowned 8 months ago, has serious decay in the crown because the crown was doen totally inproperly. Imagine that! Dr. Staph said the crown resembled a marshmallow and it was unacceptable. He is kind enough to write a letter to my dentist telling them that they did a crappy job and that I should get a refund. Who knows. The letter might help and actually help to recoup some of the cost.
So, the decay was under that tooth and the tooth next to it. Do we all know where I am going with this?
DOUBLE ROOT CANAL and 2 crowns! Does anyone have any idea how much that costs? If I told you and you have never had dental work done you would completely cringe!!!!!!
So, tomorrow at 3:30, I have to go to Newport and to meet with the Endodontist and Anesthesologist and be put under because after a 2 hour attempt today to do the root canal Dr. Cavalleri could not get my "hot teeth" numb! 3 hour procedure tomorrow. I hate the dentist!
Now,like I mentioned previously, I am in constant pain. 24 hours a day. I have been medicated over the past week with vicodin and ibuprofen. I am tired of waking up every night with severe pain.
Rant. Vent. Rant. Vent. Sometimes I need to rant and vent! Oh well. Just another one of life's speedbumps!
Now that the meds are kicking in I will try and go back to bed. Friday is going to be a long day! I can't eat or drink ALL DAY! Poor me!
Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!
Pray that I do not get nervous going under today. I always tell Gary it is no biggie and now I find myself being a total chicken!
Lots of Love,
L
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Chicken Pox
Okay. It is official! Jax has the chicken Pox! The first of the kids to get it. I haven't even had it! I did get vaccinated about 10 years ago. Hopefully I am in the clear! Gary had it as a kid and all 3 of the boys have been vaccinated. So, I did some research after speaking with the doctor and found out some interesting information.
The vaccination has a 95% success rate in preventing major breakouts and an 80% success rate in preventing minor breakouts. It is not unheard of to see this minor breakout in kids who have been vaccinated.
The chances of Jax giving it to other kids is unlikely. However, we are taking every precaution and keeping him away from everyone until the last sore scabs over. He will be home from school until at least Thursday.
The bummer thing about this whole chicken pox thing is that he feels fine. When your kid is home and sick it is easy to care for them because they have no energy and all they want to do is watch tv and veg. Not Jax. He is super active and feels nothing other than the occasional itch or two! I will have my work cut out for me this week trying to entertain him.
Maybe Jax could be in bed with Gary watching Gary's show of the week "Deadliest Catch"! This show cracks me up. How is it that they create an entire series around fishing? These guys are rough and gruff and I have no idea why it is so interesting. I am sure Gary feels the same way about my affinity for Reality TV! I can't get enough of Brad and Daisy and Kim and LC and all the other characters that entice me each week with their drama! Do you think it is true reality or do you think it is scripted? Whatever it is IT IS NOT MY LIFE and it makes me laugh! :) Sometimes I feel incredibly guilty that I get wrapped up in such trivial garbage. Then I forget my guilt and switch to enjoyment! It is a love-hate relationship.
Gotta go and rub lotion on Jax. The good news is that they have clear calamine lotion now instead of the nasty pepto pink color that we used growing up.
Have a great day!
Love,
L
The vaccination has a 95% success rate in preventing major breakouts and an 80% success rate in preventing minor breakouts. It is not unheard of to see this minor breakout in kids who have been vaccinated.
The chances of Jax giving it to other kids is unlikely. However, we are taking every precaution and keeping him away from everyone until the last sore scabs over. He will be home from school until at least Thursday.
The bummer thing about this whole chicken pox thing is that he feels fine. When your kid is home and sick it is easy to care for them because they have no energy and all they want to do is watch tv and veg. Not Jax. He is super active and feels nothing other than the occasional itch or two! I will have my work cut out for me this week trying to entertain him.
Maybe Jax could be in bed with Gary watching Gary's show of the week "Deadliest Catch"! This show cracks me up. How is it that they create an entire series around fishing? These guys are rough and gruff and I have no idea why it is so interesting. I am sure Gary feels the same way about my affinity for Reality TV! I can't get enough of Brad and Daisy and Kim and LC and all the other characters that entice me each week with their drama! Do you think it is true reality or do you think it is scripted? Whatever it is IT IS NOT MY LIFE and it makes me laugh! :) Sometimes I feel incredibly guilty that I get wrapped up in such trivial garbage. Then I forget my guilt and switch to enjoyment! It is a love-hate relationship.
Gotta go and rub lotion on Jax. The good news is that they have clear calamine lotion now instead of the nasty pepto pink color that we used growing up.
Have a great day!
Love,
L
Late Blog
I really had every intention of blogging yesterday but we all know how that goes. Then, after the kids went to bed I was going to sit down and do it before nodding off to sleep. So, the kids are getting ready for bed and Jax is calling me. I get upstairs to his room where the boys are getting their jammies on after taking a long, hot shower and Jax tells me he is itchy.
I ask him where and he tells me everywhere.
I look at his upper body and he has what appears to be big red bumps with a whiter center. YIKES! Chicken Pox I fear! How can this be? He has been vaccinated! Maybe the bumps are bug bites. I try to convince myself of this. I have never had chicken pox. I don't even know what they look like.
I check the computer. I google "chicken pox photos" and I am grossed out by the graphic nature of photos depicting small children with obviously gnarly pox! I want to see what they look like when they first appear. Well, after many searches, I come to the conclusion that the internet will not be the source that helps me to determine whether or not Jax indeed has the pox. He was at the fields last night and maybe they are bites. He was wearing long sleeves and short. No bumps on his legs. The bumps are only on the part of his body that was the most protected. I know. I know. Probably not bites.
I have kept him home from school to see what if anything becomes of the 15 or so bumps on his back, chest, shoulders and arms. So many kids get mild cases of pox even efter being vaccinated. I can't take a chance and send him to school until............yep, another doctor appointment!
Let's see how this seems to work for me. Gary goes to the doctor. Then, he has a break! Yeah no more doctors. But wait. Then one of my kids seems to feel badly that we are not going to the doctor so they get "something" so that we can't stay away from the good old medical office! I NEED TO BREAK THE CYCLE!
