Jan 31

Hello again. Mark is doing a little better today. Still not a lot of energy and he slept most of the day. He says it is difficult keeping his eyes open. He did get up this evening and made it out for Calen's basketball game and did okay for that. He is starting to feel a little better. He has a cold and cough (I probably gave it to him) which hasn't mixed well with the chemo. On top of that, he has had some stomach issues. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Dr. Heslin spoke with the surgeon at MD Anderson, but we don't know the outcome of that yet. We are waiting to hear from Dr. Heslin's office.

I received the official copy of the CT scan from Birmingham. The radiologist thought that one of the larger lymph nodes had shrunk some and the primary tumor and spot on the liver looked unchanged. We were thankful to hear that SOMETHING was smaller. Combining that news with a now normal CEA was definitely good news this week.

None of the peritoneal disease shows up on the CT scan and the only real way to assess it is to open Mark up and look in there with a laparoscope (which we don't plan on doing-at least not anytime soon). If Mark is a candidate for the surgery, they would go in and take all of the peritoneal disease out as well as the primary tumor in the colon and infuse heated chemotherapy into the abdomen.

Continue to pray for Mark's healing. We pray that we are lead in the right direction with Mark's care. Dr. Farmer has been a wonderful blessing as well and Dr. Heslin. We couldn't have asked for better care from the doctors we have. God bless!!

Jan 30, Finished round #7

Hello!! I wish I could tell you Mark was rebounding as usual today, but he has been having a very rough day. This is about the roughest I think he's had. He was so tired and weak today that he had difficulty keeping his eyes open to talk with me this morning. At noon when his chemo was finished, he just couldn't find the energy to get up and get to the infusion center to get disconnected. It's really been a rough one for him. I tried to drive him, but he insisted on getting up and going himself and he eventually made it.

Calen had practice for both baseball and basketball tonight. Mark had planned to drive him to both, but found that he was simply too weak today to manage. Thanks to Joey Weaver for getting Calen to and from practice. I think Mark has some sinus problems going on which may be why this chemo cycle has been so rough. So far he is not running fever and we're hoping the energy starts coming back tomorrow.

We didn't hear anything about MD Anderson today, so we'll have to call Birmingham tomorrow to check on the appointment.

Thanks again to everyone for your continued support of Mark and our family. We appreciate all the prayers, cards, messages, and meals. God bless!!!!

Jan 29, Chemo #7

Hi everyone!! Mark is doing as well as can be expected with this round. I came home at lunch and we had soup together and he's been up a little this evening as well. Of course, he is looking forward to the end of the chemo tomorrow afternoon so he can start the recovery phase and begin feeling good again. Thankfully Calen's basketball game falls on a Thursday night this week so Mark will be off the chemo. He hates going to the games while he's hooked up to the pump.

We got a call from the genetics lab today to confirm that the blood was received and is a go. We should have results in 4-6 weeks. We're still waiting to hear on the MD Anderson appointment. If we haven't heard from them by tomorrow, we are to call the surgeon at UAB again.

As always, keep Mark in your prayers. God bless you all!!!

Jan 28, Chemo round #7

We are just back from the infusion center. Mark is receiving his 7th round of the FOLFOX chemo regimen with Avastin added to it. Our appointment with Dr. Farmer went well. She was definitely glad that nothing had gotten bigger and no new spread. The formal report hadn't gotten there yet, but she was going on a verbal. We took the copy of the CT scan on disc up there for her to look at this afternoon. She does not feel we need to change chemo at this point. Mark looks and feels good and is maintaining his weight. The other good news today was that Mark's CEA number fell again and is down to 3 which is normal. It was very exciting to hear and we gave each other a high five at the sound of it. We continue to pray that this is the right stuff for Mark.

We haven't heard about our appointment at MD Anderson yet, but hope to hear by mid week.

