Hey everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to post an update. Chad has been doing really well and there hasn't been much change so not much to report. This is a GOOD thing!! He is still very tired and weak but this will be normal for a while yet. It will just take time. His hair hasn't started growing back yet and he's even lost some of his eye lashes but that will all come back in time too. He has some doctor visits coming up in the next few weeks so I'll keep you posted on any changes or new information.
A very special thank you to all of the wonderful people that made the benefit for us in Lynchburg happen last weekend. I hope you all know how much it really means to us. We have the best friends in the world and can't even explain how thankful we are to each of you. We were sad to miss it but heard it was a really fun time, like a big reunion. We love that! We have a couple of friends that hadn't talked in a couple of years that were brought together that day (you know who you are;) and it makes me smile to know that. God works in mysterious ways!
We recently had a short but wonderful visit from my big (she's actually much smaller) sister and her four kids, Adrianne, Jack, Amy & Michael. My sister, Georgette drove all the way from NY by herself with four kids in the back AND got stuck in horrible traffic just to see us!! It should have only took her about 7.5 hours to get here, it took her 12. She is amazing and she's my best friend. My whole family got together including Chad, Justice & I, my big (he is bigger;) brother Keith, my sister-in-law Melissa and their kids Carter & Walker, and our Mom & Dad & my Dad's wife Easa. It was really nice to have everyone together. Seven kids all under the age of 14! I think we created some memories for them that will last their whole lives. Thank you Keith for putting it all together, it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't.
Justice is HOME for good now and we are so happy. He had a fantastic summer and loved every minute of camp and staying with his Nanny & Papa ( Chad's parents) but it is so nice to have him home. There are a couple more weeks before school starts so it will be nice to have the down time together before the craziness starts. We are planning on enjoying every minute!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Chemo is DONE! The final stretch....
Hey Everyone! Chad finished his last round of chemo on Friday!! WOO HOO The nurses sang him a song and had him ring a bell when he was done on Friday. It was pretty funny. He tried to get them not to do it haha. He goes on Monday to get a shot that boosts his white blood cell creation. This is normal, just a precaution to keep his body making enough. After that, he has a visit with the urologist just to make sure everything has healed the way it should from his original tumor removal surgery. He also has a follow up visit on Wednesday with the doctor that put in the blood clot Vena cava filter to see if they can remove that yet. He is not scheduled to see Dr. May (the oncologist) again until the first week in September. I assume they will run more tests at that time.
Chad's parent's & Justice came up Friday night and stayed the weekend. It was nice to have them all here. We had a good time just hanging out and doing whatever. We went out to eat and did a little exploring around Richmond. Chad's not feeling very good though, seems to be fighting a cold or something. He doesn't have a fever and isn't throwing up or anything so we are just keeping an eye on it. It's hard on him to not feel well, he tries to push himself for everyone else.
Justice went back to Lynchburg with Chad's parents for another week at camp. He just loves it! It makes us happy that he has had such a wonderful summer regardless of everything going on. Chad & I are both ready to have him home again for good though and to get our lives back on track. It was hard to say good bye to him today. We are both ready to move on from this and get back to normal. We know it won't be long now, but sometimes the last stretch of anything you have been working on and waiting for, is the hardest part...
Chad's parent's & Justice came up Friday night and stayed the weekend. It was nice to have them all here. We had a good time just hanging out and doing whatever. We went out to eat and did a little exploring around Richmond. Chad's not feeling very good though, seems to be fighting a cold or something. He doesn't have a fever and isn't throwing up or anything so we are just keeping an eye on it. It's hard on him to not feel well, he tries to push himself for everyone else.
Justice went back to Lynchburg with Chad's parents for another week at camp. He just loves it! It makes us happy that he has had such a wonderful summer regardless of everything going on. Chad & I are both ready to have him home again for good though and to get our lives back on track. It was hard to say good bye to him today. We are both ready to move on from this and get back to normal. We know it won't be long now, but sometimes the last stretch of anything you have been working on and waiting for, is the hardest part...
Monday, August 2, 2010
Reason to Celebrate!!
Hello everyone! Today is Monday August 2nd and I'm inviting you all to celebrate with us! Do a dance, jump up and down or have a drink in Chad's honor today!! Chad met with Dr. May today before his 4th and final round of chemo treatments started. Dr. May went over results from previous blood work that had been sent to a lab last month. Dr. May said that Chad's tumor markers have almost all returned to normal levels!! Tumor markers are found in the blood and are what doctors use to monitor the amount of active cancer cells in the body. We don't know what they all stand for and there are many but for example one of his tumor markers called HCG was 87 when he was diagnosed in April. The normal, cancer free range for this marker is between 0-3 and Chad's in now a 1!! Another example is the AFP marker, when he was diagnosed it was 2,389.7. The normal range for this one is any number less than 8.1. Chad's is currently 324.1. Look how far it's come down!! Dr. May said that this number is right on track and will continue to go down after this final round.