I will let you know when I get back from the 10:30 doc appt. Enough about Jax and his itchy red bumps! Now for some good news.
Gary had his procedures yesterday. Everything went well.
No evidence of cancer in his colon or in his stomach. He went in for these procedures because he was having so much pain in his abdominal region. The CT's they have done did not show anything so they had to take a closer look. Gary has Radiation Recall. The radiation has wreaked havoc on his intestines and they are inflamed and damaged right now. This is why he hurts so much. So, we will have to wait for his intestines to heal on their own. There is really nothing they can do. They did give him a prescription. He has to take 3 pills 15 minutes prior to eating anything. This will help to keep the acids and bile off of the lining of his intestines as to not irritate them further.
I hope you all have a great morning. If Jax has the pox let me say now how sorry I am if your kids have played with Jax over the past 3 or 4 days. I will feel terrible if your child gets chicken pox because of my kid! Don't stress yet. We don't know 100% if he even has them.
My friend Angela has been praying specifically that Gary would finally be able to take 10 steps forward instead of always back-pedaling and I think the tests results from yesterday have given Gary his 10 steps forward! Praise God!! Every little bit of good news helps!
Have a great day!
Lisa
I ask him where and he tells me everywhere.
I look at his upper body and he has what appears to be big red bumps with a whiter center. YIKES! Chicken Pox I fear! How can this be? He has been vaccinated! Maybe the bumps are bug bites. I try to convince myself of this. I have never had chicken pox. I don't even know what they look like.
I check the computer. I google "chicken pox photos" and I am grossed out by the graphic nature of photos depicting small children with obviously gnarly pox! I want to see what they look like when they first appear. Well, after many searches, I come to the conclusion that the internet will not be the source that helps me to determine whether or not Jax indeed has the pox. He was at the fields last night and maybe they are bites. He was wearing long sleeves and short. No bumps on his legs. The bumps are only on the part of his body that was the most protected. I know. I know. Probably not bites.
I have kept him home from school to see what if anything becomes of the 15 or so bumps on his back, chest, shoulders and arms. So many kids get mild cases of pox even efter being vaccinated. I can't take a chance and send him to school until............yep, another doctor appointment!
Let's see how this seems to work for me. Gary goes to the doctor. Then, he has a break! Yeah no more doctors. But wait. Then one of my kids seems to feel badly that we are not going to the doctor so they get "something" so that we can't stay away from the good old medical office! I NEED TO BREAK THE CYCLE!
I will let you know when I get back from the 10:30 doc appt. Enough about Jax and his itchy red bumps! Now for some good news.
Gary had his procedures yesterday. Everything went well.
No evidence of cancer in his colon or in his stomach. He went in for these procedures because he was having so much pain in his abdominal region. The CT's they have done did not show anything so they had to take a closer look. Gary has Radiation Recall. The radiation has wreaked havoc on his intestines and they are inflamed and damaged right now. This is why he hurts so much. So, we will have to wait for his intestines to heal on their own. There is really nothing they can do. They did give him a prescription. He has to take 3 pills 15 minutes prior to eating anything. This will help to keep the acids and bile off of the lining of his intestines as to not irritate them further.
I hope you all have a great morning. If Jax has the pox let me say now how sorry I am if your kids have played with Jax over the past 3 or 4 days. I will feel terrible if your child gets chicken pox because of my kid! Don't stress yet. We don't know 100% if he even has them.
My friend Angela has been praying specifically that Gary would finally be able to take 10 steps forward instead of always back-pedaling and I think the tests results from yesterday have given Gary his 10 steps forward! Praise God!! Every little bit of good news helps!
Have a great day!
Lisa
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Rabbits
No, I do not have an infestation of rabbits. I have had some rabbits in my yard but that is not what this first part of the blog is about.
After having nice conversation tonight about rabbits I got to thinking about the difference between a rabbit and a jack rabbit. No one seemed to know the answer. Does one hop faster than the other. Do they look different? Is one furrier than the other? So random I know. But, nonetheless, it peaked my interest so I thought I would investigate.
Here is what I found:
jack rabbit - any of various large hares having very long hind legs and long ears.
rab·bit- any of several soft-furred, large-eared, rodentlike burrowing mammals having a divided upper lip and long hind legs.
A divided upper lip? What is that? Does one have a soft white tail that looks like a cotton ball? I think that is a cotton tail rabbit. I looked that one up and found nothing concrete. So, which rabbits do we have in our neighborhoods?
I think we might have both. The main difference seems to be the long ears since they both have long hind legs. Who knows. Who cares, right? All I know is that I like rabbits and I love the ones with long ears so I must prefer the jack rabbit to the regular run of the mill rabbits. I would never have one as a pet again. I had a holland lop ear for a few years and that dang bunny hopped and pooped everywhere and I don't do poop!
Off of random conversations. On to the most important thing - my man.
His tree trunks have now gone from redwoods to ficus trees. We are making progress. He starts his liquid diet tomorrow. He was bored all day today as we were gone. Hobie was sad, too!
Tomorrow brings another full day with church, ice skating and home group. Our family always loves Sundays!
The boys had great games today and Zach is at JM's house. Jax got to play with his teammates at the Bora's house. He had so much fun! Nate got to go to JT'S house tonight and Nate had a great time there! Pizza for all and Jax even got to swim!
A shout out to BW, JW, ER. TR, SB, MW, LW who made my evening laughable! Next time we can meet at our house so Gary can be a part of the festivities and conversation!
Have a great evening! Hopefully you are all not reading this right now on a Saturday night and you are actually out doing something fun!
I thank God for all of our friends and family! You are all treasured!
Love,
L
After having nice conversation tonight about rabbits I got to thinking about the difference between a rabbit and a jack rabbit. No one seemed to know the answer. Does one hop faster than the other. Do they look different? Is one furrier than the other? So random I know. But, nonetheless, it peaked my interest so I thought I would investigate.
Here is what I found:
jack rabbit - any of various large hares having very long hind legs and long ears.
rab·bit- any of several soft-furred, large-eared, rodentlike burrowing mammals having a divided upper lip and long hind legs.
