DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?

At Peace.

2011-07-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

After a long 16 year battle with cancer, Chris Ellis is finally resting peacefully and is in a much better place.

Today at 2:15 she took her last breath surrounded by her family. She went quickly and peacefully and in true Chris style everything was perfect and everyone was taken care of in a way that was perfect for them. She had an obvious plan.

As crazy as it sounds, just a few minutes after she passed she got a smile on her face. Her energy was everywhere, and it was an extremely healing experience for the family.

We will post once funeral arrangements have been made, but we are so grateful for your prayers and kind words over the last while and want you to know that it has been very comforting.

Update

2011-07-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

The doctor came today. She said that she is a very strong woman, her heart and oxygen are strong, but her body is shutting down. She is no longer getting out of bed or speaking. She is not really waking up much anymore.

She said that she is at extreme peace, especially for someone her age, so we were happy to hear that.

She told us that she will likely pass within a few days.

Thanks again for all of your love and support.

Resting Peacefully

2011-07-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Right now she is at home and resting. We are trying to keep her comfortable and she seems like she is not in pain. She is starting to show signs that she is slipping away, but of course she keeps fighting. Today we went and made funeral arrangements and picked out the perfect casket for her. Honestly, if she would have been there we know she would have went straight to that one. I think she will be glad that me and Brooke were there to pick it because my Dad liked a granny one and a blue one called "mystic blue" which we named big blue, and she would have hated them both. The woman has style, you have to give her that.

She is unable to say much but she is smiling a lot, especaially for the kids. She can't really walk around anymore and is pretty weak and has managed to get even skinnier.

She is surrounded by loving people and we are amazed at how kind everyone has been to our family.

Doctor visit

2011-07-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Went to the doctor today.

He said there is nothing more he can do for her at this time.

We are going to take it a day at a time, but don't be surprised if she pulls through!

She is a tough cookie!

We are going to get her hooked up to an IV at home and hopefully she will get stronger and a little fatter!

Time will tell. Think positive thoughts.

Not doing so well

2011-06-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

Things aren't going too well. She seems to be getting a little worse each day. Please send your prayers her way!

Hangin in there!

2011-06-23T12:55:00.001-07:00

Not MUCH new to report. She is just kind of hanging in there and doing her thing! Right now she is not having any treatments, but she does have a lot of pain and spends the majority of her day resting.

She liver function is not great and she is getting her abdomen drained every couple of weeks. In fact she went this morning.

I wish I had more to report, but I am glad that I don't.

Thanks everyone for thinking of her and praying for her. It helps!

surgery a no go...

2011-05-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was supposed to be another round of chemo in the liver. She went the night before and got her MRI and then I took her to Huntsman for the scheduled procedure. When we got there they didn't have her scheduled, which was weird, but she hadn't had bloodwork yet, so we figured it was cause of that.

I left her there (carpool) and as soon as I got home she called me to come and get her. The doctor decided to wait on it until June... we think he had plans or something (Doctors+Huntsman=frustration) and wanted to push it off.

So for now she gets to keep feeling good and enjoy the nice Spring weather. She will go back the first week of June for another treatment, and this could be done every few months to treat her liver.

Doing really well!

2011-05-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

This was taken on April 30th at Carsons babtism. She is feeling really good and trying to decide if she wants to do another round of chemo.

More liver chemo

2011-04-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday she was back up at Huntsman for another round of chemo in her liver. The surgery was quick and went really well.

Hopefully this will be the last time she has to do this, but if not it really isn't too bad. I guess that is coming from me, she probably would disagree, but I just mean compared to some of the other things she has had to do!

She is now feeling great. She has been awake all day today, and believe me that is a huge deal!

Watch for her around town, you might even start to see her with some hair soon! WOO HOO!

Test results

2011-03-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

Last night a CT scan was performed on her liver. It looks like the previous chemo that was put in did not get all of the cancer. It did get some, which is good, but he would like to go in again and place some more in the spots that still have tumor and try to shut off the blood supply to those spots.

He said that her liver does not have defined tumors but more just cancer all around and that is why it is harder to get it all at once.

