More good news than bad this time:
Gary's tumor count (tracks the cancer activity) is now down to 57!!! It started out at 693 on Dec.21st!!!
The target number is 40, so he is getting very close. This shows very positively that the cancer is not spreading. What we still do not know is if the tumor is pulling away from the artery, and we will not know that until we go to St Louis May 18th.
Gary has had several good days since last Friday (April 22nd). His pain has subsided enough that he has reduced the pain meds he is taking. He did not sleep quite as much and started to get a little sassy (this is good!!). Unfortunately, he had a chemo treatment this morning, so he will be set back for a few days.
For the best news: Gary's birthday was yesterday...68 years young!!! Next one he will celebrate will the 69!!!
Last Sunday, April 17th, Bolivar High School sponsored an alumni game for Relay for Life, in honor of Gary. About 30 girls came to play, & several of his former players (boy's teams) from Pleasant Hope, Jasper and Gravette, AR came to just be there. Several members of his family were there also.
Gary was very surprised and elated to see everybody. After the game was over (which included our daughters Dawn and Brandi, and daughter-in-law Lea Ann) they all got in the middle of the floor in a circle and had Gary get out there with them. They circled their arms and said a prayer. What a moment!!! The whole afternoon was very fun and emotional.
Again, thank you for your prayers, phone calls, visits, cards, etc.......
Until next time...... Jannis
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Update April 12, 2011
Since the last blog, this has been Gary's situation:
First the good things:
All we can do now is keep following the doctors orders and hope for good news in May from the doctor in St Louis. We will whip the cancer first then the leaking heart valve.
Thank you for your continued prayers. Also, we have seen such amazing support from family and friends. They have brought us meals, shopped for groceries for me, cleaned up our yard, built the frame of a barn, spent many hours visiting with Gary in peson and on the phone, sent numberous cards. Tax season will be over next week, so I will be able to take over the grocery shopping and preparing meals.
Till later...... Jannis
First the good things:
- He has gained four pounds....2 lbs in each of the last two weeks!!!
- He has been to his shop for about 30 minutes at a time for several days!!!
- He spent all day this past Saturday lying in a lounge chair watching friends help build the frame for a storage barn that he had started last fall!!!
- He still has stomach pains and had to add Tylenol to his current medication (the Fentanyl patch 100 mg and Oxycod 5 mg)
- He still sleeps a lot
- He still has trouble with the taste of some of his favorite foods
All we can do now is keep following the doctors orders and hope for good news in May from the doctor in St Louis. We will whip the cancer first then the leaking heart valve.
Thank you for your continued prayers. Also, we have seen such amazing support from family and friends. They have brought us meals, shopped for groceries for me, cleaned up our yard, built the frame of a barn, spent many hours visiting with Gary in peson and on the phone, sent numberous cards. Tax season will be over next week, so I will be able to take over the grocery shopping and preparing meals.
Till later...... Jannis
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Update March 29th
Gary is showing signs of improvement, at least in his energy level. He is eating good and getting a little more energy every day. He is in his second round of chemo treatments on Mondays only. One more week then he will be off a week.
Dr Anderson from Barnes in St Louis called us last Wednesday, March 23rd, and said he wanted Gary to come up for another CT Scan in 2 months. He had talked with Dr Leo in Bolivar and was happy with the treatments Dr Leo has planned for Gary. Dr Anderson is going to consult with other oncologists who are in charge of clinical trials to see if Gary would qualify for one. If so, we should hear from the oncologists. For now, we have not heard anything from them.
We continue to take one day at a time. We are thankful for at least one full week of normalcy (?) without any sudden pain attacks, nausea, etc. We are so thankful for the prayers. The doctors need all the help they can get.
Jannis
Dr Anderson from Barnes in St Louis called us last Wednesday, March 23rd, and said he wanted Gary to come up for another CT Scan in 2 months. He had talked with Dr Leo in Bolivar and was happy with the treatments Dr Leo has planned for Gary. Dr Anderson is going to consult with other oncologists who are in charge of clinical trials to see if Gary would qualify for one. If so, we should hear from the oncologists. For now, we have not heard anything from them.