A divided upper lip? What is that? Does one have a soft white tail that looks like a cotton ball? I think that is a cotton tail rabbit. I looked that one up and found nothing concrete. So, which rabbits do we have in our neighborhoods?
I think we might have both. The main difference seems to be the long ears since they both have long hind legs. Who knows. Who cares, right? All I know is that I like rabbits and I love the ones with long ears so I must prefer the jack rabbit to the regular run of the mill rabbits. I would never have one as a pet again. I had a holland lop ear for a few years and that dang bunny hopped and pooped everywhere and I don't do poop!
Off of random conversations. On to the most important thing - my man.
His tree trunks have now gone from redwoods to ficus trees. We are making progress. He starts his liquid diet tomorrow. He was bored all day today as we were gone. Hobie was sad, too!
Tomorrow brings another full day with church, ice skating and home group. Our family always loves Sundays!
The boys had great games today and Zach is at JM's house. Jax got to play with his teammates at the Bora's house. He had so much fun! Nate got to go to JT'S house tonight and Nate had a great time there! Pizza for all and Jax even got to swim!
A shout out to BW, JW, ER. TR, SB, MW, LW who made my evening laughable! Next time we can meet at our house so Gary can be a part of the festivities and conversation!
Have a great evening! Hopefully you are all not reading this right now on a Saturday night and you are actually out doing something fun!
I thank God for all of our friends and family! You are all treasured!
Love,
L
Friday, April 18, 2008
Ephesians 4:29
When you talk, do not say harmful things. But say what people need--words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will help those who listen to you. NCV
I love that verse. We should all be focusing on building other people up. We spend so much time focusing on the negative. Wouldn't it be great if we only had nice things to say? No smack talk. No angry words. No condemning words. No unthoughtful things to say. Why are we so negative? Is it because it makes us feel better about ourselves when we talk about others or put others down? Do we do it because we are bored? Think we are better than others? Do we do it with the intention of hurting others? Passive aggressive? What do we gain from it? It is something I have pondered on more than one occasion. If you think you have the answer please share with us all!
Tomorrow brings a day of baseball and parties. Zach is going to a friends house and Nate and Jax are going to a pizza party. I will be working in the snack bar tomorrow and trying to watch all three games. Zach and Jax are playing at 3 PM while Nate plays at 4 PM. Go Angels and Yankees!
Matt and I are taking the kids from our church to the Ice Palace after church on Sunday! We should have a big group of kids and all of the kids love to ice skate! Zach is thrilled!
The tree trunks are still rooted firmly. Gary has been elevating his legs and I actually felt like being nice and I rubbed his legs with special minty lotion. I think he enjoyed it. I say I think because Gary is not a lover of massages! Too bad for him - Yeah for me! I love massages. I could lay on a massage table ALL DAY LONG getting massaged and you would not hear a single complaint from me. Gary is missing out! He needs to hurry up and get stronger. He used to massage me every night and I am missing that and ready for it - sooner than later. I go through withdrawls every night. Get going Gary!
Jax got a buzz today and hee looks so cute. He looks younger than his 5 years. He has been waiting for 2 weeks to get his hair cut. He asked to have a buzz cut and I told him to wait and we would check back to make sure that is what he wanted. Sure enough he did. So off went his beautiful hair! His face is so cute - he can pull of anything with the exception of a mullet!
Gary is back to getting Lovenox shots in his tummy. He is not permitted to take coumadin (blood thinner)4 days prior to his procedure. Sunday will bring a day of clear liquids ONLY for Gary. I feel bad because home group is at our house and we are having an italian theme complete with chicken fettucini alfredo, lasagna, garlic bread and caesar salad! Poor Gary. We will save lots of leftovers for him.
So, off to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day and I am whipped. I hope the weather stays nice and warm but judging by the thickness of the marine layer I would have to bet that we are in for some cooler weather!
Keep smiling and say something nice to someone and refrain from saying something yucky about someone else!
Blessings and Smiles,
Lisa
When you talk, do not say harmful things. But say what people need--words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will help those who listen to you. NCV
I love that verse. We should all be focusing on building other people up. We spend so much time focusing on the negative. Wouldn't it be great if we only had nice things to say? No smack talk. No angry words. No condemning words. No unthoughtful things to say. Why are we so negative? Is it because it makes us feel better about ourselves when we talk about others or put others down? Do we do it because we are bored? Think we are better than others? Do we do it with the intention of hurting others? Passive aggressive? What do we gain from it? It is something I have pondered on more than one occasion. If you think you have the answer please share with us all!
Tomorrow brings a day of baseball and parties. Zach is going to a friends house and Nate and Jax are going to a pizza party. I will be working in the snack bar tomorrow and trying to watch all three games. Zach and Jax are playing at 3 PM while Nate plays at 4 PM. Go Angels and Yankees!
Matt and I are taking the kids from our church to the Ice Palace after church on Sunday! We should have a big group of kids and all of the kids love to ice skate! Zach is thrilled!
The tree trunks are still rooted firmly. Gary has been elevating his legs and I actually felt like being nice and I rubbed his legs with special minty lotion. I think he enjoyed it. I say I think because Gary is not a lover of massages! Too bad for him - Yeah for me! I love massages. I could lay on a massage table ALL DAY LONG getting massaged and you would not hear a single complaint from me. Gary is missing out! He needs to hurry up and get stronger. He used to massage me every night and I am missing that and ready for it - sooner than later. I go through withdrawls every night. Get going Gary!
Jax got a buzz today and hee looks so cute. He looks younger than his 5 years. He has been waiting for 2 weeks to get his hair cut. He asked to have a buzz cut and I told him to wait and we would check back to make sure that is what he wanted. Sure enough he did. So off went his beautiful hair! His face is so cute - he can pull of anything with the exception of a mullet!
Gary is back to getting Lovenox shots in his tummy. He is not permitted to take coumadin (blood thinner)4 days prior to his procedure. Sunday will bring a day of clear liquids ONLY for Gary. I feel bad because home group is at our house and we are having an italian theme complete with chicken fettucini alfredo, lasagna, garlic bread and caesar salad! Poor Gary. We will save lots of leftovers for him.