I know many of you who read this know Travis Rabren. We are so saddened of the loss. He was such a fighter and a true inspiration to our family. Mark enjoyed his visits with Travis every Monday in the infusion center and we will miss him dearly.

Continue your prayers for Mark. We appreciate them all. God bless!!!

Jan 24th, UAB Day

Well, we're finally back from a long day in Birmingham. Mark's first appointment was at 7am, so we spent the night last night and got started early this morning. We arrived in Auburn around 6:30 this evening, just in time to pick up Emily and get to Calen's basketball game before it started.

We met with Dr. Heslin today who went over the CT scan from earlier this morning. He didn't see any change at all in the CT scan when comparing it to October's initial scan. The colon tumor hasn't changed nor has the small spot on the liver. It was not great news, but not terrible news either. We had hoped that they would see shrinkage of the tumor or possibly no tumor. On the other hand, there wasn't an increase in size and no more spread of disease. What does all of this mean? Well, Mark's chemo is keeping the disease from spreading which is good since he has an aggressive type of cancer, but this far into the chemo we should see some shrinkage if the chemo is going to work. We had a long discussion about options. We will meet with Dr. Farmer on Monday to discuss the plan from a medicine approach and whether or not we need to consider a different type of chemo regimen. Another option may be surgery. There is a procedure where they go in and remove the primary tumor and debulk the peritoneum of all the cancer they can see and directly following the surgery, they infuse heated chemotherapy into the abdomen and let it sit for a while. It is a very extensive surgery and is only done in a few centers around the country. It would require a prolonged hospital stay. UAB is referring us to MD Anderson to visit with them about the procedure and to see if Mark would be a candidate. (Yes, we may finally get into the place after all). We should hear something next week about the initial visit to discuss this. Of course, we are now going to put off the trip to Memorial Sloan Kettering and wait to hear what MD Anderson says. Dr. Heslin knows a lot of the doctors from MSK and he actually trained up there. The ones doing this procedure from there have left and are now in Pittsburg and Houston (MD Anderson).

Later today, we went to the genetics appointment. Mark was referred since he was only 35 at diagnosis. They plugged the history into a formula and came up with a 0.13% to an 11% chance that there is a genetic component to Mark's early cancer diagnosis. The testing will take up to 6 weeks to come back, but if they find a hereditary gene then Mark's siblings will need to be tested for it as well as our children.

It was an emotional day for both Mark and I. I think we were so ready to hear better results from the CT scan that it was hard to hear otherwise. Mark is feeling good and strong. He continues to go to the office and is even back to working out some at the gym. He is determined to fight this and is ready for the challenge. I can tell you this, my husband has definitely become my hero-just seeing him stay so strong and focused and ready for his next challenge has been amazing. I know he's going to beat this.

I can't sign off without a note on Calen's basketball game. Again a nail biter coming down to the wire and Calen got the last second shot off while down by 2 points and was fouled. (No, I'm not making this up). With no time on the clock, he makes 2 free throws to send the team into overtime. We went into 2 overtimes and won it by 1 point with Joshua Anders making the winning shot with 3 seconds left. Mark was so excited he was shaking.

Keep Mark in your thoughts and prayers. I know it works. I asked God for something very specific today that I thought would never happen (and not a basketball game win either) and I sat and watched things fall into place that allowed my request to happen. There is no other way to explain it except God answering my prayer and giving me my miracle today. Thanks again to Debbie and Richie Brooks and Duane and Stacy Brandon for your help with the kids. Our trip to Birmingham wouldn't have been possible without your help. God bless you all!!

Jan 22

Hello! We are now 2 days away from the CT and ready to see how this chemo is doing. Mark had a rough day Sunday and didn't really get out of bed much that day. He just felt lousy for some reason, but rebounded nicely on Monday and has been doing well since. He kept all 3 kids at home Monday while I worked, so it was good that he was feeling up to the task.

