Distraction

I'm supposed to be studying. I have been out of school for 2 years and I forgot how easy it is to get distracted. Never the less, I'm going to allow myself a couple minutes of distraction to update everyone!

It has been a rough week and an even rougher weekend. Then chemo hit Drew pretty hard this round. It hit him sooner in the week and so far has lasted longer. Today (Tuesday) he felt slightly better so we are hoping that he is turning a corner and will start being able to eat normal foods and keep them down. He spends most of his time on the couch napping or watching TV. Even with the medication switch it is still a pretty rotten weekend. It helps knowing that hopefully that we will only have one more crazy rough week. We are looking forward to lives getting back to normal and Drew is looking forward to eating normally again. He is making a list of foods that he is going to devour once his appetite is back... Fricano's, Russ' Taco salad, root beer floats etc.. He has lost 10 pounds from the beginning of this cycle of chemo so he is looking forward to packing those pounds back on! Speaking of good food...

I'm getting very excited for Thanksgiving. For those who know me, they know that Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays. The delicious food, bowling (my entire Hoogland side of the family heads to Zeeland lanes for a game) and family time together. I don't know what our plan is for this year, depending on how Drew is doing but I still look forward to taking a day to slow down and be thankful for everything that God has provided. This year we have LOTS to be thankful for... Amazing family, great friends, to be living in a time where cancer is treatable and curable, an entertaining kitty, jobs, freedom and a God who loves us dearly and has a plan for us. So in case I don't have time to update again before Thanksgiving, I hope everyone has an amazing Turkey day!

Round two and great news!

Round two has begun. It started with a appointment with the doctor on Monday morning before the chemo started. He said that everything looks good and we talked with him about 3 or 4 rounds of chemo. He said that we would for sure do the 3 rounds and then do a CT scan and lab draw and see what shows up and go from there. We are really hoping for 3 rounds!. They also drew some lab work on Monday. Every week they draw a CBC (Complete Blood Count) which shows his platelets, hemoglobin, and White blood count, which were all really low last week and have all come back to normal limits this week. They expect this to happen each round- the last week of the cycle all those counts will most likely drop and hopefully come back up before the new cycle starts. At the beginning of each new cycle of chemo they also are going to draw a BCHEM and tumor markers. His BCHEM, which is all electrolytes: potassium, sodium etc, all look really good. On to the tumor markers... (Drum roll please) both labs that they drew went down TREMENDOUSLY! The AFP which was around 600 when he was diagnosed, and then 300 after his surgery is now down to 59.6! His BHCG level was around 9 when he was diagnose, down to 6 after the surgery and is now at <0.1!!! We are super excited about this because hopefully this means that even though the chemo is tough, it is doing its job and killing all those pesky cancer cells!
On to the actual chemo report, Drew has been tolerating the chemo. Again, it makes him very exhausted and nauseated with decreased appetite but we did have his nausea medications changed around for this cycle and seems to be working better than the other medication. We are praying that this weekend will not be as difficult as the previous end of the tough week was for him and with minimal side effects!
Thank you so much for everyone's thoughts and prayers, it is really amazing to feel such love surrounding us.

Medical talk

We have officially started the 3rd week of treatment. It is the last week of the first cycle. We still are not sure if Drew will have 3 or 4 cycles. Today, we headed into the Hem/Onc Center for another short treatment. The nurse drew labs off his port. She notified us the Drew's white count, Hemoglobin and platelets had taken a pretty significant drop. His white count had taken the biggest hit, which means his is highly susceptible to infection.We have to ask that if you are sick or have sick little ones that you keep your distance from Drew as he is unable to fight any kind of infection. The other two labs, the Hemoglobin- dropped as well but not as much as the white count, this could manifest itself with increased fatigue but nothing too significant. The lowered platelets can increase bleeding but they aren't at a crazy low level so we just have to be aware that it is a possibility. That's about it for the medical talk. :)

This weekend was a good one, it started on Friday night going out with family. I went out with my two sisters to CityVu Bistro for dinner and then headed to New Holland to listen to the live band and drinks. Drew headed out with Austin and Brad (brothers in law) for buffalo wild wings for dinner. It was a great time getting out of the house and hanging out with the Family Thanks guys for the girls/guys night out!

Thanks again to everyone for the love and support. We have the best family, friends and co-workers!!
We love you all!!

Recap

I've been meaning to update sooner than this but I just haven't had the time and work on it so here it is. This week has had a lot of ups and downs. Last week we went to chemotherapy everyday from around 8:30am til anywhere between 1:30-3:30pm. It depended who our nurse was and how fast they felt they could run the fluids and the chemotherapy. On Monday thru thursday we went to the holland office, it was was nice that we are able to have our own room. On Friday theholland office is closed, so we headed out to Grand Rapids. It was a really amazing facility, with really beautiful layout and artwork. When we are there we are in our own little cubicle and are able to talk with people around us.
It was reallly interesting how people with cancer really bond when you in a place like the chemotherapy treatment facility. We had a nice older couple sitting next to us who was just diagnosed. We talked with them a bit and told our "story" and they shared their story. It was really nice.
Through the whole week Drew was really exhausted. Most days Drew would come home and go to the couch and feel pretty crappy. This weekend was by far the worst both with nausea and exhaustion. He has started to feel much better these last couple days, even been able to go into work and hang out on tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully he will continue feeling good and able to get out and keep food down.
Thanks to everyone who has sent cards, messages, gift cards, and brought meals. We are eternally grateful to everyone who has been praying for us.

