Tuesday, April 29, 2008

April 29, Chemo #13

Well, Mark is more than half way through this last round of chemo before surgery. YEAH!!!! We're on the countdown until 11:30 am tomorrow which should be when he'll be unhooked. He has had a pretty usual course. He hasn't had any energy and has pretty much just laid in bed since Monday with the exception of making it to Colton's game Monday night. I came home at lunch to fix him something to eat and he has been doing good with the calories today. Drinking fluids is his biggest issue. Nothing tastes great and then having to drink everything at room temperature is even worse.

We will be flying to Pittsburgh 4 weeks from tomorrow and are counting it down. It seems like forever to wait, but I know it will be here before we know it. Everyone is getting a little anxious. Calen is starting to ask a lot of questions. It will be very hard to be away from the kids for that long. I am trying to imagine it. The longest we've been away is 5 days and that seemed like forever. The trip to Destin seemed long last weekend. I'm sure we'll all get through it. We will leave it in God's hands.

We have a busy week ahead, so hopefully Mark starts his rebound process. Continue to pray for him. We appreciate all the support and prayers. God bless!!!!

Monday, April 28, 2008

April 28, Chemo #13

We went in for round #13 today on the chemo schedule. This is the last chemo before surgery on May 30th and Mark was glad about that. He did not get the Avastin with the chemo this time and it shortened the infusion by about 1/2 hour. Mark seems to be doing reasonably well this time. He doesn't feel great, but is holding his own. That extra week off to recover from that virus certainly was helpful and refreshing.

We made it out for Colton's baseball game tonight. Mark did not help coach, but sat in a lawn chair and watched. He just carries his infusion in a bag with him and is hooked up until Wednesday. He plans to start conditioning by the end of the week, but will have to start slow as he has gotten pretty deconditioned during this process. He wants to get his strength and muscle tone built back up before surgery. Hopefully this will make the surgery a little easier on him.

Colton's First Communion service is coming up on Mother's Day and he is getting excited about that. It will be a big day for us all to share and with Mark getting this break from chemo, it will certainly be nice. Carly Parker is in Colton's class and is also battling cancer and she will be back from MD Anderson to make her First Communion that day as well. We've certainly been praying hard for her.

Please continue to keep Mark in your prayers as always. God bless!!!!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

April 27

OK, here's the week's update. It's been crazy. We got to celebrate Calen's birthday on the 22nd since Mark didn't get his chemo this week. We took him out to his usual restaurant-The Outback. He chooses this one every year. Mark's parents were in town and got to go celebrate with us. We had a great dinner and then came home to a cookie cake. It was late and we had to rush to get the kids' homework finished and get them in bed on time.

Mark had an awards banquet at work on Wednesday. He won a teaching award and was also tenured this year, so he was glad to get to go and was feeling pretty good for it. I made it to the reception after I got off work and we had a good time. Mark enjoyed visiting with a lot of his colleagues that he hasn't seen in a while. It was fun.

Thursday Mark and I left for Destin for my conference while Mark's parents stayed here and watched the kids. We had a great time. My meetings ended by 12:45 each day and the weather was beautiful. We got to hang out at the pool, shop, and Mark got to play golf. It was wonderful and relaxing. We had several great dinners and got to meet up with friends in Baytown Wharf in the evening. We got in tonight (Sunday evening) and it was good to see the kids and catch up with them. I painted Emily's fingernails and toenails with pink glitter polish and she was thrilled.

Mark got in a little fishing tonight with Andy. He is not looking forward to chemo in the morning, but it will be his last for a while and that will be a good break. He is looking forward to surgery and finally getting this cancer out of his body, but he is also becoming quite anxious about it as well. Who can blame him??? He has some upcoming pre-op tests that he will do here locally and then he will finish with a CT and lab work after we fly to Pittsburgh the day before his surgery.

We appreciate all the continued support in Mark's battle with this cancer. Please continue to pray for healing and strength. We are grateful for all the support and prayers. God bless you all!!!!

Monday, April 21, 2008

April 21

Hello. Sorry I haven't updated regularly. It's been a little crazy around here. Mark is now feeling better, but was sick until Friday when he started feeling a little better. He was supposed to leave Friday evening for Birmingham for Calen's travel ball tournament, but couldn't make it and Calen went with the Weavers instead. Luckily Mark woke Saturday feeling pretty good and we made it to B'Ham and enjoyed watching Calen's tourney. They played well and we came back Sunday afternoon. Mark's parents are here and offered to stay and keep Colton and Emily at home and got Colton to his CFF class on Sunday. It was very helpful and was nice to be able to watch Calen's games uninterrupted.

