Nick here..
Some of the best news has come to me today. According to both my surgeon (who I believe to be a brilliant man) and my chemo doctor agree that they see no visible tumor activity from both the PET scan and MRI scan that I took yesterday and today. This most likely means that the tumor is dead and is pretty much only scar tissue. So I will have outpatient surgery (procedure will take approximately 2 hours) done on the 6th of September, where they will go up through my gumline (so no visible scars will be on this pretty little face of mine) and take out what they can and send it off to a lab where they will determine under a microscope whether or not they tumor is truly dead or not. IT WILL BE, I KNOW IT. I should recover in 2 weeks and then start chemo again. Now, depending on the lab results, I will either do 2 more chemo rounds, or more if they find cancer activity in the tissue.
I am so happy today and cannot help but smile everywhere I go for no reason. It just goes to show you that if you believe enough you can do anything you want. The doctors told me at the beginning that they predicted a year of treatments.... and I told my dad, "watch, I will be done in 6 months." And if everything goes well it will be 6 months.
Tonight to celebrate I went out with my girlfriend, Rob, and Mandee to the new mall in Ogden. We did some golactic bowling, and just walked around. It was a lot of fun and I wanted to stay out longer, but by 10:30 I was beat and made sure we were home by 11. HA
HERE I COME REMISSION
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Fun in the Sun
Nick typing...
I just got back from an awesome trip to Dana Point, California with my sisters and mom. It was not only to get out of the house, but Utah as well. I love California and was glad we were able to go. We had to delay the trip a day longer because my blood count was too low, but luckily it was high enough the next day to go. I had to wear a mask at the airport and on the plane just to be safe, even though I hate wearing it.
We stayed at the Marriot which was right next to the ocean.. It was pretty nice! The weather couldn't have been nicer either, so we were constanly at the beach or sitting by the pool. I liked watching the surfers, and decided as soon as I am healthy again and have my port out, I would like to try surfing. I was a little bummed that I could only get my feet wet but knew I didnt have the strength to surf or swim anyways so it wasn't too bad. I read a lot of Harry Potter on the beach and by the pool while we were there. It was very relaxing.
The food was very good at the hotel and I tried to eat a banana split every night to put some weight on my skinny body. However, the last couple of days I had some mouth sores so I was not able to eat too well, and on the last day I had a small fever and didn't feel to well. So we got an earlier flight and left California around 1 instead of 5.
I think after college I wouldn't mind moving out to California and living there. It is a very nice place and I love the ocean. I hope to start college this January and the University of Utah and take a few classes. I am excited for what is coming and cannot wait. This month I may have surgery (which I think is a good sign for it will mean they don't see any activity), I will visit Newport Beach in the end of October, my mom also has 10 tickets front row, center ice, for the Utah Grizzlies game supporting Breast Cancer, and then last but not least I should be in remission sometime in October. CROSS OUR FINGERS
I just got back from an awesome trip to Dana Point, California with my sisters and mom. It was not only to get out of the house, but Utah as well. I love California and was glad we were able to go. We had to delay the trip a day longer because my blood count was too low, but luckily it was high enough the next day to go. I had to wear a mask at the airport and on the plane just to be safe, even though I hate wearing it.
We stayed at the Marriot which was right next to the ocean.. It was pretty nice! The weather couldn't have been nicer either, so we were constanly at the beach or sitting by the pool. I liked watching the surfers, and decided as soon as I am healthy again and have my port out, I would like to try surfing. I was a little bummed that I could only get my feet wet but knew I didnt have the strength to surf or swim anyways so it wasn't too bad. I read a lot of Harry Potter on the beach and by the pool while we were there. It was very relaxing.
The food was very good at the hotel and I tried to eat a banana split every night to put some weight on my skinny body. However, the last couple of days I had some mouth sores so I was not able to eat too well, and on the last day I had a small fever and didn't feel to well. So we got an earlier flight and left California around 1 instead of 5.
I think after college I wouldn't mind moving out to California and living there. It is a very nice place and I love the ocean. I hope to start college this January and the University of Utah and take a few classes. I am excited for what is coming and cannot wait. This month I may have surgery (which I think is a good sign for it will mean they don't see any activity), I will visit Newport Beach in the end of October, my mom also has 10 tickets front row, center ice, for the Utah Grizzlies game supporting Breast Cancer, and then last but not least I should be in remission sometime in October. CROSS OUR FINGERS
Kelsey & Carly got creamed! I think its WAY funny!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Feeling good!
Mom here (I'll try to get Nick to post later)...
Nick was checked out of the hospital last night around 6:00 p.m. With the reduced chemo this round, he is feeling pretty good and has kept up his appetite. During this week, he had visitors from:
His swashbuckling, gift-bearing godmothers (they brought him a Marie Calendar chicken pot pie, a pirate hat, dreadlocks on a hat so he had hair on his head for awhile, pirate pj's and miscellenous pirate toys and tattoos!) One of the funniest gifts was a card that said on the front, "When someone asks you how you feel, I don't want you to say, 'Ok' or 'So, so' but... and when you opened the card, it was a recording of James Brown's scream... "Whaaaoooo! I feel good! with the music - it startled most people when they opened the card - brought lots of smiles and of course, Nurse Mary took to go show the doctors.
