Spent the Weekend at Huntsman Again

What a wicked disease Cancer is! Saturday night Bruce was having trouble breathing. His oxygen level was low even after trying his nebulizer a couple of times so we took him to the hospital to see if we could get some oxygen for him. After a ride in an ambulance from Alta View Hospital to Huntsman he was admitted to the hospital and spent Saturday and Sunday night there. They have run multiple tests and have been unable to determine a cause for the breathing problem other than his asthma. It's not bad enough that he has lung cancer but the asthma is definitely making it more complicated. A CT scan has shown that the cancer has not grown but has slightly decreased in size. It is not enough of a decrease to look at it as a response to the immunotherapy but we were glad to hear that the cancer has not grown. He does have some fluid around his heart which is not good. When we talk to the doctor today we will be discussing his nutrition (we think he needs a pick line to get proper nutrition to help with his weakness and swelling limbs), his interesting visual images, and his inability to keep food down at times. Fun fun fun. NOT! Love to you all.we so appreciate your fasting and prayers.

The Cancer is Growing

We saw the Doc on Monday and the cancer is growing again. That is why he is having so much pain and discomfort.
So what is the plan? He will start immunology on Friday. This is the new drug that was recently approved by the FDA. This drug helps the body to recognize the cancer cells as foreign cells so that the body will kill them on its own. It is the next and most promising thing available in cancer treatment. The doctor said it is the new wave of cancer treatment and will become the preferred treatment for cancer in the future. This type of drug is why the cancer specialists are starting to talk about a cure for cancer. When we asked him about the side effects of this drug he said that on the trials there were so few side effects that most people thought they were getting the placebo. That being said it is kicking in the immune system and you know what happens when your body does that. We are expecting a good result and no side effects, however. The drug is administered by infusion once ever other week:)
Bruce's airways are once again being strangled by the cancer so they are going to do a surgery tomorrow to insert a stint into his bronchia to open up the airway so that he can breathe better as it will take a couple of months for this drug to work. They are hopefully doing the stint tomorrow morning. We would appreciate your prayers specifically for an easy and effective surgery and that the new drug will work the way it is supposed to so that Bruce can have more time with us. We love and appreciate you all. We are especially grateful to the Lord for his hand and for the knowledge we have specifically as to our purpose here on the earth and the plan of salvation.

Tough week

Bruce has had a really hard week. He has been very sick and unable to eat much of anything. He throws most things up shortly after he eats them. He has a lot of headaches, his stomach is killing him, he has a cough, backache and his chest muscles hurt from coughing. All of these things can be a side effect of the chemo drug or they can be from the cancer. We just won't know until we see the Doctor on Monday. 2 more days to wait. He has gone off the chemo therapy drug for now and won't go back on for a while if at all. They may have to try a new line of treatment we will see about that on Monday. Thank you so much for your faith and prayers!

What a roller coaster!

We have some real worries about Bruce right now. He is coughing a lot and a new lump has appeared on his neck/shoulder. It could be a lymph node and we are hoping it is not another cancer. We saw the Doctor on Monday and he wants to do a CT scan on Monday to determine what is going on.  He said if the targeted therapy has stopped working he doesn't want him to continue and have to deal with the side effects. For sure! The side effects are pretty brutal. We will not see the Doc until the following Monday so we won't know the outcome until then. This is such a horrible illness! It is not easy for either of us, but then life was not supposed to be easy was it. Please continue to remember Bruce in your prayers.

Living with Cancer

We are in the stage of cancer treatment where we are learning to live with the side effects of cancer. Since Bruce started targeted therapy they have had to lower the dose twice. He felt so nauseous and fatigued that he could barely function. Daily hygiene and eating what little he could were a real effort. Finally he is at a dose that seems to be better. He can get out of the house once or twice a day which is really good comparably. We have been to dinner and to run a couple of errands (yahoo)!

He still has trouble with food due to the radiation. Nothing tastes good to him. Well almost nothing, he loves Ruby Red grapefruit juice and grapefruit (really?) He lives on eggs, soup (creamy mostly and I stack on the calories) and a few other things. He can't eat sugar it is just too sweet for him. (Crap that means I eat all of the sweets in the house and the creamy soups and high calorie foods:() It is really hard to find things he can eat. We rarely eat out because he has a hard time eating well except Chic fil a. Seriously did you know that a small bowl has only 130 calories and the salad barely anything? How is he going to gain weight on that? He can't believe he is looking for ways to gain weight:)

He has been having headaches which we worried about because of the brain cancer.  I finally got him to email the Doc. He wanted him to have a MRI on his brain just to be sure that everything was alright. Worry, worry, then the scan yesterday. The Drs office called in the afternoon to let us know that there was no cancer in his brain. Yahoo! I guess the headache is just a side effect of the meds. It is manageable with Tylenol, thankfully.

