Thursday, May 29, 2008

Breathing the long awaited sigh of relief !!

Hallelujah!

We heard the words directly from the oncologist himself, no chemo!

Praise the Lord!

Brock is a cancer survivor! What wonderful words!

The oncologist said, "You are a lucky guy." Brock replied, "I am blessed."

It's been 5 weeks today since the surgery. A very long wait for the final answer to our (and your) prayers.

We realize this illness could very, very easily have had a different outcome. We don't know why God blessed us with this clean bill of health. I don't think he's finished with Brock yet. Leading up to the surgery, I just felt, deep within me, that it wasn't Brock's time to go. Not to say I wasn't scared out of my wits.


One thing I have learned from this traumatic experience. Don't be afraid to die as long as you are right with the Lord. In watching Brock's attitude and the peace that came over him, I really believe God makes everything alright. Further evidence of this occurred on April 8 when my step-mother, sweet Betty died. I watched her take her last breath and although it was heart wrenching to watch, she was at peace. I do think dying is worse for those left behind.


Thanks to everyone for the prayers, concern, cards, flowers, letters, gifts and most of all your friendship.

This is my final blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading about our journey as much as I have enjoyed writing.

Feel free to call anytime if you'd like to check on Brock.

Side note to my sister, Paula, "time to publish".

Brock and I close singing.....

Our God is an AWESOME God!

With love always,
Chris

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Visit to the Surgeon May 28

Hello,

I've been trying to find the time to write because I know there are a few of you that are waiting to hear about our visit to the surgeon today.

It went very well. The surgeon was smiling again. Mostly he is interested in what Brock is eating, how much and if it's coming out the other end regularly. No problem there. He can't eat very much at a time, but he's tried just about every food and hasn't had any ill effects. He started drinking Ensure again because his weight is down to 214. He really doesn't want to get below 200, but even then it would be ok. His appetite does seem to be increasing. He is thinking and talking about food more often (like the old Brock).

The doctor said Brock can start doing whatever he feels he can do. To start slow and not over do. Brock will be returning to work on June 23. That will be exactly 2 months that he'll be off work. That's pretty good. The doctor had originally said he could be off work 11 to 12 weeks.

We did find out something new. Brock will be on an acid reducer for the rest of his life. This surgery made him prone to ulcers in that area of the body. The surgeon hadn't told us that. The way we found out was that Brock has been having breast pain with swelling. It's been bothering him pretty severly over the last couple of weeks. At times he said it feels like he's being pinched. We originally thought it was a nerve. When we told the surgeon about it, he knew exactly what it was. It was the pepcid that he's been taking since the surgery. It is a side effect of this medication. So he switched Brock to a different one and said it will take a few weeks for the pain to lessen.

The surgeon doesn't have to see Brock again for 3 months.

As time goes on, we reflect back how God had comforted us throughout this whole ordeal. It should be a comfort to anyone who reads this that if you are ever in a situation like we have been in, just know that God will be there for you too. The result will be the right result and it will happen in God's timing.

Tomorrow is our last scheduled doctor appointment. The oncologist. We are sure hoping we will be breathing that sigh of relief that we've been waiting for. I will share the results with you tomorrow at about this time.

Our God is an AWESOME God!

That becomes more apparent with every passing day.

Love to all,
Chris

Monday, May 26, 2008

A good holiday weekend May 26

Hello to anyone that might be checking up on Brock.

It's been awhile since I've checked in with you. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. It's very important to Brock and I to remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our country from Valley Forge to Bagdad.. They died in the name of liberty. We have been to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. What a place. You will come away from there a better American.

At this point in recovery, about 4 and 1/2 weeks, Brock is still improving. He is good for about 3 to 4 hours. Then he is down for a nap or a rest for 1 to 2 hours. I can see it in his face before he even knows it himself. He has the desire to do more things, which is probably a good sign. I know he hates to watch me mow the lawn or do any of the things that are "his" jobs. Being with him all the time, I'm not seeing the changes like others that don't see him as often. Our daughter and son-in-law were over to do a few things around the yard and made the comment that he's doing fantastic and they can really notice changes. I was really glad to hear that. Our son-in-law asked if we are tired of each other yet. We haven't been apart except for brief moments and it's been fabulous! Good thing we really, really like each other. :)

We had an interesting thing happen on Thursday morning at 4 A.M. Brock woke me up to report that his feeding tube fell out. That was scary. We didn't know what to do. Many things that happen in the middle of the night seem like a crisis, when in reality, if it was the middle of the afternoon it wouldn't be any big deal. We didn't know whether go to the hospital, call the doctor on call or what. We talked and thought it out and decided to wait till 8 A.M. when the office opened. We remembered at our last appointment, the surgeon saying he likes to wait 4 weeks to take it out. It had been exactly 4 weeks to the day. Also the home nurse had told Brock that he could just pull it out himself, that it wouldn't be a problem. There was a lot more of it inside his body then we thought. The whole tube was 16 inches long, 11 of it inside his body. It's so bizarre.

