A little of this, a little of that!

Well once again we have been absent from this blog.  Life.  It has been both busy and eventful for which we are truly thankful.


I guess let me rewind to what the month of September was like over here.  As the day after Labor Day brought us school, We now have an un-official middle schooler, 5th grade.  At JCS we call 5th grade a transition year into showing them "ropes" of what it is like in the next years.  Lydia is doing great!  She also has inherited her dad's love of drums.  She is one of the drummers in band. Quite often I hear a steady beat of two drummers in my house and many of you would say it isn't a joyful noise I am grateful they have this common "like."  She really loves her teachers and I can't wait to see her grow this year.


This month we also have had quite a few fun adventures as Kent continued a, "no chemo routine."  We were given tickets to another Nascar race from my Uncle.  He was given tickets and he graciously shared them with us. These were right where the action was in front row.  We traveled to Chicagoland with my brother and Sister-in-law. It was a great day and the weather was absolutely beautiful! Thank you Uncle Paul for the fun memories and David and Heather for Driving us down to Chicagoland!


The fun continues the next week when we hit the road with our good friends.   Cedar Point was our destination.  It was a beautiful weekend and fun was had by all.  Lydia went on almost every Roller Coaster and even endured the 2 hr. lines to ride a 3 min ride.  Now if you know me, I hate coasters and I am what we call the "bag holder". I love watching all of them come off the coasters with such excitement.  It is just great seeing my daughter having a blast with her dad.  We encountered a few rain drops at the end of the day along with a few adventures.  You will have to ask us later for the adventurous story!


Which brings me to this week. Sept 24 through Sept. 28.  Kent works very hard but nothing prepared me for what he had on his plate for this week.  He participated in a family Research Council event in the DC area.  This was a conservative event for value voters.  In which it gets its name "Values Voters Summit."  Kent was in charge of writing an application that printed nametags with QR codes on site at this event.  He then supported his fellow data entry co workers in the registration process and ran audio/video for several breakout sessions.  I was very proud of his actions.  Even though I was proud of him going Lydia and I were ready to have him home again. One thing it did teach me was to understand how my mom and mother-in-law handle life on there own. .  I am proud of both of them.


While the cat was away the mice did play..... Lydia and I had a few events of our own.  A school picnic, a surprise party for a dear friend, a trip to the market, and a family lunch with my dad's side of the family. We wrapped up our day like any girl would... shopping. :)  Whew!


This now brings me to the week to come.  A bit of health news.  Kent is doing very well.  He is a healthy weight, has a bounce in his step and a smile that is contagious.  ( many of you know he is a prankster and there is no shortage of that:)  Kent will go in on Oct.2 and have a MRI an CT.  These tests will be a repeat once again to tell us what the current status is of tumor size and growth.  We pray and plead that they will be the same size or smaller so chemo will once again be held.  On Oct. 16 Kent will meet with the oncologist and discuss the scans.  They will then see if chemo needs to be resumed.  As you have read it has been since May 29 that Kent has not had a chemo treatment and we only know that it is through all of your prayers and love that that is happening.  Thank You!


So Now as I finish I ask you once again to pray for Kent.  He doesn't want chemo again but will do what it takes to be with his family. Also I covet prayers for both of our moms as they struggle and cope with absence of there spouses.  One that has said a final good-bye and the other who struggles with the long goodbye of Alzheimers.  Each one we pray for daily.  It has been heavy on our hearts as we watch them and see them alone.  We love them both!


May you be blessed this fall season and may you bless others around you!   We all have been blessed to be a blessing.  God Bless you !


Leah

Repeat

My last chemo treatment was on May 29th.  Shortly after that Treatment I was told to take the summer off from treatment and enjoy it.  Literally I was given 8 weeks off and due to vacation scheduled it was actually 10 weeks until my most recent scans and 11 weeks until my Doctor's appointment.  I'll get to that information in a minute.

I wanted to list the things we had the chance to do in the last 8 weeks.
- Go-Kart Racing, Batting Cage, Mini Golf
- Celebrate an Uncle's 60th Birthday
- Celebrate Lydia's Birthday
- Visit Friends in Gaylord
- Go to and Bike around Mackinaw Island
- Michigan Race Meeting Tony Stewart
- Kalamazoo Air Show and  United States Air Force Thunderbirds
- Week long Family trip to Smoky Mountain Tn area
- Saugatuck Dune Rides
- Celebrate Grandparents Anniversay
- Company Work Picnic
- Kalamazoo Speedway - Meet Kyle Busch
- Going to the cottage through the summer

As you can see we have been busy and had a lot of fun.  Thanks to some of you for your help in some of these events.

