Results

Just a quick update on the results from Marc's CT scan and his KRAS tests. First, his CT scan shows that the tumor is unchanged. While not the glowing report we were hoping for, it's the next best thing. He remains stable -- seems like the tumor remains the same as it has since he started treatment in March. Also, the cancer has not spread anywhere. For those of you not familiar with our world...that's a good thing. We count it a blessing today.

His KRAS results were disappointing. The cancer has mutated so that it will not respond to the treatment that the doctor had hoped to add to his regimen. This just means that we do not have an extra arrow in our quiver. Fortunately, the treatment he is on seems to be pushing back and the doctor is pleased that the disease has not progressed.

Marc continues to tolerate treatment well. He looks and feels good (the best indication of how the therapy is working). At this point he is scheduled out through the end of the year for treatments. He will be scanned again in January and will likely get a break from chemo to allow his body and immune system to recover after the first of the year.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We are grateful for you all. Despite the frustrations of this stubborn disease, we remain encouraged and determined. We are doing well....really :)

With love and gratitude...

It Was A Dark and Not-So-Rainy Night....

The Recipe for a wonderful birthday party....

Take one little birthday girl...

and add another....

Take family...

And friends...

Mix liberally...

Garnish with one hundred roasted hot dogs....

Countless caramel apples...

Finish with gift opening...

A special cake....

And voila! The result is one happy 4 year old!

Thank you to all who came and made Sophia's birthday special.

It was a fun night.

We are all grateful!

With love and much gratitude...

Time Flies...

The old adage "time flies when you're having fun" really resonates with us these days. Seems like the days between treatments whip by. We enjoy those days of relative normalcy. Today we found ourselves back at the clinic, but with somewhat better attitudes and emotions than the last go round. The doctor didn't have a lot of new information, but here is what we learned:

• The KRAS tests were not complete. We should have the results in two weeks. This DNA test determines if the tumor has mutated. If it has not mutated, there is an additional chemotherapy drug that can be added to his current regimen, increasing the chance that the tumor will shrink.




• His CT scan is next Wednesday. We will have the results the same day as the KRAS results.




• Marc's weight, appetite, blood counts, and energy level remain very good. He remains in surprisingly good health.




• The doctor seemed to think his abdomen was softer during his exam. We both chuckled at this because the last doctor at the last clinic said the same thing, when in reality nothing had changed. We will wait to see the CT scan results before we get too excited :)
  
  
• The doctor remained encouraged and positive. He seems very determined to work on this aggressively with us.

So, all in all, it was a fairly good day. We have hopes that we will hear good news at his next appointment with the doctor. We have appreciated all the prayers in the last two weeks. We were both pretty agitated and depressed after the last appointment. Today was a huge improvement. We are so grateful for all the encouragement from all of you! A special thanks to Dave for coming down every week to sit with us. I enjoy the emotional support and having a lunch buddy. Marc enjoys sitting with someone other than his overly-doting-helicopter-wife for several long hours. Thanks, Dave, for driving down every week! It's a huge sacrifice of time and effort. We are HUGELY grateful!

The last two weeks have gone really well. We were able to sneak away with the Aaar-Veeh this weekend and visit Ft. Stevens with our friends Lil and Lew and their sweet family. The weather was incredible! We had great fun playing outside, biking, and exploring the old battlements. Lil and Lew introduced us to the fun of crabbing. Good grief! We have never seen so many crab! We indulged in crab for almost every meal -- crab chowder, crab cakes, crab omelets. Oh my! Consequently, we learned Adam and Ben are allergic to crab. Who knew! After four rashy, hivey, days it looks like they are finally coming out of it. Ah...memories. Here are some pics from the weekend fun. I'll catch up with you all soon! Life has been crazy, but good things are happening.

With love and gratitude...

Marc, Lil, and Peter Iredale wreckage. Very cool!

I don't know what is scarier....The Jeep covered in cobwebs

or the fact that a three year old was behind the wheel!

A fun bunch O' kids!