When Brock got ahold of the doctors office at 8:00 and told the nurse what happened, she said,"oh,oh". Then he explained he'd had it in 4 weeks and not using it. She said not to worry about it. So we didn't. The hole started closing immediately and we just covered it with gauze. It's all healed up now. The body is God's miracle. Perfect design.

We had another surprise on Friday late afternoon. The radiologist that we saw the week before called us at home. We are just so amazed about these doctors calling at home! He had told us that he would follow through with the surgeon and the oncologist. He and Brock had a really good talk. He said the 3 doctors had met and all agree that the cancer was caught extremely early and that surgery was the treatment. We've been smiling ever since we heard that. We will breathe the sigh of relief after we see the oncologist on Thursday this week and hear it out of his mouth.

The last thing I would like to share with you is something I am just beginning to realize. Brock does not remember very much about his hospital stay. I'm sure glad my dad was with us a lot because I need a witness to prove some of the strange things that went on. Most of them seem funny now. Like Brock just getting up thinking he's going to take a walk and barely giving me time to unplug 3 things from the wall, cover up his behind and gather all the tubes and wires to take along with us. Sometimes I think the Lord protects us by wiping bad things from our memory.

Well, it's time once again for Andy and Opie (The Andy Griffith Show).

Have a successful and healthy week. I will write again, hopefully on Wed. after our visit to the surgeon. We have lots of questions for him.

Thanks for being there. Brock and I appreciate you.

Our God is an AWESOME God!!

Love,
Chris

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

A day in the life May 20

Hello,

I promised a blog this week and today seemed like the right time for catch up.

Brock continues to recover slowly, but surely. The changes are very subtle. Something as simple as turning over in bed. Last night I noticed him do that for the first time. Until now he had to sit up first, he couldn't just roll over. He's able to bend over to pick something up. In church Sunday, we were able to stay for a little while after service to chat with some friends. Last week we were the first ones out the door because he was pretty worn out. He's not asking for help for a lot of little every day things.


Today was a very good day. Brock's office has available every year a wellness program that includes a Chem 17 blood test. It is also availble to spouses. Although Brock did not want to be stuck with another needle, I was excited to have this blood test to keep up on my numbers. My appointment was for 9:10 am. We left early so that Brock could say hello to co-workers. We saw quite a few people and everyone was glad to see him and expressed their excitement at the outcome of this surgery. Most told him how good he looks. We thanked everyone for all their prayers. I want to take a moment to thank you all again for all your prayers and concern for both of us. We are so proud to have every one of you in our lives.


When we left the office, we went out for breakfast with some good friends. It was so great to have some good food and even better company.


After all that excitement, Brock was ready for a nap and did sleep several hours during the day.


This evening some of our kids and grandkids came over and our son-in-law helped with a few little things that needed done around the house. We cooked burgers on the grill. Seems like life is coming back to normal.




Had to have a little brag time. These are our grandkids. These pictures were just taken yesterday. At the moment they are both 4 years old. They are 11 months apart in age. "Irish twins". Our daughter gets their picture taken every year at this time while they are the same age. They are the loves of our life.

I have been having questions about our brother-in-law, Bill. He did extremely well with his surgery and is already home. This family has had so much answer to prayer. We are all very thankful.

Time to watch Andy and Opie, Brock's favorite show.

Our God is an AWESOME God.

Love to all,

Chris


Friday, May 16, 2008

Visit to the Oncologist May 16

Hello everyone on this beautiful Friday evening.

I will get right to the point since I know you signed on to see how the doctor appointment went and not to listen to me ramble on.

Our appointment was at 1:45. We waited in the inside office for a really long time. When the doctor came in, he apologized for being late. He had been on the phone for 1/2 hour trying to get in touch with an oncologist at the IU Med. Center in Indianapolis that only works with Brock's type of cancer. Being Friday afternoon, he wasn't able to reach him.

Our doctor explained what we already knew. This cancer is very rarely caught this early. He said it was a very small tumor. There is nothing in the textbooks regarding ampullary cancer. The 4 types of cancer that I previously mentioned, ampullary, pancreatic, duodenum, and bile duct are all lumped together. Ampullary is the only one that has an actual cure rate. Cure is not a word you hear very often when it comes to cancer.

So with the data available, or I should say not available, he was not sure how to proceed. He weighed out the options either way, he said the chemo would be "a piece of cake", no nausea, no hair loss or stress on the heart. On the other hand, there is no reason to do chemo if it's not necessary. He asked us what the radiologist and the surgeon have said, and that he will confer with them. He said to give him a couple of weeks to work on it. We have another appointment with him on May 30.

