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
Friday, February 12, 2010
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
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
I can't believe its December!
Hello Everyone,
I wanted to shoot a quick update out on the blog. I have finished 4 full rounds of my second dosage level of chemotherapy. I am headed to Houston on Wed AM with my brother in-law Tyler, for a series of tests, and a meeting with my primary doctor on Thursday morning. Hopefully I will be on here on Thursday evening with some more great news. This has been a tough year to say the least, and I am looking forward to a great 2010! So far so good on how I am handling this current dosage, it consists of 10 days of chemo in a row, with 9 days off in-between. The major side-effect is usually a bad case of "the runs." I have been fortunate to not experience that yet, nor any issues with nausea, mouth sores, or weight loss (I think I'm the only cancer patient in the world to gain 20 pounds during this process, hahaha.) I'm trying to get up enough guts to ask the doctor "how long do I have to do chemo for?" but I'm not quite there yet! I think I can at least get comfortable with asking "what can I expect in 2010 as far as chemo treatments?" Its easy to be scared sometimes knowing the full truth and wondering how that would effect your long term outlook on the whole situation, but I'm at least ready to ask the sort-of truth for the near future, haha.
We are now at almost a full year from diagnosis, and 11 months of treatment. I have some big decisions to make over the next few weeks with respect to job, living situation, etc. Please keep me in your thoughts as I try and make some of these tough life decisions. The support continues to be tremendous, as I continue to hear from so many people both from my past, and current life on a daily basis. Its cool to see how many people reach out to you in tough times like this. I hope to have great news on progress, as well as a better idea of the total plan for treatment for 2010 the next time I post later this week. Again, I have tests Wed. of this week, and meet with the doctor THU. AM. Please root for great news! All of your prayers have continued to be such a blessing!
Thanks Everybody!
Andrew
I wanted to shoot a quick update out on the blog. I have finished 4 full rounds of my second dosage level of chemotherapy. I am headed to Houston on Wed AM with my brother in-law Tyler, for a series of tests, and a meeting with my primary doctor on Thursday morning. Hopefully I will be on here on Thursday evening with some more great news. This has been a tough year to say the least, and I am looking forward to a great 2010! So far so good on how I am handling this current dosage, it consists of 10 days of chemo in a row, with 9 days off in-between. The major side-effect is usually a bad case of "the runs." I have been fortunate to not experience that yet, nor any issues with nausea, mouth sores, or weight loss (I think I'm the only cancer patient in the world to gain 20 pounds during this process, hahaha.) I'm trying to get up enough guts to ask the doctor "how long do I have to do chemo for?" but I'm not quite there yet! I think I can at least get comfortable with asking "what can I expect in 2010 as far as chemo treatments?" Its easy to be scared sometimes knowing the full truth and wondering how that would effect your long term outlook on the whole situation, but I'm at least ready to ask the sort-of truth for the near future, haha.
We are now at almost a full year from diagnosis, and 11 months of treatment. I have some big decisions to make over the next few weeks with respect to job, living situation, etc. Please keep me in your thoughts as I try and make some of these tough life decisions. The support continues to be tremendous, as I continue to hear from so many people both from my past, and current life on a daily basis. Its cool to see how many people reach out to you in tough times like this. I hope to have great news on progress, as well as a better idea of the total plan for treatment for 2010 the next time I post later this week. Again, I have tests Wed. of this week, and meet with the doctor THU. AM. Please root for great news! All of your prayers have continued to be such a blessing!
Thanks Everybody!
Andrew
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
We wanted to wish everyone a happy and wonderful thanksgiving. Andrew is spending the holiday receiving chemo in the morning and then hanging with family the rest of the day. Andrews blood counts were finally up this past Monday, so he was able to start his 10 day chemo cycle. Andrew has minor physical complaints right now, for this we are very thankful!
Enjoy the holiday...we have MUCH to be thankful for.
The Moritz Tribe
Enjoy the holiday...we have MUCH to be thankful for.
The Moritz Tribe
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Latest Update
I realized we never posted the results from Andrew's visit to Houston a few weeks back. His scans and tests revealed more great news. His tumors continue to shrink or remain stable. We were thrilled to hear this. Andrew will stay on the same chemo schedule at Swedish Hospital in Seattle - 10 days on and 10 days off - until he goes back to Houston on December 17.
Please continue to pray that Andrews whole body is healed. We are coming up next month on the 1-year mark of being diagnosed. This has been a long haul! Although Andrews physical body has continued to provide miracle after miracle - - it can be a very weary process.
We love you all and thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers and support!
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