Also he has been coughing a lot. This is worrisome for me but Bruce keeps telling me it is a side effect of the med. We'll let the Dr. know at our next visit and see if there is something he can do to suppress it. Sleeping is hard for both of us when he is coughing so much.

Bruce's hair is finally growing back! I even had to trim off a few stragglers the other day. Right now it is thin and fine but will thicken with time. He is grateful for that. 

We have had lots of family here for the month of July which was awesome. Chad finally moved back to Utah (hip hip hooray), Jen came with 4 of her children to visit, and Jared came with his family for a couple of days too. We had a blast! Cousins sleepovers, and parties galore! So much fun. Our house looked like a child hotel and it was fantastic!

We are grateful for all of your prayers in our behalf. We know Bruce is alive because of them! We are so grateful for the knowledge that we have. We are grateful for the miracle of modern science, we know that it is a gift from our Father in Heaven.  

Hospital again

Just an update. Bruce is in the hospital. He has been having some really severe knee pain now for a little over a week. We finally went to the ER on Saturday last but they couldn't find a cause. We had our regular appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday and he was concerned both about the knee and about a couple of other things. He wanted to admit him to the hospital so that we can get to the bottom of these issues and get him feeling better. They have drained 15 cc's of fluid from his knee and are running tests on it. So far there is nothing conclusive. 

The good new is that the Cancer looks great! It is in some places the same as it was the last scan, remember the cancer was reduced by 75% last time, and in others decreased in size. That doesn't sound great but it is really good in this aggressive Cancer. 

They have had to reduce the dosage because of the side effects so hopefully things will continue to improve.

While in the hospital we are learning about new meds that are effective in controlling nausea. if u need to try out new meds the hospital is the best p,ace to do it.

Life has definitely changed big time for us! Some days are super hard others are better. We love u all!

Side Effects

The chemo drug that Bruce is taking to target his mutations is called Tafinlar. While it is quite a miracle drug it is not without its side effects. Since Bruce seems to do things in a big way he has almost all of the common side effects and one of the uncommon ones. The common side effects are nausea, fatigue, weakness, alopecia, cough, neuropathy in the feet, and warts,  just to name a few. This week we have been dealing with the uncommon side effect that he has which is squamous cell skin cancers. He broke out in a rash on his back first, we just treated it with some polysporin and it went away but then broke out on another spot. Then one morning he was broken out all over his chest. Turns out it is squamous cell skin cancers, lots of them. He had 2 removed today by his regular dermatologist then we went to Huntsman to see the oncology dermatologist.
Can I just say Huntsman is an amazing place. The people are so nice, concerned and they take time for their patients. It is really a fantastic facility and we are so impressed with the quality of care. Thank you Jon Huntsman!

The PA that works with Dr Akerley is amazing and she got us in to see the oncology derm today!

Anyway the squamous cell skin cancers will probably take care of themselves since they are superficial but it was a little scary to think that he might have to have them all burned off,  ouch!

We are again so grateful for the miracle of modern science! Thank you Heavenly Father! Thank you Drs that dedicate their lives to finding treatments and cures for Cancer.

Doing Well

Several of you have reminded me that it has been a while since a blog update so here goes.

Bruce has been taking the targeted therapy chemo drug now for about 6 weeks and he is doing well. His breathing is normal and we are so grateful for this! Boy do we take breathing for granted! Struggling to breathe is awful!

There are side effects to the drug that he is taking.  Nausea, skin rash (that itches), weakness and fatigue are the major ones right now. This should get better as his body adjusts to the drug. We have seen some improvement in his weakness and fatigue as he gets out and does more and as he recuperates from the major hit his body has taken from all of the surgeries and treatments.  This is very encouraging. He will have to continue to take this drug as long as it is keeping the cancer at bay so he is learning to live with the side effects that he experiences.