Then at 6:15 this evening, the phone rings and it's the oncologist himself. I've just never heard of a personal phone call like this! He said he had spoken to one of the doctors at the IU Med. Center and his consensus is that, "there would be no benefit to chemotherapy." He said he wanted us to know what he found out and he would see us on the 30th. He said they will be having a conference on it. (I think he might have meant a conference call.)

Brock said maybe he'll go down in the medical journals. :) Leave it to Brock, huh?

So it's still a wait and see scenario. We are just trying to digest all of this.
More and more, we are starting to believe this just might be a miracle. This doctor just couldn't believe Brock only had symptoms for 2 weeks before diagnosis. He said people with cancer in the digestive tract usually go months and months before a diagnosis is made.

Thanks to all our doctors for the swift movement on every aspect of this entire journey. That alone saved Brock's life.

Brock's blood pressure is down to normal and heart rate too. Bill is doing very well on his first full day after his heart bypass surgery. Prayer works.

I don't know when I will write again. I'll feel lost without writing to you all. I'm sure I will update you sometime next week.

All the Glory to God!
Our God is an AWESOME God!

Love to all,
Chris

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Visit to the Radiologist May 15

Time for praise!!

The radiologist consensus is that he doesn't see any need for further treatment.

How bout that? We are overwhelmed. We don't even know how to thank the Lord. Before the surgery, we got bad news on top of bad news and now we just keep getting good news on top of better news.

What a great doctor. He spent a lot of time with us. He did say he wants to confer with the surgeon and the oncologist after we see him tomorrow. But with wide margins like this, and the pathologist report, no need for radiation. He told us that when the tumor has been removed, they usually shoot the radiation directly into what they call the bed. Well, Brock's tumor bed is now gone. The whole area was removed by the Whipple Procedure. It all makes sense to me.

We talked quite a bit about ampullary cancer. The fact is, there just aren't any real statistics on it. In the first place, it is very rare and in the second place, it usually spreads before it is found. He said this was found very early.

Also, his blood pressure was down to 118/82. That's about exactly what it was running before the surgery. Brock has seemed a lot more relaxed today. He really resting and calm.

Our brother-in-law, Bill, was rushed into surgery this morning. In fact, they woke them up out of a sound sleep and said the monitors were showing they needed to move quickly. They said he needed the bypass immediately regardless of the risk. And the risk of bleeding was extremely high. He made it through surgery. He still needs prayer that his bleeding stays under control. From what I understand, Bill's 22 year old son went into ICU to see his dad and fainted. We won't let him live that one down. I think Brenda is near exhaustion. I hope she can get some rest now that the worst of it is over.

I will let you all go for now.

Watch for an update after our visit to the oncologist tomorrow.

Our God is an AWESOME God!
Awesome, Awesome

Love to all!!!
Chris

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tuesday May 13

Hello to those of you that may still be with us.

What a gorgeous spring day. I hope you got outside to feel the warm sun.

I said I would update you on the visit to our family physician yesterday. Believe it or not, it was great to be there. The nurse, Kathy, is so personable, sweet, bubbly and efficient. She's always smiling. And sometimes our doctor seems like more of a friend than our doctor. He's extremely smart and always knows the right thing to do. Brock was one of his first patients when Brock came to Fort Wayne 18 years ago. I think the whole time, Brock and the doctor have been teasing back and forth about Brock losing weight. Well, finally he has and the doctor said he looks great. That's really a compliment and I know it made Brock feel like a million bucks.


We talked a lot about the surgery and how we are all thrilled that it went so well. Not only that the surgeon could complete the surgery, but that the cancer was removed in it's entirety. The high blood pressure and fast heartbeat is a puzzle. He decided to put Brock on a low dose beta blocker, hopefully it won't be permanent. We will go back in 6 weeks. It very well could be caused by all this stress on his body and mind. Brock took his first pill this morning and said he thinks he might already feel better. Maybe not quite as fidgety. I don't know if blood pressure can drop in a day with one pill, but we will have it checked tomorrow to see if there is a change.

Today I took Brock to Wendy's to meet his coworkers for lunch. I used the excuse to see one of the grandkids. So we drove one to school and took the other to lunch with us. He was very well behaved and just loves being with his Grandpa (and Grandma :)

Brock pretty much slept off and on the rest of the day.

Hmmm, my blog seems to be getting boring. I guess that's good news.

Please continue to pray for Bill, our brother-in-law. He was having such severe chest pains they had to give him blood thinners and now he cannot have surgery possibly till Monday. It was so bad yesterday, he could only lay flat on his back or he had chest pains. They finally inserted a nitroglycerin IV drip and now he feels a little better. Brenda said all 4 arteries are 100% blocked.

We visit the radiologist on Thursday. I will sign on to let you know what the outcome is.

Thanks to everyone for all the compliments on this blog. I'm glad you have enjoyed it. They always say putting things on paper is therapy. It certainly has been for me. Someday I hope to meet each and every one of you. Your prayers and support has brought us to where we are today.

Our God is an AWESOME God!

With love,
Chris