Luckily her liver function is good enough to perform this surgery. It is scheduled for 4/7, but it might happen sooner!

Surgery success

2011-02-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

The surgery was a huge success.

We arrived at the hospital at 11:30 and got right into a room. This would be the room that we would wait in for about three hours. They were finally able to get her IV in, and she was pumped full of drugs.

While we waited the doctor came in to talk to us. He told us that all of her labs were normal. NORMAL!! That means that her liver is functioning at a completely normal level, a huge surprise. He briefly explained what he was going to do. It went something like this:

I (the coolest doctor ever) am going to go in through your main artery in your femur and I will go up into your liver. Then we will assess what is going on in there and place the chemotherapy right by the cancer. This will possibly be repeated on the other side of the liver in 5 weeks. Oh and did I mention how amazing I am? No really the first impression wasn't the best but she really does like him now. She said he is really nice.

They finally came and took her back. We expected the procedure to take 45 minutes because that is what she was told at some point. After a couple hours we started to panic a little and I went and asked someone if they knew how long this procedure takes. They looked it up and said 4 hours!

So we waited.

They finally called us and told us that she was out and in her room. We went and found her and she looked great. She was wide awake during the whole procedure and said it wasn't too bad. She did have to lay on the cold metal table for about an hour before they even started, so that is nasty!

She had great news. She said that the doctor got into her liver and said that there wasn't even very much cancer in there. Crazy! It was great news.

She had to stay in the hospital overnight because she needed to lay completely flat. If her artery opened up she would bleed out really quickly, so it was important that she didn't move.

Things look really good. She has this amazing body that just wants to heal, and an amazing spirit that just wants to fight. It is making for a great combination.

Merry Chrsitmas to us!

2010-12-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Great NEWS!

The Doctor just called and her test results look AMAZING! Her liver function has improved a ton, way more than we could have hoped for. What a great Christmas gift!

Tomorrow she is going to the Huntsman Center to see what options they have for her. Cross your fingers!

Doing great!

2010-12-10T12:47:00.001-08:00

She is feeling so wonderful. She is happy, energetic, and so excited to leave for Arizona this weekend. She is for sure loving life!

On a side note I am loving myself becuase I just figured out how to make it so that you could have these updates sent STRAIGHT to your email, just incase you are more of an email person than a blog person. Just type your email address in the box right over there ---------------------------> and BAM, you will start to get the emails.

Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, and of course shout it from the rooftops. Chris is feeling great and her daughter is kind of a genuis!

Test Results

2010-12-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Test results came in yesterday and it looks like everything has gotten a little worse.

On the brightside she feels great and has tons of energy! They are leaving Sunday for sunny Arizona. Her liver is totally excited for that sun, I just know it!

We are looking forward to a very Merry Christams.

Doc visit

2010-11-23T11:19:00.001-08:00

Today is the :LAST: day of radiation. Horray! It has really seemed to do the trick too, her brain is functioning better than ever...

The doctor visit was uneventful. He basically told her to keep on resting and get stronger. He didn't do any blood work this time, but will next time.

For now the plan is to take a break from Chemo! That will be really nice for the holidays.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will. We have lots to be thankful for.

Update

2010-11-19T17:01:00.000-08:00

Still improving. Just two more days of radiation to go! WOO HOO!

She has had Zak visiting for the last few days and has been loving his company and his cooking!

She goes to the doctor on Monday so I will post any news after that!

Thanks everyone, you are all so kind!

Great Day!

2010-11-16T20:18:00.001-08:00

Today was a great day.

She went to radiation and walked from the car to the hospital... uphill...

She even let Brooke take her out to lunch.

Zak arrived and brought lots of happiness.

Mom told Zak she is coming to visit him in Arizona in December. She will.

She is speaking clearly, making sense, and doing do much better.

We believe in miracles.

Todays lesson: Do not let a doctor determine your fate. Have a will to live. You decide, it's up to you!

Almost a week ago...

2010-11-15T17:36:00.001-08:00

2010-11-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

From *

I think the new name for cancer should be... rollercoaster... honestyly that is what cancer is to the family and the patient, a rollercoaster of emotions, information, and day to day battles. It is so amazing how from one day to the next things can change so drastically!

