Michael’s Home!! ~

I was able to bring Michael home this morning. We seen the doctor this morning, discussed our schedule for the next few weeks, and he said Michael could get his Nuelasta shot and go home. We packed in a hurry and ready to go by 9am.

Michael counts look pretty good right now. Michael will start antibiotics on Thursday. We have a doctor’s appointment in next Monday and will have labs. We will do labs again on the morning of July 16th at the doctor’s office again and if all looks good; we will begin his next round of chemo. By having labs at the doctor’s office then admitting, things ran much smoother this round.

He had no nausea on our drive home. The pink bucket didn’t even ride home with us. I guess after 21 years he is finally getting use to my driving. Once he did get home, he has been trying to sleep on and off. He did have some nausea around dinner time, but we were able to control it. He is still getting the headaches, but those too we are keeping at a control. He looks pretty tired right now. Hopefully he can get some sleep now that we are home in our own bed.

Sending prayers to all your beautiful people fighting this dreaded disease.

Day # 4 ~

Not much more to update today, all we have left for Day 4 is his last dose of Mesna at 11:00 tonight. Michael is feeling more and more tired. He has had little nausea today and foods have no taste when he does try to eat. His legs are still bothering him. He has been able to keep the headaches under control. The key for him is to catch it in time. He is still having troubles sleeping. He usually can not sleep much longer than an hour or two at a time.

We are hoping when we see the doctor tomorrow, he will let him get his Nuelasta shot fairly early so I can take him home in the morning. I do know the doctor said on Friday that he will be sending Michael home with antibiotics and possibly a sleep aid. If all goes well, I will give another update once I get Michael home tomorrow.

Thanks to all the kind words you send to Michael. He does appreciate each of them. I make sure he gets them, from the emails, those posted on his websites, those in each of our facebook pages, or even those tweets he gets. Sending thoughts and prayers out to each of you!!

Cycle 7, Day 3 ~

Just another short update, day 3 is almost in the books. Nothing to exciting to post tonight, the day has been pretty uneventful again (which is a good thing). All we have left for the day is Michael’s last dose of Mesna which he is supposed to get at midnight tonight. His day hasn’t been too bad. He’s having minimal side effects including a little nausea and is still having the uneasiness in his legs. They were able to keep him pretty much on schedule again, just a little off during shift change this evening. Not too bad for having a full house this weekend.

As I sit here and watch him, you can just see the fatigue set in more and more. You bring your loved one in for treatment, but as each hour passes, you can actually see the body drain. Even with that, he is still trying his best to crack the jokes and poke fun at the nurses. But that is my Michael.

Sending thoughts and prayers out to each of you!!

Cycle 7, Day 2 ~

Just a short update today. Things have been pretty uneventful since his last update. Michael continues to crack jokes and poke fun at the doctors and nurses even though you can see the fatigue already setting in.

Michael had a fairly good night last night. No real nausea yesterday which is a great thing. He did begin with a headache last night, but got his Fioricet and he was able to keep the headache controlled. He did have difficulty sleeping again.

Today has been pretty the same as yesterday. He had minimal nausea and side effects. The nurses kept him on the same schedule for his chemotherapy, so he began his pre-hydration and pre-meds around 11:00 this morning. All he has left is his last Mesna dose at 11:00 tonight and then we will have day 2 out of the way. That’s 2 of 4 days down. The doctors are going to try 4 days this round.

Please keep all those suffering from this dreaded disease in your prayers as we will continue to pray for each of you. Will update again soon!!

And Here We Go Again ~ Chemo Cycle 7

Sorry for not updating lately… We have been having trouble with our internet service at home. We went from Monday until yesterday afternoon with on internet. Boy that was no fun, what to do when you can’t get online? That means we actually have to talk to each other. Lol

Over the weekend, Michael’s head starting getting real tender and he began to lose his hair again. So yes Ms. Tina, we did try a few more hairstyles Sunday before settling with his current look. I will post pictures once we get back home. We did the lovely lime green Mohawk, but then we just shaved it clean. Now I have my beautiful bald man again.

Monday we did hear back from his oncologist about the brain MRI he had last week. The scans are clean!!! That makes us happy. At this point all scans are staying clean!!! These are the best words to hear!!

He is still having the headaches on and off, but the headache medicine they did prescribe for him is helping as long as we catch them early. Michael spent most of the week working out in the shop trying to stay busy. He would come in each evening just worn out and in pain. He keeps going, but once he comes in and stops, he feels it in his back, legs, and feet.

