Thinking About My Mom

Hi,

I wanted to check in this morning and do a short update in regards to my mother. About 4+ weeks ago my family learned that my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Certainly shocking news for a family that has gone thru a lot with cancer over the past couple of years. This week she underwent successful surgery at Swedish hospital to remove both tumors from her left side. She did great during the whole surgical process and is home recovering now. We are expecting complete recovery and a cancer free body after this process. I wanted to thank several groups who have been instrumental in helping our family during this time. First off to my four sisters, you have all been so great the last couple of weeks with everything you have done to help mom thru this and make this as easy as possible for her. Also to the groups of people at Emmanuel Bible Church, Wedgewood Swim Pool, Washington Middle School, and the numerous other family and close friends who have brought food, flowers, cards, messages to lighten the load, and make for a smooth recovery--Our family appreciates you with all of our heart. Please keep my mother in your prayers as she continues to be on the mend from surgery, and back to normal life!

Have a great Weekend,

Andrew

Chemotherapy Week this week--#33

Greetings,

I'm mid week now in my current treatment. I cannot believe it's been 33 rounds so far, and nearing 2.5 years! As I have said in some previous posts regarding my current treatment plan I stay overnight in the hospital for 6 days so that can be a bit of a grind. I've gotten used to it though, and the staff and facilities are great here (Swedish hospital.) I am on day 3 so far, and it's gone a lot better this round then last with regards to how I am feeling. I have made an effort to eat better and be more active the last month or so and I think it's really paying off when I do the chemo treatments. Thank you to those that have visited and brought me yummy foods from the outside world, hospital food is tough for longer stretches. All is good though today from inside the chemo world! I Hope everyone is having a great week.

Andrew

Scan Results from May 3rd

I was at MD Anderson last week for a scan and meeting with my doctor. The visit overall was solid. Everything went really smooth. The scan results were kind of a tie. Really no growth or shrinkage to mention either way with the tumors. Disease was stable and controlled in the abdominal area. My doctor and I really didn't spend to much time analyzing the scans this time. We kind of just caught up on each others personal lives, then she told me I was going to do 2 more rounds of current treatment plan, and I would see her in 8 weeks for another scan. So goes my life for now, I feel really positive and strong right now though. Best I have felt in the two + years process.

Thanks as always for everybodys support!

Andrew

Happy 33rd Birthday!

Cheers to Andrew for turning 33 today!

We love you Andrew. Happy birthday and keep up the amazing work.

Test Update/Chemo 31 complete

Crew,

I had a Cat Scan a week plus ago at MD Anderson. The results were solid for now. We stopped the larger abdominal tumor from its uptick in growth per the previous two scans, and all other areas were deemed stable. Good News for now, both my doctors were pleased with these latest results, calling it a "good visit/scan." I think I am now at a point were I can tell when I am having "growth" or lack of growth in that particular area of my stomach. Its been feeling a lot better with this latest mix of chemo.

I just completed my 31st round of chemo this past Sunday. No reports of pain, low blood counts, or any other major issues. Just the usual tiredness for a few days following due to all the hardcore medicines, and lack of sleep in hospital. I'm feeling positive right now that my body is able to continue to go on week after week with this stuff. More later but just wanted to make sure everybody was up to speed with the latest test results. I will begin Round 32 on Tuesday April 12.

Andrew

Sayulita, Mexico

Andrew wanted me to post some pictures from our family vacation in Mexico. We stayed in a house with an incredible view, ate fresh Mexican food daily and generally had a magical time.

Hombre Grande

It's been a month or so since I updated the blog, so I figured I better get in here and let everybody know how the battle is going! I have completed two rounds of the 6 day course of ifosfamide. So far so good. It's hard staying in the hospital for a week at a time, but the staff have been excellent and treated me so well. No real side effects to speak of - some muscle soreness and fatigue being the only major things to report. Well of course the no hair look has come back in my life. I posted this joke on my Facebook page the other day - my mom and sisters have been teasing me, saying I look like "Steve the bouncer from the Jerry Springer show" haha - we try to have fun with the situation when we can!

I am in Houston for the next couple of days doing tests and going to meet with my Doctor. I will post results from the past two rounds later this week. Thank You for the continued prayers from everybody, they certainly are being felt.

Andrew

PS. I was in Mexico a couple of weeks ago and the locals liked to call me "hombre grande!" haha I'm not sure if that's good or bad but my family and I got a big kick out if it...