 On August 7 I had a repeat CT and MRI to check progress on the 2 tumors in my liver and also the progress on the Lymph node outside my liver. On August 14th I met with my Oncologist's PA.  I was previously told we would follow one of the 3 following treatment plans.  1 if one site grew I would talk to a radiologist and do Radiation.  2, if there was no Growth we would discuss the future and likely get another break. 3. if all three sites grew I would start maintenance chemo treatments.  I expected to have the later of treatment plans.  To my surprise the report was that there was "No Growth" with any of the tumors.  My Oncologist gave us the choice of resuming Chemo or having another 8 weeks off from treatments. 

So until some time in October when I repeat scans and meet with the Doctor again I will continue on with a "normal" life and do as many fun things as we can think of with our family.

-- Kent

Father's Day Treat!

On April 25th I was given a card with 6 voucher tickets to the Sprint Cup Nascar race in Michigan International Speedway.  This particular race took place Fathers day June 15th.  Leah's Brother and Sister in-law were the people so thoughtful to give me the gift and helped to make this a fun family event.  A friend from church also helped make it all possible.  So to each of them I say a heartfelt thank you.

The day began with early rising and a couple hour ride south to Brooklyn MI.  Once we arrived at the speedway and managed to get to parking lot x we were greeted by Marla (MIS's president's wife)  She heads up MIS Cares which is is the foundation MIS runs.  They work with Make-a-Wish and other organizations to bring dreams come true for people.  We were brought to sign for and get our credentials and then brought to the Suite we would be in for the remainder of the day.  This Building also had roof access where we had a really good view of the track between turns 1 and 2.  I snapped a picture of Leah and Lydia from that location with not much of the track to be seen.  

After getting some of the delicious food made available to us we were brought on our way to see the driver introductions.  While that happens effectively on the field in front of the track we were driven right in the middle of the drivers Motor Homes.  We were told we were making a detour.  I metioned when arriving that I was a Tony Stewart Fan but never expected anything special to happen because of it.  Wouldn't you know it, the brother of the president had worked on Tony's team in the past. So there we were parked in front of Tony's Home away from Home.  We waited for him to step out and then got to talk with him and get his signature and of course get a couple of of pictures with him. This lasted only a few very short minutes before he got whisked away to driver introductions.  We then were driven over to introductions and got out of the car when Tony was being introduced to the rest of the crowd.  So glad I got my personal introduction a few minutes earlier.  This will be a moment I will never forget.  after introductions were complete  we went back to the suite for most of the race.  Tony Raced his way from 26th up to 9th and bounced around in the top 15 or so for most of the day. 

With about 25 laps to go We were brought down to pit road and then Winners Circle for the Conclusion of the race and to see the Winner.  When we got out of th car Tony was in First place.  the next  time the Pylon cycled through the spots he was no longer in the front but finished 11th.  Over all not a bad finish for Tony but on our way over  Pit road and the wall we weren't sure who won.  It wasn't until the smoke cleared from the Burnout that we realized ti was Jimmie Johnson.  He and his team took about a dozen photos for the press all with different sponsor's hats on.  Some of them tossed their hats out into the crowd when the photo was done so everyone from our family had at least 1 hat if not a couple.  We went back to the suite to collect the remainder of our items and took one more family photo before we left.  

Unforgettable day for all of us.  Thanks again to those who made this possible.

-- Kent  

Summer Schedule

 Yesterday, Kent received a phone call last night. It was his chemo nurse.  The nurse told Kent he was taking a break until August 14th from Chemo and any Dr visits.
 I could hardly believe what I was hearing.  Kent, Lydia and I were excited to hear the news but on the other hand had some slight reservation.  You see most of us would say yeah! the whole summer to relax and enjoy wonderful Michigan but a small part of us thinks what happens to cancer if you let it go for that long without treatment.
 So for now we will take a break from Chemo,  enjoy our time as a family and do a few Vacations. 

Here is what Kent's schedule will most likely look like for summer
* He had a Chemo treatment this past weekend- May 29th
* He will have a CT and MRI sometime before last week in July. He will also have med staff access  his port so he will not need a port flush.  This is due to not using the port for chemo we need to make sure the port stays working and is open for the next chemo.
* Have a Dr. Apt. to discuss scan results and have a Chemo treatment on Aug. 14th.

In the case that Kent's cancer grows we will be looking at a few options.  I think that Kent has told you in his previous Blog. 

Kent, Lydia and I are so thankful for all your prayers and love.  We can't say it enough how much it has meant in the last few months.  

730

First of all I have to apologize for not writing on the blog in 2 months.  Those two months have been busy with a lot of things some of which I'll write about here.

