Chemo Has Officially started

Caleb has officially started his chemo.  This is quicker than the nurse originally thought.  He is on Rutuxamab.  This will take about 6 hours and then he will have a round of methotrexate.  I am not sure about these spellings...just doing my best.

So, this will go into the night.

We just got back from the toy room where he did a craft.  He is laying down right now.  As a pre-med, he had to take benedryl.  This makes him very sleepy.  So, he is laying down and resting for a bit right now.  Hopefully he will go to sleep and sleep for a bit.  This will help pass the time.  He is very bored with being in here already and we have only been in the room for about 4 hours.  That could prove to make this a long week as far as keeping him busy.

I will keep you posted.

Grace and Peace

Finally Starting the Last Round

So, Caleb's counts were high enough...2200 to be exact!  The next step was to wait for a bed to open up. We were packing up our stuff so that we could go and grab some lunch and while we were still packing up, the Dr. came right back in and said that there was a bed ready.  WOW!  We have never gotten a bed that fast.  Usually it takes at least an hour, but this was 5 minutes.

Then, we were being silly and thinking it would be cool to finish this journey in the same room we started...7122.  So, we went over to get our paper work and guess what room we got?  7122.  Then we thought it would be awesome if Arica was our nurse for a few days as well...you know, start and finish with same room/same nurse.  We have not had a bad experience asa far as nurses go but we thought it would be pretty cool.   Guess who greeted us when we came in the room?  You got it...Arica!  What an awesome thing!  She said that she was going to be here for the next 4 days.

We are super excited to finally start this round.  They are thinking that Caleb should be done by Wednesday sometime and go home if everything goes well.

So, this is where we are again...7122.  As we were walking in, Tera said, "The walk down the hall this time is a little different than the first time we walked down this hall!"  She said it quite well.  It has been a journey and we are not through yet.  But knowing we are closer to the end does make it a bit easier.

After this week, we still have final scans (including bone marrow scan) and the final step...his port being taken out.

I will keep you posted through the week as we progress.  But know we are excited and ready to face this week and get it behind us.

Grace and Peace

June 28th, 2012

It is very late at night or early in the morning...however you look at it.  It is technically the 28th, so I will talk in this post like it is Thursday.

Later this morning, we see for the 3rd time if Caleb's counts are good enough to start his last round of chemo.  We have been praying that he is ready so that we can continue on this journey that we are on.  It seems like that past 2 weeks we have been put on hold and just waiting.  Waiting is so hard!

So, today at 10 am, we will be arriving at the clinic and getting the party started.  We should know something by 11 am one way or the other.

So, please pray and I will keep you posted as soon as we know something tomorrow.

God is good and I will keep you updated!

Grace and Peace

You will never guess who came to visit!

We have been so blessed with the support and love we have received not only from family but also from friends all over the world.  God has blessed our family with a support system like no other.  Tonight we got a visit from a few people who we can now add to that list.

We have mentioned several times a dance crew called the Elektrolytes that just won America's Best Dance Crew.  Well, tonight, 4 of them were able to stop by and hang out with our family.  We were so grateful for them taking time out of their busy schedule to come over.  George, Ben, and Kyle came by about 6 pm and Joey showed up a bit later.  They hung out with us for about 3 hours.  It was awesome!  Codi set everything up, so a big thanks to her.  Sohpia and Cassadi, her sisters, also came by.  

It was a great time!  We ate pizza, asked a lot of questions about the show, Caleb and Cully learned a dance move from the show from each of them, and we had a great time.  Caleb was floored!  He had no idea they were coming.  Caleb and Cully were totally surprised!  

Below are some pictures of our evening.  There are a lot, so enjoy them.   

Here they are from left to right:

Kyle, George, Ben and Joey.

Hanging out on the couch!

They signed a couple of pictures that we had printed!

Joey teaching his finger trick!

Caleb and Kyle!

Caleb and Ben!

Caleb and George!

They loved Caleb's room!

They gave Caleb one of their new watches that a local store made for them while they were on the show!  Total surprise and I was jealous for sure!

Codi and the boys!  Thanks again Codi for setting all this up!

Family shot!

Here is a video of the surprise!  Caleb was so shocked and overwhelmed that he cried!  It was amazing!  He saw them and said, "Oh my Gosh!" and almost shut the door on them. He gives Codi a big hug and really didn't know what to do.  Enjoy it!