Today was supposed to be Mark's 13th round of chemo. We woke and got the kids off to school and day care as usual and made our trip to Starbucks before going to the infusion center. Mark had his blood drawn and then we saw Dr. Farmer. His blood count was down just a little and he is only mildly anemic, but nothing they would hold the chemo for. Mark talked Dr. Farmer into holding chemo for one week just to give him a recovery time since he was sick for almost 2 weeks straight. She thought it would be a good idea as well. We were glad to hear it. Tomorrow is Calen's birthday and it will be good for Mark to be off treatment for that. Mark got a teaching award from Auburn and has an awards ceremony Wednesday that he wants to go to and he will now feel like attending. We had also planned a beach trip this Thursday through Sunday.

Mark's CEA (cancer maker) continues to creep up slightly. It was 5.1 today. It was 3.4 then 4.4 and now 5.1. Less than 3 is normal. We are hoping that once Dr. Bartlett gets finished with Mark, his cancer markers won't be an issue.

Colton had a game tonight and his team won. They started the season 0-3 and have now won their last 2 games. They are developing some really good hitters and Colton was excited about a triple, home run and then a grand slam. It was an exciting game for our team as all the kids hit and played well.

Next week will be Mark's last chemo before surgery. He will get 4 1/2 weeks off before Pittsburgh and he is hoping to feel good enough to get back to the gym for some conditioning prior to surgery. He will be busy with several pre-op tests that they want him to do here, but overall we are hoping and praying that it is a nice break off of chemo for Mark.

Thanks for all the support and prayers. Continue to keep Mark lifted up in your prayers daily as well as the doctors who are treating Mark. We have been blessed with so many great friends and family members. God bless you all!!!!!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

April 17

Mark has continued to have a rough week. He has run fever every day. Each day it has declined some, but has been present each and every day. He feels very weak and just run down. Unfortunately, he didn't feel like doing a lot while Thad was here. Thad had to leave for Oklahoma on Wednesday. They did get to spend a little time together, but Mark was hoping for a little golf and maybe fishing which didn't happen.

Because of the illness all week, Mark has lost weight and his appetite isn't great. He still looks dehydrated as well. He is due for chemo on Monday. We will see what the lab work looks like. If he is still running low grade fever, they may postpone the chemo.

We made our plane reservations for Pittsburgh. We fly out on May 28th and Mark will have testing and be admitted to the hospital on May 29th for his surgery May 30th.

Mark got a wonderful surprise from the Finance Department at OU. He opened a package to find an autographed football from Bob Stoops and autographs and messages from the faculty and staff at the University. It was a great gift and the boys were as excited to look at it as Mark was. We will purchase a case to display it. Thanks so much to all of you at OU!!!!!!! Boomer Sooner!!!!!!!

Matt, Mark's twin brother, and Mark's parents are here staying with us now. The house is a little crowded tonight as Calen has 2 boys spending the night for his birthday. We're celebrating tomorrow since Mark will be in the middle of chemo on Calen's actual birthday (April 22nd).

Keep Mark in your prayers as always. God bless!!!!

Monday, April 14, 2008

April 14

Mark is still a bit under the weather. He continues to run fever. After the ER trip with IV antibiotics and IV fluids, we got home to a temperature spike to 102.4 and he was up to 101.5 most of the night. I woke several times through the night to check on him and just knew we'd end up back in the ER, but I was wrong.

Mark woke feeling a little better, so the kids went to school and I headed off to work. Mark tried breakfast and a short trip to his office with Matt and Thad and then spent the entire rest of the day in bed feeling miserable with a fever and fatigue. He took his second antibiotic dose this evening and perked up some. We're waiting on blood cultures, but the other tests all looked OK. I really hope this gets better. He's so worn out that I'm not sure he'll be strong enough to handle the next chemo round if we don't start rebounding soon. I'm sure we can postpone it if need be.

Colton has a baseball game tomorrow night. Mark is supposed to assistant coach, so we'll see how that goes. We'll pray for a better day tomorrow.

God bless!!!!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

April 13, ER day

Well, our week did not turn out as planned. I haven't updated in several days. Friday Mark just wasn't feeling right with a lot of stomach symptoms. We tried to go do a few things and actually made it to a program at Colton's school, but Mark ended up at home lying in bed. He was feeling really bad Friday night and was up most of the night with a lot of stomach pain. Saturday morning he developed a fever with nausea and vomiting. His temperature spiked to 102.5. We tried to get him to the ER, but he has that Y chromosome and just wouldn't go. We finally got the nausea to subside some by Saturday night and Mark was keeping some fluids in, but was getting dehydrated. His temperature remained >101 even with the Tylenol.

