Half Way!

FOOD SIGN UP  (Nikki will be getting new dates in here this week for next rounds of chemo)

BOOT CAMP FUND RAISER   (Please come join us for a fun work out with the crew from Living Ignited, proceeds help us with medical costs.  It's this Saturday, November 1st at 10:00am)


We've been home for a little over a week now and slowly things are getting back to our new normal, and it feels really good.  I was talking with Jax's teacher from last year, and she said you can tell just from Jax's demeanor at recess that things must feel much better at home this week.  Boy is she right!

At the end of last week I made my way to Target and got all the necessary supplies to get organized.  I've made a medication spread sheet, and every other night pre pack Jonathan's pile of medications for the next two days.  This has made life so much easier to just be organized!  I'm not having to get out of bed every 2 hours and I think both of us are resting a bit better and the stress level in our home is getting less and less by the day.

We've really enjoyed having visitors this last week.  We have watched some football, had dinner etc.  Lots of friends have come to see Jonathan, and some have come to see the kids.  Jax told me daddy has enough friends and he needs to start sharing... And so the kids have had a great week as well!

Jonathan's pain level is now manageable, but varies depending on how hard his physical therapy was.  He can not put any weight on his right leg at all.  In fact, he pretty much has no use of his quad muscles yet.  He cannot even lift his leg if he wanted to.  But with therapy every day, we are seeing slow progress.  Today he even made it down the stairs and went to church with us this morning!

On Thursday we also made it out of the house to go see Dr. Raj for our oncology appointment.  He of coarse was on top of it and had called Seattle for all the pathology results. 
1.  All of the tissue taken from his back for the melanoma was clear, No Cancer. 
2.  The tumor in his right femur was measuring now over 8 cm.  (The original MRI showed it at 6)
3.  The tumor in his right femur was showing 65% necrosis
4.  The margins around the tumor were all negative for cancer

So what we know on the Melanoma is that the tissue scrape done originally probably removed all of the cancerous cells.  We also know there are other spots on his back that also look worrisome but are small.  So every few months we will make an appointment with the dermatologist and have them removed probably two at a time. 

What we can assume about the osteosarcoma is that because it was growing so fast, we probably caught it really early.  It continued to grow at a very fast rate even while undergoing chemotherapy.  Yes we were hoping for a higher kill rate of the tumor, BUT the doctor said, considering it's size, a 65% necrosis is really pretty good for only 2 cycles of the chemo regiment.  So even though we didn't hit that 95%, we are still going to be happy with the 65%.  We also are very happy that the margin of tissue around the tumor is clear of cancer cells.  They got all of the tumor, and the risk of spreading is lower. 

Oh how I wish I could tell you that now Jonathan just recovers and this is all over.  We got the tumor out!  It's done!  We can go back to normal, like our actual normal.  But my friends we've only reached half time...  We get a short break while Jonathan recovers from surgery.  But we have 3 more rounds/cycles that will total around 4 months probably of chemo still to go.  I'm sitting here trying to remember a time back when I played sports that I would have sat in the locker room at half time after having my butt handed to me and possibly having that feeling like I wish this was over and I don't want to go back out there.  I can't remember ever feeling like this... I'm not a quitter!  But I don't want to go back out there this time...  This is the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm just his wife.  Honestly though, as I sit here and accuse myself of wanting to be a quitter, the truth is, I never wanted to start in the first place.  Those of you that know me, know I want to be the best I can at whatever I'm doing.  And so today, I'm helping Jonathan kick cancers butt.  We aren't quitting and I'm going to be the best at this as I can be. 

Our second half of this wild ride starts on November 11th, Jonathan will check back into the hospital for chemo.  The nasty stuff right off the bat.  You have to remember that this type of cancer is so microscopic that is spreads so easily.  So even when you think you have it, you don't.  Now that the tumor is out, we still need to kill everything in him that could possibly be attempting to spread.  Now comes the hard part.  We do the chemo, and just hope it was enough.  The reality of this type of cancer is that once we are done, for people that treat this properly, the survival rating is still only 70%.  This horrible cancer comes back!  So really quitting isn't an option because that 70% number would drop drastically. 

Today I spent some time looking for encouragement when it comes to endurance.
Romans 5:3-4  We rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
James 1:2-4  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.