My Dad

On the Monday before Christmas, we found out that my dad has stage 4 colon cancer. The last month has been one serious roller coaster. There have been a lot of doctor appointments, tests, crying, and more details about my dad's bum than I ever wanted to know.

Quick funny story - we had most of the family together for Christmas eve. On the way to Twin, Adam and Kelly were telling their kids about grandpa and explaining what cancer is and everything. Kelly told the kids that they didn't need to make a big deal about it in front of grandpa; she just wanted them to know what was going on because they had heard everyone talking and worrying about grandpa. So they get to Mom and Dad's house, and Riley walks right up to grandpa and says, "So Grandpa, I heard you have cancer." Tact and subtlety are not her strong points. But it made him laugh, so now we all joke about it.

Ok back to the point. Like I said, a lot has happened in the last few weeks. Mom has been sending out email updates, so instead of try to remember everything that's happened, I'm just going to copy them all on here. If you don't want to know all the details, then I will just tell you that he is going to start chemo and radiation this week. If you do want to know the details, then read on:

January 7
Dear family and friends. We had a rough weekend but Chuck was feeling much better on Sunday afternoon. He had a port put in on Monday. It was a same day surgery again but is done. We got the results of the PET scan when we were with the surgeon and it said no obvious lesions to the liver so we were feeling pretty good about that and ready to start the process of chemo and radiation yesterday. When we talked to the oncology radiologist he says that he is 90% sure that the liver is involved and that will change the whole program. Not good news. We feel like the rug was pulled out from under us. We are now waiting for a call from Boise to set up an appointment for a liver biopsy. If they come back positive then he will start a different regimen of chemo and then we will deal the tumor after that. This is more life threatening. Keep him in your prayers. Love, Jolene

January 18
Dear family and friends: We left Wed afternoon to stay with Karalynn so we could be at the Hospital in Boise for his liver biopsy by 8:00 am. We were supposed to be done by about 2:00 pm and headed home. He got out of the biopsy and started to have pain. Then it just got worse and worse. Never seen anyone in so much pain even after pain killers. The nurse got the Dr and he did another ct scan and he had nicked? His gallbladder and he was bleeding into the gallbladder and into his belly. Couldn't just be simple. The pain just kept coming and I was in tears. They did another CT scan and said his life was not in danger but they called in a surgeon to see if he needed his gallbladder taken out. They finally had to admit him just to control the pain. They were hoping that the blood in the gallbladder would just take time to dissipate. They had to increase the morphine to get it under control enough for him to sleep for about an hour during the night. He started feeling a little better by morning and they took another CT scan and said the gallbladder was much less distended, hence less pain. We finally got to go to Karalynn's on Friday night with not enough pain killers. We had to have our family Dr. (Glen) call in a prescription to Costco in Boise just to get him through the weekend. We stayed in Boise until Sunday just in case he needed to have the gallbladder taken out. The Dr in Boise let our surgeon know what was going on so if he has a problem they will at least be informed. He continues to improve but did have an attack yesterday after we got home. It did subside with pain meds so now he is just hiccupping over and over. It makes him uncomfortable. He still cannot lay flat to sleep. We won't get the results from the biopsy until Tues or Wed but he will have to recuperate before he can start any treatments. I hope we can keep the Doctors from killing him so he can have his treatments to get better. I will continue to keep you all informed and if you see someone you think might like updates you can forward it on. Love to all. Jolene

January 19
He is much better today. We got medicine for hiccups and he could take ibuprofen and he finally slept last night, in the bed! It was great. Love to all, Jolene

January 20
Dear family & friends. We saw the oncologist today. We got the results of the biopsy. It was cancer as we suspected. The Dr told us it was less curable and upgraded him to stage 4 cancer simply because it is in the liver. He was pretty down but part of it is being weak from all the stuff from the biopsy. He will have a week to recuperate and then start the systemic chemo. We are going to consult with Huntsman for a second opinion. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Love, Jolene

