Houston, we have a problem

Here we are in Houston, just finishing our last appointment with Cliff's new oncologist at MD Anderson. Needless to say, we feel like we’ve been on a roller coaster ride these last few days....

Cancer is a horrible disease and spending time in a cancer hospital can be very depressing. One thing that struck both Cliff and I was how young so many of the patients here are. We pray everyday that a cure will be found.

Cliff’s oncologist here is top notch to say the least. We plan to have him work with our oncology team at Huntsman. This will require us to fly to Houston every three months to get a CT scan and talk to the doctor about Cliffs treatment plan.

This trip has been so good and yet hard too. We have learned that cancer is in both of Cliffs lungs. There are many spots, all relatively small. The frustrating thing is that some of these spots were present three months ago when we met with Cliff’s oncologist at Huntsman, but we were never told about them. Fortunately, our doctor here doesn’t think it changes where he would be had Cliff started chemo three months ago. 

So where do we go from here? Cliff will start taking an oral chemo everyday, with an infusion once every three weeks starting the first of the year. We want his holidays to be free of chemo.

It’s days like today that I have to remind myself that I am not in control of this life and I need to put my trust in my Heavenly Father. This is truly the only place I find the strength to continue on in this journey. The word HOPE has been a word that we hold very dear to our hearts. It is where we find our strength to continue forward. This morning I read a talk given by Dieter Uchtdorf who is one of our church leaders. This part rang so true to how I feel right now.

"And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in. Never surrender.  Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.
Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart."

Oh how these words calmed my soul. So today we will continue to fight. We will not surrender and we will look forward with hope. 

May you all have a wonderful holiday season. We are incredibly blessed to have amazing family and friends in our lives.  To our children, your dad and I know that this is a hard journey for you too.  We love you and are so grateful for your love and support.   Never give up and continue to hope with us. As always, GO FIGHT WIN-TO LIFE!

Arvonne

Decisions, Decisions...

Cliff had a CT scan on Monday, September 25^th.   As a side note, Cliff’s oncologist who we loved and trusted left Huntsman a few months ago and is now practicing in Arizona at City of Hope Hospital.  Yesterday we met with the new oncologist to find out what this recent scan showed.  Here is what we found out.

First, Cliff’s cancer counts have not changed from three months ago, which is great news.  Unfortunately, they found another spot on his right lung. The two original spots have also increased in size.  With this finding we would have thought his cancer counts would have risen.  It is a little puzzling.  

Although the oncologist thinks we are looking at cancer, we have not been able to confirm this because the spots have been too small to biopsy.  Now that they are growing the oncologist feels like we could confirm this with a PET scan in December.  A biopsy could be problematic so we are going to wait it out and do the PET scan.  

Having cancer requires you to make a lot of choices. We are given the medical information and some opinions and left to decide which one is best for us.  In June, when Cliff’s oncologist told us that a spot on his lung had grown and that his cancer counts had risen, we were sent to the lung surgeon. At that appointment the surgeon was ready to do surgery.  We decided it would be best to wait.  We are now so grateful that we didn’t go ahead with that surgery because here, three month later, there is another spot in a different lobe. This could have resulted in additional surgery.  Cliff’s new oncologist is suggesting chemo/radiation, which we would rather do.  Removing an entire lung could be a game changer for Cliff.  Someday we may have to make that decision but for now we would rather not.  

Most people are surprised to hear that Cliff has had/has cancer.  He looks and feels healthy, continues to work and does pretty much everything he did before his diagnosis.  For that we are grateful.  As always, we appreciate your love and prayers.  We are blessed beyond words to have such amazing friends and family in our lives.  We will continue to fight with hope and faith.  Until December!  GO FIGHT WIN!

P.S. If you follow our blog you know that Cliff and I were going to hang glide in the Swiss Alps.  This has been on Cliff’s bucket list for many years. What an adventure!  I highly recommend it if you get the chance.  Attached is a picture.  

A Bump (nodule) in the Road

It’s been a while since we posted an update, and honestly were hoping that we wouldn’t have any news to share, but we do.

Cliff had a CT scan last Friday, June 9^th and we met with his oncologist on the 12^th.  During that appointment, we learned that one of two nodules on his right lung has started growing, having doubled in size in the last three months. We’ve known about these since the beginning of Cliff’s diagnosis and were hoping they were common nodules that we all have in our lungs. Unfortunately, Cliff’s CEA count (blood test) has also risen, which is another indication of a problem.

Today we met with a lung surgeon and he thinks we are looking at cancer too, but the only way of telling is by removing one or two of the lobes in his right lung (you have three lobes in your right lung).

At this point, because the nodule is so small we have decided to wait for three months to see if it grows anymore and to see if Cliff’s CEA count continues to increase.  

The surgeon has given Cliff some exercises to do during the next three months to prepare his lungs for surgery. One of them is to walk two to three miles per day.  I guess that’s one way to get our patooties in gear! 

Our hope and prayer is that even though this looks like cancer, it turns out to be nothing but a common nodule. If you are the praying type, we sure could use some prayers on our behalf.  In the meantime, we have some fun things planned for this summer, including hangliding in the Swiss Alps, and we intend to keep a smile our faces and a positive attitude!  Pictures to come :)

First Quarterly CT Scan

Quick Update.....


Tuesday was Arvonne's 3 year anniversary of being cancer free!  Yea!!!!!!!  We are so glad she has reached this milestone.  The longer she goes the better the odds it will never come back.


Tuesday was also the day I had my first quarterly CT scan since being declared "cancer free".  This will be a routine thing (every 3 months) for a couple of years.  Anxiety builds the closer it gets as we realize we're about to get good or bad news.  Thankfully, yesterday was good news.  The scan was clear and showed no signs of cancer.  My oncologist reiterated that rate of recurrence for me is still very high at 85%, but once we get to 2 years, the odds drop off significantly.  When I make it to 5 years, they will no longer consider me a patient! 


It all comes down to time.  The longer you go, the better the odds.  There are no other factors.


Once again we are so grateful for all the support everyone has given us.  Life is good!