We learned today that the actual tumors in his lungs may take a long time to go away. Dr. May said he has seen them show up on scans for years after a patient is done with treatment. He said they don't go by the tumors themselves but rather the tumor markers in the blood to determine if there is active cancer in the body. Basically, the tumors themselves may be there a while but as long as the cancer cells are dead and not growing it doesn't matter.
So Chad Lovers please join me in a prayer to thank God for all he has done! For hearing our prayers and requests and for loving us all so much. To thank him for bringing Chad so far already and to pray for Chad's continued healing. Please pray for God's healing for all people that are dealing with illnesses or other life struggles. Thank you all so much for believing, praying and for never losing faith!
We learned today that the actual tumors in his lungs may take a long time to go away. Dr. May said he has seen them show up on scans for years after a patient is done with treatment. He said they don't go by the tumors themselves but rather the tumor markers in the blood to determine if there is active cancer in the body. Basically, the tumors themselves may be there a while but as long as the cancer cells are dead and not growing it doesn't matter.
So Chad Lovers please join me in a prayer to thank God for all he has done! For hearing our prayers and requests and for loving us all so much. To thank him for bringing Chad so far already and to pray for Chad's continued healing. Please pray for God's healing for all people that are dealing with illnesses or other life struggles. Thank you all so much for believing, praying and for never losing faith!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Love & Benefits
Hey Everyone, Today is Monday July 26th and things are going great! Chad had a doctor's appointment today and his blood work and everything was good. He is continuing to feel good and has been in good spirits. His feet and ankles have swollen up again and he's still very tired but nothing unbearable. His last round of chemo starts Monday. Dr. May hasn't told us what the next step after that is yet, but we assume they will scan him again and run tests to make sure the cancer is all gone. We still have unwaivering faith in God's love that it will be!
Friday night some amazing people came together for a benefit to support Chad. It was at Bogart's, a restaurant/bar here in Richmond. The owner, Nick was very generous to host the benefit. Many local artists came out to perform and support and so many friends and even people we didn't know were there! They raised a lot of money and we could never thank everyone involved enough. A special thanks to Kim James & Brian Crawford for making it happen. It was really, really wonderful. Chad & I were able to make it for an hour or so and we are both so glad we did. Chad was happy to be out and to see everyone, I know it meant the world to him just to feel all that love and positive energy. That means more to him than any amount of money ever could and I believe it was therapeutic for him. Thanks again everyone. WE LOVE YOU!
Friday night some amazing people came together for a benefit to support Chad. It was at Bogart's, a restaurant/bar here in Richmond. The owner, Nick was very generous to host the benefit. Many local artists came out to perform and support and so many friends and even people we didn't know were there! They raised a lot of money and we could never thank everyone involved enough. A special thanks to Kim James & Brian Crawford for making it happen. It was really, really wonderful. Chad & I were able to make it for an hour or so and we are both so glad we did. Chad was happy to be out and to see everyone, I know it meant the world to him just to feel all that love and positive energy. That means more to him than any amount of money ever could and I believe it was therapeutic for him. Thanks again everyone. WE LOVE YOU!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Tired of Being Tired
Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a great weekend even though we didn't do too much. Justice got to catch up with a friend that had moved to Florida a while back and was in town visiting on Friday. They went to laser tag and had a sleep over so he really had a good time. Saturday we just kind of hung out since it was too hot to be outside too long. We took Justice to see his first R rated movie - Predators - Saturday night!! He was so excited and really liked it. We had a great time. Sunday we drove out to a flea market in Mechanicsville and took two of Justice's friends with us. We didn't stay long since the heat really takes it out of Chad (and us too) but it was nice to take a ride and look around. Chad found some records there and was excited about that.
Chad had a check up yesterday and it went well. His blood counts all looked good. They took him off the blood thinner for a few days because his blood had gotten too thin. They will start him back on a lower dosage on Friday. He has been very, very tired this week. Feeling weak and his body is just worn out. He fell asleep eating dinner the other night! Poor guy. The doctor said it's normal to feel tired from the chemo and I'm no doctor but I think part of it is also his blood being too thin. Makes sense, right? They have told us that the chemo will build up in his system so the more he gets, the worse the side effects will become. Luckily, his main side effect has been being tired. It could be much worse and we know that, we are grateful he hasn't had any nausea, no more mouth sores, he's had a good appetite and hasn't lost weight, all the swelling in his ankles and feet went away, etc. Overall, he's been blessed.