Our day in Birmingham Thursday is going to be pretty packed with appointments starting at 7am, so we will leave Wednesday night and stay overnight. Thanks to Debbie and Richy Brooks for volunteering to keep the kids and Stacy Brandon for taking Emily on Thursday. We really appreciate the help and don't know what we'd do without you. We're praying for good news all day Thursday.

Colton had his first Penance tonight at church. It was a nice ceremony for the kids and a big step towards his first communion on Mother's Day. He is really looking forward to it.

Thanks for the email Casey. Glad to know you're thinking and praying for us. We're still waiting on that visit you promised. (Thad!!!!)

Mark got a phone call from Aaron Farr (a long time childhood friend from Bartlesville) the other day and really enjoyed the call. Thanks Aaron. We'd love to have you visit anytime, just say the word.

Thanks again to everyone for the constant support, emails, blog messages, cards, calls and prayers. We have been very blessed with great and caring friends. God bless!!

Jan 19th

Hi to all!! Mark had another good day. He woke early and took the boys to baseball practice (Calen's practice, but Colton goes along too). They practiced in an indoor facility because of the weather. It was definitely good planning because while they were there the snow began. It actually snowed a bit here and we had ground cover for several hours. When the kids returned, they went outside and made a snowman. We took quick pictures before everything melted. This was Emily's first time to see snow. Unfortunately, Mark didn't get to go outside because of his cold sensitivity, but he watched them playing from the window some.

We made an outing to the new Sam's Club today (it opened Thursday) and of course it was busy. It was bitterly cold when we left the store and Mark had a difficult time breathing the air. It felt like razor blades cutting his throat. He had to quickly get in the car to warm up.

Mark is out this evening with the guys having poker night. It is good to see him feeling more like himself these days. Continue to lift him up in your prayers. We pray for only good news on Thursday. God bless!!

Jan 18

Good news!! Mark continues to do well. He is finished with round 6 of his chemotherapy and now we're waiting on the CT scan. He is feeling good and has remained strong through all of this. We're now anxiously awaiting next Thursday.

Mark continues to go in to the office regularly except during the chemo. It's just too much for him on those days. I think he is ready for warmer weather. The oxaliplatin causes him to have a lot of pain in his hands, feet and throat and mouth with cold things, so it gets to be painful when he is outside for prolonged periods of time and reaching into the refridgerator or freezer is torture. I bought him a bunch of warm socks today to try out as his feet stay cold. It is such a change for him. I used to refer to him as my "heater" as he was always warm and I was the cold one. He really hates wearing gloves all the time, but spring will be here before we know it.

The kids are doing well. They keep us very busy with sports and activities that we hardly have time to rest.

Thanks once again to all of you praying for Mark. Your support and encouragement help us get through the tough days and we look for much better days to come. Continue to remember Mark in your prayers and may God bless you all!!

Jan 15, Chemo #6

Mark is more than half way through this chemo round. He is doing remarkably well this time. Of course he isn't feeling great, but all things considered he is having a good round. His appetite seems better this time and his energy level is up. We feel very blessed. I came home at lunch today and we had soup together. I think Mark was missing the cat who used to snuggle up with him in bed while he wasn't feeling well.

Mark made it out for Calen's basketball game tonight. Calen's team lost in the last minute of the game after having the lead the entire game. It was a great game (even with the loss). We took the kids out to Mike and Eds after the game and then came home for homework and showers.

We got a phone call from UAB today. They were waiting on our insurance to approve the CT scan which has now been done. They will call back tomorrow with appointment times, but felt sure they could arrange everything on the 24th. We will hope for that, but if not we can certainly make a few trips to Birmingham.

We continue to pray for Mark's strength and healing and feel that improvements have been made with the chemo. Hopefully the CT scan will show this as well. Keep your fingers crossed and keep Mark in your prayers. We have been truly blessed with wonderful family and friends. God bless you all!!!