I never updated the blog yesterday, I think because my brain was fried. Honestly by the time I got home I didn't even know what day it was. Our morning started off with some very bad news that her liver function was worsening, and the news was not well received by anyone, especially my Mom. Well, okay not by anyone. I have to say that our morning was hard.

From *

She was so excited to have some fun visitors, especially our sister Jenny and our GIANT nephews Brock and Jon. It was so amazing to see them and it really lifted her spirits.

From *

Amy came to visit from Arizona, and it was a good thing. My Mom had an adverse reaction from her sleeping pill the night before and was up all night going crazy. She was arguing with the nurses saying that she was at a credit union seeing Amy and they needed to let her leave. She also said they trapped her in a hotel and wouldn't let her out. She called Brooke at one in the morning ("HI! What ya doing?") and the nurse called my Dad at 4:30. They said she would get really mad at them saying that they had to let her out and then she would just smile. She didn't want to be rude. So funny. Well not, but we are laughing about it now.

From *

We got her to go on a little walk down that hall which was huge (okay I made her and she was angry but she liked it) and she eats and loves her food. She has gained over 20 pounds since Wednesday (which is possibly fluid retention which is not good, but hopefully that will fix itself) and she is loving telling us stories, which we like hearing since they are so imaginative!

From *

She wanted to have a sleepover last night so Brooke was the lucky one. In the middle of the night the nurse came in to check her vitals and she told them to hold on. She then reaches over to Brookes foot and tickles it and says "tickle tickle" and then turns back to the nurse and gives her the okay to talke vitals. First things first she says! Brooke needs a nap today!

This morning the doctor came in and said that he liver funtion is IMPROVING and that she looks SO much better today. She is going home right after her radiation.

From *

Good day

2010-11-13T20:45:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day. She had lots of joking around to do, and even walked down the hall. She is loving food, drinking, and seems to be reacting well to her radiation therapy.

If only I knew how to work my new computer and wasn't so tired I would have some great pictures to post.

Maybe tomorrow.

Update

2010-11-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

First let me thank everyone for how extremely kind and thoughful they have been these last few days. It really means a lot to our family and to Mom.

Today was a rollercoaster of a day, and one we would not like to ever have to repeat, but at the end of the crazy day here is what we know:

Her cancer has now spread to her brain. She has two spots on her frontal lobes which explains a lot about her confusion and hollucinations. They are going to do ten days (in a row) of radiation on her entire brain which should help hold the cancer off for a while, her first dose happened today. It will not get better, but hopefull give her a few months without growth. We chose to do this because it doesn't really have any harmful side effects and if we didn't do it she would basically not make it very long, or even know who we are or what is going on. It seemed like the right thing to do.

As far as her liver goes it is not functioning well either. Basically it has lots of cancer in it.

I wish I knew more or knew what the next little while holds but I don't. I do know that she is a fighter. She was diagnosed with breat cancer fifteen years ago (15!) and has managed to fight this long. Last year at this time she was as close to death as is humanlly possible and make a near complete comeback, so anything is possible. Postive thinking is huge!

So again, keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Let's hope that they find a cure for this STUPID thing soon.

I will update later.

In hospital.

2010-11-11T12:25:00.001-08:00

She was admitted to the hospital last night. She has had a rough few weeks with some bad side effects from chemo and some bad side effects from medication.

She could not keep any food in her and is down to 103 pounds with lots of clothing on. She was severly dehydrated and it took a long (long, long) time to get an I.V. in here, but she is now getting the liquids and potassium that her body needs.

She has already improved a lot, and we are just waiting for the confussion and holucinating to stop.

They are running all kinds of tests on her and the results are just trickling in, but so far nothing too alarming.

I will keep the blog updated as new information comes in, and as of now the plan is that she should be able to come home tomorrow.

Send your good vibes her way!

Old Lady!

2010-07-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

Guess who just turned 55?!?

That's right! Chrissy is now officially a senior citizen!

She is doing great! Still just doing treatment and as strong as ever. She recently had a scan which looked really amazing!

