So far So good..... !

Leah Here.

It is Monday evening and I am glad to report fevers and night sweats have been gone for about 5 days now. We are thrilled! Kent has about two days left on his Antibiotics so we will evaluate when he is done that they will be gone totally.

The other thing that we are happy to report is that Kent has been back to work almost full time. He leaves a few days early when the tiredness sets in but other than that we are grateful that he is back in the swing of things. He is getting around well these days as well. Walking around the island on the cold days and walking around the culdesac and block on the little bit warmer days.

We met with the oncologist on Thursday.  He said that Kent looked great. He asked Kent how he was     feeling and Kent said "I am doing as well as can be expected."  Kent has some pain in the colon area.  we are trying to find out how to manage that the best way we can.  The oncologist did say once the fevers and night sweats go away we will be back on track for starting Chemo again.  He is slated for Chemo on the week before Thanksgiving.  If his white count stays up all the way through 6 rounds we will miss all holidays being on Chemo.  Can we say Ya HOOOO! 

We also need to say a huge THANK YOU to a crew of about 30 to 50 people who helped us put up new shingles.  It was great to see so many help us.  We can't say enough how thankful for we are for all of you.  We had kids, moms, dads, Grandparents and even a photographer.  We don't even know how to begin to repay all of you !

I will sign off for now.  have a great night ! 

Prayers needed!!

Today is Leahs birthday however she said it didn't really seem like a birthday to her.  We made it as special as we could by doing a small dinner out tonight after a very busy day.

One of our many stops was at my Oncologist.  He talked through some of the symptoms going on and what he suggested.  Per chemo he said he would not start until after 4 weeks after surgery.  He wants me to finish my antibiotics and hopes the fevers and night sweats are gone then we see him in 2 weeks.  Given I return back to "normal" he will want to start chemo in two weeks which would be the week prior to Thanksgiving.

We really appreciate all the support and prayers from everyone already.  I would ask you all pray the Fevers and nightsweats go away before 2 weeks.  This not happening would delay my future treatment course.  The doctor did say he saw everything as exactly on schedule with no surprises. 

Thanks in advance for your prayers.

--Kent

Back to the Grind!

Today I called my Doctor asking for a release.  After me convincing them for a few minutes they obliged and wrote a release for me to return back to work tomorrow.  I will go in as soon as I can manage to drag my bones out of bed.  I will work as long as I can and if I start feeling icky or exhausted I will return home and worry about completing the rest of my day later.

It will be good to get back into a routine again.  Per the medical journey I meet with my Oncologist on the 25th to see what the plan is for the set of Chemo.  I will have 6 rounds in 12 weeks followed by my next surgery.  This all depends on when Chemo is started and if I manage to stay on schedule this round.

I follow up with my Liver surgeon on the 7th of November in order to approve the next phase of the treatment. 

Im not really looking forward to the rest of treatment but I know it is necessary so here we go plugging through it.

--Kent

Time to lose the Pool.

It's been a week since I wrote on the blog.  Sorry about that for those of you looking for a more regular update.  I have been having fevers and Night sweats almost if not daily.  They started about a week after getting home from the hospital.  Last Friday night the fever peaked at 101 so the after hours doc sent me to the ER to further investigate any possible issues.  While there I had a chest x-ray, CT scan, blood culture, and of course a urine test.  Near 1 in the morning on Saturday I was told there was some small fluid collection in the area of surgery as well as some inflammation around the Sigmoid Colon ( area of my tumor).  They suggested due to the Lack of pain that I should go home and medicate the fever and call if they got higher.  Of course I was to follow up with my Liver surgeon this week.  After several nights of Severe night sweats continued I called to make my follow up with the Doc.  The Nurse at his office suggested me to medicate fevers around the clock and come in to see the Doc on Wednesday.  Yep today.

My appointment with the doctor and his staff involved more pushing and tugging on the incision site.  The doctor told me I likely have colon diverticulitis.  He prescribed 2 antibiotics and told me if the fevers and sweats aren't gone in 4 days or so I need to call him but He thinks this will solve the heat I have been feeling lately.

I really hope this takes care of the fevers as well.  I will be really disappointed and frustrated in 5 days if this doesn't work.  3 of us in our house want the old me back.  I'm not sure who wants me back worse.

--Kent

Hot Head!!

As much as you might think from the title I am not typically angry.  That shows it's ugly head on a very rare occasion.  What has been happening the last week or so is I have been dealing with low grade fevers and night sweats.  Not the least bit fun but evidently something I have to deal with.  I called my Surgeon's office yesterday to let them know and see what else I could do.