The hardest thing for him right now is that the radiation has completely changed his ability to enjoy food. Food just does not taste good to him and he has to force himself to eat. He is doing a good job with that though and has gained 5 pounds back of the 50 he lost. He would love to stay at the weight he is at now:)

This illness has completely changed our lives and we are trying to learn a new normal. This is a challenge. We are grateful, however,  for each day and for the blessings that have come. We are moving from survival mode to how to make our lives the best and richest that they can be. We are getting more involved in family history work which is a fun challenge.  We were also able to go to Houston last week to witness the sealing of our twin 5 year old boy adopted grandsons as they were sealed to Jen and Jason.  What a blessing this experience was! Jared and Brittany and Chad and Heather were able to come also and it was wonderful to be with our family! Family is really what life is all about! Loving, supporting and sustaining one another is such a blessing to us as we travel through this mortal experience.

We are also grateful for amazing friends we are so grateful for all of your love, prayers, and support! We love you all!

One more thing...

I just have to say one more thing:
     There is a God in Heaven!! He knows us, He loves us, He hears our prayers and He answers them! He is our Father in Heaven, and His Son Jesus Christ died for us! I know it and am grateful that I do! I love them both so very much! 

This is FANTASTIC!

We just returned from the oncologists office. The news is FANTASTIC! So we somehow kept our CT Scan and MRI appointment that was scheduled as a follow up to chemotherapy (they usually don't do a scan for 2 months after you start taking the targeted therapy drugs).  The baseline scan that we had about a month ago shows the tumors as they were before he started targeted therapy.  Bruce's air ways were almost completely blocked by the tumors. The scan that was taken on Friday shows that after just  2 and 1/2 weeks of targeted therapy, the tumors that were blocking his airway are gone! Yep poof gone! Many of the tumors are gone. In fact there are only little spots left! This is really amazing! The Doc said take whatever Julie (the nurse practitioner) says and multiply it by 4 that is how good this news is! Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!

By way of explanation Bruce will have to take the targeted therapy drug for as long as it continues to work. Also should they stop working there is the new immunotherapy therapy drug that he could take. Remember lung cancer is not curable at this point, however, new treatments are coming out all of the time and as one nurse told us lung cancer is not curable but targeted therapy just melts the cancer it is amazing and....

GRATITUDE is what we are feeling right now in a big way! This has happened as a blessing from our Heavenly Father thru your faith, fasting and prayers!! In other words it is a MIRACLE!! Thank you so much to each one of you for your fasting, faith and prayers, to the awesome Doctors who have spent their lives researching and finding these incredible medicines, and most of all to Heavenly Father for the Priesthood, and the blessings that He has given us! Love to you all!!!

Better News

We went to the hospital today to learn how to give Bruce blood thinning shots into his stomach twice a day (yikes). We learned that he has a good sized clot in his lungs but it is superficial meaning that it is not deep and there is less of a chance that it will move. We are going to the Oncologist on Tuesday and will hopefully figure out the proper dose of the targeted therapy drug. He is very fatigued and has some nausea which are probably side effects of that drug. Thank goodness for better news today!!

Are you kidding?

We went in for a MRI and a CT scan yesterday. We just got a call from a Doctor at Huntsman who told us that Bruce has blood clots in his lungs. We will go the the hospital tomorrow where I will learn how to give him shots of blood thinners into his stomach twice a day. Oh my word!! One thing after another! Please continue to pray for him. We love you all!

Post by Bruce:
I want each of you to know that because of your great faith, prayers, blessings I am doing  well.  I am so grateful that each of you would do this for me.  Thank you.  May our Heavenly Father bless each of you and your families.  Becky and I love each of you. 

Gratitude

We are so grateful to those generous people who fund the expensive targeted therapy drug that Bruce is finally taking. And to those brilliant Drs and researchers who have developed these drugs. 

We received funding on Friday and Bruce took the first 2 chemo (targeted therapy) pills on Friday night. He had a rough night as in a major headache and backache during  the night but he actually felt a little better on Saturday morning. He took the pills on Saturday morning and really started to notice a difference in his strength. Oh my goodness, who knew the pills would start working so quickly. By Saturday afternoon he was asking me to call the Doc on Monday and enquire about a Physical Therapist who could come to the house to help him start working to get his strength back. This amazing! He has barely had the strength to get out of bed and now he is up and around more and more and has the desire to work to get his strength back. The change is truly miraculous!

We are so grateful for the MIRACLE of modern science!!