We continue to take one day at a time. We are thankful for at least one full week of normalcy (?) without any sudden pain attacks, nausea, etc. We are so thankful for the prayers. The doctors need all the help they can get.
Jannis
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Update March 15th
There have been some changes since the last update. We thought we were going to St Louis tomorrow for a CT Scan on Thursday; however, we ended up going to St Louis last week on Thursday and had the CT Scan on Friday. Dr Anderson at Barnes was concerned about Gary's sudden pain and problems with the stint, so he didn't want to wait another week.
The news was not what we wanted to hear. The tumor has not pulled away from the artery and is possibly a little larger around it which means that the treatments have not worked like they needed to so far. Dr Anderson said that radiation continues to work for 7-8 weeks after the treatment stops and it has only been 3 weeks since the radiation treaments ended. Needless to say, we were very disappointed and somewhat depressed, but after a couple of days, we are back in the saddle and thinking positive. The positive results are that the cancer still has not spread to other organs.
Dr Anderson is now in the planning stage of consulting with other doctors (who are in charge of clinical trials) and Dr Leo (our oncologist here in Bolivar) to see what the next stage of treatments will be. We have not heard from him yet and it may be next week before we hear from him. As for now, Dr Leo is going to start chemo treatments again next week on Mondays for 3 weeks then off one week. These treatments should be much easier for Gary to handle because they will just be one treatment a week. That all may change after we hear from Dr Anderson.
Gary is feeling better, eating better, getting some energy back and gained 2 pounds this past week!! We try to stay as positive as possible, but sometimes that is hard to do because of all the negative issues about pancreatic cancer. We ask for your continued prayers and support. It means a great deal to both of us and to our children. I will post again after we know something for sure about what will be next for us.
Jannis
The news was not what we wanted to hear. The tumor has not pulled away from the artery and is possibly a little larger around it which means that the treatments have not worked like they needed to so far. Dr Anderson said that radiation continues to work for 7-8 weeks after the treatment stops and it has only been 3 weeks since the radiation treaments ended. Needless to say, we were very disappointed and somewhat depressed, but after a couple of days, we are back in the saddle and thinking positive. The positive results are that the cancer still has not spread to other organs.
Dr Anderson is now in the planning stage of consulting with other doctors (who are in charge of clinical trials) and Dr Leo (our oncologist here in Bolivar) to see what the next stage of treatments will be. We have not heard from him yet and it may be next week before we hear from him. As for now, Dr Leo is going to start chemo treatments again next week on Mondays for 3 weeks then off one week. These treatments should be much easier for Gary to handle because they will just be one treatment a week. That all may change after we hear from Dr Anderson.
Gary is feeling better, eating better, getting some energy back and gained 2 pounds this past week!! We try to stay as positive as possible, but sometimes that is hard to do because of all the negative issues about pancreatic cancer. We ask for your continued prayers and support. It means a great deal to both of us and to our children. I will post again after we know something for sure about what will be next for us.
Jannis
Monday, March 7, 2011
Update March 7th
The tumor count is continuing to go down!! It is now 134 and started at 693 in December. 40 is the magic number, but I can't tell you why or what it means. They took blood tests today, but we will not know the results of the tumor count until next week. The other tests all came back looking good. Also, next Thursday, March 17th, is when Gary has another CT Scan and meets with Dr Anderson. We will go up to St Louis on Wednesday because the CT Scan is at 8:00 am Thursday. I will probably not post another update until after we go to St Louis on the 17th.
Jannis
Jannis
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Update March 5th
I was going to wait until Monday, March 7th, to post another update because that is when they test for his tumor count again; however, this past week was not so good so I decided to post today.