So, off to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day and I am whipped. I hope the weather stays nice and warm but judging by the thickness of the marine layer I would have to bet that we are in for some cooler weather!
Keep smiling and say something nice to someone and refrain from saying something yucky about someone else!
Blessings and Smiles,
Lisa
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tree Trunks
So, Gary has been out and about the past two days with our family. He has attended all three of the boys games. He loaded 3 full propane tanks in my car. He brought the trash cans out and he has done countless loads of laundry and washed many dishes. I told him that it was about time he get off his lazy butt and start pulling his weight!
We get home tonight and Gary changes his clothes. He was standing in our bedroom in his tighty whities I noticed something pretty scary. Tree Trunks. His legs had turned into tree trunks! His calves are the size of my thighs! Holy Cow! To tell you that his lower legs are swollen would be the understatement of the century! His ankles have disappeared.
So, against my better judgement, I will not call Dr. B. Gary thinks he is swollen because of all of the above mentioned things. Don't worry. If he continues to swell in the morning then I will call the doctor.
Monday is another day under anethesia for Gary. We saw Dr.Quist who will be Gary's new Gastroenterologist. He is doing a few procedures that will require Gary to be put totally under. The docs are trying to figure out if Gary has damage from the radiation. Pray for good results!
Here is a nice Jax story for all of you. Enjoy...............
We get back from the doc today and I told the kids I would take them to our community pool for a little while before baseball. We get to the pool. Sunscreen on. Pool toys out. The kids jump in and I get comfortable! They play for about 5 minutes. Swimming under the water. I am sure swallowing water as they always do.
Jax - "Mom!" "Mom!".
Me - "What Jax?"
Jax - "There's poo in the pool."
Me - "No Way."
Jax - "MOM. Come here. It is all over."(he has a very serious and firm tone)
Sure enough, I get out of my comfy chair and look and there are chunks of poop all over the shallow end of the pool. The same thing happened last weekend and the pool was closed part of Saturday and all day Sunday.
This is beyond disgusting.
This is not the doings of little children. This is the work of disgusting, immature and delinquent teenage boys. If I ever found out our boys did something like that I would be mortified!
Remember I told you that my kids drink pool water despite my telling them not to.
That just grosses me out on so many levels!
Leave it to Jax to be the poop finder! I guess better sooner than later.
I am so tired. Tomorrow I get up at 4:40 AM to be at the gym by 5 AM!
We will let you all know if Gary's tree trunks grow to the size of redwoods! :)
Love, L
We get home tonight and Gary changes his clothes. He was standing in our bedroom in his tighty whities I noticed something pretty scary. Tree Trunks. His legs had turned into tree trunks! His calves are the size of my thighs! Holy Cow! To tell you that his lower legs are swollen would be the understatement of the century! His ankles have disappeared.
So, against my better judgement, I will not call Dr. B. Gary thinks he is swollen because of all of the above mentioned things. Don't worry. If he continues to swell in the morning then I will call the doctor.
Monday is another day under anethesia for Gary. We saw Dr.Quist who will be Gary's new Gastroenterologist. He is doing a few procedures that will require Gary to be put totally under. The docs are trying to figure out if Gary has damage from the radiation. Pray for good results!
Here is a nice Jax story for all of you. Enjoy...............
We get back from the doc today and I told the kids I would take them to our community pool for a little while before baseball. We get to the pool. Sunscreen on. Pool toys out. The kids jump in and I get comfortable! They play for about 5 minutes. Swimming under the water. I am sure swallowing water as they always do.
Jax - "Mom!" "Mom!".
Me - "What Jax?"
Jax - "There's poo in the pool."
Me - "No Way."
Jax - "MOM. Come here. It is all over."(he has a very serious and firm tone)
Sure enough, I get out of my comfy chair and look and there are chunks of poop all over the shallow end of the pool. The same thing happened last weekend and the pool was closed part of Saturday and all day Sunday.
This is beyond disgusting.
This is not the doings of little children. This is the work of disgusting, immature and delinquent teenage boys. If I ever found out our boys did something like that I would be mortified!
Remember I told you that my kids drink pool water despite my telling them not to.
That just grosses me out on so many levels!
Leave it to Jax to be the poop finder! I guess better sooner than later.
I am so tired. Tomorrow I get up at 4:40 AM to be at the gym by 5 AM!
We will let you all know if Gary's tree trunks grow to the size of redwoods! :)
Love, L
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Tuesday
Okay. The Amityville Horror story. Have you seen this movie?
To make a very long story short I will bullet the events.
1. 1 month ago I hear "creatures" scampering across the ceiling in my bathroom.
2. Scampering stops.
3. I smell something horrid our bedroom. Everytime I open the closet door I am overwhelmed with the smell.
4. Too busy to do anything about it.
5. Before all of this happened and right befoe Gary got really sick our plumber put a hole in our wall in our closet to try to detect the leak in our tub. He took off with our money, never fixed the bathtub and left the hole open in the closet. Such a nice guy.
6. The smell goes away. Poof. Just like that.
7. I forget about it.
Then.................I come upstairs to put clothes away last week and open my bedroom door to find....................I am sick talking about it..........................FLIES! FLIES EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!! Soooooooooooooooooooo disgustingly sick!
I feverishly am trying to figure out where they are coming from. My Dad is in the attic checking things out. Imagine me for a moment.
First of all, I DO NOT do bugs! They rank right up there with diarrhea and vomit!
I am yelling and freaking out waving my fly swatter at light speed! I am COMPLAINING THE ENTIRE TIME!
By the time I finished my fly killing rampage my carpet and counters and floors and my bed were littered with fly carcas! Honestly it was more than sick!
So, after exhausting my options of places the flies are coming from I decide to do a little experiment. I grab wax paper and duct tape. I proceed to tape up the hole in the closet. At this point there are no flies in my closet and I never saw one in there.
Fast forward - tape the hole and grab a flashlight. If they are coming from this hole then they will fly to the light on the wax paper.