We Saw the Dr Today

Hi Y'all we saw Dr Akerley today. I told you before that he was going to speak to some of his colleagues about Bruce's weird case. He was able to talk to some of the most brilliant genetic and cancer minds in the world this past weekend at a conference he attended and they all concurred with the plan that he had in mind for Bruce. They are pretty bewildered as to why Bruce has 4 genetic mutations. This is the most mutations they have ever seen in a lung cancer patient, at least up at Huntsman. The good news is that one of the mutations, the one that seems to be the most prevalent, is called a BRAFF mutation and is most often seen in breast cancer patients. (Go figure) Only 4% of lung cancer patients have this mutation. It is a very targetable mutation. Targetable therapy drugs are taken in pill form to kill the cancer in patients with this mutation. You just take 2 pills every morning and ever night.  The pills kill only the cancer cells not all of the other cells in your body. Therefore, it is a ton milder on your system. Very few side effects, well it can have one weird side effect.  It makes some patients grow warts!# What? So they shave off the warts and lower the dose of the drug and that seems to take care of it. If that is the worst thing that happens we are all good! And it is very effective! Great news!
What do you think a pill like this costs? Can you say $7,000 - $12,000 a month? No I am not kidding. The good news is that there are foundations out there that will help with the cost and also Bruce has good insurance so at least for the first year we will not be paying for it. Phew! You have to take the drug the entire time it is keeping the cancer at bay so it could get a little pricey but you can reapply every year for assistance from these foundations. People who make it their business to help others are awesome!!

Also, you have probably heard all of the buzz about immunotherapy. This is an incredible new breakthrough in cancer treatment. They are even talking cure. Seriously! The new immunotherapy drug that was approved for squamous cell cancer works really well. It actually helps the body to see cancer cells as diseased cells (our bodies don't normally view cancer cells as disease) and the patients own immune system kills the cancer. It's is a literal miracle!  The nurse that we talked to said that they are thinking there is going to be a time in the not too distant future that you go to the Doc and he will say," Oh you have cancer. Take this pill." We are so, so grateful for the true miracle of modern science!!

We are home

We were able to come home yesterday! Yahoo! He is on oxygen and wheezing some so we have to do breathing treatments every 4 hours around the clock but we are so grateful for the progress he is making. Again, thank you all for your fasting and prayers. We love you!

So Much Better

Thank you to all of those of you who fasted today and for all of your prayers. The Lord has answered them. Bruce feels so much better. His wheezing is pretty much gone, his strength is returning slowly. He will be coming home tomorrow. We are so grateful to all of you and especially to the Lord for answering our pleadings and prayers. The blessings have been amazing and are continually working in our lives. We love you all!

A curve ball

Bruce is in the hospital. He is at Huntsman. His asthma has kicked in in a major way and they are doing everything the can but it doesnt seem to be getting better. We are fasting tomorrow for this specific blessing that his asthma will clear. Please join us in this fast.

Super Lab Results Are Back

Yeah the results are finally back and they are good. First of all it is not uncommon for them to see multiple mutations in one cancer cell but Bruce has the most they've ever seen in a patient. They great part is 2 of the mutations are targetable with targeted Chemo Therapy Drugs. This is what we have been hoping for and is great news for Bruce's prognosis. The Dr. is going to talk to some Geneticists about Bruce because of the number of mutations they saw. There may be other studies being done on some of the other mutations so our appointment on April the 7th will be interesting.The wait is finally over for the test results Yahoo!
Also, Bruce was unable to have the Chemo he was supposed to have today because his platelet count was too low by one point. This is not unusual and will not affect the overall effect of the drugs that he is being given.
Its after the trial of your faith that you see miracles - so true!

Rough Day

Today has been a hard day. We just could not keep Bruce's asthma under control. He was doing breathing treatments often and taking all the meds he could and still was wheezing very badly. We checked his oxygen and it was at 85-88% - too low. We called the on call Doc at the University hospital and he told us tobring him in. They gave him several breathing treatments with some better results but he was still wheezing. They decided to keep him at least over night. He is staying in the Hospital tonight and then we will see where he is at tomorrow. We will also be able to talk to his own Oncologist tomorrow. Thank goodness!
It takes 2 - 3 weeks for the Chemo to start working.
We will have the results of the super lab test this week - finally HAPPY DAY!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts

I have been so worried about how I was going to get the yard in shape all by myself. Because of my allergies Bruce takes care of the outside with very little help. This year obviously that could not happen. Then yesterday many wonderful friends came over and spent 3 hours weeding, pruning raking and just getting our yard in general in shape for the coming spring and summer. I don't know how to thank you for such a selfless service! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
Thank you also for the delicious soups, and wonderful meals that have been so helpful to us in this trial! We love you all and appreciate you more than we can express!