She spent her birthday at treatment, but met a great new friend there which made the time pass quickly, and was treated to a giant rice crispy treat and the happy birthday song by her doctor and all of the nurses!

Honestly, you would never even know she is sick. She looks great and feels great (ok, usually).

We are all so proud of her progress. She will be 56 before she knows what hit her. Which reminds me, I should get her one of those great hats the old folks wear, she is always looking for new ones!

Arizona!

2010-05-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

Just got back from our FUN vacation to Phoenix.

This is us at our PRIVATE cabana at the Sandbar (a nightclub). We got there at 9:30pm and partied the night away. Some of us partied harder than others. Ha ha ha!

We had an amazing time and were all very grateful to have such an energetic Chrissy with us!

Update

2010-04-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

Everything is going VERY well. Her counts all look great and she is doing great. She goes on walks and can pretty much do everything she used to do. Well, yes, she can do everything she used to do!

She is VERY excited for a trip we are all taking to see Zak in Arizona at the end of the month!

Doing so great!

2010-02-18T08:47:00.001-08:00

No news is good news right? Or in others words sorry I have been slacking on this blog!

She is doing amazing. This weekend her and my Dad went up to Idaho to spend the weekend at Brooke's house. They had a great time.

She is also back to walking. She goes a mile at a time!

She is still doing a low dose chemo about once every two weeks. Her liver is still having good function.

She continues to amaze her doctor, and he still hasn't been able to explain how well she is doing.

She is really strong and doing great!!

Please read!

2010-01-13T12:07:00.001-08:00

John Hopkins Update - Good article

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKIN S IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2 . Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors..

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs..

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc.., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper.. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Update

2010-01-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

Well, she is still getter stronger all the time. From dancing at Zak's wedding, taking walks, and more, she is constantly improving. She had chemo on Monday for the first time in three weeks. Her liver has improved and is staying about the same. She is a trooper.

Doing great

2009-12-21T19:38:00.001-08:00

Her liver function is BETTER, she is no longer retaining water, and she is feeling pretty good. She has made leaps and bounds in her recovery and continues to amaze her Doctor and the rest of us.

She is gearing up for a busy Christmas along with the wedding of Zak and Katie taking place on the 28th. It is going to be a busy rest of the year, but she will do great!

Merry Christmas!

19 pounds lighter.

2009-11-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

After getting her abdomen drained, the holes sometimes fail to heal for a while. So, with an open hole in your abdomen, you are going to have some fluid loss. This week she had 19 pounds of it! Her belly is defiantly wanting to get all of that extra fluid out and so it has a steady drip at all times. Messy and annoying, but her belly is looking small and feeling soft. A welcomed change! We are thinking she is going to look pretty good at the wedding in just 29 days!!

Today the doctor said that her counts were still a little low, but her liver function is looking better which is what we want. She chose to skip chemo again this week but should have it next week.

Giving Thanks!

2009-11-30T10:01:00.001-08:00

The whole family together for Thanksgiving!

Treatment.

2009-11-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

We went to the doctor yesterday and they told us that she is doing about the same. Not better, not worse. She was able to get her chemo, just in a lower dose. She is giving her lasixs (water pills) to hopefully drain more of the fluid that she is retaining. We are hoping it helps because all of the fluid is making her pretty uncomfortable.

She also got a new recliner to sleep in and lay in to make her more comfortable at night. She is WAY excited!

2009-11-05T13:04:00.001-08:00

Mondays doctor appointment went pretty much as expected. She is still doing about the same. She was not able to get treatment because her counts were too low, and will likely be going in for a blood transfusion next week. Her biggest complaint right now is all of the extra water that her body is retaining. She went in Wednesday and got another 4 liters drained, but there is still a lot more in there. Her legs are very large and swollen making it hard and painful to walk around.

She will go back in on Monday and hopefully be able to get treatment at that time.

On a good note, she is feeling much more energetic and doesn't even take naps anymore, and huge difference from a few months back when she slept 20 plus hours a day!

Feeling better

2009-10-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

She is starting to feel a lot better and is feeling like she is re-cooperating from her weekend. She is continuing to take her anti-biotics and is resting up.

