5 YEARS ago today................

OCTOBER 24, 2012


Five years ago today - October 24, 2007, Blake & I were stunned.  We had just been told that Blake had a very large tumor in his colon.  That's all we knew at the time but it turned out that the cancer had also metastasized to liver and 1 lymph node. 

It's crazy to think about everything he's been through since then & to know he only had an 8% chance of making it this far is amazing.  Thankfully, he has done very well and we're truly grateful for the encouragement from our family & friends during this time.  We are very aware of how lucky & blessed we are that he has done as well as he has.  I have seen many come & go at the cancer center.  You'd be amazed how thick his file is at the cancer center.  That's one place you want a thick file, right?  He just been tough, resilient and amazing.   

Obviously, this hasn't been an easy ride and the last few days have been really rough.  Pain has become pretty bad lately so he's been wearing the pain patch.  Well.... the dosage was increased and he didn't tolerate it well (the docs have always called him a "cheap date"... haha.)  Anyway, after missing a few days of work he went in for 1/2 day today & seemed to do pretty well.  

Blake will have a PET scan on Friday & hopefully it will show that the chemo has started to knock out the tumors again.  His tumor marker has decreased from 9.3 to 5.1 after only 3 treatments so I hope the scan will show the same improvement.

Chemo # 64 will be on Halloween Day - I'm trying to talk him into dressing up for the occasion.   :)

Hope everyone is doing well. 

Love & Hugs to all,

Kathy 

P.S.  Here are some pics from along the way.........

Old trusty port......

1st chemo round complete!!

Fanny pack chemo - infused over 46 hours

Ready for exploratory surgery!

Love the snuggles with tiny Aspen

Just another chemo..........

Suh-weet!!  Tickets to Utah vs. Notre Dame!! 
Trip to South Bend!!

Irelynn's nap time with Papa

Chemo #63

We can always count on these chicks for a smile!!  :)

#60 is in the can........ tumor marker up to 9.3

Hello........

It's been a rough few weeks, I'm not gonna lie.  Blake has been having horrible pain for quite some time now; in fact it started about 2 weeks after he began his chemo break last April.  Because of the pain, we decided to move up his PET scan a few weeks to see what was going on.  Sure enough, his scan was HORRIBLE!  - probably the worst it's been - EVER.  The scan showed many tumors with varying SUV's (SUV shows metabolic activity - the higher the number the more metabolically active.)  Blake's initial tumor back in 2007 had an SUV of 10 (ish) and the tumors and lymph nodes since then have never been over 10.  This scan showed tumors with SUV values all the way up to 45 - FORTY-FIVE!  When I first looked at the report, I thought for sure it had to be a typo.... right?  The Oncs office requested a review which confirmed 45. They even contacted GE to make certain the machine was calibrated correctly!  

Blake had chemo #60 about 10 days ago.  It's been a really rough round; he's been flat in bed at least 7 of the last 14 days and had to go to the cancer center 3 times for fluids.  Jess reminded us that he was this sick after a chemo late last year and then rallied through the next several treatments.  We can only be so lucky for that to be the case again - I truly don't think he can take another round like this last one.  Which is worse, the disease or the treatment; it's a rough balancing act for sure.  

Blake's scheduled for chemo again this Wednesday (9/5).  Please send some positive thoughts & prayers our way-we could really use it!  

Thanks & love to you all!

Kathy

I apologize for not updating.......

Hi Friends & Family! 

Hope everyone has been having an awesome summer!  I apologize for the lack of updates. 

As most of you know, Blake has been on a chemo break since mid-April.   On April 23rd, he had a scan that showed the tumors were still there - just not as (metabolically) active.  While many thought that was really good news, Blake didn't.  He had endured 11 more treatments of chemo (losing his hair and feeling like crap) and he wanted the tumors to be completely gone.  When time came for the next chemo (#60), he decided he was done - at least for a while.

Blake is usually scanned every-other month but at the last appt. in June, Dr. Whisenant suggested there was no sense in scanning unless he was willing to restart treatments based on the (suspected) outcome - so they decided to postpone the next scan until August 23rd. 

Meanwhile, his latest blood work showed that his tumor marker has increased which is not surprising at all.  I'm pretty sure Blake will have to decide about going back on chemo soon because he started having tumor pain just a few weeks after the chemo stopped.  He continues to have pain on a regular basis that, thankfully, can still be mostly controlled by alternating a mild pain killer with ibuprofen.  Last night, he ate dinner in the recliner because the pain was so bad he didn't want to get up.  Today, he's at work.  Does that surprise anyone? 

Blake's 5 year cancerversary is on October 24th.  Five years ago, many of us didn't think Blake would still be here.  Heck, the stats were only 8% that he would be.  Obviously, we are SO GRATEFUL that he is!!  He has fought a very hard fight and continues to win.   I sooooo love this Man!!  