Sporting a new Look

Drew is officially sporting a new look. He decided that he wasnt going to wait for his hair to fall out, he was going to take matters into his own hands and cut his hair short now. We decided to go for a "Puck" look.  For those of you who don't watch Glee- here was our inspiration:

Before

During

After

Reality

Reality set in today when we walked up to Cancer and Hematology Center of West Michigan to get Drew's first dose of chemotherapy. We got to the building around 8:30am and luckily got a private room. Its a first come, first serve basis whether you get a private room or sit in the large "group" therapy room. Since we were going to be there for 8 ,we were really hoping for a private.
We arrived and our nurse for the day came in and took a look at Drew's new snazzy port and took off all the dressings. She was kind enough to put some numbing spray on the skin so it wasn't TOO bad putting the needle in place. She hooked Drew up to some fluid with different electrolytes to help protect his kidneys before she started the actual chemo, that lasted around 3 and a half hours. Then they gave him some medication to prevent nausea and to help relax him through the process. Then came the big guns. He is getting a triple threat of chemo drugs. Each drug took about an hour to infuse. After all that was in, he was disconnected and his port was flushed. He is able to keep the needle in place all week so he wont have to be continually poked and prodded. He's pretty excited about that.
From someone who barely takes a Tylenol, having 9 different fluids/medications in your body at one time is really crazy. He did pretty well through the treatment, he was a little tired from the relaxation medication. Right now he says he still is pretty tired and his stomach is a little "off" but overall doing pretty well.

Thanks again for everyone who is praying for us, we truly felt lifted up today.

Our "fancy" treatment room

Drew attacking cancer with full force!

Port Placement and Indiana

I'm back! Thanks to Lindsey for setting up the meal planner. We are so grateful for everyone who signed up.

This week has been crazy busy for Drew and I. It started with our Dr. appointment with the oncologist. I worked the next three nights and Drew even had the opportunity to go into work for a day. Then Thursday afternoon we headed back to Holland Hospital to have Drew's port placed.

He was in the procedure room for about 45 minutes and then went for a chest x-ray afterwards to make sure the placement was right. Everything went really well, and we were able to leave shortly after he ate something.  He is a little sore in his right chest/shoulder. After we left the hospital, we headed home and I packed up the car and we were on our way to Indianapolis.

We arrived in Indy late around 9:00pm and we were so blessed that my brother in law's parents live close to Indy and let us stay with them for the night. Thank you SO much Iversons!

 We woke up and headed to IU

It was a really beautiful campus and building. We waited for a while to see Dr. Foster. He was really personable and talked with us about what he thought was the best option for Drew. He agrees that chemo is the way to go. He confirmed everything the oncologist in Holland said. 3-4 rounds of chemo then we will have another CT scan  and lab work to see how the tumor in the abdomen responded. If it looks that the chemo did its job and the tumor is gone, that will be the end of it and we will just have check ups to make sure that is isn't going come back. BUT if there is still signs of the tumor, we will have to head back to IU and Dr. Foster will have to perform a surgery to remove the tumor. It was good to be able to talk with someone who has dealt with testicular cancer on a more regular basis and hear is opinions and confidence in the success rate of treatment.

So the plan is to start chemo at 8:45am on Monday for 8 hours each day this week and then two weeks of shorter visit once a week and the cycle will repeat 3-4 times depending on how the doctor feels he is doing.

After the appointment we headed to a little area called Broad Ripple and sat down for a lunch. Afterwards, we headed to a  park on the way home called Holliday Park. We did a little hiking through the woods and took a couple pictures :) 

It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a walk in the woods

There was a large piece of "ruins" in the middle of the park

Random statue in the park

Drew's Statue

My Statue



More of the ruins





Thanks:

To all those who have sent the message, calls, and letters.

To the girls at work who have been so amazing at switching and covering shifts for me!

YOU ARE THE BEST!

To all those who are praying for us, we can feel the love.

To all those who have signed up to bring meals.

Verses

 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind (Job 12:10)

But they that wait upon the Load shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with Wings as Eagles: they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Have I not commanded you? Be Strong and Courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you whereever you go (Joshua 1:9)

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. (Ephesians 6:10)

My soul is weary with sorrow: strengthen me according to your word.(Psalms 119:28)

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Prayers:

for minimal side effects from the chemo

for the chemo to do its job and the tumor will shrink completely

for strength and patience

for our family and friends who have been so amazing and supportive