Second I need to thank everyone for their prayers.  Even though I often don't know or realize they are happening they are felt and realized in very perfect moments.   

18 days ago on May 11 it was Mother's day.  Most of us were thinking about our Mom, (Me included) Leah gently reminded me in the morning it was my 2 year cancerversary.  Yep 2 years to the day since I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.  I'll clearly remember that day for many years to come.  The building I was in, what the doctor told me and, how rapidly I was moved from diagnosis to treatment with a very good set of doctors.  At day 365 I had a celebration of sorts and made the day as special as I could.  To be honest this year at day 730 I didn't give the occasion much thought before or during. What remained the same is I continued to get treatment on an every other week basis.  

Today I had an appointment with my Medical Oncologist.  In preparation last week and the week before I had a CT scan of my chest and then an MRI of my abdomen and pelvis.  Today as part of the doctor appointment Leah and I were expecting news regarding the scan results.  I had low to none expectations,  Leah however was very nervous about the results.

That being said, after a long wait to see the Doc, he walked into the room and said "your scans look better"  What he continued to explained is the 2 lesions in the liver we are mostly concerned about both shrunk a small amount.  The Lymph node outside the liver also shrunk which is good news and means they are responding to the chemo.  Good news we were both excited about.  What this presents is an opportunity to ask "What's next?"

The Doctor presented us with a few different options, several of those including a break for 6 to 8 weeks.  This would allow us to get our commitments during the summer done without interruption.  My first thought was what happens if/or when the lesions and lymph node grow?  My Oncologist wants to see what grows and how much.  If all 3 things grow we jump back on chemo.  If one item grows but not the others he is talking about using radiation therapy.  I'll be honest, I'm not excited about radiation but I guess I'll wait and see what happens in the 2 months.  

First of all this means a regular lifestyle and also a return of my energy level.  I will try to get a good sleep pattern going but I know that will be a struggle for me.  First of all My time of the day is late evening to early morning.  That doesn't always bode well when 8:00 A.M. arrives.  Second and probably most important I am going to do my best to make these 2 months very fun for the whole family but specifically for Lydia.  I want her to remember the fun times she had with Dad.  Go Cart Racing is on the Short list.  If you know of any other things that might be fun for the 3 of us, please let us know.

In the mean time I will know more on Monday what my schedule will look like for the summer.  I'll write a post Monday evening to fill everyone in.

Most of all  Thank You!

--Kent

God's Not Dead

Spoiler alert!!!

If you haven't yet seen the movie Titled "God's Not Dead" and wish to, Please stop reading and see it before continuing to read this post.

Tonight our family went to a very crowded mall and theater to see the movie "God's Not Dead".  The movie is about a student enrolling in classes his freshman year in college.  Besides his core classes he picks an elective class of Philosophy 150.  Even though being advised to select the class with another professor he chooses to go ahead with the class any way.

At the opening of this class, the professor requests all the students to write down on a paper 3 words along with their signature.  Those word are God is Dead.  All the students in the class proceed to do so except one Christian student who couldn't.  This student is given the task (since he couldn't sign the paper) to prove exactly the opposite of what they were suppose to write on the paper.

He had 3 classes he needed to prepare and give the lecture to the class in order convince not only the professor but the rest of the class that God was not dead but in fact very much alive.  He does this very well, for the detail on how you will need to see the movie. 

It is actually other parts of the movie I wanted to write about.  There are 3 other characters/situations in the movie that I can personally identify with.  Shortly after the opening of the movie you see a young woman visiting an older woman.  The nurse is bringing the old woman an evening meal of chicken.  The old woman says "I don't remember the last time I had chicken" and devours it happily.  The nurse leans over to the young woman and states she has that for lunch that day and the evening before as well.  We find out the young woman is the old woman's daughter and the old woman has some form of Dementia. 

During the movie you are introduced to a busy reporter who's job is to report on dirt of famous people. positive famous people I may add. She keeps getting and ignoring phone calls from a doctor.  Her boyfriend seems to be as goal and career oriented as she is and both act as though they are on the top of the food chain.  When you finally see her in the Doctor's office she continues to allow interruptions from her cell phone.  The Doctor finally interjects and informs her the test came back positive and she has cancer.  She is convinced she will die.

As to not completely give away the movie I'm not going to tell you who exactly but rather what  for this last one.  All you need to know is the person is a non believer.  The situation is this person is on foot and is hit by a car and rolls up on the hood of the car and then rolls from the car into the street.    By all means see the movie to find out what happens here as well as with the other people.