This afternoon, despite quite a fight by Mark, we got him to the ER for some tests and IV fluids and antibiotics. Dr. Abrams was great and called ahead with most of the orders, so we got right in and everything got started right away. Mark's heart rate was initially in the 130s because of the fever and dehydration. He got 2 liters of IV fluids quickly which started making him feel better and brought his heart rate down some. He is still nauseated and was dry heaving as I was pulling up to pick him up from the ER. He's quite stubborn and insisted on going home. After some phenergan, he's been sleeping tonight. I hope he feels better in the morning and the fever subsides along with the abdominal pain. He has been just miserable.

Thad, our long time friend from Oklahoma, and Matt (Mark's twin brother) made it in this morning. Unfortunately, Mark hasn't felt like even getting out of bed to visit. Thad and Matt took all 3 kids bowling this afternoon while Mark and I sat in the ER. Thanks guys!!!! I pray that Mark feels better so that he can enjoy his visit with Thad and Matt this week.

I will continue to try and post updates. As always, keep Mark in your prayers. God bless!!!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

April 9, Chemo #12

Mark finished round #12 of chemo today. He is glad to be disconnected. He looks pretty washed out today and is feeling pretty lousy as well. We look forward to a better day Thursday and mostly back to normal by Friday if he follows his usual course. This was the last Avastin before surgery, but he'll have one more chemo on April 22nd (which is Calen's birthday). Not fun!!!

We got our surgery date. It will be May 30th in Pittsburgh. We will fly up on the 28th and Mark will have a CT scan and all his pre op labs and tests done on the 29th. We will definitely be sending up a lot of prayers between now and then and some really special ones on May 30th. The kids will be out of school which will be nice. The surgery won't disrupt their school routines. Calen really wants to go, but I don't think it would be a good idea. He wouldn't be able to see Mark for so long and all the stuff that goes along with surgery is really scary for kids. I know it will be hard on them not being there, though.

Mark made it out for Colton's baseball game last night. He sat in the lawn chair and was having a hard time even staying awake, but insisted on going. Colton's team got demolished 11-1. Colton played well and was a little disappointed after the game, but got over it quickly.

Thad, a long time friend of Mark's and mine (he actually introduced Mark and I), and Matt are coming out from Oklahoma to visit us this Sunday. We're looking forward to it. Mark has been trying to get Thad out here since we moved here in 2002. We're just sad that Casey, Thad's wife, won't be able to make it. We'll miss you Casey!!!

As always, thanks for your support and love. We appreciate it all. Keep up the prayers. God bless!!!!!

Monday, April 7, 2008

April 7, Chemo #12

Hello. Mark has started chemo round #12 today. He felt pretty lousy going into treatment today with stomach upset, so treatment hasn't been a lot of fun. He hasn't had any appetite tonight and hasn't eaten anything. Hopefully I can at least get some gatorade or sprite down him before bed tonight.

Today will be the last Avastin until after surgery. Mark will most likely have one more chemo round before stopping for surgery. We put in a call today to get our surgery date, but the person who schedules was out today. Hopefully we'll hear back tomorrow about the actual surgery date. We're shooting for the last week of May or first week of June. The third week of May would have been the right timing, but it's the kids' last week of school and we thought we'd get them through that before we start disrupting everyone's routines. Calen is already asking a lot of questions and feels nervous (and rightly so). We haven't had a lot of down time to sit and talk with the kids yet. Hopefully this weekend we'll get to do some of that.

Mark is getting nervous just thinking about the surgery, but we are still very excited that we got promising news instead of the door slamming in our faces. I will just continue to pray that this is the right thing for Mark and if not, I'm sure God will give us a sign to lead us in a different direction. We've both had good feelings about Dr. Bartlett from the get go and now that we've talked with him, we feel he is very capable.

Keep Mark in your prayers as always. He feels very loved and blessed by all of your love and support. Thank you and God bless you all!!!!!!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

April 5

Hello everyone. Mark and I arrived home yesterday evening from Pittsburgh. It was a long day travelling. Our flight got delayed quite a bit because of the storms in Atlanta, so we sat in the airport half the day. We were just glad to get back safely and it felt good to be home again.

We are still quite excited about the great news Dr. Bartlett gave us. He didn't even bat an eye about whether or not he would try the surgery. We will now pray hard that the tumor and lymph nodes around the liver and encasing the bile duct will be easy for him to resect and not be attatched to any major arteries or other vital structures. That will now be our limiting factor and will determine whether or not Dr. Bartlett can do all that he is capable of doing with Mark's case. The surgery, if he is able to do everything, will probably take 8 or more hours. He feels confident that there will not be need for a colostomy, but only a small chance that he will have a temporary one. At this juncture, we really don't care about those things. Just get him better!!!!! We will still have chemo after surgery for at least 6 months and then we'll reevaluate. We may be able to stop some things then and just stay on the Avastin if Mark is doing well-that is the drug that strangles the blood supply to the cancer so that it cannot grow or spread. It is not officially chemotherapy. I know I'm getting way ahead of myself. Just one day at a time.