Caleb was shocked for about 30 min.  He didn't really say much.  But, as the night went on, he warmed up.  When they started teaching him some dance moves, he really loosened up.  Then, towards the end, he broke out his dancing.  Here is Caleb and Cully dancing together for everyone!

All in all, it was a great night!  Caleb and Cully were surprised and we made some new friends!  The Elektrolytes are amazing guys!  They are down to earth and just great guys!  I appreciated their spirit and once again we feel like we gained friends tonight.  They talked about their faith and love of God and it was awesome!  He is the reason they dance!  What a great night!

Grace and Peace!

Back Home

No, this isn't a repeat of last nights post.  It is just the same news.

Caleb went in to see if he could start his last round of chemo.  Turns out, his counts were lower this week than they were last week.  I think they were 327.  So, we are all home tonight.

Tera and I are a bit frustrated to say the least.  We are ready to get this over with and start to move to the next step of getting beyond this.  But, here we are, taking it one step at a time.  It is crazy how all of this is happening, but we are trusting and believing in a God who is with us.  It isn't easy...honestly today it has been hard to see and feel Him but we believe that He is near.  When Tera texted me and told me (I was in a meeting) I almost lost it.  Why must this drag on?  Why must we keep waiting?  Why, why, why?

I wish I could answer what seems like to be a simple question.  But, I can't.

So, we will head back in next Thursday to see if his body can rebound this week.

The doctors are not concerned at all and say he is doing fine.  To them, this is very normal.  They keep reassuring us and letting us know that he is fine.  If he is fine, then why do we have to wait?

The doctors and nurses are amazing!  They have been great through this entire process.  God has used them in our lives to be a symbol of his presence, love and grace.  We are truly grateful for them in our lives and consider them true friends!

So, all in all it has been a truly frustrating day.  I wish I could give you good news, but I must tell the true story.

Cooper, Caleb's friend, also had a really bad day.  He had an allergic reaction to his chemo today and it got kind of scary.  The nurses did a great job and were right on it.  They helped him and I believe that He is doing ok.  However, due to this, he can no longer have that chemo and so they will now have to change his treatment.  Tera said that for a time they will have to go to clinic 3 times a week now to get a special kind of chemo.  Not fun and they could really use our prayers!

I hope that everyone had a good day!  God is good...not because he works out all the bad things in our lives but rather because he is with us in the midst of the bad times.  He doesn't allow us to journey alone but is with us through it all.

So, here is to another week of hoping and waiting to the next treatment!  I will keep you posted.

Grace and Peace

Back Home

Well, we made it home from Jr. High camp.  We got home this afternoon and I had meetings all afternoon at church.  Then, we had open gym tonight at church for the teens.  We played a few games of dodgeball and had a good time.

We wake up in the morning and head to the clinic.  Caleb has to be there at 11 am.  They will access his port, check his counts and we will see if he gets admitted for his last round or not.  We are praying for at least counts reaching 1000 and we would love more.  So, please pray with us as we continue to journey.  Our prayer is for grace no matter what the outcome.

Camp was good.  It was nice to "get out of the heat" for a few days.

So, we are hoping for a good nights sleep and wake up refreshed ready to face the day.

I will keep you posted tomorrow when we find out information.

Grace an Peace

Jr. High Camp

I love Jr. High Camp!  These past two days, we have been up in Prescott, AZ for Jr. High Camp.  The entire fam is here which is awesome.  We got here Monday and have to head home tomorrow.  It has been good for us to get away from hot PHX and be where it is a bit cooler.  It is weird to say 90 degrees feels good, but it is such a difference and we have enjoyed it!

Camp is camp...some things never change!  It has been good though  I have really connected with a few students whom I had never been able to connect with before and it has been a good time.  We head home tomorrow so that we can do some laundry and pack back up to head to the hospital on Thursday.