January 21
Dear family and friends. Chuck was doing better last night. Cards from cute children cheered him up. He also just felt better. We got a call from the Dr last night and wanted to know if he would be interested in a clinical trial. He really feels good about doing this. They will do some extra testing and determine if he qualifies and if he has the right kind of tumor, he will get medication that they believe works well on that kind. It will take a little more time getting the chemo but the standard treatment will also be given. He feels like if he can do any good for anyone in the future he should. So all of you who have not had their colonoscopy, GET IT. Doing this study will postpone the beginning of his treatment for about 10 days. He is still weak but is improving. We are still getting a second opinion from Huntsman before we do anything else. He has lost 30 pounds in 4 weeks. Looking pretty skinny. His attitude is good most of the time but we still have to deal with the reality of how hard the treatment is going to be. We acknowledge our Father in Heaven's hand in all that is happening and know that he is watching over us. We appreciate everyone's love and concern and prayers. Love, Jolene

January 25
Dear family and friends. A quick update. I am supposed to be working. Had a rough couple of days on Thurs & Friday. He just wasn't sleeping and that makes everything worse. He had another CT scan on Friday and they also said his kidneys were working harder than they needed to. He went back to the hospital yesterday for another blood test to check the creatinine (sp) levels and she said that if they were not good they would call us and if they were okay they would be on the Dr's desk this morning so no calls, I guess they were good. We went to see Glen on Friday after the CT scan and he determined that he wasn't getting enough oxygen when he sleeps. (I think this has been his problem for many years) so he did a study with an oximeter to keep track during the night. His levels drop below 90 5% of the time, so the insurance will pay for the machine. He says it really made him feel old. He slept really well on Friday night and Sat night and even last night. He is still weak but doing so much better both emotionally and physically. Glen had a good talk with him that also made him feel so much better about the prognosis. We still feel very good about the future but know it will be hard to get there. We appreciate all the family that fasted and prayed for him this weekend. We definitely feel the support and love. I will try to keep you all informed. Love, Jolene

January 27
Dear family and friends. A quick update. We went to the local surgeon that did the colonoscopy. We had some questions for him about the size of the tumor and the size of the stent etc. Asked him if he thought we should get a second opinion about the course of treatment and he said if it were him and in this life and death situation he would definitely get a second opinion on the treatment. So, we are headed to Huntsman tomorrow to meet with the oncologist. This surgeon seemed to think that Chuck would not have the radiation that was originally planned and they would just do the surgery after the chemo. We continue to pray for guidance and that the Dr's will know the best thing to do. Hopefully we will start treatment next week and be on a predictable schedule, even if it is a miserable one. He is sleeping so much better and the oxygen seems to be helping. Who would have guessed? Love to you all. Jolene

January 29
Dear family and friends. We went to Huntsman. Was well worth the trip, They know what they are doing. Saw a young Dr of oncology that specializes in GI. She talked to our oncologist here just before she came in to see us. She immediately said he needed to be off the clinical trial because he was too curable. :) First really good news we have had. We are back to the original plan. 5 weeks of radiation and chemo and then surgery and then more chemo. Only 3 weeks late. We really liked the Dr at Huntsman. She was looking at the whole picture. She said the tumor is making him very miserable so it needs to go as soon as possible but she didn't want too much chemo as it would obliterate the two little spots in the liver and then they wouldn't be able to find them to take them out. She also wanted to make sure they don't damage the liver with chemo. We still are not sure that they needed to do the biopsy but the one Dr there at Huntsman (we had two to consult with) said spots that small could have easily been something else so it is a good thing to know for sure that it is cancer. They were surprised that the Dr that did the biopsy even got one from the larger of the two spots as it is so small. We felt very encouraged, as much as there is finally a plan because the Dr's here were just going to do 8 weeks of chemo and then decide what to do after that. So, hopefully he will start the radiation and chemo next week. At least that is our plan. If things don't work here we will just go to Huntsman and get a place to live and do it there. Whatever it takes. I really don't foresee a problem though. I know that the fasting and prayers of family and friends has made the whole difference. We were led to go back to Huntsman for a second opinion and we acknowledge our Father's had in all that we are doing. We love you all. Love, Jolene

So there are all the details. I will post more updates when I get them.