On the way home from Pittsburgh was the first time (probably since diagnosis) that Mark and I actually talked about a long term future. It felt really nice.

We were supposed to have a baseball tournament today, but it's been raining ALL day and it's been nice to just have a lazy day around the house. We haven't done a lot of anything except a quick trip out for haircuts for all 3 kids.

Thanks for all the support. Keep praying for Mark's healing. I feel God has led us to Dr. Bartlett and although the surgery isn't without risk, I feel Mark will do just fine through it. We will try to get it scheduled either late May or early June. We'll let you know when we have the date. God bless you all!!!!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

April 3, Pittsburgh News

GREAT NEWS FROM PITTSBURGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just got out of Dr. Bartlett's office. We spent all day over there getting a CT scan and then waiting on our appointment and finally left around 4:30 Eastern time. It was an awful wait, but very worth it. Mark hadn't eaten for 19 hours, so we quickly ran to Taco Bell to feed him (not very glamorous, but the first thing we saw after leaving the Cancer Center).

Anyway, the good news is that Dr. Bartlett thinks he can help Mark. He looked at the CT scan and his only uncertainty is the area of tumor around the bile duct. He said that they would go in and remove the primary tumor first and then go there second. If the tumor is "stuck" to all the important structures they may not be able to do much more and have to stop, but if the chemo is working and they can remove the tumor, they will procede with taking out all of the disease they can find in the peritoneum, remove the omentum and then infuse with heated chemo. Mark will be cut from top to bottom and probably spend a few days in ICU and possibly 2 weeks in the hospital. Dr. Bartlett says that cancer cells all die when heated to this temperature in a petri dish. They have had good success with survival and improved prognosis doing this procedure.

The other positive is a study they are doing here taking out Mark's own cancer tissue and making a specific vaccine for Mark's body using this tissue that will be administered back to him after he finishes chemo. It's still in it's infancy in this type of cancer,but Dr. Bartlett says "we hope to hit a home run with this one". They have had success with this in melanoma up here.

We are very excited about the news and pray that everything will fall into place now. We know that it is a huge surgery and not without risk. Mark will have to stop Avastin for 6 weeks before surgery and chemo 4 weeks before surgery, so we will need to talk with Dr. Farmer and plan out a date to get back up here. Mark will also get a prolonged break from chemo after the surgery. I think he is looking forward to that.

We plan to go out a little tonight and enjoy some of the sights in Pittsburgh. It is a pretty city with a lot of history and beautiful architecture. Unfortunately we don't have much time to enjoy it since we fly back tomorrow morning for Calen's baseball tournament. That's okay though, we got everything we came here for and are on cloud 9 tonight.

Thanks so much for all the prayers and well wishes. God bless you all!!!!!!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

April 1

Well, tomorrow is the big day. We're finally going to leave for Pittsburgh. We are feeling anxious and excited. We hope only to hear the best from Dr. Bartlett. Today was a hard day for Mark. I think he overdid it. He went golfing with his mom and dad and then threw batting practice for Calen's team. He was in a lot of pain when he returned home and laid in bed until 9:30. He was diaphoretic and just looked pale. It was hard for him to admit that he overdid it, for that used to be only a small part of a day for him. Hopefully we can get Dr. Bartlett on board to helping us with Mark's healing and recovery process. We're definitely ready!!!

It's after 9:30 already and we still haven't packed. We leave around 7am tomorrow to catch our flight out of Atlanta. It's been a busy day and I still need to get everything gathered for Emily's swimming lesson tomorrow and I am doing laundry for Calen's baseball tournament Friday. Mark's parents are staying with the kids and will be busy taking them to their various activities, doing homework and getting them ready for school. We are lucky to have them here helping us make this journey.

Mark's appointment will be Thursday morning at 10am. Please say prayers that we get the good news we're hoping for. I don't know if we're ready to handle anything other than good news. I just feel so strongly that we've been lead to Dr. Bartlett for a reason. I'm ready for him to make Mark his star patient.

Everyone in the Bertus household is finally on the mend. We had more than a week of the GI bug with the kids. Emily and Calen stayed home yesterday again, but everyone was back to their usual schedule today.

Keep praying for Mark. We appreciate all the support. God bless!!!!