Hey whats up!
I have gotten several messages recently from friends asking me how I am doing, and its been forever since I updated my blog-so here I am! I just completed my 20th round of chemotherapy last Friday. It's hard to believe that its been nearly a year and a half worth of treatment, and 20 cycles worth. Certainly feels like a heavyweight bout. I should have more of a medical update for everybody here in the next week or so, as I am having a scan done in between the 20th and 21st rounds. My doctor in Houston has been on Medical leave, and doesn't return until July. Its been about 12 weeks since my last scan. As has been the case during this process, I will be praying for continued shrinkage of existing tumors, and no growth or spread to any other portion of the body. I have done 12 cycles of a particular chemo mix, and I'm not sure how much longer I will be on that dose/mix. This has been a really good chemo dose for me, as my energy level isn't tremendously low, side effects have been minimal, and its been great having all of my hair. We want to keep the tumors guessing, so a new dose may be in store. We will see.
May was a good month. A ton of family activities....Martha turned 28, Elizabeth turned 30, my Nephew Henry turned 2, Elizabeth and Tyler's wedding anniversary, we remembered both my grandmother and Tyler's father, and of course mothers day....It seemed liked every weekend we had a party going on. I will post pictures later tonight from those events. I also have enjoyed riding my bike. I bought a bike a couple of months ago and have been riding it a ton, trying to shed some lbs that I have picked up from all the good food, and the steroids that I am taking. Yes its true I am on steroids!! If only I looked liked Fabio and not Flabio! haha.....Anyways, I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of summer. Thank you as always to everybody who keeps sending me messages, cards, emails, texts, etc. The support from friends and family remains so strong, it truly has been amazing.
Andrew
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
birthday boy on sunday!
andrew's nephew and niece are here to remind you that andrew turns 32 this coming sunday april 11. don't forget to wish him a wonderful birthday!
happy friday!
Monday, March 15, 2010
March Madness
Since the last time I've blogged I have been to Houston to get the latest PET scan results and also done (1) ten day round of Chemo. I start another Round next Monday. The results from my last scan were again very good. I am so thankful for the great progress. I didn't have any spread or growth of the existing tumors, and even had some very small shrinkage of the tumors in the abdomen wall. My doctor in Houston has been very encouraged at the success of the chemo treatment plan thus far. I will go visit Houston and have another Scan and checkup in Mid April. Dr. Araujo is actually going on a 90 day leave in late April as she is having her Second Child. I will just have one appointment in Houston while she is on leave in Mid June. Dr. Milder and his Seattle team of Nurses/Staff continue to be excellent. I really enjoy doing my treatment at the Swedish Facility. I completed another round last Friday at Swedish, it went really well. No Hiccups to speak of, just get tired from the chemo, but zero side effects. I had a really cool family trip two weekends ago for my Brother in Law Tyler's 30th birthday. I had a great time with all my sisters! I love this time of year, as many of you know I am a big college hoops fan so I have been enjoying all of the numerous games that have been on. I'm crossing my fingers for my beloved Huskies in the First Round of the tourney. Also rooting for the Mizzou Tigers for all my Missouri buddies.....I'm happy to report quality progress. I still have a long road ahead of me, but it's been a blessing so far!
Andrew
Andrew
Friday, February 12, 2010
Results Delay and Magic
Hey,
I actually won't have any results to share until next week. I had to delay my trip a few days down to Houston. I will update the Blog as soon as I get some news (probably Tuesday).....On another note, I did try Acupuncture this week for the first time. I had a really good experience with it, so I have scheduled several more sessions. I got referred by my Aunt to a really cool dude(Eric Hartmann).....Its a little bit like Yoga for me though, I kind of laugh when they are doing some of the exercises like its hocus pocus or magic or something but all in all it was really cool and I left feeling good, more relaxed and "centered" ha ha.....Have a good weekend.
Andrew
I actually won't have any results to share until next week. I had to delay my trip a few days down to Houston. I will update the Blog as soon as I get some news (probably Tuesday).....On another note, I did try Acupuncture this week for the first time. I had a really good experience with it, so I have scheduled several more sessions. I got referred by my Aunt to a really cool dude(Eric Hartmann).....Its a little bit like Yoga for me though, I kind of laugh when they are doing some of the exercises like its hocus pocus or magic or something but all in all it was really cool and I left feeling good, more relaxed and "centered" ha ha.....Have a good weekend.