They bumped my post-op appointment from the 17th to today.  Today I saw the PA and she did what most doctors tell you not to do.  Due to her not being able to see the incision  in between the steri strips she rather happily pulled them all off instead of letting them fall off on their own.  That hurt a little but not terribly.   She found a small infection at the top of my incision.  Thinking that might be to cause of the fevers she poked around in that spot and made it bleed again.  It wasn't very deep so that ruled out the cause of the fever.  The incision looks pretty good at this point so they aren't exactly sure what is causing the fever.  Possibly something in the lungs caused by not breathing deep for a  period of time.  I tried to take several deep breaths this afternoon but I guess I need to find and start using that dreaded plastic lung toy again. Oh boy!!

Leah had an appointment with our primary care physician today.  Out of 20 minutes of conversation 15 or so were about me.  Our pcp was concerned about me being to sedantary.  So I guess besides taxing my lungs and abdominal cavity I need to start getting out for my marathons.  Today Leah pulled me out for one of our longest walks.  It went fine so maybe more of those aren't a bad idea.   The walk was worth it for a bar one of  Leah's coworkers made to go along with the scrumtious dinner she made.

Thanks to everyone for prayers and support.

Kent

Day out.

I am currently watching the Tigers division series game 2.  I am hoping for more outs for the A's and more runs for the tigers.  Speaking of out I made it to Church this morning.  I wasn't so sure that was going to be the right choice after my shower this morning.  I made it through but my body called for pain meds in the middle of the service.  I took those as soon as the service came to a close.  It was a mere 20 minutes before the pain turned the corner.  We debated what to do for lunch but managed to make it out for a bit.  I felt a lot better after lunch than I did during church.  It was good to spend a little time with my family in a little different scenery.  It was great to talk to all the supporters, family, and friends at church as well.  So far a very good day.  I love everyone who prays for me.  Thanks much for your continued support.  I  greatly appreciate it.

--Kent

The Journey Continues....

It has been a week since we have written a post or have communicated with people, for that we apologize.  A week it has been....  We came home on Sunday.  I stayed home with Kent on Monday.  It was a day of "gingerly" walking around the house, a long shower with many tasks that should come easy to one, they were hard and required help from a wife made caretaker.  A 20 lb weight limit made simple tasks as lifting a computer to his lap and holding certain things hard.  Kent takes plenty of naps as this task he has no problem following the doctors orders on the other hand other doctors orders are more difficult to follow.  Walking and keeping things moving is not one of those things he enjoys doing.  He also doesn't like moving out of the house.  I think he feels safe and knows what his limits are if he is at home.  The one exception is that he has wanted to go to church for a week now.  I don't blame him as I wanted to go when I was cooped up when I had surgery.

Today, the weather was nice, so I thought it would be nice to go for a ride to see Kent's work and visit.  The ride down was great and the visit was great as well.  We then left with intentions to go for a quick bite out before returning home.  We made it around the corner and had to pull in to a parking lot quickly  as Kent needed to make it out of the car.  Unfortunately, he didn't make it all the way.  This action was due to an empty stomach and a mix of Miralax.  That stuff is terrible, for anyone :(   Kent is resting comfortably in his chair and we will try some good food later on this evening.  We have been treated to some food from a co -worker of mine and maybe that will be the comfort Kent needs right now .    As a side note we are thankful beyond words for all the meals and care people have done for us.  We are just brought to tears as we a humbled by those remembering us.

Lydia is doing well.  She seems to like school. She's doing some school work after school with my cousin at Sylvan Learning, and along with that she stays busy at Gymnastics and Gilda's Club.  Gilda's is a support group that she is able to be with other kids and discuss Cancer.   She has made many friends and even went on the night of Kent's Surgery by herself.
  I am doing somewhat okay.  I defiantly am frustrated not knowing how to help Kent. At times I don't know how to manage Lydia by myself as sometimes it requires both of us.  I just want to help them both and encourage them and feel sometimes I don't have it in me,  I'm tired and just need help myself.

We are both glad we made it one week past Surgery and look to the future.  We know that we are in God's hands and that he will do great things for us and through us.  We will take each minute at a time knowing God all ready has our journey planned.  So for now we keep climbing and fighting for Kent's Cure with a cross for the T in Kent.  We will keep following Jesus in this climb for a cure!  For now we say Thank You for journeying with us! ~ Leah