So I haven't been very good at updating the blog lately.... So I thought I would do a few posts to catch up to present day. So we are back in August for the First Day of School.
Dallas
He was having a hard time looking at me with the sun in his eyes
If you are a wife reading this please take note, Jen is the GREATEST WIFE EVER. The past 2 weeks my workout partner hasn’t been able to make it to the gym so instead of leaving for the gym at 5:45 I have been leaving around 7:30, this has allowed me to view Jens daily routine and I am amazed. Jen wakes up at 5:20, gets dressed, drinks a protein shake, lifts weights, gets on the treadmill for 45 minutes, makes the kids breakfast(usually pancakes, German pancakes, cinnamon roles, eggs, waffles, rarely cereal), she showers, gets dressed, helps the kids do their chores, helps them get ready for school, she eats breakfast, she cleans up breakfast, logs into the spa and checks reports and then still has time to do things like this:
This is only a few of the many notes I found when I got home from the gym today, and as you can see from the pic below, this isn't the first time she has done this.
Not only does this make Jen great, but she NEVER and I mean NEVER complains or whines, let me type that again for some of you, she NEVER and I mean NEVER complains or whines , and this is just what she does before she leaves for work. You're the best Hun and I love you tons.
One Hundred and Eight Thousand seconds ago I received both good and bad news. The good news being that it looks as though I am on the actual trial drug and not the Placebo, I have been getting sores in my mouth which is the most common side affect. The Bad is really bad though, it appears that I am responding quite well to the drug, so unfortunately for the rest of you I should live to see Christmas and I will be expecting a Christmas present, sorry guys. The Ugly is, well I think you already know.
So I guess I am a pretty horrible wife for not putting pictures of Shane on the Lake Powell post. But hun, there is a picture of you...if you look at the picture of Tyler jumping off the cliff (you know the one where it looks like he has a tail) you can see your cute bald head in the water. :)
There really was more than 1 picture of him...so sorry hun for not putting them on here. And the picture he posted below with Tyler, after calling his name 5 or 6 times and him ignoring me or not hearing me whichever he admits to, I just took the picture...kind of like this one too.
Here is another one of him.....
Doesn't this one count too...you can see part of him. :)
Sorry hun I will do better next time.
As I have read other’s blogs I have noticed that the “Blog Updaters” post pics of their families including their spouses. After reading Jen’s Lake Powell update I noticed that there are no pics of me, so I looked at the images on the camera and realized that out of 70 Lake Powell images there was only 1 of me ( The pic is actually of Tyler, but in order to keep me from hanging myself with a sock I pretend it is of me) Anyway, I pondered the question as to why Jen wouldn’t post or even take pics of me, and then it hit me, I am hideous, and what may you ask turned this extremely handsome prince into a disgraceful frog? CHEMO, and since I get a lot of questions concerning the side affects I thought I would post up some pics and explanations, so sit right back and you’ll hear a tale.
Warning: The pics are blurry.
Baldness – I miss my Goatee something fierce, but I don’t miss trimming my junk
Nails - Probably the most gruesome of the side affects, I actually get an abscess under the nail that stinks once it lifts the nail, so I dig in as far as I can and cut the nail off to dry it out.
Sensitivity to the sun – For someone who hasn’t worn sunscreen in I don’t know how long, this was a tough battle and as you can see by the pic I lost. I had a very minor burn on a Saturday and then had Chemo on Monday, my Wednesday I was almost purple. I ended up pealing 3 layers and it took about 3 weeks to somewhat recover. Also in the pic you can see my 3rd nipple\port, I am thinking about getting it pierced.
Water Retention – This is the most annoying side affect of them all, the pic doesn’t do it justice. I can gain 20 lbs. of water in about 5 – 7 days, it starts after my double dose and even though I haven’t had Chemo in over a month it still comes and goes. It may not seem that bad to most, but on one of my appointments my resting heart rate was 115 BPM, up from 67 the week before due to water retention.
Snot – This may be the weirdest of the sides, as you will notice in the pic, it is mostly blood, I was getting these 2-3 times a day, it gets bad enough that I start breathing through my mouth. I am sure you all want to know, and the answer is YES, they do taste as good as they look. MMMmmmmmm
Oh and here is the pic of Tyler, and yes below that is the pic of the sock I have chosen to use.
So we received results to Shane’s scans last week. It showed a very slight increase in size in the one in his back, but they didn’t know if that was just the difference in how the radiologists measured it. But the ones in his lungs are either not there or were too small to measure. The ones in his lungs were very concerning, so that was definitely great news.
So Shane started the experimental treatment on Monday. It consists of taking 4 pills a day. No one is allowed to touch the pills except for Shane..kind crazy. The doctor told him that he should know within a few weeks if he got the real or placebo pill by how he feels or if he gets mouth sores. They will do another scan in 8 weeks.
We went to Lake Powell last week with the boys, Jace, and Mindy (Shane's brother and Mom). We had a really cool camping spot. We always go to the Escalante and camp in one of the caves with big overhangs so we have shade all day long. This year we had a great view of an arch.
some cliff jumping....
So Shane might get to be a part of an experimental treatment. If he is able to get in and be one of the 300, then his last chemo treatment will be next week. We were told about this a few weeks ago and it sounded really good. It is a pill that he will take daily. We do not know any of the side effects. Well today we got a little more info. There will be 300 people accepted. 150 will receive the pill and 150 will receive placebo pills...we would not know what he would be taking. So that is the scary part. After 8 weeks of taking the pill, they will do scans and see how things look. If we was taking the "real" pill and there was progress, then he will continue on with that treatment and they say that it would be free for the next 3 years. For those of you who don't know how freaking expensive chemo is...that sounds pretty dang good. One day of chemo ranges from about $10-20k depending on which treatment day it is.
Anyway, so if it is working...GREAT!! If he was one to get the placebo pill and the cancer has grown..then back to the old treatment. One thing we have been told is that this kind of cancer will never go away. He will always be on some type of treatment for the rest of his life. So if this experimental one were to work for him, most likely this is the type he would continue taking.
This year for Dylan and Dallas's birthday party, we let them choose one friend to take to Bookdocks for the Unlimited Pass. Dallas chose to take Austin, and Dylan chose to take Camden. They ran around from Laser Tag to Go-Karts to Bumper Boats to collecting as many tickets as possible. They had a blast!!
