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!!