BINGO - within 1 minute the wax paper was full of flies inside the wall!!!!!!!!!!
Stomach turning for sure! Sick Sick Sick!!!!!!!!
Enough nasty fly talk.
FAMILY RECAP
I spent a good portion of the afternoon in a dental chair. I am still in pain. Thank God he sent me home with some vicodin! Gary shouldn't be the only one with good drugs!
Zach was chosen to lead the entire school in the flag salute this Thursday.
Nate is star of the week at school will share his favorite book tomorrow with his class.
Jax has been working hard at spelling random words. He is so stoked to be able to read and spell. Slowly but surely!
Gary is doing his thing. He seems to be feeling better and has been helping around the house with laundry and dish duty!
Gary has an appointment with a gastroenterologist this week. He will be working along side of Dr. Barth. Gary will need to have some tests run (shhhh - down there) as he has had lots of pain in his lower abdomen. We think his pain is being caused by what the docs call Radiation Recall. He could have some damage to his intestines from the radiation. We can not begin the next round of drug therapy until we make sure his intestines are healed.
We are so grateful and thank all of you for your prayers. Keep praying. This time if you could pray for our boys that would be awesome. Please pray that the boys continue to weather this storm. I am running on close to empty emotionally right now and just ask that you pray for rest and strength. Pray that Gary is able to begin to move around more.
Good night and sleep tight!
Parting thoughts.........
I trust in your word. Psalm 119:42
Trials are the food of faith.
When trials come I will wait patiently to see the good God will do in my life, with the calm assurance He will do it. In this way, I will bear a worthy testimony to the world and thereby strengthen the lives of others.
To make a very long story short I will bullet the events.
1. 1 month ago I hear "creatures" scampering across the ceiling in my bathroom.
2. Scampering stops.
3. I smell something horrid our bedroom. Everytime I open the closet door I am overwhelmed with the smell.
4. Too busy to do anything about it.
5. Before all of this happened and right befoe Gary got really sick our plumber put a hole in our wall in our closet to try to detect the leak in our tub. He took off with our money, never fixed the bathtub and left the hole open in the closet. Such a nice guy.
6. The smell goes away. Poof. Just like that.
7. I forget about it.
Then.................I come upstairs to put clothes away last week and open my bedroom door to find....................I am sick talking about it..........................FLIES! FLIES EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!! Soooooooooooooooooooo disgustingly sick!
I feverishly am trying to figure out where they are coming from. My Dad is in the attic checking things out. Imagine me for a moment.
First of all, I DO NOT do bugs! They rank right up there with diarrhea and vomit!
I am yelling and freaking out waving my fly swatter at light speed! I am COMPLAINING THE ENTIRE TIME!
By the time I finished my fly killing rampage my carpet and counters and floors and my bed were littered with fly carcas! Honestly it was more than sick!
So, after exhausting my options of places the flies are coming from I decide to do a little experiment. I grab wax paper and duct tape. I proceed to tape up the hole in the closet. At this point there are no flies in my closet and I never saw one in there.
Fast forward - tape the hole and grab a flashlight. If they are coming from this hole then they will fly to the light on the wax paper.
BINGO - within 1 minute the wax paper was full of flies inside the wall!!!!!!!!!!
Stomach turning for sure! Sick Sick Sick!!!!!!!!
Enough nasty fly talk.
FAMILY RECAP
I spent a good portion of the afternoon in a dental chair. I am still in pain. Thank God he sent me home with some vicodin! Gary shouldn't be the only one with good drugs!
Zach was chosen to lead the entire school in the flag salute this Thursday.
Nate is star of the week at school will share his favorite book tomorrow with his class.
Jax has been working hard at spelling random words. He is so stoked to be able to read and spell. Slowly but surely!
Gary is doing his thing. He seems to be feeling better and has been helping around the house with laundry and dish duty!
Gary has an appointment with a gastroenterologist this week. He will be working along side of Dr. Barth. Gary will need to have some tests run (shhhh - down there) as he has had lots of pain in his lower abdomen. We think his pain is being caused by what the docs call Radiation Recall. He could have some damage to his intestines from the radiation. We can not begin the next round of drug therapy until we make sure his intestines are healed.
We are so grateful and thank all of you for your prayers. Keep praying. This time if you could pray for our boys that would be awesome. Please pray that the boys continue to weather this storm. I am running on close to empty emotionally right now and just ask that you pray for rest and strength. Pray that Gary is able to begin to move around more.
Good night and sleep tight!
Parting thoughts.........
I trust in your word. Psalm 119:42
Trials are the food of faith.
When trials come I will wait patiently to see the good God will do in my life, with the calm assurance He will do it. In this way, I will bear a worthy testimony to the world and thereby strengthen the lives of others.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Happy Monday!
Taxes. I have never had to get our taxes done and I am actually going to do that this morning. I hope it is quick!
Some of you know that after leaving church yesterday I had to get Gary and take hime to the outpatient hospital at Hoag. He has not been feeling well and has had a little bit of pain since "THE FALL".
So, we went up to the hospital and had all of his blood checked. Guess what? His counts were near PERFECT! His Hemoglobin went up on its own as well as his platelets! His white count is perfect, too. We determined that Gary was suffering from extreme fatigue and experiencing the aftermath of actually getting out a little more and doing more! Gary has been sporadically doing our dishes and laundry. He has overdone it and needs to get more rest and actually sleep. I gave him a sleeping pill yesterday afternoon and that helped.
Back to the grind this morning. I packed lunches last night and got the the boys clothes out and ready. I made them take a shower last night as well. It made things a little easier on me but I still despise the M-F grind.
I have to stop by Zach's class for a few minutes and then head off to the tax man.
Enjoy what is left of the heat. My next entry will include my Amityville Horror story. The thought of telling it to all of you makes me sick to my stomach but I must share.
Love, L
Some of you know that after leaving church yesterday I had to get Gary and take hime to the outpatient hospital at Hoag. He has not been feeling well and has had a little bit of pain since "THE FALL".