Chemo treatment #1

Today Bruce had his first Chemotherapy treatment. They infused him with 2 drugs and an anti nausea that is supposed to last for 3 days. That should be the amount of time that he will be nauseous. These are amazing new drugs that help with the side effects of chemo. He has a major headache tonight (on a scale of 1-10 he said they are a 7.5) and he is very tired! Our mantra is "we can do hard things".
The baseline scan results are back and the cancer has grown a little bit but nothing major, so that is good!
The super lab test results are not back yet but will be by the 25th of this Month. They finally got a large enough piece of tissue from St. Marks. These test results are huge for us as is the new drug which the FDA released 2 weeks ago. Either or both could improve Bruce's prognosis. Wow, there are so many wonderful advances being made in modern medicine and it is a miracle that we are extremely grateful for. Thanks to you all for your thoughts, prayers, and service!

An Easter Surprise

What wonderful friends we have! My BFF brought this darling basket to us as a welcome home from St George. She is so kind and thoughtful! It is such a blessing to know that we are loved!
We went to St George last week to visit family and to just get away for a couple of days. Bruce's brother has a home in St. George that he let us stay in. It was great to be able to relax and enjoy family. Bruce went golfing with his twin brother but found his energy level was not conducive to that activity. That will be his last game until he feels better.  Bruce has a twin brother who lives in St George. He has not seen him for some time. It was great to go to dinner with them and spend some time catching up.

Baseline CT scan today

Today we are going to Huntsman for a baseline CT scan. This is to determine where the cancer is before they start Chemotherapy tomorrow. This will help them to see how well the Chemotherapy is working. Bruce has been very tired and weak since the radiation. His forehead looks burned, because it is, from the Radiation. His skin is very sensitive. Just walking around the house and up and down the stairs is exhausting for him. He should be seeing some improvement in a week or two. We are a little worried about what the chemo will do to him though. Scary times.

Another thought - we are so grateful to good friends!

Last week a wonderful friend of ours who had been through cancer brought us a bag of the foods that she could actually eat and tasted so good to her while she went through chemo! That was so thoughtful and Bruce (and I) love the drinks and bagels that she brought. It was so kind of you to think of us!

Today some wonderful friends brought this sunshine basket to us! It just lifted our spirits and brightened our day so much! Thank you so much - you know who you are!!

Another friend has brought soup several times and we so appreciate this thoughtful kindness!

My dear BFF checks on us everyday and has brought dinner 4 times! She has sent plants, brought treats and so much more! I love you girl!

There have been so many other acts of kindness that have helped us so much through this really hard time. These are just some of the tender mercies we have received and we are so grateful. Thank you to you all!!  We love you!!

Well this is a Miracle!

We all know how slow the FDA is. Well this week they actually approved the new immunotherapy drug that is effective on Bruce's type of lung cancer! This approval is at least a year ahead of schedule. We are so excited to hear this great news. The protocol is that if  after 1 round of chemo the cancer is not responding they will give Bruce the new drug. The doctor thinks immunotherapy is the replacement for chemo in the future, that is how promising it is. Jared's home teaching companion is a Lung Cancer Doc in Boise. He said this is the biggest breakthrough in Cancer treatment EVER. Immunotherapy has been shown to be very effective.  Basically what it does is allow your own body to see cancer cells as foreign cells and your own body kills them!
Due to stem cell research there are great strides being made in cancer therapy these days. In the last 3 years treatment has changed dramatically. We are so grateful for those brilliant minds that are learning so much and making these treatments possible. We are especially grateful to the Lord for his hand in all of this!

Side Effects

We are seeing the side effects of radiation. Bruce is really tired. He walks very slowly and just has no energy. Sometimes it is hard for him to find the words he wants. It is hard on him and hard for me to watch. Just 2 treatments left and then he will have a couple of weeks to rest and heal. Jen is coming to town today and we are excited to see her! Yeah! We are so grateful for family!

No test results yet.

