Reminder

Just a reminder, we go to oncologist tomorrow morning.

Sorry I have not posted much, I have been really busy finishing my house so I can put it up for sale. All these little things take way too much time when I can only do most of it after my children are sleeping and not trying to play in the paint.

And there isnt much to tell. I will post anything new after the appointment. I don't know if we will "know" anything else, he hasn't had any more tests since the last appointment.

O and I hope you all had a chance to see the blue moon last night. they only happen about 41 times every century and the next one isnt until December of 2009...

"The full moon this Thursday is a “blue moon”, which is the 2nd full moon of the month. Full moons come every 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes. So it’s possible to have a full moon on the 1st or 2nd of the month and again on the 30th or 31st. On average there are 41 blue moons every century. The next blue moon ...will be on December 31, 2009. Something weird happens in the year 2018. Because February (according to UTC) will have no full moon in 2018, January and March will each have a calendar blue moon that year"

Think good, happy thoughts - after all, it is a "once in a blue moon" kind of day!

Just putting this out there...

We went out for a family function on Saturday. Dad looked well (relativley speaking) but he was moving a little slow. He said he was sore. He said probably because he mowed the lawn - which is HUGE - and did some other random things around the house. I know he wants to do some other things while he is still able and I am concerned about this. He says he will not overdo it, but I don't think he undersstands that he runs the risk of breaking something. His body is weaker and his bones are weaker so if he falls or something it could be very bad. He will not ask for help. He has done so much for everyone else, especially for church members....I wonder if anyone offers help. He mentioned he wanted to put a new roof on the house - he better hope he doesnt try that one! He said he doesn't think it will happen, but maybe people can offer help. He also wants to raise up the shed by putting 4 x 4 under it. I know he is trying to "put things in order" so to speak so Ruth will not have to deal with it but it worries me. I wish they could hire someone to mow the lawn. (He doesnt even have a riding mower, just a standard push one. He says he doesn't want a self-propelled one either, might drag him around the yard)

I compel the people around him to offer help, I can only do so much living an hour away...and if this irritates him - too bad! Dad, you can't do everything. You have to be careful of your body's state, even if you "feel" ok. Even if you feel like you can do it, I don't think it is worth paying for it for the next few days.

This is more to put this out there as it may be needed in the future.

Random thoughts...

1) When I die, I want to die like my grandfather--who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car." --Author Unknown

2) Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children." --Author Unknown

3) "Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar." --Drew Carey

4) "The problem with the designated driver program, it's not a desirable job, but if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At the end of the night, drop them off at the wrong house." --Jeff Foxworthy

5) "If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base." --Dave Barry

6) "Relationships are hard. It's like a full time job, and we should treat it like one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you, they should give you two weeks' notice. There should be severance pay, and the day before they leave you, they should have to find you a temp." --Bob Ettinger

7) "My Mom said she learned how to swim when someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat. I said, 'Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim.'" --Paula Poundstone

8) "A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: "Duh." --Conan O'Brien

9) "Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God.... I could be eating a slow learner." --Lynda Montgomery

10) "I think that's how Chicago got started. Bunch of people in New York said, 'Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west.'" --Richard Jeni

11) "If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead." --Johnny Carson

12) "My parents didn't want to move to Florida , but they turned sixty and that's the law." --Jerry Seinfeld

13) "Remember in elementary school, you were told that in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file line from smallest to tallest. What is the logic in that? What, do tall people burn slower?" --Warren Hutcherson

14) "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.. But I repeat myself." --Mark Twain

15) "Our bombs are smarter than the average high school student. At least they can find Afghanistan " --A. Whitney Brown

16) "You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'" --Dave Barry

17) "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer." - W. C. Fields

So far, so good

Spoke to Dad to see hoe the weekend after chemo went and i was nicely surprised that it went well. He said he was slightly nauseous Saturday morning, but that was all. He didn't need to take his nausea med either. He said he ate well all weekend and felt ok. So as before we will take the good news where we can get it.

New Chemo

Dad starts his new chemos this Friday. His next oncology appointment is morning of June 1st. I am not going for chemo, but I will go to oncology appt. I will check with him over the weekend to see how he is doing with the chemo and update.

Keep up you prayers and good thoughts!

Well...this trip sucks

I don't know how else to say it. The news of the CT scan at the appointment today was discouraging. So the bad news is that the Taxotere chemo he has been on has not helped...the WORSE news is that the cancer has also started growing again. There are new tumors in his liver and some of the existing ones have almost doubled in size when compared to the CT scan from March. There are also a few more lymph nodes involoved. The slightly positive news is that the spots in his lungs are still stable and his spleen, pancrease, heart, gall bladder are still in good shape. I guess we will take whatever good as we can right now.

What we do now:

-They stopped the Taxotere, it is doing nothing for him...so basically why out him and his body through it for nothing.

-He will start a new chemo cocktail, he will get both every 3 weeks for 9 weeks, then a new CT scan to see if these do anything to shrink the tumors or at least prevent any new growth:

Alimta - This drug blocks folic acid to the tumor. Dad will have to start taking a folic acid pill daily for at least 7 days before he starts, during treatment and for at least a month after treament is done. This one takes about 10 minutes through the IV. He will also have to have a vitamin B12 shot every 9 weeks i believe. This one has "common" side effects such as blood clots and abnormal peeling of his skin (what the @#$@ does that mean?) and of course the less common side effect of kidney failure. Sometimes I wonder if the benefit really does outweigh the risk...
Here is a link to Alimta info:
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-78575-ALIMTA+IV.aspx?drugid=78575&drugname=ALIMTA+IV

Avastin - This drug blocks the blood supply to the cancer cells. This drug also has some of the same "common" side effects including blood clots & bleeding of the stomach or intestines, heart attack, stroke and voice changes??? In fact this one has a FDA warning at the top of the page regarding the clot issue.
Here is a link to more info on this one:
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-78649-AVASTIN+IV.aspx?drugid=78649&drugname=AVASTIN+IV

-He will also have steroid shot the day before, day of and day after chemo (this is the same as with the Taxotere) to help prevent skin reactions such as rashes.

So I imagine by this point you may be wondering, as I am, if we will have a bald Dennis molting discolored skin all over the place while sounding like he is in puberty....but as disturbing as that thought it, I have to say that if that is the worst that happens through this we will be in good shape.

On a personal level, I was proud of myself this week and today. I forced myself not to have the dread I had before the last appointment and I held it together from the time I heard the news until I was driving through Zeeland. It hit me when I was getting on the highway and I actually had to pull into the rest area on the way back to GR because my brain froze, I figured at that point I may very well be a menace to the surrounding traffic and took a short break.

So that's all I care to think about this tonight. Please "kick it up a notch" with the prayers and good thoughts because we need it!