So, we went up to the hospital and had all of his blood checked. Guess what? His counts were near PERFECT! His Hemoglobin went up on its own as well as his platelets! His white count is perfect, too. We determined that Gary was suffering from extreme fatigue and experiencing the aftermath of actually getting out a little more and doing more! Gary has been sporadically doing our dishes and laundry. He has overdone it and needs to get more rest and actually sleep. I gave him a sleeping pill yesterday afternoon and that helped.
Back to the grind this morning. I packed lunches last night and got the the boys clothes out and ready. I made them take a shower last night as well. It made things a little easier on me but I still despise the M-F grind.
I have to stop by Zach's class for a few minutes and then head off to the tax man.
Enjoy what is left of the heat. My next entry will include my Amityville Horror story. The thought of telling it to all of you makes me sick to my stomach but I must share.
Love, L
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Poker and Garage Sales and so much more!
In the midst of this GLORIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL weekend I wanted to say a few things!
First of all, my Dad left this amazing weather and is in Minneapolis waiting for his connecting flight and it is 30 degrees and POURING snow! Thank God we live HERE!! This weather is such a summer teaser! I can hardly wait for summertime!
We have been meaning to create this blog entry but everytime we sit down to do it we are faced with an interruption or behavioral challenge from one of the boys or the phone rings or we are needed for something! So, now with no interruptions, we wanted to thank everyone again. There are SOOOOOO many people to thank but we wanted to once again make you ALL aware of our grateful hearts!
People have raised money for us by spending their Saturday hosting a garage sale and a bunch of guys are playing poker right now to also help us out! People have pledged monthly funds for us and so many people have given so much of their time to assist us in many capacities. Your cards are amazing and the restaurant gift cards and home cooked meals have been treasured!
From gas cards to McDonalds cards to car washes and everything you can imagine we are so utterly grateful. I wish I could express with words how Gary and I both feel.
We have shared all of these things with our boys and they are young but understand how mind blowing it is that so many people have cared for us and loved us while their Dad has been sick. You have all been true witnesses to and of God's love and beauty. We are so blessed that you have touched our lives daily!
We pray for everyone and we will Pay It Forward someday.
All our love and gratitude to our amazing support system!
Love,
L&G
First of all, my Dad left this amazing weather and is in Minneapolis waiting for his connecting flight and it is 30 degrees and POURING snow! Thank God we live HERE!! This weather is such a summer teaser! I can hardly wait for summertime!
We have been meaning to create this blog entry but everytime we sit down to do it we are faced with an interruption or behavioral challenge from one of the boys or the phone rings or we are needed for something! So, now with no interruptions, we wanted to thank everyone again. There are SOOOOOO many people to thank but we wanted to once again make you ALL aware of our grateful hearts!
People have raised money for us by spending their Saturday hosting a garage sale and a bunch of guys are playing poker right now to also help us out! People have pledged monthly funds for us and so many people have given so much of their time to assist us in many capacities. Your cards are amazing and the restaurant gift cards and home cooked meals have been treasured!
From gas cards to McDonalds cards to car washes and everything you can imagine we are so utterly grateful. I wish I could express with words how Gary and I both feel.
We have shared all of these things with our boys and they are young but understand how mind blowing it is that so many people have cared for us and loved us while their Dad has been sick. You have all been true witnesses to and of God's love and beauty. We are so blessed that you have touched our lives daily!
We pray for everyone and we will Pay It Forward someday.
All our love and gratitude to our amazing support system!
Love,
L&G
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sunburned and Bruised
Hmmm..................Let's see. Nate is FRYED and Zach has a raging sunburn on his face. Gary is in bed hurting from a gnarley fall. This is the funny part...............everyone really had sunscreen on and Gary had his walker with him. Let's see how long it takes me to believe that..................1 nanosecond!
None of the above events occurred while I was in charge. I go away for 4 hours and all hell breaks loose! Father Knows Best WOULD NOT be the movie title of our day today! I left my Dad in charge of 3 kids and a man with a compromised physical condition and some might argue a compromised mental condition as well. If my Dad were a "Mom" then we might have been fine. :)
However, all kidding aside, everyone is fine. My Dad really did do a good job. The kids are red (as is my Dad) and Gary did fall. My Dad said he heard the thurnderous THUD first and then Gary laid on the ground for a good 5 minutes before getting up. He says he is fine and his butt hurts probably from a bruise. His hand broke his fall thankfully so we will see what tomorrow brings!
The kids have had the best time this week with my Mom and Dad. They have been in their jammies for the majority of the time except when they are swimming or playing ball. They have played games and watched TV. They have just been enjoying this week so much and it will be hard to get them back into the swing of things on Sunday night. Summer is right around the corner and THAT will be awesome! T-Street is calling us!!!
Speaking of T-Street, we are going to the beach tomorrow. Gary has been instructed to stay home and I might even get handcuffs to tether him to the walker. Jax wants to stay home with my Mom so it will make it a little easier on me.
Enjoy the warm day tomorrow. I am super tired and need some sleep!
Love, L
None of the above events occurred while I was in charge. I go away for 4 hours and all hell breaks loose! Father Knows Best WOULD NOT be the movie title of our day today! I left my Dad in charge of 3 kids and a man with a compromised physical condition and some might argue a compromised mental condition as well. If my Dad were a "Mom" then we might have been fine. :)
However, all kidding aside, everyone is fine. My Dad really did do a good job. The kids are red (as is my Dad) and Gary did fall. My Dad said he heard the thurnderous THUD first and then Gary laid on the ground for a good 5 minutes before getting up. He says he is fine and his butt hurts probably from a bruise. His hand broke his fall thankfully so we will see what tomorrow brings!
The kids have had the best time this week with my Mom and Dad. They have been in their jammies for the majority of the time except when they are swimming or playing ball. They have played games and watched TV. They have just been enjoying this week so much and it will be hard to get them back into the swing of things on Sunday night. Summer is right around the corner and THAT will be awesome! T-Street is calling us!!!
Speaking of T-Street, we are going to the beach tomorrow. Gary has been instructed to stay home and I might even get handcuffs to tether him to the walker. Jax wants to stay home with my Mom so it will make it a little easier on me.