Yes we did go the Dr. on Thursday. The only problem was that the super lab test results are still not back yet. We are still waiting but feel confident that things will come back positively for Bruce. That means that we have hope that his genes have a genetic mutation that will result in better chemo therapy results.
This week Bruce will have his last 3 treatments of radiation. Radiation has made him extremely tired and he has pretty severe headaches because it makes your brain swell. He has some good medication to help with the swelling and the pain, thank heavens for the miracle of modern science!
After radiation he will have 2 weeks off of treatment to give his body a chance to recuperate and then on the 16th of March he will have another CT scan so that they can get a new base line before they start Chemo therapy. Then on the 17th of March he will start Chemo therapy. He will have 2 treatments a week for 3 weeks and then he will have a week off. We are not looking forward to the Chemo. We know how rough it can be after watching our granddaughter go through it but we have also seen her recovery as a result so please keep us in your prayers. We are so grateful for all of you and the love you have shown us. May the Lord bless you all for your kindness.

Bad Timing

Last night Bruce was running his fingers through his hair and it started falling out by the handfuls. They told us he would loose his hair but we were hoping he would be the lucky one that didn't. Shoot! He had to speak at Bill Sheldon's funeral today and we didn't think it would look so great to have hair all over his dark jacket so Jeff came over and shaved it for him. Thank heavens he has a good shaped head! People at the funeral thought he looked like Elder Oaks. HMMM. Tomorrow we will see the Lung Doc and find out more about the diagnosis and Chemotherapy. I'll post more then. Thank you for your prayers!

 I wanted to take time this evening and thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts, kindness.  Becky and I love and appreciated each of you.  Each day our spirits are lifted by those around us.  We receive so many blessings each day. 
Today we of course spent time at Huntsman C I receiving the 38 seconds of radiation.  This happens each day and I have 7 treatments left.   It is so quick.  Those who give the care and treatments are so nice and accommodating.  We meet with the Lung Doctors this Thursday and will have an idea on the future Chemo schedule.  We still have not received any information form the super lab on my specific genetic and DNA make up.  They will however have that by Thursday.  Huntsman is a special place with lots of miracles taking place each day. 
After a weekend of no treatment,  Monday usually means I will get a good headache in the afternoon.  But....better living through drugs(prescription) LOL.  Medication fixes all that.  Other than headache and afternoon fatique we are really doing fine.  Food taste great for a change and I can eat most anything with no issues.  That Gall Bladder issue has finally settled and it is so nice to eat different things.  For some reason sugar is overwhelming. Taste great but only in small quantities.  A cookie (large sugar) will last a day or two.  Wow.  Used to be 1 minute. 
On the fun side, Becky and I went to look at the new Camry's.  I believe it or not was tired of driving the big truck and looking for big parking places.  Yep,  we bought a new car.  I of course did all my research and it was actually a pleasant experience.  Unusual for buying a car for sure.   Great decision and we are thrilled.  Best of all it was a straight trade.  4 year old truck for a new car.  Becky may refer to this as retail therapy.   All part of being prepared and piece of mind.   Now I just need to figure out how to use all the extra buttons for the radio, phone, and on and on.  I love the electronic gadgets so it is a great diversion. 
Again,  thank you so much for all that you do and continue to do for us.  We have been so blessed.  We know our Heavenly Father is there each day for us.  We are grateful for the Gospel and the truths that allow us to see the whole picture.  May each of you also be blessed is our prayer each day.  With love and kindness.  Bruce & Becky

A week of radiation

Bruce has had 7 radiation treatments and will have 8 more. The treatments are going as expected. He has had headaches because the radiation causes swelling in the brain. They are not as frequent as they were, however, the blessing of fasting and prayer. He has been eating more but lost 2 pounds today. That is discouraging! We just have to remember all of the blessings, fasting and prayers that have been offered in his behalf. We will find out this week if the cells have a genetic mutation. If they do that is good. If they do have a mutation the cancer is much more treatable and there is a much better prognosis. We appreciate all of the prayers in our behalf.

Golfing With Great Friends

What a beautiful day! It's Valentines Day and Bruce was able to go golfing with good friends.

A Better Pic

So I understand that yesterdays picture was a little scary to some people. Ha, ha, I have to admit Bruce and I laughed a lot about it last night. Too bad Halloween is not close:) So here is his hospital ID picture to ease all of your fears. Today was the 2nd radiation treatment. He will probably not feel the side effects of radiation for a couple of weeks so right now he is doing pretty well, except for the headaches. We are grateful for all of your prayers, we feel strength from them. Thank You!

