Good Morning!
Today, I am writing from the chemo infusion center as our favorite warrior (Kurtis...duh) is preparing for some magical drugs to wipe this cancer out. The infusion center is an interesting place, but also a comfortable one since we've been here before. When you enter it, entire room is full of comfortable recliners as well as enough doctor "zoom and spin" chairs that I am consistently about thirty seconds from being busted. Kurtis tells me I'm going to be kicked out. We are currently waiting for the labs to come back so that Kurtis can start his infusion. He'll be getting two different drugs today and we should be home in about four hours (or less!)
WAIT! I didn't write about yesterday, so I'll back up first.
Kurtis had his port placed yesterday by our favorite South African surgeon. We headed to PVH at about 2 and then went though the really enjoyable pre-op process. Kurtis' favorite part was that the nurse who was responsible for putting his IV in was having a few issues. Right arm, left arm, right arm, left arm...ow. His surgeon took out his head staples at the same time and then eventually popped the IV in what he called the "Mississippi River". They whisked him away and in about an hour, everything was done. It took another hour for them to let me back to see him which is always the most difficult part. He was doing great - munching away on his favorite post-surgery snack...ice chips. After a couple dixie cups of apple juice we were sent home.
The pain hasn't been too bad, but obviously not great. His port is placed under his collar bone on the right side so it made sleeping a little difficult last night. Once it heals up though, it doesn't really cause him much pain or discomfort, so that is wonderful. It is so much easier for him when the nurses draw blood or infuse medicine than having an IV, so he is happy to have it back.
This morning, Kurtis had an appointment with the cancer doc. Dr. Moore explained that the "specimens" (a seriously weird word - just say it out loud like five times...yea...) were cancerous which we already knew - even if it wasn't official yet. Now the plan is to hit the stuff in his lungs with two chemo medicines and then use pinpoint radiation for his brain in the spots where the remaining tumor is and where the ones that were taken out were. Everything sounds good - just time to get the medication in and get to fighting.
And --- back to where I started ---
Since I started writing, Kurtis has his pre-meds rolling. They infuse medications like benadryl to help with the impact of the chemo. Once those are in, he'll get his chemo drugs and then we'll head home to Colonial Chauncey, Rabbit Patrol. Mr. Rabbit Patrol thought that he was coming with us today because I made the outstandingly intelligent choice to hang the re-useable grocery - "chemo snack" bag on the same hook as his leash. So, when I grabbed that he went nuts. Good one, Chauncey's mom.
Thank you to all of you who have continued to support us with food and love. It's been difficult, no reason to lie about that. But, the support from all of you makes such an incredible difference in our ability to fight this junk. We look forward to your visits as well, so please keep coming over :) Just shoot me a text (970.232.5268) if you want to come and I'll make sure that Kurtis feels up to your visit and check in with Chaunce to make sure that he feels you won't suffer a rabbit attack!
All our love -
Liz, Kurtis, and Chauncey
-Email notes to: rockieslizard@gmail.com
-GoFundMe: http://www.gofundme.com/helpkurtis
-LotsahelpinghandsID: 632922
Showing posts with label testicular cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label testicular cancer. Show all posts
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Sunday, June 30, 2013
On the Eve of the Brain Dig
Hello!
I want to start out by writing that Kurtis and I are blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by the love and care of so many wonderful people (which, if you are reading this includes you) and the outpouring of support from so many of you has been uplifting and incredibly meaningful. Thank you for taking the time to write notes, text messages, donate money, share things with others who want/need to know, visiting, hugs, etc. etc. etc. Each of those small things act as a lantern and when we are able to hang all of those lanterns in the tunnel we're standing in right now, it is possible to see the end. I don't have, and I don't think I will ever have, the words that are right for expressing the gratitude that we both feel for all of those 'lanterns' - so think of the best words you can and then multiply that by the biggest number you can think of and that will put you somewhere close.
