June 30

Yesterday was a tough day for both Mark and I. We went in to the infusion center and met with Dr. Farmer. Mark's CEA was higher at 28. His CT scan showed some possible activity, although it could be just inflammation from his surgery in the abdominal wall. The only sure way to know is to do a biopsy and we don't plan to do that just yet. The films will go off to Pittsburgh for another look and to get their opinion. There aren't many more chemo options since this one doesn't seem to be working well, but we discussed what options are still available. The good news is that Mark's cancer should respond to the Erbitux. There is another one similar to Erbitux that we may be able to use as well and after we've been off Oxaliplatin for at lease 6 months, we may be able to retry it to see if we get a response again. He responded well to this at first. Dr. Farmer also discussed getting Mark into some clinical trials at some of the larger research centers. Hopefully we don't need to go that far. He was very down yesterday to say the least. It really took all the wind out of his sails.

Emily was sick last night running fever and woke up with it, so I am home with her today. I guess it worked out okay because I think Mark could use some extra TLC today at home.

We are not giving up hope and will continue to fight this awful disease. We seem to be in a valley right now, but hope to climb to the top of the mountain again soon. Keep Mark in your thoughts and prayers as always. God bless!!!!!

June 28-Update

Hello. It's been a while since the last update. Mark had his CT scan done. We got mixed results. They saw microscopic disease in his abdomen with some fluid present. He has a lot of scar tissue from his previous surgery and intraabdominal chemotherapy which can make reading the film difficult. He had one prior CT that was done after surgery so they have one film to compare to. The good news...there wasn't a large mass in the abdomen, nothing in the lungs and the spots on his liver haven't changed any so they still feel that is just a benign finding. The CT films were sent off to Pittsburgh to get their opinion on them as well, so hopefully we will hear something in the next week. For now, Dr. Farmer plans to stay with the same chemo regimen. We will see what the CEA looks like tomorrow when we go in for Mark's treatment.

Mark is feeling well overall. He gets fatigued easily in the heat and has to rest sometimes, but usually does okay in his off week of chemo. We took him out to eat at Ariccia for the Father's Day Brunch last week and got his golf clubs regripped. He is now ready to hit the golf course.

Continue to keep Mark in your prayers. God bless!!!!!

June 15-Chemo

Hello to everyone. Mark had another round of chemo today. He certainly wasn't looking forward to it this morning. He did pretty well through the morning and was able to work on a paper most of the day. He got so tired and sleepy around 2:00 and fell asleep sitting straight up in the chair with his laptop on his lap. It's been downhill from there. We put the antinausea patch on him Saturday and started the watch which uses the electrical stimulations this time. I don't know whether it's helping. Mark ate some lunch today which he usually won't do, but hasn't had anything to eat or drink since then. He has vomited a couple of times, but still seems to be much better than previously.

His CT scan will be next Wednesday (the 24th). Pray that we don't see anything ugly. Dr. Farmer will decide after that and his next CEA number what to do with the chemo. The good news is that his cancer testing came back good. That is, his type of cancer would be a good responder to the other type of chemo drug they could put him on. We were really happy to hear that news in case we need to go there.

Colton came home today after spending 9 days in Florida with the Plans on vacation and for a baseball tournament. We missed him terribly and I think he was a little homesick. It is good to have him home again. He was excited to see Emily (which is unusual). He took her outside and taught her how to hit off the tee. It was really cute. She didn't quite share the same enthusiasm for the sport that Colton has, so it frustrated Colton a little.

Thanks to all of you for the continued support. God bless!!!!!!!!

June 3

Well, another chemo cycle is over for Mark and he is glad to be finished. He was unhooked a little early today. The chemo started leaking from the port, so he went in to the cancer center and they finished the infusion a little quicker than usual. He carries around a spit cup and constantly spits. He looks like someone who dips although he doesn't. His mouth is sore to the point it hurts to swallow the saliva and it tastes bad to him, so he'd rather spit. That should be gone in another day or two.