If you don't know already, my Dad has Alzheimer's (a form of Dementia) and while he is nothing like the woman in the movie, I can identify with having a parent struggle with the disease.   The second person is quite different from me, yet I can Identify with her story in the aspect that I was also diagnosed with cancer.  I can personally understand the fear of death.  I have lived with cancer and many of the fears that go along with it since my diagnosis on May 11, 2012.  By now many of you are saying but what about being hit by a car?  Not many people can identify with someone on foot being hit by a car and rolling up the hood of the car.  Many of you may not know I was on a bike tour with my dad (before he was affected by or diagnosed with Alzheimer's).  During the tour I crossed a road and was hit by a car.  I rolled up the hood of the car, hit the windshield with my head (inside a bike helmet) and twirled in the air for a few times until I landed in the ditch about 20 or more feet from one of my shoes.  Luckily I didn't break anything that day but my pride. 

Through this you can see why this movie was very powerful, especially to me.  I left enough detail out as to not completely give away the movie.  Please go see the movie.  Please take those who don't know God personally as it may start a conversation. 

Without having seen the movie I could assure of these three final words.

God's Not Dead!!!

--Kent

Hello Again!

Hello Again!

Many of you have asked why we haven't written on the blog lately.  Well the answer to this is, you know the saying, "no news is good news!" well it has been just that.  In February, Kent had a Dr. appt. with his Oncologist here in Grand Rapids. He also had another Doctor appt. across the state as well.  We met with both Dr's. to discuss how to handle the next steps in treating Kent with Chemo without running him down.  The idea of Kent taking some time off and letting his plasma get healthy again was the option that they agreed to. This meant four weeks off with no treatment.  Four weeks off, for the average person would mean taking a short trip somewhere or doing some family outings or watching a few movies, but Kent isn't average.  He decided again to take a major house project under his belt.  He re- tiled 400 square feet of our home.  This wasn't the average take it up and lay back down, this included a lot of blood sweat and tears of scraping and pulling up "stuck" down floor.  He worked hard and I was very proud of him. But I did wonder how that was going to let him "rest " before the next Chemo.  This project is almost complete with a few loose strings left yet, like trim and reassembling the bathroom.

Two weeks go he again dove into a chemo regimen but of a tad bit different flavor, this time we would take out the  main chemo drug but leave the anti nausea, Vitamin and the secondary chemo in place. He also would wear a pump home. This is a maintenance Chemo regimen.  This would keep him from not doing anything, and still keep chemo in his system so that the tumors would still be attacked with some sort of "cocktail."   Today was Kent's 2nd round of this cycle. He did well.  We are very thankful for less pain and less sickness with the maintenance chemo.  Sleep seems to be what helps along with food.  Well most of us would  be  unhappy with getting on the scale in public Kent needs to do this every time that he goes to the cancer center and his weight was music to my ears.  He told me it was 185! Wow! I was thrilled! You have to know that when we started this cancer journey he was 155 at most.  I love seeing that scale up because at one point the Dr told me gaining weight means that Kent is winning the battle at that moment.  So for right now the cancer is stable and we will embrace the weight gain.  Kent will be getting an MRI in about 4 to six weeks and it will be checked against the CAT scan he had a while back as markers to see how he is doing with the current chemo he is on.

The past few weeks we have been very busy with many projects. We were able to do a few things out and about in which one included running into a very famous person in our very own house!   My daughter!  A few weeks ago I was thrilled to answer a phone call from Gilda's Club (the cancer support group we attend)  I thought they were checking in on Lydia.  I was surprised to find that they would love to speak with Lydia and have her be a guest on the Maranda show on TV regarding her experience last year at laugh fest.  Many of you know that she was pulled on stage last year to do a magic trick with Justin Willman. On the Maranda show Lydia was a true star. Lydia spoke from her heart about her experience on stage  and how Gilda's has helped her with cancer. We were very proud of her.  She truly has been amazing and our little girl isn't so little anymore.  She has a huge heart for helping those around her and has taught us her parents so much. She is growing so much in her faith and we couldn't be more thrilled!   Tonight I (Kent is so tired from treatment) am  going to watch her sing , play a recorder and dance in a program at school. At can't help to be thrilled that her Grammy and Grandma will be there to support but in absence of both Papa and Grandpa.  My dad would of been so proud of all his grandchildren in this program and Grandpa would love to see Lydia but confusion and Alzheimer's doesn't make that possible.
 On the

We apologize that we haven't stayed in touch with you but hope that with the few pictures and video included you will see what has been keeping us from doing the blog.

Blessing to each of you! May you have a great Spring Day (snow and all) :) !

Much Love,
 Leah