Mixed Bag

Have any of you read the newspaper lately? There is a story in several of the local papers about a teacher at SCHS. He has been diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer. Not only does he have cancer BUT his wife has been battling Breast Cancer and I believe she is in somewhat of a remissive state. This couple has 3 small children at home to take care of as well.

My heart broke when I learned of this story. I can hardly imagine going through what they are going through. It just doesn’t seem fair that both parents have been stricken with cancer almost simultaneously.

There have been many fundraisers for the family and the community has rallied around them much like all of you have rallied around us. I can’t even begin to tell you how much your love and support and prayers mean to our family. We would never be able to go at this alone. We have friends and family helping us with everything in our lives. Shopping, carpool, baseball, walking to school, doing laundry, cleaning out cupboards and fridges, taking trashcans in and out, watering plants, paying bills, babysitting Hobie, spending the night at our house and I could seriously go on and on and on. It is taking an entire village to raise our family up and we would be lost without you.

When you are praying for our family I ask you to please keep this family in your prayers. Pray for their marriage and for their kids. How truly devastating for them and they need all the prayer we have to give and then some. I only partially know what they are going through and it absolutely hurts my heart.

Well, I have GREAT news mixed with complicating news. The GREAT news is the results from the CT Scans. Gary’s cancer is not causing any of the pain in his abdomen or back. The liver lesion has shrunk approximately 20% at this point and we are only about 1 month out from radiation. The chemo is working.

I will bullet point the not so good news to make it easier to understand.

1. Gary’s renal function (kidneys) is at 1.7. He needs to be at .9 to 1.0 at the most. So, Dr. Barth and Dr. Phan agree that Gary needs to have nephrostomy tubes placed in both kidneys to keep the kidney function at a premium level. Gary needs his kidneys for the chemo regimen. He will have to go under general anesthesia to have these drains placed on either side of his back. They are proposing to do this SATURDAY MORNING assuming his platelets are at an acceptable level.

2. Gary’s abdominal pain is being caused by a nasty bacteria called C Diff. His CT showed that his small and large intestine were inflamed and compromised at this point. C Diff is prevalent among patients who receive high volumes of antibiotics. The good bacteria in the intestines is destroyed in essence by the antibiotics (which are ironically used to fight bacterial infections) giving way for the bad bacteria (C Diff). Imagine C Diff as a bacteria that causes the worst case of Montezuma’s Revenge one could get after either drinking the water or eating roadside tacos in Mexico. It is awful and painful and messy. So, Gary is on a drug called Flagyll to combat this C Diff. We will pray that the bacteria is not resistant to this drug. This should take upwards of a week or so to clear.

3. Gary’s white count is still very low and he is still in Neutropenic status. Please do not visit if you have been sick or are recovering from something or your kids are sick or recovering from something. Gary has had 7 blood transfusions in the past week and 2 platelets transfusions in the past three days.

4. Gary is scheduled to have his surgery for his sciatic nerve on Friday October 24.

I laid down last night to say a prayer for Dr. Barth and his family. I can only imagine how hard it must be on his family when he pulls super long hours in his practice and at the hospital each week as Chief of Staff of the entire facility. His kids may not understand now but he is truly changing the face of cancer. Dr. Barth ALWAYS gives every single patient 110% of his energy and time. Every doctor should be like Barth. I understand his job is seriously time consuming but we owe so much to him. He is the first doctor who has not treated us like a chart number. If Gary’s urologist would have taken the time Barth takes with Gary in the first place then it is highly probable that we would not be fighting Stage IV cancer right now.

Thank you Barth Family for sharing your Husband/Dad with so many people who desperately need him each day. We are so blessed and fortunate that he is such a wonderful physician who cares so much about ALL of his patients. Our three sons will grow up knowing what a great doctor he is and how wonderful he has been to their Dad!

The boys and I went to California Adventure for the Annual Trick Or Treat event. It was extremely crowded but the boys had a great time.

I am going to bed now and sleeping as long as I can. The boys will be with friends tomorrow and I have to spend some time at Little League Registration before heading to the hospital unless I get word that the surgery will be first thing in the morning.

The boys tired. They were at home with Suzi last night and I have a sneaking suspicion that they did not make their 7:30 bedtime. Hmmmmm…….Pretty suspect! I know they had a super fun time last night and they had a great night with Wendy and her boys the previous night!

My Mom had to postpone her trip because she is sick. So we will wait and see when she is able to get out here. Hopefully she will be here by the end of next week.

Love to all and please keep the family I spoke about as well as Dr. Barth’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

Lisa ☺