Marc and Me (a.k.a The Doter)

Scene 2, Act 3

Well, we are on treatment cycle number 3 of this new chemo regimen. The doctor added Avastin back into the mix yesterday. We weren't too thrilled. Marc was on this during his last treatment cycle and it has some unpleasant side effects -- most notably gushing nosebleeds. Everything else remains the same.

This cycle has already been harder on him. Emotionally it's a drag. He was feeling wonderful this weekend, so going into the clinic yesterday was hard. Knowing that he is going in feeling great and will leave feeling awful is a huge hurdle. As pleasant as OHSU is, it's still chemo. It's a grind. We scheduled his treatments out through the end of the year. This process will be part of our lives for the foreseeable future.

We aren't sure if it's the Avastin or just the cumulative effects of the chemo, but he hasn't been able to manage the nausea this round. The last two treatment cycles had been so mild that we thought we would be able to avoid this unpleasant side effect. Looks like not. Unfortunately, this makes going back in for the next round that much harder.

He has another treatment in two weeks. The following week (three weeks from yesterday) he will have another CT scan. Again, we are praying that the scan will show obvious shrinkage. We are also hoping that we will get some encouraging results from the DNA tests they are running on his biopsy samples. It may be that we will have more options for treatment if the cancer has not mutated in a particular way. So much to take in...

I just wanted to update you all on how he is doing. We could really use your prayers this week as he is finishing up this round. It's a drag. It's hard not being able to do anything to make it better for him. As usual he doesn't complain. He remains our hero.

Aaaaaaarrrr-Veeeh

On Friday we loaded up the kids, a mountain of homework, the dog, the bunny, and headed up to Lost Lake for the weekend. We had to try out the recently acquired 5th Wheel, which we fondly refer to as the RV; however, you must say it this way: Aaaaarrrr-Veeeh....preferably with the Cousin Eddy twang. For those of you that are die hard RV people, we know it isn't an RV. It's a trailer. Aaaaarrrr-Veeeh is just more fun to say. So there.

Anyhow, we had a wonderful weekend. It was a bit of reality check, though. When Marc and I were dating and newlyweds we were backpack campers. We would take off for a long weekend and walk around Mt. Hood or Sisters. No tent, freeze dried food, and no bathroom facilities save for a trowel and a tree. After we were married we graduated to horses and trail riding -- it's easier on the knees and the view is great. We still roughed it, but we covered a lot more ground in less time. Then came the kids. We remained die hard campers. Tents all the way! Every year we would cram the back of the truck with bikes,stroller, tents, coolers, and a sundry of other supplies. We would spend the weekend tent camping. We were filthy, we would juggle the coolers and food, and we would freeze at night, but we would have a wonderful time. There were some perks to tent camping. Pit toilets and food that didn't have to be reconstituted were big improvements over backpacking or horse packing. We would mock those "campers" that would roll into the campground with their camping rigs. Wimps. That was until last summer when we got rained out. I recall standing there beneath the sagging tarps as the kids shivered next to the dying fire. Hey, kids! Isn't this fun? Over in the next camp spot Mr. and Mrs. RV were revving up their generator. Probably turning on the heat and changing into dry clothes. Sigh.

After that trip we talked briefly about the pros and cons of getting an RV or trailer. It would be great, but we just couldn't justify the cost. No, we were going to have to stick with the ol' tent. So, this year when we were offered a hand me down fifth wheel in great condition we jumped at the opportunity. After this weekend, we realized what a blessing it is! Heat is not overrated. Neither is a toilet at 2 a.m. Need I mention a kitchen? Oh, yes, we are eating crow and it is tasty! There is no going back now.

Needless to say we had a great weekend. Marc felt good, the kids were happy for the change of scenery, the weather was perfect, and our faithful friends, Steve, Mel and their kids, made it a great weekend! It was a wonderful break from work, school, and the clinic. We are refreshed and geared up for treatment tomorrow. Many thanks to Carrol and Karen for giving us such an amazing deal on the Aaaaaarrr-Veeeeh. It's a huge blessing and we love it!

Silly Sophie!

Marc and his girl

One should not try taking a family picture on the last day of camping. Can we all say Grubby!

The whole gang!