Doctor again on Monday.

ER visit

2009-10-25T11:37:00.001-07:00

Thursday we went and had 4.4 more liters drained. She felt so much better afterwards.

Friday she was really sick all day long and wasn't sure what was wrong. By Saturday she had a fever and was throwing up and ill. She went to the ER where they ran tons of tests on her. They think she may have an infection from the drainage and had IV anti-biotics. They wanted to keep her overnight and give her red blood cells because she was so low but she choose to go home instead.

Today, she is feeling a lot better. I will post an update tomorrow.

Results

2009-10-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

Doctor said that he tumor marker has gone down (which is good), although it may not be accurate. Her liver function has gotten worse. Not the best news or what we had hoped for, but she seems to be doing better, and that counts for a lot.

Another round of chemo.

2009-10-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today she was able to do chemo, and she is still improving everyday. Not much else to report... I will update later.

Doctor Today!

2009-10-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't the best visit (but for sure not the worst). Her white blood count was back down to .03 so that means no chemo today. They had a really had time getting blood out of her... heparin, more heparin, and more and then finally blood only to find that chemo wasn't going to happen.

So she got the shot to help boost her white blood count, which will be followed by another shot tomorrow, and then she will go in on Monday to see if her body is ready for the chemo.

On a happier note, the DOC said that her eyes look less yellow than they did last week, which hopefully means that liver is starting to function better.

And the fight continues...

Lunch and Shopping

2009-10-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today Mom, me, Coren, and Carson enjoyed a yummy lunch AT Pei Wei, and then went shopping at Smiths Grocery Store. OK, so it might not seem like much but it was FOR HER and she was amazed that she was actually AT the grocery store again after such a rough couple of months.

Soon, she might even drive herself to the store and shop... wouldn't that be something?

2009-10-09T07:30:00.001-07:00

NO chemo this week. They are going to do every other week just to keep her feeling as good as possible. She is swollen again and so she is going to get her abdomen drained today.

The doctor is unsure of what the future holds, but says that if you would have told him that she would be where she is today, he wouldn't have believed it! He said she is a very strong person.. but we knew that.

2009-10-05T14:26:00.001-07:00

Getting stronger everyday and wondering, "Where did September go?"

CHEMO TOMORROW!!!

2009-09-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

Her levels are all looking so good that they are bringing her in TOMORROW for chemo again. We are all SO SO SO excited to get her back to getting treated, and she is pretty happy (sorta) herself! It is bitter sweet, mostly because she is starting to feel so great, but she knows that she needs to get her tumors under control again.

Man, what an amazing body she has! She cannot be beaten!

Doctor

2009-09-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

A great visit. The doctor could tell that she was doing tons better and said that we could hopefully start a low dose of chemo on Monday. They checked her counts and her white blood count was normal. Not chemo normal, but normal!!! AMAZING!! Wednesday we will get the rest of the results and make sure that she can start on Monday, but that is the plan for now. Keep your fingers crossed for her.

In the meantime, we are going in tomorrow to get her abdomen drained again, it is getting a little bit tight and enlarged.

I will update once we know what is going on treatment wise.

2009-09-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

(... a wise man)

A wise man knows his woman. When others said she needs "this", he knew that she didn't. Thanks to my Dad not listening to what everyone else thought should be happening, and doing what he KNEW his wife needed. Because of his decisions we are getting her back.

Doctor again on Monday. Pray that she is well enough to begin treatment... because now she is walking on her own again, eating more, and sleeping less! She is proving the doctors wrong! See hospice, we don't need YOU!

...and for lunch

2009-09-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today for breakfast she requested a cinnabon bar slightly warm. THEN... she ate almost all of it. When she finished she said.....

"Let's get Firehouse Pizzeria for lunch. I will have the Monteray Salad with two blue cheese dressings, breadsticks with dip, and the cinnamon struessel dessert pizza."

She ate some salad and said that she will finish up later. This time I actually believe her.

HORRAY FOR FOOD!!!

The latest.

2009-09-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

.watching the kids perform.