Being tired all the time is still hard on him though and he seems kind of down this week. His mind wants to do lots of things but his body is just not having it. He wants to do fun things with Justice while he's here and I think that's the hardest part. It's frustrating and who can blame him. I am hoping that it might get a little better while he's off the blood thinners for a few days.
Chad had a check up yesterday and it went well. His blood counts all looked good. They took him off the blood thinner for a few days because his blood had gotten too thin. They will start him back on a lower dosage on Friday. He has been very, very tired this week. Feeling weak and his body is just worn out. He fell asleep eating dinner the other night! Poor guy. The doctor said it's normal to feel tired from the chemo and I'm no doctor but I think part of it is also his blood being too thin. Makes sense, right? They have told us that the chemo will build up in his system so the more he gets, the worse the side effects will become. Luckily, his main side effect has been being tired. It could be much worse and we know that, we are grateful he hasn't had any nausea, no more mouth sores, he's had a good appetite and hasn't lost weight, all the swelling in his ankles and feet went away, etc. Overall, he's been blessed.
Being tired all the time is still hard on him though and he seems kind of down this week. His mind wants to do lots of things but his body is just not having it. He wants to do fun things with Justice while he's here and I think that's the hardest part. It's frustrating and who can blame him. I am hoping that it might get a little better while he's off the blood thinners for a few days.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Just a quick one
Hey Everyone! Just a quick update to say that Chad is doing great. He has been tired but other than that, he's feeling good. He still has his appetite and has been eating well so that's another plus. He hasn't lost any weight so far and we are happy about that. Justice came home last night and we are loving it. He had been in Lynchburg for what seemed like forever and we really missed having him with us. Chad and Justice stayed up late last night playing the Xbox 360 and watching TV. I tried to hang with the guys for a while but was first to fall asleep as usual ;) It was nice to fall asleep to the sounds of my two favorite guys having fun though. We are all looking forward to just spending the weekend with each other and relaxing. We hope everyone has a great weekend too!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
How cancer changes things
Cancer changes lots of things, in fact it changes everything. Our lives have been turned upside down in just a matter of a couple of months. Everything we did, everything we thought, absolutely everything about us has been touched in some way by cancer. Our lives have been changed in some very negative ways that I am sure you all can imagine. What I want to talk about though is the positive ways cancer has changed us...
We have been closer to each other and God and family and friends than we ever have before. We have reconnected with people from our pasts that we may never have if it wasn't for cancer. We have met amazing people that we may never have met. We have slowed down and enjoyed the simple things in life. We tell people that we love that we love them all the time. We don't sweat the small stuff and go with the flow. We have learned that people are genuinely good and caring. We've been nicer to strangers even when they are not nice to us and stop and think about what they might be dealing with in their lives that we can't see. We have taken lots of naps. We've put more pictures that make us happy in frames around the house. We've reevaluated our future and goals. We've talked for hours about nothing and everything. We've enjoyed the moment. We hold each other tight like we may never see each other again. We've been more forgiving. We try harder to remember that things could always be worse. We want to help others and "pay it forward." We read the bible and pray on a regular basis. We are more grateful for the things we have. We express our emotions without fear. We feel full and loved and happy. Chad having cancer has certainly been life altering for us and I pray for everyone we know to never have to be touched personally by the negatives of cancer in order to be moved by the positives.
We have been closer to each other and God and family and friends than we ever have before. We have reconnected with people from our pasts that we may never have if it wasn't for cancer. We have met amazing people that we may never have met. We have slowed down and enjoyed the simple things in life. We tell people that we love that we love them all the time. We don't sweat the small stuff and go with the flow. We have learned that people are genuinely good and caring. We've been nicer to strangers even when they are not nice to us and stop and think about what they might be dealing with in their lives that we can't see. We have taken lots of naps. We've put more pictures that make us happy in frames around the house. We've reevaluated our future and goals. We've talked for hours about nothing and everything. We've enjoyed the moment. We hold each other tight like we may never see each other again. We've been more forgiving. We try harder to remember that things could always be worse. We want to help others and "pay it forward." We read the bible and pray on a regular basis. We are more grateful for the things we have. We express our emotions without fear. We feel full and loved and happy. Chad having cancer has certainly been life altering for us and I pray for everyone we know to never have to be touched personally by the negatives of cancer in order to be moved by the positives.
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