Jan 14, Chemo #6

Mark is on his 6th round of chemo as I write. We went in this morning to the infusion center. His lab work was all normal. They didn't do a CEA this round, but the other numbers were OK. He received the day long infusion today and now we're home with the 46 hour continuous infusion of the 5FU. Mark fell asleep during the infusion today and has been pretty wiped out this evening. He ate a little chicken soup and has managed to watch some TV.

We are still waiting to hear on our CT scan appointment and appointment with the surgeon at UAB. We are hoping they will be able to get them on the same day as the genetics appointment, Jan 24th. After the CT is completed, we can move forward with the second opinion at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City.

Calen has been having a tough time with Mark's illness and it's really showing up recently. We sat and had a long talk and cry this evening. He is certainly insightful and asks a lot of tough questions right now. I know this is a lot for an 11 year old.

The kids got a new guinea pig named Leppy. He's really cute and they've all enjoyed playing with him. He seems to have brightened spirits around here, especially after the loss of Sam (our cat).

Continue to pray for Mark. He had a wonderful week off of chemo last week and we're hoping that he feels that good again when this round is over. Also say a prayer that the new CT will show only positives. We also want to ask everyone to say a prayer for Carly Parker who is 7. She is battling a cancer of the nasal passage and just found out that the tumor is not responding to the chemo and they will have to operate. God bless!!

Jan 12

Hello everyone!! It's been a few days since I've written. Mark has been doing great. He is feeling better than he has in a long time and is enjoying every minute of it. He has been going to the gym and we went on a walk in the neighborhood yesterday. We planned to go again today, but time got away from us. Going in to the office is becoming much more regular now and Mark spent Friday interviewing a job candidate and has another one Sunday. It's really been nice having him feel so good.

We're going to have to start gearing up for chemo again on Monday. Mark starts feeling bad just thinking about the chemo. He says that the morning of chemo, he starts feeling bad even before they've hooked him up just because he knows what's coming. The good news this time is that we're at round 6 and we actually get to find out how the chemo is doing. The CEA marker has fallen, but the true test will be the CT scan. We are hoping that it will be the same day as Mark's genetics appointment at UAB, which is Jan 24th.

Colton had his first basketball game today and his team won. (Actually at this age, they don't keep score but in my family they do). Colton did well. He made several steals, made one free throw and didn't have any fouls. He really enjoyed getting out there and playing.

Continue to keep Mark in your prayers as he continues to fight this terrible disease. We feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family supporting us. God bless!!

Jan 8

Hello to everyone. Mark is doing well and had another good day today. He went for a 3 mile walk this morning which he hasn't done in quite some time. Later, he went for a hair cut and then to the office. His chemo hasn't caused him to lose his hair, but it is thinning and the texture has changed, so he still requires haircuts. His appetite is good, but he still has tummy issues that he has to be careful about.

We spent this evening at Calen's first basketball game. It was a nail biter. Calen's team was down by 2 points with 0.2 seconds left in the game and Calen was taking the buzzer shot from 3 point range and got fouled. So, with 0.2 seconds left, he gets 3 free throws and nails all 3 to win the game. You couldn't have asked for a better ending (at least from our team's perspective). Mark was extremely proud and took the kids out for ice cream after the game.

We lost our long time companion Sam today (our cat of almost 15 years). We got him right when we got married. It was very sad to lose him. We had to break the news to the kids and they took it very hard. Both boys were tearful and helped Mark bury the cat in the backyard.

Mark still has 5 more days before round number 6 of his chemo. We're hoping they're all as good as today. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes. God bless!!

Jan 7

Mark had a much better day today. This is his off week of chemo and hopefully will be a good one. Unfortunately, it will be short because of the holidays and late start last week. We will get back on the Monday through Wednesday schedule next week. This evening, Mark took Colton to basketball practice and then we had a late dinner. Calen was sick today and came home from school early. I left work around 11 to get him as I didn't really want Mark exposed to any unnecessary germs.