Take care everyone!!

Love,  Kathy

It's been a while..... but COLORECTAL cancer month is almost over!!

Sorry I haven't post anything for a while......... things @ our house have been pretty normal! I have mentally taken a cancer break & haven't wanted to talk much about the subject. Since Blake has done much better then anyone could have imagined, it's been pretty easy to do. To those friends in the cancer world, sorry I've been out of touch, I just need to take a break.

As much as I'd like to ignore it, the battle continues. Blake will have his 59th chemo treatment next week and then will be scanned mid-April. Hopefully, the scan will show that things remain stable. Dr. W. wants Blake to take a break - the last time he suggested a break, Blake kindly refused. This time, he may not have a choice. Dr. W. really wants Blake to focus on his quality of life.

Our whole family is so grateful that Blake/Dad/Papa is as strong and determined as he is! He's gone through absolute HELL and back and continues to fight with all he has. His will to live is amazing!

March is national colorectal cancer month. While not celebrated as much as the pink month, colorectal awareness is incredibly important. Like the commercial says, "had I not gotten the scan, my life would have been ruined; absolutely ruined!" or, "had my Dad gotten a colonoscopy when he was 50, he would be here today...."

Are you over 50? Have you had your colonoscopy? Do you have stomach troubles? Maybe you should have a colonoscopy!?! Please, please, please - get one if you need it. Blake will tell you that the worst part of it is the prep. Don't be ignorant...... get it scheduled today! Here, I'll make it easy for you, call Mountain West Gastroenterology (801-783-2785) and schedule an appt. Dr. Sossenheimer & Dr. Fenton are great docs. I'm sure the others are great too - but we are familiar with these two. In fact, Dr. Sossenheimer is the one who found Blakes cancer. Their office is located in the Old Mill Clinic @ 6360 South 3000 East.

Take care everyone! Enjoy Spring!!

Love, Kathy

Guess What Color Colon Cancer is?? Nope, not brown dummy, BLUE !! :)

Fevers

Hiya! It's been a crazy week.... We've all had a horrible cold & now Blake has it. On top of that, he had chemo last Wednesday so his immune system is toast. I'm not sure if I mentioned it but Blake has been running nightly fevers for a while now. We were told it was probably from the disease/tumor burden. Who knows but he's been running HIGH fevers this week! Early Monday morning, I touched his forehead and he was burning up! His temp was 103.5! We're supposed to call into the Oncs office if he has a temp over 100.4 - I called & was told he should start his antibiotics. We've had antibiotics on hand in case of this exact situation. Apparently it's a pretty strong antibiotic it's also used to fight Anthrax!

About 4 this morning, he was really hot again, 104.6. Thermometer broken? I checked it tonight & it seems to be in sync with an "ear canal" one we have. Wow, 104.6? That's crazy high. It's already up to 101 tonight.

I was told to call on Thursday if the fevers continue. Looks like I'll be calling.

Thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Love, Kathy

He may need a nap or two.... but, you can't keep a good man down!!

Did I say "ups & downs?"

I swear.... anytime I post a 'positive' update, I jinx everything!

Blake & I were lucky enough to go to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX last weekend. We had an absolutely fantastic time!! We came home on Monday & Blake ended up in the ER by midnight! I swear, Blake had a spontaneous purge!! Blake rarely throws up.... and this time, it was uncontrollable. It wasn't just vomiting... but, I'll leave it at that. :) After @ 10+ hours in the ER, they decided to admit him. His white blood cells were really high and his HCT & RBC were low due to blood loss.

Abdominal x-rays & a CT scan didn't show for sure what the problem was..... which isn't abnormal for metastatic CRC. As I've mentioned before, the abdominal tumors are very hard to see on the scans. The *theory* according to the Onc is that Blake's colon twists upon itself due to adhesions, scar tissue and/or tumors. When this blockage occurs, everything that can't move "through" comes back up! In order to relieve some pressure from his system, they tried to put in an NG tube (it goes up the nose then down into the stomach) to remove the stomach contents. It's a very long story but let's just say it failed miserably. Poor thing... I know it was rough.

After several doses of IV antibiotics and liquid nutrition (no, not beer....lol!), he felt pretty good and was allowed to come home on Thursday. He's been gradually increasing his food intake and so-far so-good! I think he's bored silly and will be ready for work on Monday!

He wasn't able to get chemo last week & it's been 5 weeks since his last chemo.... hopefully, he'll feel well enough to get chemo soon. As nice as it's been, the break makes me a little anxious. Can't let those little buggers grow!!

Hope everyone is well! Happy New Year!

Kathy