Jr. Highers are such an awesome and weird bunch of people.  They are going through so many changes that it seems they soak up any advice you have to offer.  We have had great group discussion times after the services and I really feel like they are hungry to grab onto something that will give their life meaning and worth in the midst of a culture that tries to sell them so many lies.  They ask amazing questions and seem to listen to each other as they discuss.  Of course, Jr. high boys are easily distracted and seem to be in another world each night, but I really feel like they are good kids.  God is using the speaker in a mighty way and I am praying that this week is a spiritual event that they can look back on during the hard times and remember that God is real and that He is faithful!  Of course we at Crossroads will be reminding them of that every chance that we get.  Pray for the students that when they get home it will not be too much of a let down and that they will realize that God lives in Chandler and wants to help them just as much as he does in Prescott.  Pray that when they literally and spiritually come off of the mountain that God will be there to meet them!

If Caleb's counts are where they need to be (1,000) on Thursday then we start his last round of chemo.  If not, we wait another week.  We are really praying for good counts.  It is so weird praying that your son gets put in the hospital, but in our case it means we are another step closer to being done.

Caleb seems to be ready as well.  Of course he really doesn't want to spend a week in the hospital, who does.  But, he seems to understand that it is the end and so he is ready to face it!

He seems to be feeling good.  We have hiked a bit, climbed on a few big rocks they have here, and just enjoyed being together.  It isn't vacation because I have been with students a lot, but it is a nice little get away for sure.

So, things are good!  We head back down to the valley and the heat tomorrow morning some time.  I have a few meetings tomorrow afternoon which will be good.

Thanks for all of your continued prayers.  I will keep you posted on how things are!

Grace and Peace

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the father's out there.  I know I said I was going to post daily and I have already missed two days.  Boy I am on a good streak.

Caleb has been doing relatively good.  He seems to be a bit punky (not real bad but not 100% either).  This makes him be in somewhat of a bad mood at times, but other than that he is ok.  Hopefully his body is continuing to rebound so that Thursday we are able to start his last round of chemo.  

After his last round, we will have to wait two weeks to get his final scans done.  So, at this point, that will be about mid July.  He will also have his bone marrow scanned one more time.  After we get the results back from those scans, if everything is still clear (which it should be) then we will schedule to get his port taken out.  That will be the last piece in everything.  

We are hoping for 4 days of good cells growing so we get all of this started.  

Tera and I are doing well.  We have been working on redecorating our bedroom.  Maybe I should say we have been working on decorating our room for the first time since we have been married.  It has been a lot of work but Tera is doing an awesome job.  It is looking really good.  Tera's mom has been sewing a lot of things for us including pillow covers, curtains and more.  

All in all, we are doing well.  Once again, we are just ready to get this last round of chemo started because that means we are one step closer to being done with everything that we have to do.  

Thanks again for all of your prayers!  We continue to feel them and know that God is with us every step of the way...including the frustrating hard times like we experienced last week.  

Once again, I am going to do better about posting.

Different than we thought

So....
We went in today to start our last round of chemo.  When we got there, everything went like it normally does.  We go in, get weight, temp and a few other vitals, go to our room, access his port, take blood and wait for his blood count to see if he can start chemo.  His counts need to be at least 1000 to start.  We waited around, got some otter pops, talked and did the normal stuff.

The nurse and doctor came back in and said, "We are sending you home."  We were like, "WHAT?"  Yep, his counts were 527...not high enough to start.  So, we are back home. 

Here is what happens...we wait till next week to try it all again.  They said there really isn't much that they can do to make his counts go up except wait.  His body just needs to produce some more blood that is good.  They said it is totally normal for this to happen.  In fact, when we told them it was our first time, they said that is not very normal at all.  After 3 rounds of chemo, it is just taking his body a bit longer to rebound. 

So, we wait another week.  We will head back in next Thursday and start the process all over again. 

Honestly, it was a little frustrating.  We had our bags packed, loaded, ready to go.  We even had our pet fish with us ready for the week.  But, it will happen a bit differently than we expected.  It is hard to get your mind to think through one thing and then have it changed so quickly.  Also, we had been making plans for the next several weeks and all of a sudden that changes as well.  Just goes to show that you have to always be ready for anything and sometimes the unexpected will happen. 

On a few different notes...our favorite dance crew The Elektrolytes killed it and won ABDC Season 7 last night!  We are so excited for them and we all cheered very loudly (especially Jana Starner...we were priveledged to watch the finale with the Starner clan)!

