Long over due update

Hello Everyone, Today is Tuesday September 28, 2010 and we have some catching up to do. Chad's been doing really well the last few weeks. Other than the Vena Cava filter not coming out when they tried a few weeks ago. Things had been quiet. They decided to leave the filter in and say that it will be just fine to do so. It can stay in there indefinitely. They never could say exactly why they couldn't get it out.

Last week Chad had a follow up MRI done on his brain. Unfortunately, we did not get good news. The MRI showed 5 or 6 new cancer spots. I know, the news took our breath away too.

Chad is actually in the head hallo again as we speak and will be getting Gamma Knife surgery any time now. I am not sure if I have mentioned what Gamma Knife surgery is in the past so I apologize if I am repeating myself. Basically, it is pin head precise radiation, kind of like laser radiation. Without this technology, the alternative would be whole brain radiation which can cause damage to the healthy brain tissue. They said they would consider doing that if Chad were an older patient but that since he is so young, it is best to do the Gamma Knife again.

Things are going smoothly so far today, we came to the hospital at 6:30am this morning and it is about 10am now. The plan is that he will go home this evening. The first time he had Gamma Knife back in June was a horrible experience because Chad's anesthesia wore off too early. The doctors and nurses seem to be doing everything they can this time to make sure he has a better experience. He is pretty out of it right now and we are all watching him closely to make sure he stays that way until they have finished. Chad's Mom is here with us and Justice is at school right now. Justice is handling everything really well and is always good at making us smile and laugh. He always tells Chad, don't worry Dad, you'll be okay!

We meet with Doctor May again next week. We don't have answers to a lot of questions but that's ok for now. We trust Doctor May & Dr. Sahni fully and even more importantly we trust the Lord. Sometimes there are never enough answers to the questions we have as humans. Sometimes, we just have to fully put our faith & trust in God and let him take care of us. This is our choice and it brings us peace.

positive thoughts

Chad had surgery on Monday to remove the vena cava filter. It didn't go as planned. Unfortunately, after two painful and awake hours of them trying they could not get it out. It was supposed to be a fairly quick & easy procedure so he was only under light local anesthesia but for some reason the doctor couldn't get a crib on the filter. The doctor said he thought there might be a blood clot in it that was blocking the little hook at the top of it he was trying to latch on to. I am not so sure if I believe that was the case since when they did the ultrasound a week earlier it was clear of clots. My personal opinion is that the doctor just couldn't get it but who really knows . We don't know what this means exactly yet. We have to wait until he sees Dr. May on the 14th to hear what his plan is. Will they try again, will they leave it in, what are the risks of both, etc. For now, they have him on both the blood thinner shot and the pill. We assume this is an extra precaution in case there was a clot in it. He has been feeling up and down since the surgery, good days and bad. I believe we are seeing small but steady improvements, he is getting stronger and less tired little by little.
Everyday we have the choice of focusing on the positives, or dwelling on the negatives. Some days are harder than others to go with the positive choice. Thank God for our faith and our love for each other and our family because without those positives, we would be lost. We know in our hearts that God is doing his thing and Chad will be feeling better than ever very soon.

filer removal & shots

Hi Everybody! Today is Sunday August 29th. Chad is scheduled to have out patient surgery tomorrow to have the vena cava filter removed. The good news is that he doesn't need it anymore! When they did an ultrasound to see it last week there were no blood clots in it. They will not put him completely to sleep to remove it but he will be pretty out of it.
In order to have the filter removed he had to go off the pill form of blood thinner for 5 days before the surgery and in it's place get shots of blood thinner in his stomach. In order for it not to be in his system during surgery and possibly make him bleed too much he had to go off the pill form. Apparently, the pill stays in your system for days after you stop taking it while the shot does not. So I have been giving him the shots the last few days. Not fun. Let's just say I am no nurse! Chad has purple bruises on his stomach from my lack of shot giving skills. Poor guy.
We think the shots must be whats causing him to not feel well too. He has been even more tired than he has been, he's had an upset stomach, a runny nose, mild headaches and his ankles are swollen so bad they hurt again. We looked it up online last night and all of these symptoms are listed as possible side effects of the shot. He will have to take the shot for another 5 days after surgery before going back on the pill form. We are not sure exactly how long he will have to be on some form of blood thinner. Doctor May hasn't said...

So it's been a while...

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!

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...

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!

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!