Mistie D

As you can see above, there was also a 30' screen so why not go dramatic. We set it up for a movie on Monday and Friday.

The envelope please...

And the winner is...

All of the cancer sites improved or stayed the same. Although not all the cancer shrunk it is not uncommon to get a great response at first and then reach a static level. The fact that it has not increased during this period is good and gives us an opportunity to try a hormone inhibitor (faslodex). The hope is that the inhibitor will keep the cancer at bay for as long as possible and then we can try another treatment.

Round 1, the TKO goes to Mistie and we will take advantage of some time off to get back up to fighting weight.

Will the Faslodex work?

How will Mistie's brain scan turn out?

Will she finally get her vision back???

Stayed tuned and don't touch that dial...

Russ and I went to Lunch at Red Lobster on our anniversary. The only way to go is the ultimate feast with Lobster, crab, and shrimp.

We found that she had an ear infection on Sunday and Monday got her started on some antibiotics.

Mistie had a good time at Dericks game last week. His team is doing really well and they have only lost one game. They will be playing in the State tournament this next week.

Davey Orgill put together this video for us when Mistie was first diagnosed in May.

After stopping the steroid she has gained a little strength back and some of the swelling in her legs and face is starting to go down. We wont really know how effective the treatment was for a few months, but are optimistic.

She gets a few days off and then starts her chemotherapy again on Thursday. She has 12 weeks of chemo and the plan is to get her last treatment on September 16th (her 33rd birthday).

After lunch the rain had finally let up and I helped Mistie climb on the riding mower and let her mow the lawn. If you think that was inconsiderate of me to let her mow the lawn, you don't know Mistie very well. She said it was the most fun she has had in a long time. It is a little liberating when you think about it doing circles on the lawn, sun in your face, wind in your hair or not hair... why not.

Since Mistie was diagnosed with the blood clot, I have been giving her a daily shot in the stomach. Well yesterday we had her blood drawn and her platelets were very low, so the good news is no more shots.

Unfortunately, her blood pressure was also high 158/107 so she is now taking some blood pressure medicine as high blood pressure can cause the tumors to bleed.

With this amount of success we discussed halting the remaining chemotherapy to begin radiation on the cancer in her brain. This will give us a chance to treat the cancer in the brain as well as to begin treating her with blood thinners to reduce her risks of another blood clot. Once this is completed we can finish out the chemotherapy and are hopeful she can stop taking the steroid that is likely contributing to her weakness and fatigue.

Unfortunately, it also turned up a pulmonary embolism, so we went straight from the scan to meet with our Oncologist. After that we were off to get a ultrasound to check for blood clots in her legs.

Mmmmm! Nothing like a liquid Barium smoothy on an empty stomach. We are here for a CT scan to see how the chemo is working.

It is a crazy day so far.

It is snowing outside like the middle of January.

Derick remembered just as he was about to leave for school that it was a class party and he needed to wear pajamas and bring his favorite toy.

Calvin had a field trip today where his class was going to walk down to the Salem Pond and fire station, about a mile from his school.

And with just a few hours of sleep last night Im looking forward to a nice long CT scan.

Yesterday my mom, dad, and Delaina came up and had lunch with us. We had a picnic out on the deck and a good time just sitting around.

Here for my 3rd treatment today. The tumor marker in my blood had gone down (another good sign that the treatment is working). Dr Rich is hopeful that the aches and pains will improve in the next few treatments. He also gave me a prescription to hopefully increase my energy. My sister Cheri came with me and that was nice and made for a good day.

Went and saw 'How to train your dragon'. Cute show!

Tuesday was the last day of Radiation on her right hip. The nurses were great and gave her a certificate of completion. Unfortunately the day didn't stay upbeat as she began to lose her hair and became nauseated.

Today we came back in to check her blood and it turned out to be back in the normal range. She had lost some weight, so she plugged in and got a Liter of fluid. We mentioned how tired she has been and Dr Rich ordered a MRI this afternoon.

Friday we had a great time at the Sugarland concert. I lost some hearing, but I think it was the first concert that I had been to since well... my brothers high school concert, which for me was pure torture (sorry but true). On the way up we stopped in at Chipole for a romantic 3 taco dinner.

He called it the "Jolley Roger". He may have had a little help from his dad but it was the wind power that put it across the finish line.

Here for Chemo today. White count is still normal and I am feeling well. I uploaded this photo of Derick at the rain gutter regatta last night. He sure was excited and got 1st place.

He also said that the last time he drew her blood in August she was at normal levels and now she was obviously way over on a tumor marker. I asked him if it is normal that three months ago she would be fine and then for it to explode like this. He said that it happens, and doesnt know what may have triggered it after 5-1/2 years.

Well we finally figured out why my muscles have been aching. Last Thursday we went to a GI doctor in AF after we found that my blood counts had been unusual with a high iron content. She recommended that we get a CT scan. After that Russ and I went down to Zupas for lunch. By the time we got there she called us and asked if we could come in her office. It was funny because she asked if we were available right away then I said yes and I think that she was trying not to scare me so she said let me check my schedule. Then without out pausing she said ok come in right now. We joked around about maybe winning a prize or something as we drove back up to AF. Mostly it was just to help us stay calm as we thought of all the possible reasons why she might want to see us right away. We really weren't too alarmed since she was a nursing assistant and in our experience they sometimes act weird and jump to conclusions. Anyway so we arrived in the office and she dropped the bomb on us, really rather brutally. Worst nightmare come true! I just sat there and shook my head as she said that I have several spots of cancer in my liver and some on and in the bones that they could see in the small area that they had scanned. Well she called my oncologist, Dr. Rich, and he said he was waiting to see us in his office. We drove down to Provo and waited in the waiting area in the hospital. After what seemed forever we discussed with him that the cancer was throughout the liver and that he wanted to start treatment right away. From how it sounded we asked if there was any point in doing chemotherapy... or should we just take a vacation for a few weeks and try to spend as much time together as possible. He said that if I were over 40 then the story might be different but with a young family and that I appeared to be healthy he thought that we had to try to extend my life as much as possible. We also talked about how the treatments before had done a great job in stopping the cancer and that this had the same chance of slowing it down. Unfortunately, we had only seen a small area of the body and for us to make a better decision we needed to get a PET scan. The PET scan shows any cancer activity through out the body. The PET scan was set for Monday... 4 days away.

This is probably going too slow... So Monday we got the PET scan and went to see our oncologist. He said that the cancer was throughout and his main concern was still my liver. Tuesday we met with our radiologist Dr Clark. He showed us the pictures of the PET scan. Every time it shows some cancer it lights up in that place. As we scanned down through the body Russ said it was like watching a firework show. The short of it is that I have cancer in all of my bones, my lungs, my liver, and small areas in my brain.

Russ: Well it is really unusual to hear the doctors say that we should come to their office as soon as we get done with the last doctor, no apt necessary. The doctors kept asking if she had any pain in her hips or back and then would pound down her back, well after seeing the PET scan it was clear why they were asking. The area of particular interest was her hip since the image showed that the cancer had dissolved a significant portion of her hip joint. We are scheduled to get that irradiated today after the chemo, which should stop the cancer from progressing in that joint. Dr. Rich said that she should be extra careful and not to do any jumping (she is banned from the trampoline).