Sunday was a very bad day. She seemed to have lost something and was wanting to give up. We were all very worried. We did manage to get her outside to watch the Grandkids put on a show for her, but that was it! She loved the show, but as soon as it was over she was back to bed for the day.

.posing for the paparazzi.

Today however she woke up a new person. She was full of life and was up and at it most of the day. Wow, what a ROLLER COASTER. We are hoping that this will be the new norm and that she is ready to rock and roll her way to getting better.

We went to the doctor and he was excited about how well she was doing. She even asked if he would prescribe a cruise for her and come over for some brownies. ;) She left there re-charged, and so did we. Each day is a new day. We do however prefer the good ones.

Now, we wait until next week and hope that she is strong enough for chemo. GO CHRISSY!!!

JoYrIdEr

2009-09-19T15:21:00.001-07:00

Today we (Brooke) made a major breakthrough. After weeks of trying to get her out of the house, she actually ventured out and went for a drive. She loved it! She seems a little better because she is off of all medication (she doesn't know that) and is able to speak more. We are a little worried because her tummy is growing right before our eyes, but we are happy to have her a little more "with it."

Her eating is back to minimal. We need this woman to EAT! Her throat is the only part of her that hurts... which is not helping.

Doctor again on Monday, will update then.

Thank you

2009-09-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

To all of you good people who care: Thank you for everything!

(click here) A thank you note... sort of.

Food?

2009-09-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Yes! She is eating! It may not sound like much to some people, but this morning she ate a whopping 10 bites of oatmeal, 5 bites of yogurt, and some Ensure drink. For her this was a feast. This food was followed by many many hours of sleep, but I am sure as usual she will be up all night!

We are very hopeful that once she starts eating more regularly she will perk up enough to start the long journey of getting better.

Low, Low, Low!

2009-09-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have been to many bad Doctor appointments. Ones where they told me that they would have to cut my children open in order to fix their ailments. Not a good thing to hear, and very scary for a Mother. But nothing was worse then hearing a doctor say that they could do nothing. Nothing.

Her counts were all dangerously low. She is very suseptable to any sickness, and her body is weak. The doctor said that in her current condition he cannot give her any further chemo therapy. He said that she is weak, thin, and not the same person as before. It was a bad moment.

Her counts are as follows
White Blood count was 16.8 NOW .9
Hermatacrit was 36.1 NOW 29.8
Platlet was 128 NOW 37
Red Blood Count was 14 NOW .1

She also has a severe yeast infection in her throat which is causing her to have bad pain when she swallows. She is now on medication for that, and we are hoping if it clears up she will start to eat again. She needs food.

She wanted to go home and straight to bed. She said this morning that she was up in the night and has repented from her bad attitude. She said that she is going to fight and not give up. She isn't sure why she let her self think that way and she is going get better. She seems determinded. It is great to see that fight back in her. She needs that.

Her feet are also better due to her new $66 compression socks. Worth every penny!

Counts...

2009-09-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

Just spoke to the nurse about her painful swollen feet. While on the phone I asked for her counts. These numbers give an overall idea of how she is doing.

Tumor Marker. Should be at zero.

Previous: 2161

Current: 1789

Good Sign that the chemo is already working!

Kidney Function: 18 This is a little high but they are still functioning ok.

Liver: One function has gotten higher, but the other two have gotten lower. We would like them all to be getting lower... so hopefully next time.

Overall, this was very encouraging.

Getting stronger

2009-09-10T16:47:00.001-07:00

It seems like today and yesterday she has been stronger. Yesterday she was up most of the day and even ate a good amount. Today she got up at 7am and was even making herself some toast when I got there.

She is still having a terrible time swallowing, saying that it feels like there is a big air bubble in her chest. But, she is getting her appetite back, which is a good thing.

She is having some wild nights. Sadly, she gets up in the night and gets lost. Sometimes in the closet, and other times just stuck in rooms and cannot find her way out. Last night she got up and cleaned out the fridge in the middle of the night.

Everyday is an adventure!

Right now I can see that she is getting a little stronger everyday. Let's pray that she keeps it up!