Bunny Saga Continues

Many of you have asked how the infamous bunnies are doing. After a week of little Star trying to commit suicide, we decided to let her go. Basically, every time Julia went near the cage to play with her she would freak out and jump so violently that she would smash herself on the roof of the hutch. I spent some time reiterating to Julia that she was a wild animal and would likely never be tame enough to play with. She was sad, but in the end she made the right choice. Star is now off free to do what wild bunnies do. I'm sure we will enjoy seeing Star's offspring roaming the property for many years to come!

While we still have to two rabbits that came with the hutch, Julia was so sad to lose the cute little baby bunny. I compromised with her and told her we would shop for just the right baby bunny for her. Who is the big softy now? Sigh. Anyhow, we finally located the perfect baby for her and picked it up today. Sugar is the newest addition. She is half English Lop, half Champagne. She looks a lot like Star, but sports some really crazy ears and is incredibly mellow. While she is only 8 weeks old, she appears to be full grown. I anticipate this will be quite a large bunny before all is said and done!

So, enjoy the pictures and teasing me about being the softer parent! It all ends well....Julia is one delighted girl.

Reflection

The last couple of weeks are hard to sum up. Sometimes it's easier to process the present when I reflect on the past. I think back to mid June and July when we were frustrated and upset. It seemed like nothing was going our way and everything seemed so bleak. There was also the post, "Uncle," from April when I shared some tough emotions, too. We have had quite of few of those times in the last seven months. I'm thinking of the times when things have been so bad that they don't seem like they could get any worse, but then somehow they do.

I like reflecting back on those times. I become more aware of the good times and our abundant blessings. We are in one of those seasons right now. We have enjoyed a truly amazing couple of weeks. Counting blessings this month doesn't seem to take the hard effort that it has in recent months. Life has been fun and pleasant -- a welcome change in our world.

I'll summarize some of the best parts of the last couple of weeks. I'll try to keep it brief....

• OHSU continues to be a wonderful place. We are grateful to be there. The care is thorough and they truly make the patient experience as positive as possible.
• Marc is doing great with this chemo regimen. While it's never a cake walk, this treatment seems much more tolerable.
• In addition to the treatment being easier on his system, it appears that he is getting initial benefit from it. He said last week that he was pain free and feeling as good as he has in over a year!
• Marc and I enjoyed a work retreat in Vancouver, B.C. this past weekend. We enjoyed the time being just "us" and having a break from the kids. The last time we had that much time alone was when Marc was in the hospital in February. Granted, those accommodations were expensive and he did have room service, but we much preferred the lovely accommodations and activities that his employer provided in beautiful B.C.! It was a refreshing time away.
• Marc's work is going well. He is enjoying being back in the game again. I'm happy having my house and routine back :) Life is pretty normal (whatever that is) these days.
• The kids returned to school this week. Please picture me right now doing an exuberant dance of joy! Can I just say...Woo-hoo!!!!
• The most memorable experience, though, has been Marc connecting with his father and sister. Marc has never had the opportunity to meet his dad or his family until two weeks ago. We have tried unsuccessfully for years to locate him, but we always ran into dead ends. This time was different! A couple of pieces of the puzzle came together and we were able to contact him. This has been a very positive experience for Marc and he is enjoying learning about his father, sisters, and a very rich family heritage.

So, all in all, we don't have much to complain about. Life is good and we are enjoying the abundant blessings in our lives right now. It's humbling looking back on the sadder and gloomier posts. I wish I had known then about how good things were going to be a few short weeks away when I was in those darker places. I guess that's why I'm reflecting now. The next time the darkness closes in, I will do my best to remember this season. He takes away...and He gives. For all those prayers I cried out for relief and comfort....I am now offering back in prayers of thanksgiving. I am grateful for this time and the good things in it!

I just want to say thanks to all of you for caring about us so much. We are grateful to our friends and loved ones. This continues to be a game of endurance. Thank you for staying with us during the really rough times. Your encouragement and prayers have meant so very much to us. Because of that it's always so much fun to post something positive and good. Thanks for letting us share our good news!

With love and gratitude....