Andrew
Friday, February 5, 2010
14 rounds, doing my hair, and spring around the corner
Whats up!
I'm like the lamest blogger ever, one month between updates isn't acceptable, sorry y'all! I completed my 14th round of chemo last Friday. WOW I can't believe its been that long already. No real issues to report, just some mild stomach issues and tiredness from the chemo days. I am heading to Houston next week (wed and thu) for a scan and meeting with my Doctor. Please stay in continued prayer for positive results. Thanks to everyone who has been so great to me during this process, I feel so much love and support from so many different people, and the love has flowed from all around.
So I have to admit its really cool getting to put my gel and hair products in my hair (shot out to Kev, no LA LOOKS for me anymore, just the good stuff! ha).....My hair has continued to grow on the top of my head, face, etc. For those that know me well, know that I love getting haircuts at the barber, and having a "do" to go out with...So even if its for a short period I am really thankful to have hair right now! I do however have every girl/woman's dream, NO HAIR grows on my legs! Kinda weird but its an easy trade-off for the mop on top.
A few things that I have enjoyed as the new year has started......re-uniting with old friends, spending a lot of time with my family and really good friends, spending time with Riley and Henry (niece, nephew,)going to a ton of movies, going to husky hoops games, checking out live music in Seattle at several places, cool social events, eating good food as always, watching football playoffs with the buds, re-connecting into church, enjoying hanging with the singles crew and the married with kids crew, planning what I am going to do this year with my life, and just overall a great start to the new year.
I'm ready for my favorite time of year, SPRING! Talk to everyone soon, I promise an update next week from Houston with the latest scan results.
Andrew
I'm like the lamest blogger ever, one month between updates isn't acceptable, sorry y'all! I completed my 14th round of chemo last Friday. WOW I can't believe its been that long already. No real issues to report, just some mild stomach issues and tiredness from the chemo days. I am heading to Houston next week (wed and thu) for a scan and meeting with my Doctor. Please stay in continued prayer for positive results. Thanks to everyone who has been so great to me during this process, I feel so much love and support from so many different people, and the love has flowed from all around.
So I have to admit its really cool getting to put my gel and hair products in my hair (shot out to Kev, no LA LOOKS for me anymore, just the good stuff! ha).....My hair has continued to grow on the top of my head, face, etc. For those that know me well, know that I love getting haircuts at the barber, and having a "do" to go out with...So even if its for a short period I am really thankful to have hair right now! I do however have every girl/woman's dream, NO HAIR grows on my legs! Kinda weird but its an easy trade-off for the mop on top.
A few things that I have enjoyed as the new year has started......re-uniting with old friends, spending a lot of time with my family and really good friends, spending time with Riley and Henry (niece, nephew,)going to a ton of movies, going to husky hoops games, checking out live music in Seattle at several places, cool social events, eating good food as always, watching football playoffs with the buds, re-connecting into church, enjoying hanging with the singles crew and the married with kids crew, planning what I am going to do this year with my life, and just overall a great start to the new year.
I'm ready for my favorite time of year, SPRING! Talk to everyone soon, I promise an update next week from Houston with the latest scan results.
Andrew
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year
I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday!
It was just a year ago at this time that we learned of Andrews diagnosis and were in the midst of the worst nightmare possible. At the time it felt impossible to put one foot in front of the other, but we have learned that with lots of prayer, love and amazing people we have been able to survive. And not just survive, but experience tremendous joy and a new depth of love and faith. I want to thank everyone who gave us a tremendous amount of support in 2009. It has been remarkable and we could not have done it with out you. We look forward to continued positive results for Andrew.
Cheers to a new year, a fresh start and a lot of living life to the fullest.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Test Results 12/17/09
Friends,
I returned back to Seattle late Thursday evening from Houston (MD Anderson) after meeting with Dr. Araujo on Thurs AM to review my test results, and talk about the treatment plan for 2010. Not much change in the tumor shrinkage department to report. From reading the scans she couldn't see any change in the tumor size from my last scan. Not all bad news though. We have no spread or new growth which is great, and she feels really good about my continued ability to handle the chemo along with what she labeled as "control of the disease." My brother in law Tyler, has been to Houston twice with me during this process, and he is always really good at asking the tougher questions (Thanks BIG T!) for me. We wanted to get a better idea on how long we should expect to do the chemotherapy treatment(s). Things can always change, as this is an aggressive form of cancer, but for now I want to let everyone know that I will be doing the chemotherapy "until otherwise something changes." The particular type of tumor that I have doesn't respond well to "not" having chemotherapy blast away at it. Other people who may be in the same spot as I am with other types of cancer-as far as having their cancer under control might be able to get off the therapy and move on, I cannot do that right now as we really want to get more time under our belts of having the tumors (a)not grow or spread (b) continue to shrink/disappear. For now I am staying on the current chemo drugs that I have been taking, but may switch the chemo types during the year depending on our continued level of progress.
