A tepid Sunday evening

Dave made a great Mexican pork stew this afternoon after going to get his every other day shot, stew has a fancy name I can't remember. The mom's liked it a lot. My mom and I picked up about 6 bags of leaves then our neighbor Kevin took them to the street. Our beautiful maple in the back yard still has leaves, so the final clean up is still too come. We had another great fire with the 2 moms and later our neighbors came by. It's been in the upper 60s today and still feels like 58 - 60 with lots of stars visible tonight.

Dave's been VERY tired today. Just had some dry heaves. Taking all the anti-emetics in his arsenal. His BP was 102/64 this evening, rather low for him and he's drinking lots of water. Glad he doesn't have a lot of things coming up this week. I'm planning to stay in GR Wednesday night, that's if I think it's okay for me to be gone. One day at a time seems to be the best MO for now.

It's Sunday morning

So, what is it with the "wake up at 7:30 am" no mater what time you go to bed deal? At least we both enjoyed great music last night. Dave said Steeley Dan was amazing. He got home around 1:30 am. Thanks Mark for driving. Jenna and Art Gomperz were great too. I got home around 11:30.

Dave threw up again last night. We may be getting to the really hard part. But only 1 big cycle left. Dave keeps his fighting spirit.... "Lee, I'm strong like bull" We'll enjoy outside, clean up a few leaves and harvest our potatoes today. Both of our moms are coming over. Hope to mostly enjoy the day. Now, I have to get cleaning the house. :)

Friday night at Camp David

Pictures: Dave in his new hat; Now that's gonna be a dinner.

What a beautiful evening, there's a heat wave in the Midwest! We had a fire and cooked steak and baked potatoes- great dinner. Of course it's dark around 6 pm. Dave got a great new hat (handmade) from our neighbors, Bela and Jean. It's very soft for his head and warm. He's getting a nice little collection of hats.

Dave is doing pretty good post-chemo. He had a lot of errands Friday which included a couple shots at the oncology clinic and the almost weekly stop to the pharmacy. He did have some issues with heart burn later in the evening and told me this morning he had to throw up. One of the first that wasn't just dry heaves. This morning he's better (but still in bed). He is suppose to continue pushing fluids today per the new study directions. If the vomiting were to continue and he couldn't keep fluids down- call to the clinic. I think we're over the hump.

Tonight Dave's going to see Steeley Dan with his brother Mark in Merriville. One of our favs. It looks like they're playing the Aja album tonight. I'm going with the other Maki's and Kings to hear Jenna Mammina at the Acorn in Three Oaks.

# 5 chemo cycle and some more success

Pictures: Dave lighting celebratory "roman candle"; the fireworks- really they're there- we just can't see them

A wonderful day. At Dave's oncology appt there were several discussions. His hgb was 10.8 and platelets were 78,000. Our oncologist does not give chemo if the platelets are 75,000 or less, so there was discussion before he went forward. Dave did get chemo and tolerated it well (so far).

1- CT scan results.

Let me start by saying no growth is success. And we had a 73% decrease the first CT scan and were told it is normal not to have the same % decrease the next time. Okay, not trying to be a downer, just setting the situation up for all. There was another 5% decrease compared to the original films, for a total 77% decrease in tumor size. YEAH! There is a small section of scar tissue where the original tumor was Lt lung (one reason for roman candle).

2- The study

The study continues and our MD feels that the success we have seen is due to the study drug (CP-751,871) . They have added some precautions and extra testing. Extra fluid 2 days before and 2 days after chemo, an EKG before each chemo, and some required labs (including glucose monitoring) which our oncologist already was monitoring. Bottom line, we can continue and Dave happens to have had minimal amounts to none of these issues.

3- The plan

The oncologist wants and feels Dave can get through the next chemo #6 the day before Thanksgiving. Dave will have more doses of the medication to increase his platelets and I'm crossing my fingers. After that, we'll get another PET scan to see what's going on. It's possible that lesions remaining are "dead". Dave will get another 6 doses of the study drug which hopefully won't be as difficult when stopping the 2 other drugs. Dave has had some decrease hearing and numbness in his fingers and toes, but not enough to stop. It's awesome if he can get the total 6 doses of all 3 medications in.

We remain positive and strong in our fight. CW is the best fighter in the world! He told the MD- I'm ready, let's go for it. I'm in awe of his commitment and will be by his side through it all. We will win.

Hoping for CP-751,871 tomorrow

The week is flying by. Today Dave gets lab in prep for tomorrow and chemo cycle #5. We'll get results from the CT scan last week and hopefully news about the study drug. On one hand it feels like Dave had cycle #1 yesterday, on the other it was ages ago. Either way we are wiser and better at enjoying the little things than we were in July. Will post results of oncology clinic visit tomorrow evening.

Fine start to the week

Dave saw the hand surgeon this afternoon, he thought as long as it's getting better with antibiotics (and it is) he could hold off on the procedure this time. YEAH! Dave got done in time to stand in line for his H1N1 vaccine. There's one clinic left in Berrien County, this Friday in Niles. Only high risk people can get right now and the information is on the webpage. I'm so glad he got the vaccine, timing was important with his chemo schedule (couple days before chemo). Now we wait for Thursday.

Leaves and Campfire

Pictures: Dave, Emma and Claire at the fire; Kevin, Bill and John after chili; John, Claire, Kay and Emma with lots of leaves; Emma and Claire getting a good start.

What a great day. It ended up being sunny most of the day and in the 50's. Friends came over to pick up leaves- the Stickney-Dines, John Payne, Sue and Lucas Mierau . Dave made some great chili and we had a campfire. Dave's feeling pretty good today. His finger is not sore today, but he still needs to see the hand surgeon. Trying to get him to do a soak in the morning- can't get him away from the fire tonight.