We went to see his oncologist this morning. He wanted to check his labs in the office before he admitted him to ensure they were good. His white blood count was 3.1K and his platelets are up to 135. So we went across campus and checked in the Jackson Building this morning. They actually were able to begin his pre-hydration early around 11:00 this morning. At this point he has already had all his pre-meds, his Etoposide, and just began his Ifosfamide. This means that he should be finished by midnight with everything. That will be nice change.

If I don’t get a chance to update later this evening, I will in the morning. Please continue to keep all these beautiful fighters in your prayers. We are keeping each of you in our daily thoughts and prayers.

Happy Father’s Day ~

Happy Father’s Day to all you wonderful dads out there!!!

I want to say Happy Father’s Day to 2 special dads in my life. First is my dad. Dad, you go above and beyond to take care of all your kids even through we are grown. You are there to help us when we need it and you prove to each of us there is no limit of what you can do and no matter what obstacles are in the way, you can always do whatever you put your mind to.

And then there is my lovely husband Michael. Michael, you too show each of us that no obstacle will stop you. You are here fighting one of the hardest battles of your life with this cancer; yet, you keep going a little more each day. You are always full of life and laughter, even when you feel bad. You have your good days and your bad days, but no matter what you keep on trying. You never will give up and I look up to that in you.

Please continue to keep all those beautiful people fighting this disease in your prayers and let’s say an extra prayer today for all the daddies of those fighting this disease because without the daddies, we won’t have these precious people in our lives.

MRI & Lab Work ~

Michael has been experiencing pains in his back, hips and legs most of the last week. He is still having the headaches. He has been having a hard time getting any sleep except yesterday. He was able to sleep most of the day. His doctors ordered brain MRI. We went in this morning for that and are still waiting on the results. Praying for clean scans!!

We also went in for his labs today. Yeah, his white blood count is up to 4.6K. This is the highest it has been since January. Let’s just hope it stays up there next week so he can begin his next round of chemo. We will have another appointment and lab work next Thursday. If his counts are good then, he will be admitted for his 6-day inpatient stay.

Please continue to pray for all these beautiful people fighting this dreaded disease. We will continue to keep each of you in our thoughts and prayers.

Doctor’s Visit ~

Since we brought Michael home earlier this week, he has been pretty fatigued. He is still having his headaches. He’s having difficulty sleeping and is very unsteady on his feet. He’s been having a few other side effects the doctors are watching closely. I took Michael to his weekly doctor’s appointment yesterday and to have his labs done. His white counts are extremely low at this point and he is neutropenic. His platelets are 75 right now. They have put Michael on precautionary antibiotics for a week and well as give him a headache medicine. Next Thursday they have scheduled a brain MRI, we will see his doctor and have his labs again. We are going one day at a time and hoping he starts to feel better soon.

Please continue to pray for all those beautiful people fighting this dreaded disease as we are keeping each of you in our thoughts and prayers.

Michael’s Home ~

We weren’t able to get Michael’s Nuelasta shot until 4:00 pm today. Once he did get that, I was able to bring him home. He received an Ativan before he left to help with the nausea on the ride home. Hey Jessica, I make sure we don’t need a pink tub on the way home. Learned the very first trip home how to keep his nausea down as we have 1 to 1 ½ hour trip home each time. But as he would tell you, he gets nausea all the time I drive. Men… lol We did get him home around 5:00 this evening.

Once we got home, I got Michael to rest some more. We will keep a close eye on Michael’s counts this week as the doctor is worried he may have to have a transfusion later in the week.

Please keep all those fighting cancer in your prayers. Also, a special prayer goes out to our son. Just know we do love you.

Day 3 ~

Just sitting here watching Michael sleep. You can see where the fatigue from the meds is setting in and he is having more difficulty sleeping.

We did talk with the on-call doctor, no real changes in what is planned. Michael would receive day 3’s treatment, and get released sometime today. Yesterday’s treatment went about the same. Still took the 12 hours to go through the treatment. He still had nausea during treatment, but we were able to keep it controlled.

We are just waiting to see the doctor this morning to see if they can move his Nuelasta shot up some so we can go home. Once we get the word that I can take him home, I will update again.

Today is National Cancer Survivors Day. And to all you Survivors, celebrate today to your fullest as each of you deserve it. Each of you are truly amazing fighters!!

Please continue to pray for everyone that is effected with cancer.

Day 2 ~

With his treatments starting so late in the day this round, I will be a day behind on updating.