The Mask and Radiation

I know it looks a bit like Freddie Kruegar. Today was the first day of Radiation. Yesterday we went to Huntsman so they could make this lovely mask. They need it so that the patient cannot move his head while he gets radiation. They actually attach it to the table while they are doing the radiation and the patient cannot move their head at all. They are very careful about how they position the patient on to the table. Interesting huh? Bruce will go to Huntsman everyday for the next 15 days excluding holidays and weekends for radiation therapy. It only takes about 15 minutes! Not bad! We are confident that it will kill the Cancer that has spread to his brain. Modern science, absolutely amazing!

Radiation begins this week

Today we went to Huntsman to learn about radiation. Bruce has 20+ lesions in his brain that they will be radiating. Because there are so many they will be doing whole brain radiation. Tomorrow we will go to the hospital so that he can be fitted with a mask. During radiation he will be strapped to the table in the mask so that his head cannot move while they are doing the radiation. Sounds like no fun but at least the radiation is not long, only a few minutes.  He will have to have 15 treatments, one everyday but weekends and holidays for the next 3 weeks. While they are doing this we will be waiting for results from the so called super lab. When they get the results from the lab they will be formulating the type of Chemo Therapy that will work best with his DNA. Amazing! We are so grateful for the Miracle of Modern Science! The progress that has been made in cancer treatment is such a miracle! We are so grateful for those who dedicate their lives to researching new more effective ways to eradicate cancer. Hopefully one day there will be a cure for Cancer. We are also so grateful for the fasting and prayers in our behalf! Thank You!

Over Read is Back

The Nurse Practitioner called yesterday to let us know that the over read on the tissue sample is back. It confirms the first diagnosis squama cell lung cancer. However, they still have questions and we are waiting for the results from the super lab to come back. Bruce had a good nights sleep last night, not as much coughing, and is going golfing today. We are still hopeful and are exercising our faith in the Savior and the blessings that have been given. We are grateful for all of you. Keep Bruce in your prayers! We love you!

The Diagnosis

After months of illness:
     1st Bruce had terrible headaches that doctors concluded were due to sinusitis and required sinus surgery. He really did need sinus surgery and the headaches in that area of his head went mostly away but not completely and the new headaches were different than they were before.
      2nd He had horrendous stomach pain that was misdiagnosed as a ulcer and treated for one for 2 weeks. Time wasted!
      3rd he was diagnosed with a diseased gallbladder. That was a fact after an excruciatingly painful test, that lasted 3 hours, and weeks of horrendous pain it was determined that his gallbladder was operating at only 18% and needed to come out. The gallbladder was removed but the pain never went away. He was actually readmitted to the hospital for further tests but no cause was found.
      4th Bruce's Asthma kicked in and with all of the normal treatment would not subside even though his Asthma is usually easily controllable. Finally an astute Dr. (these seem to be rare in our experience) sent him to a Pulmonologist who ordered a CT scan with contrast and it was determined that he needed a biopsy.

to our shock and horror Bruce was diagnosed with squamous cell lung cancer on January 30, 2015.
    
     What? Lung Cancer? We are Mormon and Bruce has never smoked a cigarette. 90% of squamous cell patients smoke, how can this be?

After a Pet scan and a Brain Scan we went to visit the Lung Cancer team at the Huntsman Cancer center. They explained to us that Squamous cell cancer is not curable, but it is treatable. The median life expectancy of Squamous cell patients that don't smoke is 2 years but some live 5 yrs - 20 years. He is in stage 4 which means the cancer has spread to his brain, his bone and his spleen. This does not, however, affect the prognosis. They also explained that there is a question as to whether or not this really is Squamous cell lung cancer or Lymphoma. Oh please, please be Lymphoma since Lymphoma is curable. Further tests are being run on the tissue sample that was collected from the biopsy and we will know soon, not sure when 1-3 weeks, what type of Cancer it is for sure. In the meantime Bruce will go for radiation treatment on the cancer cells that are in his brain. We will meet with the Radiology team on Monday and will find out his treatment schedule at that time.

The good news is that the new face of Chemotherapy is DNA driven, which means they test your DNA to see what type of Chemo your body will be responsive to. There are also other treatments that will be available soon possibly in the next year to year and a half, that look very promising.

This has been a shock to our family. We are grateful for fasting and prayers and for our faith. We are grateful for the knowledge we have of the plan of salvation and for the love that we share as a family. We are also so grateful for wonderful, caring friends who are there for us.