First day in Canada

Ryan Hueter, of The Daily, wrote a great article about the MVP 5k race that was published today. Click here to read it or find it in The Daily of the University of Washington. Thank you for the nice article!

Andrew arrived in BC last night and completed his first two treatments today (oxygen therapy & hyperthermia therapy) at the health clinic. I'm waiting to hear how it all went, but I did receive an awesome picture of Andrew receiving his oxygen therapy. He looked like a spaceman with a helmet-like contraption and hoses hooked up to it. I know, not very medical sounding, but I'm only receiving second-hand information so I will try to get some more technical information and post when I can!

I found a nice cottage for Andrew to stay in that is just a few minutes away from the clinic. He is very pleased with the accommodations so far. It is peaceful and in a quiet neighborhood. The owner, who lives next door, is a professional gardener so the garden space is gorgeous. It is serene and peaceful and just the place for Andrew.

Video from Saturday

Take a few minutes to watch this great video that our friend Mr. Kiang took on Saturday. It really shows how awesome the turnout was on Saturday. Thank you for this footage, we love it! And by the way, did you know that the overall winner of the race, Jim Savage, is our cousin? How cool is that? I think his time was around 15 minutes. Wow! Way to go Jimmy! A special thanks to that side of the family who came all the way from across the sound in Hansville, WA to be there. I'm sure that was a very early morning in order t0 catch the ferry. And of course thank you to everyone else who was there and made the effort. We even had a bride (got married at 5:30 that night!) and most of her wedding party in attendance. Talk about support!

Andrew was feeling pretty good all day but has been very uncomfortable and in pain this evening. The fluid build-up in his legs, feet and abdomen cause pain and he often will feel dizzy, bloated and lots of pressure. He was able to drain off some fluid yesterday by himself, so that brought some relief. Andrew is scheduled to start treatment at the Integrated Health Clinic in Fort Langley, BC on Wednesday. He will leave tomorrow to head up there. Click here to read more about the clinic. He is slated to receive treatment for 4 weeks, but we will take it 1 day at a time and see how he feels. We found accommodations for him just a few minutes from the clinic in Fort Langley.

I will continue to keep you posted!

Success!

We had an amazing turnout this morning at the 5k. Thank you to everyone who came out to run and walk. We can't express enough how grateful we are for each and every one of you. We truly are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our life. I will post a few pictures once I'm back home and on my computer. I wasn't able to take too many pictures...so if you have a picture from this morning, please email it to ekdenton@gmail.com. We would love to see all your pictures! I also hope to get a few of the facts and share those with you...how many attended and how much we raised.

Andrew had a rough night & morning, so we are thrilled that he was able to attend. He enjoyed seeing all of you and hopefully you got a chance to say hello to him. He's spent the remainder of the day resting and watching football. Poor Huskies!

Thank you again.

5k Walk/Run Tomorrow!

We just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is taking the time to come out tomorrow and support Andrew. We are so excited for the event and to see all your smiling faces! We apologize for the confusion on the website the last few days about registering for the race. If you have not signed up yet, don't worry, you can still register! Just show up tomorrow morning before the race starts and you can register. Registration opens at 8:30am. The start and finish line will be near the basketball courts and Evans Pool.

Click here to read Andrew's article on the Ron & Don show on 97.3 KIRO FM. You can hear the audio clip by clicking here.

Catheter Procedure

I wanted to let everyone know that Andrew's catheter surgery went well today. It was very quick and painless and Andrew was home by 5:30 tonight. We all have to learn in the next few days how to help him drain it, so hopefully this will bring him some more relief. He is fairly sore from the procedure and continues to be in pain and cramping.

Andrew hopes to be able to attend the race on Saturday. If he is there he looks forward to saying hello to everyone he can. If you don't get a chance to say hi to Andrew, please know he is so thankful for your support. You may have to get through the Moritz sister body guards to get to him!!!

Update on Andrew

Just three more days until the MVP Challenge 5k run/walk on Saturday at Greenlake. Your last chance to register between now and then is Saturday morning starting at 8:30am at the race. Race starts at 10!

We had a second phone consultation yesterday with the doctor from the health clinic in British Columbia. He reviewed Andrew's scans again and spoke with him about the current state of his ascites. He emphasized that his treatment is not curative but rather palliative care. Since they are an out patient clinic the doctor requires Andrew to have a self draining catheter in place so the fluid can be drained off on a daily basis. In Andrew's true fighting and persistent spirit he wants to keep going and keep trying. Andrew met with Dr. Milder today at Swedish and is scheduled to have the procedure tomorrow to have the catheter installed.