Sunday night, after the tornado winds came through, Gary started having severe stomach pains about midnight. At 5:00 am Monday, he woke me up and said he was going to the emergency room because he couldn't stand the pain anymore ( I had no idea he was in pain until he woke me up). He would not wait on me to get ready. When I got there he had already been given some pain medication and was feeling better. After a couple of hours, we brought him home and I went back to work. At noon, he called me and said the pain was coming back, so I went and picked him up and took him to Dr Leo, his cancer doctor in Bolivar. They gave him some treatments (I don't remember what they gave him) and after a few hours he was feeling better and I took him home. He felt better Tuesday and even went to our granddaughter's ballgame, visited with several friends and joked all evening with them.
Wednesday evening he started feeling the pain again, so back to the emergency room we went. He looked jaundice. The tests they ran showed his bile not getting where it was supposed to, so in a consultation with Dr Leo, the decision was made to go back to Cox South in Springfield and have his stint in his bile duct replaced. They kept him at CMH until a room could be opened up at Cox. Thursday afternoon, they transported him to Cox. Friday morning, Dr Ramsey replaced the plastic stint with a permanent stint. Gary was released about 6:00 Friday evening and back home.
Dr Ramsey said that this is fairly common and that it was not anything that Gary did or ate to cause the stint to become blocked. The permanent stint could possibly become clogged also, but it shouldn't happen sooner than a year or so. Gary has to follow a low fat and low cholesterol diet for now.
This morning, Saturday, Gary is tired and in a little pain, but it is tolerable.
I will post another update Monday after we get his tumor count.
Jannis
Sunday night, after the tornado winds came through, Gary started having severe stomach pains about midnight. At 5:00 am Monday, he woke me up and said he was going to the emergency room because he couldn't stand the pain anymore ( I had no idea he was in pain until he woke me up). He would not wait on me to get ready. When I got there he had already been given some pain medication and was feeling better. After a couple of hours, we brought him home and I went back to work. At noon, he called me and said the pain was coming back, so I went and picked him up and took him to Dr Leo, his cancer doctor in Bolivar. They gave him some treatments (I don't remember what they gave him) and after a few hours he was feeling better and I took him home. He felt better Tuesday and even went to our granddaughter's ballgame, visited with several friends and joked all evening with them.
Wednesday evening he started feeling the pain again, so back to the emergency room we went. He looked jaundice. The tests they ran showed his bile not getting where it was supposed to, so in a consultation with Dr Leo, the decision was made to go back to Cox South in Springfield and have his stint in his bile duct replaced. They kept him at CMH until a room could be opened up at Cox. Thursday afternoon, they transported him to Cox. Friday morning, Dr Ramsey replaced the plastic stint with a permanent stint. Gary was released about 6:00 Friday evening and back home.
Dr Ramsey said that this is fairly common and that it was not anything that Gary did or ate to cause the stint to become blocked. The permanent stint could possibly become clogged also, but it shouldn't happen sooner than a year or so. Gary has to follow a low fat and low cholesterol diet for now.
This morning, Saturday, Gary is tired and in a little pain, but it is tolerable.
I will post another update Monday after we get his tumor count.
Jannis
Monday, February 21, 2011
Update February 21st
Just a quick update. Gary had a follow-up visit with Dr Leo today and lost another pound, but he was not too concerned. He said that all of Gary's treatments have been targeting his stomach area, and the small intestine is right in the middle of it, so it has been hit hard. The small intestine is what absorbs the nutrients so it hasn't been able to do its job too well. Dr Leo really thinks that things are ready to turn around as far as weight gain goes.
Gary's nausea is gone... he is eating better.... food tastes better...he is more alert....he doesn't lie in bed all day.... Life is getting better. He even walked around an island in our kitchen and up and down the stairs 5 times today. What a triumph!!!!
He doesn't go back to Dr Leo for two more weeks at which time his tumor count will be rechecked. We are anxious for that day. Then to St Louis for the big test on March 17th!!!.
Jannis
Gary's nausea is gone... he is eating better.... food tastes better...he is more alert....he doesn't lie in bed all day.... Life is getting better. He even walked around an island in our kitchen and up and down the stairs 5 times today. What a triumph!!!!
He doesn't go back to Dr Leo for two more weeks at which time his tumor count will be rechecked. We are anxious for that day. Then to St Louis for the big test on March 17th!!!.
Jannis
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