So: Is it disappointing to know that I have to do chemo for what may seem like a long time (years?) YES! But I'm also encouraged with my progress considering where I began last year. Also, I got the chance to spend some time with other cancer patients this trip in what I told everybody in the room at the time felt like "A scene out of the old TV show MASH" Sick people laying everywhere looking like we all had maybe walked through a minefield with IV's, bandages and blood access lines on everyone of us.....(I was happy with the big laugh I invoked from the crowd at 10 o'clock PM at a cancer hospital from people who I'm sure could always claim to not be in the mood...haha.) There were several younger gentlemen that had reached stage 4 cancers, they talked about their numerous years in chemo, radiation, stem cell transplants (3-5 years of chemo) and were subsequently bragging to the rest of us about their remission status. So, although I thought the bragging was a little much, I did take a quiet mental note on what they had achieved, and realized to myself that this is a bigger picture haul then just being cured in one year of chemo-but certainly achievable with the right focus and faith........As always the continued prayers are such a blessing from all of you. Chemotherapy begins again Monday, and this round (round 13) will end on January 1st.....
Anyways that's my update for now, I get to hang out with my Niece Riley all weekend so I am excited. Little kids bring out a ton of Joy in all of us, so its off to the aquarium!
Andrew
I returned back to Seattle late Thursday evening from Houston (MD Anderson) after meeting with Dr. Araujo on Thurs AM to review my test results, and talk about the treatment plan for 2010. Not much change in the tumor shrinkage department to report. From reading the scans she couldn't see any change in the tumor size from my last scan. Not all bad news though. We have no spread or new growth which is great, and she feels really good about my continued ability to handle the chemo along with what she labeled as "control of the disease." My brother in law Tyler, has been to Houston twice with me during this process, and he is always really good at asking the tougher questions (Thanks BIG T!) for me. We wanted to get a better idea on how long we should expect to do the chemotherapy treatment(s). Things can always change, as this is an aggressive form of cancer, but for now I want to let everyone know that I will be doing the chemotherapy "until otherwise something changes." The particular type of tumor that I have doesn't respond well to "not" having chemotherapy blast away at it. Other people who may be in the same spot as I am with other types of cancer-as far as having their cancer under control might be able to get off the therapy and move on, I cannot do that right now as we really want to get more time under our belts of having the tumors (a)not grow or spread (b) continue to shrink/disappear. For now I am staying on the current chemo drugs that I have been taking, but may switch the chemo types during the year depending on our continued level of progress.
So: Is it disappointing to know that I have to do chemo for what may seem like a long time (years?) YES! But I'm also encouraged with my progress considering where I began last year. Also, I got the chance to spend some time with other cancer patients this trip in what I told everybody in the room at the time felt like "A scene out of the old TV show MASH" Sick people laying everywhere looking like we all had maybe walked through a minefield with IV's, bandages and blood access lines on everyone of us.....(I was happy with the big laugh I invoked from the crowd at 10 o'clock PM at a cancer hospital from people who I'm sure could always claim to not be in the mood...haha.) There were several younger gentlemen that had reached stage 4 cancers, they talked about their numerous years in chemo, radiation, stem cell transplants (3-5 years of chemo) and were subsequently bragging to the rest of us about their remission status. So, although I thought the bragging was a little much, I did take a quiet mental note on what they had achieved, and realized to myself that this is a bigger picture haul then just being cured in one year of chemo-but certainly achievable with the right focus and faith........As always the continued prayers are such a blessing from all of you. Chemotherapy begins again Monday, and this round (round 13) will end on January 1st.....
Anyways that's my update for now, I get to hang out with my Niece Riley all weekend so I am excited. Little kids bring out a ton of Joy in all of us, so its off to the aquarium!
Andrew
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