So, tomorrow is the brain dig. We're both a little rattled if I'm being honest, but I don't think that we would be human if we weren't. Kurtis' surgery has been moved up to 9am (due to neuro cancellations - not emergency status - stop freaking out) which we are pleased about so we don't have to wait around all day. Here is a quick rundown of what will be happening tomorrow:
=Before 9...probably around 630...Kurtis will be taken for an MRI to make sure that the computer and surgeon know where to go
=9 am...surgery begins
=1-2pm...surgery should be completed
After surgery, Kurtis will go to the ICU for a few days most likely and then we'll come back to the Neuro unit. The surgery plan has changed a little bit, so if you want to know about that keep reading...otherwise jump down a paragraph. There are about five tumors in Kurtis' brain right now. Three are in a club by the cerebellum on the right side, one is on the cerebellum on the left side, and one is "on his brain" on the left side. As of this moment, the plan is to remove the clump as well as the tumor "on his brain". The tumor on the left side cerebellum is very small and buried a little bit more so they will use pinpoint radiation to zap the hell out of that little thing. I know that it sounds really scary, but the surgeon is top notch and everything will be okay :)
Kurtis won't be up for visitors for a few days at least, so it was really nice that we had a group today - part of Kurtis' family and one of our lacrosse families came by as well as our old cancer doc. It was a good day full of resting, TV (even though the Rockies lost, Cuddy extended his streak so that was excellent). Perhaps the best thing was that Chauncey got to come and spend the day with us. He would stay the night, but everything starts so early tomorrow that we sent him back home. We're now winding down and preparing to sleep!
I'll update more tomorrow. Keep those positive vibes, thoughts, etc. coming. Please feel free, as I've said before, to share this with anyone :)
Love,
Liz, Kurtis, and Chauncey
Email notes to: rockieslizard@gmail.com
GoFundMe: http://www.gofundme.com/helpkurtis
I want to start out by writing that Kurtis and I are blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by the love and care of so many wonderful people (which, if you are reading this includes you) and the outpouring of support from so many of you has been uplifting and incredibly meaningful. Thank you for taking the time to write notes, text messages, donate money, share things with others who want/need to know, visiting, hugs, etc. etc. etc. Each of those small things act as a lantern and when we are able to hang all of those lanterns in the tunnel we're standing in right now, it is possible to see the end. I don't have, and I don't think I will ever have, the words that are right for expressing the gratitude that we both feel for all of those 'lanterns' - so think of the best words you can and then multiply that by the biggest number you can think of and that will put you somewhere close.
So, tomorrow is the brain dig. We're both a little rattled if I'm being honest, but I don't think that we would be human if we weren't. Kurtis' surgery has been moved up to 9am (due to neuro cancellations - not emergency status - stop freaking out) which we are pleased about so we don't have to wait around all day. Here is a quick rundown of what will be happening tomorrow:
=Before 9...probably around 630...Kurtis will be taken for an MRI to make sure that the computer and surgeon know where to go
=9 am...surgery begins
=1-2pm...surgery should be completed
After surgery, Kurtis will go to the ICU for a few days most likely and then we'll come back to the Neuro unit. The surgery plan has changed a little bit, so if you want to know about that keep reading...otherwise jump down a paragraph. There are about five tumors in Kurtis' brain right now. Three are in a club by the cerebellum on the right side, one is on the cerebellum on the left side, and one is "on his brain" on the left side. As of this moment, the plan is to remove the clump as well as the tumor "on his brain". The tumor on the left side cerebellum is very small and buried a little bit more so they will use pinpoint radiation to zap the hell out of that little thing. I know that it sounds really scary, but the surgeon is top notch and everything will be okay :)
Kurtis won't be up for visitors for a few days at least, so it was really nice that we had a group today - part of Kurtis' family and one of our lacrosse families came by as well as our old cancer doc. It was a good day full of resting, TV (even though the Rockies lost, Cuddy extended his streak so that was excellent). Perhaps the best thing was that Chauncey got to come and spend the day with us. He would stay the night, but everything starts so early tomorrow that we sent him back home. We're now winding down and preparing to sleep!
I'll update more tomorrow. Keep those positive vibes, thoughts, etc. coming. Please feel free, as I've said before, to share this with anyone :)
Love,
Liz, Kurtis, and Chauncey
Email notes to: rockieslizard@gmail.com
GoFundMe: http://www.gofundme.com/helpkurtis
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Evening Report!
Greetings and Salutations!
In getting back in the swing of things, you can probably expect more blog posts than are probably necessary, but I know that many of you have questions and this is the best way for us to get out information :)
Today was quite restful for both Kurtis and myself. There was only one test today, an EEG, which is a brain wave test. They did that mid-morning - it involved hooking Kurtis up to a bunch of wires on his head and then doing a few things including a memory test, a strobe light test, and then rest with his eyes closed. Through the cancer "experience" Kurtis has had a lot of testing done, but never an EEG - I asked the tech a lot of questions and got to watch along on the monitor. They were running this test to check for seizure type activity which they didn't find which is great!