Enjoy the warm day tomorrow. I am super tired and need some sleep!
Love, L
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
PRELIM TEST RESULTS
Hi everone. How can I sum up how we are feeling................cautiously optomistic. Here is the lowdown from Dr. Barth:
Gary has many tumors in his pelvis. They are defined as "the left mass" and "the right mass".
1. The left mass has shrunk 30% and the bone has even started to grow back! AMEN
2. The right mass has shrunk 50%!
3. There does not seem to be any metastatic disease anywhere else.
4. Gary's lungs look good with the exception of the clots which have not dissolved completely yet.
His hemoglobin has fallen but is holding are we are hoping not to have to get a transfusion on Thursday. XXXXXX
His platelets fell from 219 to 139 but that is still high for someone going through treatment.
His white count is low but normal for treatment as well.
We are 8 days out from the last treatment and this is the time where things start falling typically.
Gary is in better spirits today and will now be able to sleep knowing things seems to be progressing in a positive direction.
The tone of this E-mail is not super duper exciting, huh? There is a reason for that.
We ARE happy that things seem to be going in the right direction but we also know that it is possible for things to change as well. We have been down this road before. We both feel like this time things are different but we are waiting to have "THE BIG CELEBRATION!" We have said prayers of thanksgiving to our father for the peace and blessings he has given us through this struggle.
We know that Gary's life (as well as the rest of our lives) is in our Father's hands.
So, thankful we are and hopeful we are that we continue down this path. We pray for no more forks in the road and we are heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel (hoping and praying it is not an oncoming train!!!).
Your prayers give us strength and uplift us. We know everyone is pulling for our family and we gain strength from that!
Off to the batting cages and then baseball practice for Mr. Jax!
Praise and Love,
L&G
Gary has many tumors in his pelvis. They are defined as "the left mass" and "the right mass".
1. The left mass has shrunk 30% and the bone has even started to grow back! AMEN
2. The right mass has shrunk 50%!
3. There does not seem to be any metastatic disease anywhere else.
4. Gary's lungs look good with the exception of the clots which have not dissolved completely yet.
His hemoglobin has fallen but is holding are we are hoping not to have to get a transfusion on Thursday. XXXXXX
His platelets fell from 219 to 139 but that is still high for someone going through treatment.
His white count is low but normal for treatment as well.
We are 8 days out from the last treatment and this is the time where things start falling typically.
Gary is in better spirits today and will now be able to sleep knowing things seems to be progressing in a positive direction.
The tone of this E-mail is not super duper exciting, huh? There is a reason for that.
We ARE happy that things seem to be going in the right direction but we also know that it is possible for things to change as well. We have been down this road before. We both feel like this time things are different but we are waiting to have "THE BIG CELEBRATION!" We have said prayers of thanksgiving to our father for the peace and blessings he has given us through this struggle.
We know that Gary's life (as well as the rest of our lives) is in our Father's hands.
So, thankful we are and hopeful we are that we continue down this path. We pray for no more forks in the road and we are heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel (hoping and praying it is not an oncoming train!!!).
Your prayers give us strength and uplift us. We know everyone is pulling for our family and we gain strength from that!
Off to the batting cages and then baseball practice for Mr. Jax!
Praise and Love,
L&G
Monday, April 7, 2008
Disneyland - Don't Bother
OMgosh! Disneyland was an absolute zoo! We left the structure before even getting out of our cars. We have been there so often and know when crowded is crowded! So, don't bother attempting Disney this week unless you want to fight the crowds!
Instead, we went fishing and ate a picnic lunch together. We are off to bowl now and Gary is coming with us! YEAH!
Love, L
Instead, we went fishing and ate a picnic lunch together. We are off to bowl now and Gary is coming with us! YEAH!
Love, L
Disneyland
Hello everyone. Going to Disneyland with the boys and my Dad. Gary's counts look AWESOME! and there is no need to visit the docs today. We are so excited to have the day off!
Have a wonderful Monday! Spring Break Rocks! I love this get up whenever, eat whatever, no packing lunches or doing homework! YEAH for me!
Love, L
Have a wonderful Monday! Spring Break Rocks! I love this get up whenever, eat whatever, no packing lunches or doing homework! YEAH for me!
Love, L
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Weekend Update
Gary is sick. He is sick and tired or feeling sick and being sick. Please keep him in your prayers. Pray that he can find the strength to move through this and press on to fight this cancer. I can only imagine how tiring it must be for Gary to be sick day after day after day. Everyday going to sleep sick and waking up sick. My heart breaks for him.
Although he is sick he looks amazingly good! His coloring is great and he looks super healthy. Now that his "accidentally baldness" is no longer (it still has not totally grown back in) people who have seen him can't believe how great he looks! Too bad he doesn't feel as good as he looks.
For the first time in months Gary actually got dressed today and we went to a funeral. Our friend's grandmother passed away at 97 and they had a touching service honoring her life and legacy. We were near Gary's brothers grave and we would have tried to find it but Gary said they have removed so many trees we would have had to comb the cemetary and every plot in that area trying to find Tim. Trust me when I tell you - that was not going to happen.
OUr family came in from San Diego and La Quinta today and we had a nice dinner at Lucille's. They have excellent Bar B Que. We are now winding down and going to bed.
Gary has to be at the doctor Sunday around Noon so I am hoping it will be a quick check - assuming his blood levels have remained strong and stable!
I will touch base with all of you either Sunday or Monday. We will have the results of the scand on Tuesday morning!
Love,
L
Although he is sick he looks amazingly good! His coloring is great and he looks super healthy. Now that his "accidentally baldness" is no longer (it still has not totally grown back in) people who have seen him can't believe how great he looks! Too bad he doesn't feel as good as he looks.
For the first time in months Gary actually got dressed today and we went to a funeral. Our friend's grandmother passed away at 97 and they had a touching service honoring her life and legacy. We were near Gary's brothers grave and we would have tried to find it but Gary said they have removed so many trees we would have had to comb the cemetary and every plot in that area trying to find Tim. Trust me when I tell you - that was not going to happen.
