Mixed emotions

In Leah's facebook post last Friday she stated I would write on the blog that evening.  Here it is the following Tuesday and I'm just sitting down to write.  I had an CT of my abdomen a week ago last Friday as my first 6 month long checkup.  The results showed no cancer.  Other than a thickening of the Bronchial tube nothing was really noted in the report.  The PA at the Oncologist office didn't seem at all concerned with the Bronchial tube activity.  Since I still have to make a trip out there every 6-8 weeks for a port flush, I politely inquired about getting that taken out.  The PA asked when I last had treatment.  I told her it had been a year in May.  She stated they usually take them out around a year.  Since I was nearly at a year and a half it was definitely time.  She did confirm that if I needed treatment in the future they would be reinstalling one again.  I understood this and stated I would rather have it reinstalled later than hang onto it and visit every 6 weeks whether I had to or not.  I had the blood test taken for this procedure.  In the next couple of weeks they will call and schedule my port removal.

Sunday Leah had her 40th birthday.  Before leaving for church Leah received a call from her mom wishing her a happy birthday.  While she was on the phone her mom also told her that her Grandpa passed away that morning.  Leah's birthday wasn't exactly what either of us expected, regardless we were surrounded by family and friends.

Many of you know my Dad has Alzheimers.  In recent weeks he has had difficulty swallowing so he had been placed on a diet of Pureed food.  Saturday evening Leah and I went to visit him and he was sitting in his chair but had very labored breathing.  I talked with my Mom tonight (tuesday) again after many of the times this weekend.  She told me she was asked by Dad's facility to either put Dad on Hospice or they would send him to the hospital.  Since my Mom had Cataract surgery today she asked to push off the decision for one day.  Neither of us feel sending him to the hospital will be beneficial for his quality of life at this point.  So more than likely he will be put on Hospice care soon.  He was diagnosed with this disease 7 years ago and although I slowly prepared for this moment I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for the final goodbye.  

--Kent

No Activity

When you look at this title, you may think it refers to what is happening on this blog.  Unfortunately this blog gets very little activity when Life resumes a busy and normal schedule.  While many of us live a normal life most of take it for granted.  When your schedule includes Chemo every other week for the better part of 2 years and you have many side effect that come along with it, you really appreciate living a normal life when you don't have to see Doctors and Nurses every other week.

My last scan and Doctor's appointment was early October and at that point he scheduled me to have another one in January.  Last week Wednesday I had a PET-CT scan and today we met with the Oncologist to go over the results.

He walked in the room and said "your scans look great".  The report form the scan said there was "No Activity"  This means any of the Lesions left in the liver were not active Cancer.  I had been wondering if the remaining lesions were active and just not growing for several months or if they were not active.  This scan answered the question for us.  The report also said the lesions were shrinking.  My doctor said this is due to scar tissue shrinking after time.  On other thing we talked about was my Port.  He said at some point in the not so distance future he will want my port removed.  He obviously wants to wait for a few scans to pass to make sure there is no more activity.

Until then my future looks like the following.  In 6 weeks I need to have my port flushed. this should happen every 6 - 8 weeks.  In early April I will have another PET-CT scan and then meet with my oncologist yet again to go over the results.

Thanks so much to everyone for your prayers and support.

--Kent

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