We had visitors, both family and friends, which helped to keep the mood light and cheerful. To those of you who visited today - THANK YOU! :) Fortunately, the Rockies played today and we enjoyed spending the afternoon watching them - especially with a great walk-off win!
Tomorrow is more of the same, relaxing and monitoring. Looks like surgery is tentatively scheduled for around 2pm...I'll update that if it changes! We met with the neurosurgeon again and he still feels like the surgery should be no big deal.
Thank you to all of you who texted, emailed, and called today. We are so thankful to have such amazing families as well as such a wonderful collection of friends, coworkers, students, and lacrosse players/families and fellow coaches. It is so nice to have heard from all of you and it is so wonderful to know that there are so many of you that care about us. We're also thankful that our gofundme is now rolling and working - thank you for that initial donation :)
Again my email is rockieslizard@gmail.com - please don't hesitate to send notes to Kurtis there :)
All our love and another update soon.
Liz, Kurtis, and Chauncey
In getting back in the swing of things, you can probably expect more blog posts than are probably necessary, but I know that many of you have questions and this is the best way for us to get out information :)
Today was quite restful for both Kurtis and myself. There was only one test today, an EEG, which is a brain wave test. They did that mid-morning - it involved hooking Kurtis up to a bunch of wires on his head and then doing a few things including a memory test, a strobe light test, and then rest with his eyes closed. Through the cancer "experience" Kurtis has had a lot of testing done, but never an EEG - I asked the tech a lot of questions and got to watch along on the monitor. They were running this test to check for seizure type activity which they didn't find which is great!
We had visitors, both family and friends, which helped to keep the mood light and cheerful. To those of you who visited today - THANK YOU! :) Fortunately, the Rockies played today and we enjoyed spending the afternoon watching them - especially with a great walk-off win!
Tomorrow is more of the same, relaxing and monitoring. Looks like surgery is tentatively scheduled for around 2pm...I'll update that if it changes! We met with the neurosurgeon again and he still feels like the surgery should be no big deal.
Thank you to all of you who texted, emailed, and called today. We are so thankful to have such amazing families as well as such a wonderful collection of friends, coworkers, students, and lacrosse players/families and fellow coaches. It is so nice to have heard from all of you and it is so wonderful to know that there are so many of you that care about us. We're also thankful that our gofundme is now rolling and working - thank you for that initial donation :)
Again my email is rockieslizard@gmail.com - please don't hesitate to send notes to Kurtis there :)
All our love and another update soon.
Liz, Kurtis, and Chauncey
The Morning Report!
Good Morning!
We already know quite a bit more than we did when I wrote last night, and we've set up a donation page to help with all the fun medical bills so I wanted to get that out :)
Our donation page is through gofundme and you can reach it using it's main link or through the tinyurl. Please don't feel like you have to help with money - your positive thoughts, good vibes, and love are what we need the most and keeping Kurtis in your thoughts in more than enough. That said, we learned last time that this 'activity' is expensive and know that for some of you, this feels like a good way to help. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Main address: http://www.gofundme.com/helpkurtis
TinyURL: tinyurl.com/helpkurtis
Here is the latest information...
Where we are: MCR -- currently in a much better room! Kurtis is out of the ICU (yes!) and we are now in the neuro room that has a bathroom and Kurtis isn't hooked up to as many beeping, whirring, and buzzing machines which is nice. He is both able to move around better and sleep more easily and comfortably. If you'd like to come and visit, you can send me a text or email me (rockieslizard@gmail.com) and I can let you know when a good time would be :)
Medical Stuff: We looked at the scans of Kurtis' brain with the help of the neurosurgeon yesterday. It's a good thing he was there to show us what everything was - really strange pictures that are confusing until you have a frame of reference! There is a small "clump" of tumors on the right side of Kurtis' cerebellum, a small one on the left side of the cerebellum, and then one on the left side of his brain in the back. They are small which is a really positive thing. Although there was a small glimmer of hope yesterday that Kurtis would not need brain surgery, the doctors have decided that the best thing to do is go in and remove the clump of tumors. This is due to his cancer history and wanting to get those things out. It is my understanding that there is a "brain/blood" barrier which does not allow all chemo drugs to work in the brain. Therefore, this option is the smartest for what we're dealing with :) The surgery will take place on Monday sometime - from what I can tell it looks like the afternoon is what they're aiming for - at MCR. It should take 3-4 hours and the neurosurgeon seems confident that everything should go smoothly so we are trusting that!