Chemo

2009-09-08T16:03:00.001-07:00

Todays appointment was long. 4 hours long. The office was very busy because of the holiday weekend. They were able to give her chemo, but we didn't get any numbers as far as tumor marker, or liver function. They did say that her liver appears to be doing better.

After treatment she came home and actually ate more than she has eaten in a long time. She also seemed to have more energy. She now has a break from chemo, so she will not have it for two more weeks. She is very excited about that!

We go back to the doctor on Monday and we should get more information then.

Bad Weekend

2009-09-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a rough one. At the doctor on Friday, we discovered that she had a temperature of 101. The doctor was very concerned. With her blood count being so low she is at high risk for infection. An infection at this point is extremely dangerous.

Her fever came down but Saturday it got very high again. She was struggling both mentally and physically. She gave my Dad a good scare and had a pretty scary panic attack.

Her temperature was not coming down, so @10pm on Saturday night I called the doctor on call. They told us to take her to the Emergency Room if her temperature stayed that high. Finally by 2am her temperature was back down to normal.

We spent Sunday at her house watching her closely and working on getting her to eat and drink. It is hard work. She is not eating well or drinking because she has a sore throat, but by the end of the evening she ate some dinner, sipped on a Jamba Juice, drank and started to perk up. She got a call from Zak telling her that he proposed to Katie and she got really happy. It really helped her.

Overall, she seems to be out of the woods with the fever. Tomorrow is chemo again. Hopefully her blood count will be up so that she can receive it. After that treatment she would have a much needed week off.

9/4

2009-09-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a better day. She had a good night last night and actually got up at 9:30. She hadn't taken a ton of pain meds in the night, so she was a little more with it. We even went out to lunch!

She is going to get her third shot today and hopefully this will get her blood count where it needs to be for treatment on Tuesday.

The abdomen swelling seems to be decreasing which is a great sign. She is complaining of a sore throat, so we are having them look at it at the doctor today.

Overall she did well today, and we will know more on Tuesday.

Comments?

2009-09-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Want to send a message her way? Just leave it as a comment and I will make sure that it gets to her!

Currently...

2009-09-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I figured this would be the best way to let everyone know how she is doing. I will keep it updated regulary so that everyone knows what is going on.

As of today:

Her liver has been causing lots of problems. Her doctor at Huntsman was not as helpful as we had hoped, so we are not really sure what is going on with her liver and neither is he. It is either really damaged from chemo which may have caused permanant damage, may or may not be full of tumor on the entire left side, and might just have a problem that is so rare that they will never know what is going on with it. Reguardless, it is not fully functioning, which is causing lots of pain, and tons of fluid build up in her abdomen. They were going to try to treat her liver with direct radiation, but due to not knowing what is going on with it, the doctor taking too long to get things rolling, and the cancer spreading, she has been placed back on chemo. The chemo will be the most effective treatment for now to try to treat all of the tumors. Once the other tumors have shrunk, they will biopsy her liver to see what is going on.

As of now she has tumors in her abdomen, lungs and possibly the tissue around the lungs, likely in the liver, and tumors other places. She has fluid in her chest and abdomen. The fluid in her abdomen is testing positive for cancer, however the fluid in her chest is not. She goes in weekly or as needed right now to get this fluid drained. We went in today and they drained 1.4 liters from her abdomen. This helps relieve the pressure, but anytime they take that much fluid out of you, your body kind of freaks out with all of the empty space, and it can cause some pretty bad pain.

She has now completed two rounds of chemo therapy. This is a chemo that she has responded very well to in the past, so we are hoping that it can shrink the tumors and give her some pain relief. Right now pain is the biggest issue. She is awake most nights with extreme pain.

She is scheduled for another chemo treatment on Tuesday, however her blood count is very low, so she is receiving daily shots to try to get her strong enough to do that treatment. Not sure what the shots are... but they usually help. They do cause really bad bone pain, but right now she needs all of the chemo she can get.

I will keep this blog updated on a regular basis. If you have any questions, you can call me at 801-446-2488 or on my cell 801-608-6804. It is hard to reach her directly right now because she is sleeping a lot, but I can pass along messages and have her call people back when she is up to it.

She knows that everyone is praying for her and thinking of her, and it means a lot.