We did speak with the doctor yesterday morning. He is mainly concerned with Michael’s counts. His WBC is at 2.4, platelets are still at 87, and his hemoglobin is at 12. These cycles are to run for 5 days of treatment and the 6th day to get his Nueslasta shot and go home. With Michael’s counts, the doctor has decided to cut this cycle to 3 days of meds, 4th day shot and go home which means I should be able to take him home Sunday. The doctor has ordered migraine medicine for his headaches. We will see if that helps.

The doctor just loved Michael’s hair. He had to come back into the room and take a picture of it to take back to the office. As we go for his walks, he gets all kinds of stares are some just laughing out loud.

Around 3:30 in the afternoon yesterday, they started him on his pre-meds. He began his chemo around 4:10 and wasn’t finished until around 3:30 this morning. On the first night, Michael did have some nausea, and was barely able to keep it controlled. Last night, he did have some nausea, but nothing like the first night. He is starting to feel the fatigue.

Please continue to pray for everyone who is suffering from this dreaded disease and other cancers. We will try to update again tomorrow.

Extremely Busy 2 Weeks ~

We have had such a busy time the past few weeks. First, let me apologize to everyone. I am so far behind reading everyone’s care pages / caringbridge sites; I hope everyone is doing ok. Michael and I have been praying for everyone even though we haven’t had the time to read and post.

Michael has been working every hard on trying to get things done before coming in for chemo. We’ve had family in from out of town for the kids’ graduation. We had a great time with the family. It made for a nice few weeks. We spent some time at the lake. Michael had a chance to go fishing. It has been a long time since he’s been fishing. He also had a great visit with his mom. Just wish she could have stayed longer. It was nice to have her here with Michael.

I also had my brother come in from out of town. I was glad he was able to make it down with his family. We did get to meet his girlfriend’s 16 year old daughter. She is 2 years cancer free. She was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma. She and Michael hit it off from the beginning. You could see that connection. I think it was great for Michael to communicate with someone who had to go through what he has too. Plus she is just a great kid. Still can’t wait to meet the girlfriend and her other two kids. If any one is in Kansas City are this weekend, please stop by the Hyvee in Mission, Kansas, located on Martway. They have their own Alex’s Lemonade Stand on June 5th and 6th.

On Monday, June 1st, Michael and I got to watch both our children walk across the stage and receive their diploma. We are extremely proud of both our son and daughter. Yes, mom did cry. I think I cried for several times. Our son took off this morning for his freshmen orientation already down at Stephen F. Austin University. They just grow up so fast.

Michael decided that since he is going to lose his hair again to chemo, he wanted to dye his hair lime green. So, the night before graduation, Michael bleached out his hair and then dyed it lime green. Yes, doesn’t he look lovely? He sure gets all the heads to turn.

To check out more photos of the kids and Michael go to Michael's carepages website at http://www.carepages.com/carepages/HOPESforMichael.

This morning, we meet his PA at the Jackson Building and Michael was admitted to begin his 5-day chemo treatments again, green hair and all. The nurses just loved it. They did a chest X-ray before accessing his port to make sure it was still ok. Last week, he was taking care of our pig and was leaning against the fence and it slid forward against his port, causing it to move some. He also has been having headaches since he bumped his port. His port does look good and in place. He finally had his port accessed and his pre-meds started around 4:00 this afternoon. His counts don’t look that great. His WBC is at 2.3 and his platelets are at 87. They did go ahead and begin his chemo. This is the first time he will be receiving the Etoposide. Right now he is receiving his Ifosfamide. He did receive that one before. So far he is doing ok with the treatment. He does have some nausea, but he is able to control it for now. He still has 2 more doses of Mesna tonight and still has his post-hydration to get.

His doctor did call us around 5:30 this evening. He is very concerned with his blood counts and the headaches. He said he will be in first thing in the morning so we can come up with a game plan. He did mention the possibility of doing a brain MRI again for the headaches and possibly doing another bone marrow test to see if they can figure out why his counts are staying low. Michael does NOT want to do that one unless they can knock him out. The first time he had one of those, he said he could not stand the pain and he said he will tell the doctor no.

Ever since his last chemo back in January, his counts haven’t climbed back up to where the doctor would like them to be. They have been staying around 2.5K. Hopefully we will have better answers in the morning.

Michael and I are working on coming up with some fundraising ideas. As soon as we get somewhere with those ideas, we will let everyone know.

We ask everyone to continue to pray for everyone suffering from this dreaded disease and other cancers.