Andrew continues to be uncomfortable and in pain so Dr. Milder upped his pain pills today. Hopefully this new dosage will bring Andrew some relief. We also got him compression socks and have him elevate his feet whenever possible and this helps tremendously to reduce the swelling in his legs and feet.

Because of the wonderful person that Andrew is, and the amount of people that love him, he receives multiple emails, phone calls and texts each day. This has proved to be a bit overwhelming for him, so if he does not return your message, please know that he loves you and appreciates your care and concern. Please check here for updates or contact one of us Moritz sisters and we will give you an update if you have not heard back from Andrew. Thank you for understanding.

For all of our Missouri friends and family, go Cardinals!

Dance for Andrew Salsa & Cha Cha Class

Stacey Switzer, Andrew's friend from St. Louis, is offering a salsa and cha cha class to help raise money for Andrew. She did a dance class for Andrew a while back, and has decided to host another one. Stacey, you are so kind and generous! If you live in the St. Louis, MO area please check out the details below!

What: Dance for Andrew Salsa & Cha Cha Class

Where: Simply Ballroom

1244 Hanley Industrial Court

Brentwood, MO 63144

When: Sunday October 30th at 2pm (start arriving at 1:45, class is 1 hour long)

Cost: Minimum $15 donation (no credit cards, cash or checks only)

Bring: You will either have to dance in socks or use a pair of rental ballroom shoes that will be provided to you. No need to bring a partner!

RSVP: Email Stacey Switzer at switzer721@hotmail.com

If you have any questions regarding this class please email Stacey at switzer721@hotmail.com or myself at ekdenton@gmail.com

Thank you!

Seattle Times Article 10/14/11

Today in the Seattle Times Steve Kelley wrote an article about Andrew. Please take the time to read it. You can read it by clicking here or by purchasing the Times and finding it in the Sports section. Thank you to Steve Kelley for publishing this article!

We are just one week away from the race, please sign up today if you haven't already!

Andrew continues to be in pain and continues to fill with fluid. Our mother and Andrew met with the sarcoma specialist from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance this week. He was a fantastic doctor but told Andrew that he did not qualify for the Fred Hutch trial due to Andrew's liver failure. That was really hard to hear. The doctor mentioned one other chemo drug that is normally given to adolescents and comes with a great risk. The side affects were too great and Andrew declined. At this point we are left with the treatment facility in BC. We hope to have Andrew there next week.

Happy Friday and look forward to seeing everyone next Saturday at Greenlake!

5K Run/Walk

Don't forget to sign up for the 5K run or walk coming up in less than 2 weeks at Greenlake in Seattle. Click here to register. Or, if you live out of town or can't make the event, you can donate to the cause via paypal on the sidebar of the blog. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Please continue to pray for and think about Andrew. His body continues to fill with fluid and this causes an extreme amount of pain and discomfort. He got another tap yesterday and this brought some relief but is beginning to fill back up again with fluid. He will probably get drained again in a few days. Please pray that Andrew can get comfortable enough to sleep.

We have a few appointments scheduled for tomorrow, so we will let you know how those go and if they help us decide on a different direction.

Thank you for taking the time to read. Send lots of love in Andrew's direction.

Report from MD Anderson

Hello Friends!

I wanted to share with you the report we received last week from MD Anderson. Andrew's doctor decided that she would not administer any more chemo to Andrew. She feels that it would shorten his life and she is not willing to do that. The tumor in Andrew's liver has overtaken his liver and is causing his liver to fail. He has a condition called ascites which means his liver is leaking fluid. This fluid builds up and causes Andrew to be extremely uncomfortable. He has had it drained several times now and each time they drain out at least 10 pounds of fluid. Dr. Araujo decided the next step for Andrew is hospice.

This has obviously been extremely hard to hear and we as a family have spent the last week processing through all this information. We have decided to not contact hospice and instead we are seeking alternative treatment for Andrew. Andrew is still very much alive and his spirit and mind are telling him to fight. So we are listening! And we are fighting with him. Will you join us?

Today Andrew met with a naturopathic doctor in Bellevue. She was very helpful and prescribed Andrew lots of supplements to start with. She said she can not cure him, but she can help to lengthen his life. She developed a treatment plan for him...(but I don't have all the information, so not exactly sure what it is!) We also have a phone consultation scheduled for Andrew next Tuesday with a health clinic in British Columbia. So we are feeling hopeful about a few of the options we have going right now. We will definitely keep you all posted as we move forward.

And don't forget to sign up for the run/walk at Greenlake in just a few short weeks! We would love to see all of you there.

Thanks for all the love.