Right now Kurtis is just resting and the weekend should be pretty "quiet" as far as tests, etc. go. Today he will have a brainwave scan to help assess his risk of seizures, but that is the only test he has to have today (at least for now). Should be a lot better day for him - much more fun than a 2 hour MRI!
We also met with our oncologist earlier this morning and he went through the treatment plan for the cancer. Kurtis will start with pinpoint radiation for the tumors in his brain (two on the left side) that they didn't remove. Then, he will start chemo. After talking with the doctors at IU, it was decided that we are not in a place where we should be in a clinical trial yet, and there is no need to go to Indy right now which is a relief! Chemo treatments will be straightforward (once a week) and outpatient so that is another positive. He also said that the drugs in this chemo mix shouldn't make Kurtis as sick as some of the other chemo drugs he has had in the past - hooray!
THANK YOU for all the kind words, facebook posts, text messages, emails, etc. They are fantastic and have helped to keep our spirits up! :)
I didn't write this last night I don't think, but please feel free to share this blog with anyone you'd like - it's not an invite only club and the more positive energy we have flowing Kurtis' way, the better.
Love,
Liz, Kurtis, and Chauncey
We already know quite a bit more than we did when I wrote last night, and we've set up a donation page to help with all the fun medical bills so I wanted to get that out :)
Our donation page is through gofundme and you can reach it using it's main link or through the tinyurl. Please don't feel like you have to help with money - your positive thoughts, good vibes, and love are what we need the most and keeping Kurtis in your thoughts in more than enough. That said, we learned last time that this 'activity' is expensive and know that for some of you, this feels like a good way to help. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Main address: http://www.gofundme.com/helpkurtis
TinyURL: tinyurl.com/helpkurtis
Here is the latest information...
Where we are: MCR -- currently in a much better room! Kurtis is out of the ICU (yes!) and we are now in the neuro room that has a bathroom and Kurtis isn't hooked up to as many beeping, whirring, and buzzing machines which is nice. He is both able to move around better and sleep more easily and comfortably. If you'd like to come and visit, you can send me a text or email me (rockieslizard@gmail.com) and I can let you know when a good time would be :)
Medical Stuff: We looked at the scans of Kurtis' brain with the help of the neurosurgeon yesterday. It's a good thing he was there to show us what everything was - really strange pictures that are confusing until you have a frame of reference! There is a small "clump" of tumors on the right side of Kurtis' cerebellum, a small one on the left side of the cerebellum, and then one on the left side of his brain in the back. They are small which is a really positive thing. Although there was a small glimmer of hope yesterday that Kurtis would not need brain surgery, the doctors have decided that the best thing to do is go in and remove the clump of tumors. This is due to his cancer history and wanting to get those things out. It is my understanding that there is a "brain/blood" barrier which does not allow all chemo drugs to work in the brain. Therefore, this option is the smartest for what we're dealing with :) The surgery will take place on Monday sometime - from what I can tell it looks like the afternoon is what they're aiming for - at MCR. It should take 3-4 hours and the neurosurgeon seems confident that everything should go smoothly so we are trusting that!
Right now Kurtis is just resting and the weekend should be pretty "quiet" as far as tests, etc. go. Today he will have a brainwave scan to help assess his risk of seizures, but that is the only test he has to have today (at least for now). Should be a lot better day for him - much more fun than a 2 hour MRI!
We also met with our oncologist earlier this morning and he went through the treatment plan for the cancer. Kurtis will start with pinpoint radiation for the tumors in his brain (two on the left side) that they didn't remove. Then, he will start chemo. After talking with the doctors at IU, it was decided that we are not in a place where we should be in a clinical trial yet, and there is no need to go to Indy right now which is a relief! Chemo treatments will be straightforward (once a week) and outpatient so that is another positive. He also said that the drugs in this chemo mix shouldn't make Kurtis as sick as some of the other chemo drugs he has had in the past - hooray!
THANK YOU for all the kind words, facebook posts, text messages, emails, etc. They are fantastic and have helped to keep our spirits up! :)
I didn't write this last night I don't think, but please feel free to share this blog with anyone you'd like - it's not an invite only club and the more positive energy we have flowing Kurtis' way, the better.
Love,
Liz, Kurtis, and Chauncey
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