His mild mannered friend, Rob (who also took a turn spending the night at the hospital;
A few of the guys;
He had the regular entourage of Mom, Lee, his dad and Savanna visiting and bringing him breakfast, lunch & dinner (Nick no longer appreciates the fine dining of the hospital cafeteria). Just as the hair on his head is starting to come back in baby-fine fuzz, he's losing the hair on his legs and his eyebrows. Per Savanna, he only has 35 little hairs remaining on his left eyebrow (there were 36 until she blew on it). He is gaining a little weight and for the first time, didn't require additional fluids or a wheelchair when we went in today for his Neulasta shot! I think we are going to make the trip to California on Friday! His next round of chemo has been temporarily delayed until after Sept 5th - we'll see how the surgeon wants to proceed.
Today has been a great day!
With love,
Lori
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Round 6........ Yeehah
Nick here....
Today is the 2nd day in the hospital for my 6th round of chemotherapy and it has been going good so far. I have been trying to eat as well as I can to prepare for the week after I am out of the hospital where it is hard for me to eat and drink. Last round I lost about 6 pounds in that week but gained back 4 in my good week. I think I am still gaining some now but it is hard to tell since I am on a ton of iv's which make me put on a ton of water weight that I lose as soon as I go home. But my doctor did reduce my chemo this round by 15% so that I hopefully wont lose as much weight and so that I will hopefully recover in time to be able to join my family in our trip to Dana Point, California. I love the beach so I am going to try my hardest to eat and take my meds so that I will be feeling good while I am there.
Just today when my nurse was listening to my heart and lungs (they do it all the time), she said she noticed a little murmor in the beating of my heart. The doctors came in and did the same thing and said it was very subtle and seemed to only slow down a little when I would breathe out. I believe it does this because of my new chemo which my chemo doctor said is harder on the heart than the one it replaced. So now I have all these wires hooked up to my chest and stomach that are held in place by these little sticky pads. I hate it because I have enough wires going into my body as it is. I look like Frankenstein now! The nurse said I should only have the heart monitor thing for a day or two. I personally don't even think it is necessary.
(Mom here for a second... Nick will have a PET scan done on the 29th and another MRI on the 30th. Both scans will be forwarded to Dr. Sharma, the surgeon, to determine whether he will go in and do a biopsy where Nick's tumor was to see if there are any cancer cells still active or if it is just dead tissue. Dr. Chen is going out of town on the 30th so Dr. Sharma will decide to either do a biopsy now or begin round 7 the week of Sept 3rd and not do a biopsy until round 8 is complete. We're a little up in the air for now. I have an appt scheduled with Nick's radiologist to help us read the results of the two scans on Sept 5th.)
The highlights of my good week that I just had are seeing Rush Hour 3, which was pretty good and made me laugh a lot. Also, my Dad took me out to the Larry H. Miller Raceway in Toole where we raced go-carts on an enourmous track outside. These weren't your ordinary go-carts either, for they went close to 40 mph. and could handle really tight corners at high speeds. My Dad and I had the track to ourselves. It should have been a close race between my Dad and I but he doesn't know how to follow instructions and took a wrong turn and had to turn around for it was a dead end. He eventually did catch back up but he couldn't pass me and wouldn't have been able to either. So technically...... I WON!
Today is the 2nd day in the hospital for my 6th round of chemotherapy and it has been going good so far. I have been trying to eat as well as I can to prepare for the week after I am out of the hospital where it is hard for me to eat and drink. Last round I lost about 6 pounds in that week but gained back 4 in my good week. I think I am still gaining some now but it is hard to tell since I am on a ton of iv's which make me put on a ton of water weight that I lose as soon as I go home. But my doctor did reduce my chemo this round by 15% so that I hopefully wont lose as much weight and so that I will hopefully recover in time to be able to join my family in our trip to Dana Point, California. I love the beach so I am going to try my hardest to eat and take my meds so that I will be feeling good while I am there.
Just today when my nurse was listening to my heart and lungs (they do it all the time), she said she noticed a little murmor in the beating of my heart. The doctors came in and did the same thing and said it was very subtle and seemed to only slow down a little when I would breathe out. I believe it does this because of my new chemo which my chemo doctor said is harder on the heart than the one it replaced. So now I have all these wires hooked up to my chest and stomach that are held in place by these little sticky pads. I hate it because I have enough wires going into my body as it is. I look like Frankenstein now! The nurse said I should only have the heart monitor thing for a day or two. I personally don't even think it is necessary.
(Mom here for a second... Nick will have a PET scan done on the 29th and another MRI on the 30th. Both scans will be forwarded to Dr. Sharma, the surgeon, to determine whether he will go in and do a biopsy where Nick's tumor was to see if there are any cancer cells still active or if it is just dead tissue. Dr. Chen is going out of town on the 30th so Dr. Sharma will decide to either do a biopsy now or begin round 7 the week of Sept 3rd and not do a biopsy until round 8 is complete. We're a little up in the air for now. I have an appt scheduled with Nick's radiologist to help us read the results of the two scans on Sept 5th.)
The highlights of my good week that I just had are seeing Rush Hour 3, which was pretty good and made me laugh a lot. Also, my Dad took me out to the Larry H. Miller Raceway in Toole where we raced go-carts on an enourmous track outside. These weren't your ordinary go-carts either, for they went close to 40 mph. and could handle really tight corners at high speeds. My Dad and I had the track to ourselves. It should have been a close race between my Dad and I but he doesn't know how to follow instructions and took a wrong turn and had to turn around for it was a dead end. He eventually did catch back up but he couldn't pass me and wouldn't have been able to either. So technically...... I WON!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative
Hi everyone! Here are a couple more photos taken at the Team Sarcoma Awareness Walk we participated in a couple of weeks ago. These photos were submitted to the international website hosted by the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative. I promise next year I'll give much more notice and we'll have an even greater presence!
Love, Lori
Love, Lori
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