Tomorrow evening will be Calen's first basketball game. Hopefully he will have rebounded (no pun intended) by then and be ready to play. He seemed to be feeling somewhat better this evening.

We look forward to all the activity that will take place following the next chemo round. It seems like forever waiting for the next CT scan or test, but in reality we've only known of Mark's illness for less than 3 months now and a lot has happened in those 3 months.

Since I was home this afternoon, I did some research and found a new drug that looks very promising for cancer in a Phase I trial and also new data about surgery outcomes from some surgeons in Australia(thier paper was just published December 07). I copied the article to discuss with our surgeon here in Birmingham later this month and also with the doctors at Sloan Kettering.

Keep the prayers coming. We are truly blessed to have so many of them coming Mark's way. Take care and God bless!!

Jan 6

Hi to all!! Mark is having a much better day today. I didn't write yesterday, but he was feeling pretty down. He stayed in bed pretty much the entire day except for getting up for Emily's birthday party. The party was a lot of fun and Emily had a great time playing with her friends at Premier Athletics. We had a great turnout and it was great visiting with all the parents during the party. Mark came home and went back to bed. I spent the evening taking down all the indoor Christmas decorations and the tree while Emily played with her new toys.

Today Mark was still pretty weak and hadn't had much to eat, so he didn't get out of bed for mass. The kids and I went. I made some lunch after mass and Mark got up and ate with us. He seemed to be feeling better and was able to make it to Alex City to watch Calen practice baseball today. They spent quite a bit of time out there. Mark's hands were bothering him some after sunset because of the cold. I spent the afternoon taking down all of the outside Christmas decorations and putting the up in the attic.

The kids are gearing up for their first day back at school tomorrow and I think it will be good to get everyone back in a routine. I think Mark is anxious to start going in to the office more on his good days. He has been able to focus a little more on work lately.

Thanks to all of you posting messages and offering support, prayers and comfort. It is great knowing that we have such great friends. God bless!!

Jan 4

Mark finished with this chemo round today around 1:30. He did well with this one. He is pretty wiped out and has a lot of gagging and dry heaves, but no vomiting. He spent some time in his office this afternoon after being disconnected from his infusion pump. We are hoping that he rebounds quickly this time as he already seems to be better than in previous rounds.

Jean Triplett made a wonderful hot soup and sent it over this evening for dinner. We really enjoyed it Jean. Thanks!!!

We're gearing up for Emily's party tomorrow. She is excited to get to have a party with her friends and I think it will be a lot of fun.

Basketball season officially starts for our children on Tuesday night. Calen will play for the Celtics and Colton for the Nuggets. They are both getting excited about starting the seasons.

Take care everyone and God bless!!

Jan 3, Chemo #5

Mark is more than half way through round number 5. He is doing well, all things considered. He has managed to eat a few times today and has been out of bed a few times as well. He mostly stays bundled up in the bed and sleeps. This round seems better than the last, so we're thankful for that. He will finish around 1pm tomorrow.

As most of you know, Oklahoma lost miserably in thier bowl game against West Virginia. It wasn't pretty, but we stayed up and watched most of it. We still love our Sooners!!!! Go SOONERS!!!! We'll have to set our sights on next year and hopefully another national title to add to the collection (wait, do I sound like Mark???).

We continue to thank God for Mark's strength and pray for his healing. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. God bless!!!

January 2, Chemo number 5

We are home from the start of chemo round number 5. It will be finished on Friday just in time for Emily's birthday party on Saturday. The good news today is that Mark's lab is all normal. His blood counts have remained normal and the CEA (the cancer marker) fell again to 4.0. (<3 is normal and his maximum was 29). We were excited with the news. Mark is feeling very puny now and is sleeping. We will record the Oklahoma bowl game because I'm not sure he'll wake up for it. He got very tired during this infusion today.

We appreciate all the prayers and well wishes. God bless!!