I have been missing blogging...so I am going to make it a practice to post something daily.  So much has been happening and it has been hard to find time to blog, but I need to do it for myself.  So, if no one or everyone reads it, expect to see more on this blog in the days ahead.

Thanks again for all of you prayers.  Pray for blood counts to grow this week and we will be ready for our last round next week!

Grace and Peace

June 6th, 2012

Hello to all!  Thing s have been really busy but life is good.  Caleb is doing well and doing just about anything he wants to do.  Every now and then, he feels like he has a urinary track infection.  This causes him some discomfort but it seems that if we can keep him busy and not thinking about it, it either goes away or doesn't hurt anymore.  But that is a prayer request for sure.

Tomorrow, we have our regularly scheduled clinic visit.  Tera is actually taking him to the clinic.  I have a meeting in the morning.  It should be pretty routine...go in, check blood, and hopefully say, "see you next week for our last round of chemo."  However, anything can happen and so we are praying for an easy trip to the clinic. 

Other than that, I have been working a ton!  It has all been good but just busy! 

We are still celebrating remission!  We will be planning a party soon after we get final scans done and port out to really celebrate.  Caleb has an idea of what he wants to do...we are thinking hip hop dance party like no other complete with DJ and a couple of dance crews.  So, once we have a little more information, we will let everyone know the date and time so that those who are able can join us. 

Our church has Vacation Bible School this week and both boys are able to enjoy it.  It has been a good time for Caleb to be with his friends and be normal. 

I spoke, with my friend Jeff Gokee, last night at a gathering called PHX 1, which is a gathering for young professionals.  They do not claim to be the church, but they want to provide a place for young professionals to be able to gather, worship together and have community together.  They meet twice a month and last night was the first time I was able to attend.  It was a great time.  The topic was suffering and we both shared our stories about what it was like to experience what we were experiecning.  I was gratful for the opportunity and I hope that God used me.  Jeff runs the ministry and does a great job.  They meet in an awesome old church in downtown PHX.  I took a few pictures and will post a few a little bit later.  they had about 700-800 people there and they rocked the place out. 

The coolest parts was this...Caleb and Cooper have the same nurse in the clinic, Amanda, as well as same child life person, Jaimie.  Another person who works there, she is dietian and someone else that works at the clinic (I am so sorry, I can't remember the name) heard that we were speaking on that topic and sharing our stories.  So, we didn't know but all four of them were there last night.  I was so overwhelmed and it was great to see them and talk with them.  They have been such a blessing to both of our families and I can't tell you how happy I was to see them!  We really feel like they are a part of our life now! 

So, it was a fun night! 

Life is busy but good!  Thanks to all for your continued prayers!  I willl try and do a better job of posting. 

Grace and Peace!

May 31st, 2012

Today was his LP (which it is probably his 7th or 8th one) and he seems to get worse at waking up as we go along rather than better.  He was a beast today!  He was screaming and yelling and it just was not good.  It is so hard because he is obviously under such strong medicine so it alters his rational side.  Yet, there comes a point where he knows what he is doing as well ane too bad.  he tends to not be nice.  So, it is hard trying to find the balance of when to be strong and when to let up a bit while he is coming off the medication.

After we made it back to the room, he slept for a bit and it seemed to help.  He had a pretty good afternoon but and seems to be doing ok.  This chemo is really hard on him and really makes him not feel good. 

Tomorrow, he should finish his chemo around 11 am.  After that, he will get ready for a blood transfusion.  His hemaglobin is a little low so they are getting his body ready to come home.  After that, we will be heading home for a couple of weeks.  He should start his blood transfusion around 12.  It takes a couple of hours.  We should not have to wait around too long after he is done but hopefully will be able to leave. 

It is a very busy weekend.  District Assembly is at our church this weekend, i have a parent meeting Saturday night, and we have interviews for a trip this summer Sunday afternoon.  It will be busy. 

Next week should not be too bad.  I will have work and VBS is happening at our church this week.  That will be fun for Caleb and Cully to be a part of.   I am also speaking at a young professionals gathering on Tuesday evening with Jeff Gokee this week.  We are talking about suffering and where we have seen Jesus in the midst of our suffering.  It should be alot of fun and I am really looking forward to it!

I will keep you posted on our day tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be smooth and hopefully he will have no more side effects!

Grace and Peace