The patch really is helpful and the later part of the infusion seems to get better with the nausea and vomiting. He looks better today and was up more than usual for a Wednesday. I ordered the wrist watch yesterday. We should be able to use it with the patch next cycle, so we will see if it helps any. Pray that it does.

Mark celebrated his one year anniversary of the BIG surgery on May 30th. It was a weird day for both of us. I think we just had a lot of relived memories of the day and the process. I remember all of us waiting in the waiting room from the start of the day to the very end of the day watching all the other families come and go. We were the first ones there and the last ones there. I still remember how tired Dr. Bartlett looked when he came to talk to us and how relieved we were to hear the news that he had gotten all of the cancer from Mark. Mark, of course, has different memories and they involve a lot more pain and suffering, but certainly joy as well with what the doctors were able to do for him in Pittsburgh. It was a long recovery process for Mark and there were times we questioned whether it was the right decision, that's for sure. We both now know that it was the right place for us to be and the right thing to have done and we are glad we did it. Life became real again for us after Mark healed from that. He got several great months off of chemo before he started back in November and we hope and pray for more time like that.

I think I may have written once before about this, but I felt so much like we hit a brick wall on October 16, 2007. Our lives just stopped and stood still for so long. I clearly remember the day I realized that life was still going on around us. It was in April 2008 and I opened the front door to go outside for the mail and saw two ladies walking in the neighborhood. They were just walking, talking and laughing like they didn't have a care in the world and it was that moment that I realized that all this time life had still been going on around us. I was finally able to stop living October 16th over and over again and to move forward.

Mark's CT scan has been scheduled for June 24th. Please pray that it is clean and there is no disease present. Thanks again to all of you who continue to support us. God bless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 2-Chemo

Sorry for the delay in updates. Mark had his chemo started yesterday. We went in for his usual round. He used the nausea patch again this time which he put on Saturday. It really is helping, but he is still vomiting. His CEA came back at 23. We weren't too bummed since the last one was 21.8. It seems to be staying around there for now. We talked about doing a scan and Dr. Farmer wants him to have one more cycle of this type of chemo before the scan to make it a total of 8 cycles. His 8th cycle will start June 15-17, so the scan will probably be later that week or the following week to give him some time to recover. If the CEA continues to rise, or something shows up on the scan that we don't like, she talked about changing the chemo regimen again. There is another biologic agent similar to the Avastin Mark gets called Erbitux. They have found that only certain tumors respond to this medication, so Dr. Farmer is having Mark's pathology sent off now to see if his cancer would be a responder to this medication. I don't know how long that will take to find out, but she is checking now so that we'll know.

Mark is doing a little better today than yesterday. He threw up several times yesterday, but only a few times today so far. He craved mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC again, so that's what I got him for dinner tonight and so far it has all stayed down. He looks good and just seems to have a little more energy than he usually does. He even gets out of bed now and then (not just for the vomiting).

Dr. Farmer also gave us some information about a wrist watch that uses electrical impulses to control nausea. It is FDA approved. I will check into ordering one for Mark to try for the next cycle of chemo. It may be a good addition to his patches. It somehow works centrally to "trick" the brain.

Colton is in a soft wrist splint instead of a hard cast for his fractured wrist. We are watching him closely, but by doing this he has been able to swim. We have 2 splints and can change them out and let one dry. We will have another xray this week to make sure it is healing properly or to see if they need to put him in a hard cast. Hopefully he will be healed up in another couple of weeks.

Emily is staying busy at her "school" and will have water play on Thursdays this summer. Calen is still busy with baseball and football practices will start June 22nd. We are trying to decide when to take a summer vacation since there are so many limitations on our schedule. We want to take the kids to the Dominican Republic if possible.

Again thanks to all of you who continually pray for Mark and support us with your positive words and prayers. We appreciate it so much. God bless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!