Thursday, April 20, 2006

I wish there could be some way to understand or plan around this horrible thing called CANCER. We were hoping that being off chemo would allow Mark a break in the feeling crappy arena. It was very up and down the last six days. He would feel good one day, and then the next would have him completely down in bed feeling so tired and in pain as well. Then out of the blue on Tuesday he woke up feeling good, was being good and eating lots of small snacks then all of a sudden he was nauseas. He lost everything. He spent the rest of the day sleeping and trying to get the nausea to calm down. Wednesday wasn't good either. He was able to keep things down, but afraid that he might get sick again, and there was a lot more sleeping. He just feels so exhausted. Then today was completely different. He woke up, felt good, ate good and was able to throw the baseball with Chase, go to lunch and overall have an enjoyable day. I hope tomorrow is going to be good, because he's flying home, and there's nothing worse than being in cramped quarters when you feel lousy.

I can't remember if we have mentioned his sore mouth. He can't eat anything even mildly spicy. Those of you who know Mark, know how he loves spicy food, and not being able to eat the things you love is very hard. Also, his teeth have become very sensitive and he can't chew anything very hard without it hurting. All that said, the fattening up part of the trip hasn't gone real great, with the nausea, things burning his mouth and hurting his teeth, he hasn't been able to find much he could eat.

It's been great to be here with my sister and her family and with my mom and dad. I'll be driving home after the weekend. Patrick headed home Monday, because he had to get back to school. He's been chillin' with Grandma Mary until Mark gets home to hang out for the weekend. Mark starts back up on Monday with chemo. He's a little worried, because all of the side effects get progressively worse with each new round of chemo.

Sorry this was a long one. I just wanted to catch everyone up with what's been happening. Take care. May Heavenly Father bless each of you in your daily lives. We love you all.

Friday, April 14, 2006

So, here we are in sunny, warm Arizona. Mark is taking a little break from chemo to let some of the side effects dwindle and to fatten him up. During the one cycle of chemo when he got the flu or something, he wasn't eating at all and additionally getting rid of everything that was in him. His weight got down to 140 - YES, now I'm the bigger of the two of us - not funny. We (the doctor and us) felt it would be beneficial to try and build the weight back up before the next round of chemo.

We are enjoying being together as a family on this little outing. We are hoping to enjoy some good sun, rest and relaxation. So far Mark has gotten PLENTY of REST.

After meeting with Dr. Whisenant to talk about the PET scan, we basically have the same information. There was less or possibly even no activity appearing in the liver tumors. That's the good part. The omentum (stomach) tumors are still there and they showed the same amount of activity as compared to the last scan. Therefore, the plan will be 9 weeks of the same chemo regimen, and then another scan to see what's going on.

Thursday, April 6, 2006

I know it's late, but it has been a long day. We have good news. This will be short and sweet for tonight, and after we can get all our little questions answered, we'll dish some more. This PET compared to the previous PET (approx 9 weeks ago) showed that the "overall distribution of the disease has decreased."

The doctor was very happy. He said, "It's not a home run," and Mark finished with, "but at least we have a runner on base." At this time the plan will be to continue on the same chemo regimen for another 9 week round.

April 5, 2006

We didn't hear anything from the doctor today. We are anxiously awaiting the news, hopefully tomorrow. We'll give him a few hours in the morning, but then I think we'll have to start bugging him to get the info.

Mark has been having some great days, but the pain has been worse the last few days. It is so different each and every day. It's hard to plan much, because we just have no idea what each new day is going to present.

I hope I haven't said this already. (I hate repeating myself.) I truly feel that we (everyone) can feel the love of our Father in Heaven through the selfless and caring acts of others. Each and every time someone posts sweet thoughts, someone brings a meal, someone helps watch our children or takes them somewhere and countless other gifts of service, I feel that God is saying, "I am aware of your trial. I love you. You are not ALONE." I can't even begin to thank Heavenly Father or each of you for EVERYTHING. No matter what you do, it means so much. It really does. Everytime someone says, "You're in our prayers," my heart is so full of gratitude. I sincerely hope you all know how much we love and appreciate each of you.

April 4, 2006

I am leaving for my PET scan in a few minutes. We are hopeful that the results will at least demonstrate no new growth or tumors. We should find out the results on Thursday or Friday.

I am feeling a little queasy this morning so I hope the drive downtown goes well. Lately, I have been getting sick when I go for longer rides. The last time I went to chemotherapy my next door neighbor Eric drove me. I noticed that he had cleaned his BMW before picking me up. As we neared the clinic I could tell things were not right but luckily I was able to jump out of his car just in time. After that incident, Marianne and I decided that I better stick to riding in my own cars for the time being.

I have been feeling good the past few days. Yesterday I was able to get out in the yard and pull a few weeds and throw the baseball with Chase. The sun felt great. Although I get tired quickly, it is nice to do normal things.

We hope all of you are doing well.