OUr family came in from San Diego and La Quinta today and we had a nice dinner at Lucille's. They have excellent Bar B Que. We are now winding down and going to bed.
Gary has to be at the doctor Sunday around Noon so I am hoping it will be a quick check - assuming his blood levels have remained strong and stable!
I will touch base with all of you either Sunday or Monday. We will have the results of the scand on Tuesday morning!
Love,
L
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Scan Schedule
I wanted to tell you that Gary will have his CT Scans of his chest and pelvis tomorrow at 1:45 PM at Hoag. We are truly looking forward to finding out why Gary is experiencing so much less pain and why he is able to walk more often and longer.
Could it be that the cancer is responding to all of his treatments? Could be. We will wait and see!
Please keep us in your prayers as we move through the events of tomorrow. Gary is pretty sick from the chemo so pray that his numbers stay strong and that his nausea passes!
Good Night.
Lisa
Could it be that the cancer is responding to all of his treatments? Could be. We will wait and see!
Please keep us in your prayers as we move through the events of tomorrow. Gary is pretty sick from the chemo so pray that his numbers stay strong and that his nausea passes!
Good Night.
Lisa
no transfusion
Magically and just like that Gary's blood counts climbed over night! His platelets are up and his red blood count is up as well. How awesome is that for Gary! We are so excited.
We think his scans will be this Monday.
Have a great evening everyone!
Love, L
We think his scans will be this Monday.
Have a great evening everyone!
Love, L
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tranfusion Thursday............and Friday
I guess the title says it all. We went to the docs today thinking all would be well and left there uncertain once again. I have learned never to get my hopes up too high and just to live in each day. Things seems to change on a dime for Gary.
His hemoglobin (red blood cells) took a dramatic drop today - from 11.5 to 9.4 (12-16 is normal). Usually this happens on the 5th day following chemo (it has been like clockwork since chemo started) but this time things sharply dropped a little early. Because it is uncharacteristic for Gary the doc is a little concerned that Gary might be bleeding internally. I say not likely and I believe it is due to the cumulative effects of chemo. So, we will go with my gut feeling and pray that there is no bleeding. We will know tomorrow hopefully. I will also let you all know when we find out a firm time for his scans.
Gary has been fairly sick today. He is extremely fatigued and nauseated. All to be expected.
I wanted you all to know that he will be receiving blood over the next 2 days and I would like prayer that we have no further complaication from these transfusions. Last time he had transfusions he ended up in the hospital for 5 days. Hopefully this will not happen this time around. The docs have his blood levels finally where they need to be and we will not have to give him shots in his stomach 2X a day anymore! YEAH!!!!
Off to bed. Sleep tight.
Love to you all,
L
His hemoglobin (red blood cells) took a dramatic drop today - from 11.5 to 9.4 (12-16 is normal). Usually this happens on the 5th day following chemo (it has been like clockwork since chemo started) but this time things sharply dropped a little early. Because it is uncharacteristic for Gary the doc is a little concerned that Gary might be bleeding internally. I say not likely and I believe it is due to the cumulative effects of chemo. So, we will go with my gut feeling and pray that there is no bleeding. We will know tomorrow hopefully. I will also let you all know when we find out a firm time for his scans.
Gary has been fairly sick today. He is extremely fatigued and nauseated. All to be expected.
I wanted you all to know that he will be receiving blood over the next 2 days and I would like prayer that we have no further complaication from these transfusions. Last time he had transfusions he ended up in the hospital for 5 days. Hopefully this will not happen this time around. The docs have his blood levels finally where they need to be and we will not have to give him shots in his stomach 2X a day anymore! YEAH!!!!
Off to bed. Sleep tight.
Love to you all,
L
Carlsbad Flower Fields
I don't know if any of you have had the chance to visit the Carlsbad Flower Fields off of Palomar Mountain Road but those fields are truly magnificent and Nate gets to go there today on a field trip. I hope that he enjoys the beautiful flowers. Just because he is a boy does not mean he can't enjoy the flowers. I told him that he needs to appreciate the beauty of nature and flowers. I am trying to help his future wife out here!
Gary is holding steady. His counts (whites, reds and platelets) are holding strong so far. We are still trying to thin our his blood and Dr. Barth has just increased his coumadin dose to hopefully accomplish that.
He is going in today again to get hydrated. It is good to get hydrated right after chemo so that his kidneys can continue to flush out all of the poisonous chemo. It is really hard for Gary to drink 80 ounces of fluid each day. I guess that is why all of the chairs at the Cancer Center are filled with people being hydrated each day we are there.
We are on our way to the school to watch Zach give his first ever oral report in class. Yesterday, we watched the Imagination Machine act out Nate's story on stage and that was exciting, too.
Nate has a game tonight if it does not rain. It better not! Jax and Zach have games Thursday night.
I had so much fun last night. Monica, Jenn, Michele, Stacy, Kendyl and I went to Taco Tuesday on the Lake and enjoyed tacos and great conversation! I love getting together with my girls! It makes me feel refreshed and not so distant.
Off we are. Gary is actually going to watch Zach! How exciting! He will be so stoked!
Love to all,
L
Gary is holding steady. His counts (whites, reds and platelets) are holding strong so far. We are still trying to thin our his blood and Dr. Barth has just increased his coumadin dose to hopefully accomplish that.
He is going in today again to get hydrated. It is good to get hydrated right after chemo so that his kidneys can continue to flush out all of the poisonous chemo. It is really hard for Gary to drink 80 ounces of fluid each day. I guess that is why all of the chairs at the Cancer Center are filled with people being hydrated each day we are there.
We are on our way to the school to watch Zach give his first ever oral report in class. Yesterday, we watched the Imagination Machine act out Nate's story on stage and that was exciting, too.
Nate has a game tonight if it does not rain. It better not! Jax and Zach have games Thursday night.
I had so much fun last night. Monica, Jenn, Michele, Stacy, Kendyl and I went to Taco Tuesday on the Lake and enjoyed tacos and great conversation! I love getting together with my girls! It makes me feel refreshed and not so distant.
Off we are. Gary is actually going to watch Zach! How exciting! He will be so stoked!
Love to all,
L
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