I spoke too soon

Well...I spoke too soon. It's late on Wed. and Craig's still in the hospital. Today he felt pretty good but by lunch and the time we thought he was coming home, his blood sugar shot off the charts (over 500...the portable machine couldn't read it) and they needed to check it again through the lab. They did and it was 560. Then his heart rate went from 51 this morning to about 41 in the afternoon. The Drs. decided about 5 pm that he better stay over and they injected 12 units of insulin in him and ordered an EKG. The insulin didn't make a huge difference and his blood sugar was still in the 300s. So they put him on an insulin drip. The EKG showed a heart rate of 39 and they have hooked him up to a machine to track his heart rate overnight. Tomorrow they'll probably call in a cardiologist and see what might be going on with his heart. I've come home now to catch up on work, see the kids (and Scout) and sleep a little. Craig is comfortable and hopefully will sleep better tonight even though they'll be taking his blood sugar every hour! He was hoping to come home so he could sleep uninterrupted. You just never know what is going to happen...stay tuned!

He got through it!

Well, he got through it and it was so much better than last time! The procedure was only about 2.5 hours. Dr. Carlisle reported that he concentrated on the left side of the liver and found 2 fist-sized tumors there that he was able to target with the chemo. Craig's anatomy does require a few extra twists and the Dr. had to come through an artery that comes from his stomach to reach the left side of his liver. He felt like he really blasted the two tumors and we won't have to treat them again for awhile. The Dr. said this was about 30% of his tumor load. Next time he'll go back to the right side and then the next time the rest of the liver. Then Craig can get a 3-6 month break we hope.

Craig is feeling pretty good. The urinary catheter still does cause a little irritation whether it's placed correctly or not. So that would be his main complaint. Next time he might be able to go without it since we know Dr. Carlisle can get in there and out in a few hours. Craig hasn't had much pain so far and he was able to stand up an hour after the procedure because the Dr. placed a plug in the main artery unlike last time. All in all, we feel really good about this time. I'll post some pictures after I bring the camera home today. Thanks for everyone's calls, emails, texts, and prayers. We can't tell you how much it means to us.

Chemo #2

I'm sitting at Huntsman Cancer Hospital while Craig is in for the procedure right now. We came up yesterday at 2 and they put is in an observation room. It's a room without windows and could possibly have 3 beds in it. We thought...not quite the suite we had last time! They said they were full on the 5th floor and would see if they could get us on the 4th floor. They eventually did which was good because Craig really enjoys looking outside and it was pretty depressing in the windowless room. So now we're in 4507 and looking west. Not quite the suite but still a nice room. We do have a couch and 2 chairs for sitting which is nice. Craig got hooked up to an IV and has had fluids dripping in him for the last 19 hours. They want him really hydrated to open up the arteries as much as possible to gain easier access into the liver. They gave him some drugs right before they took him in to relax him and the octreotide for the tumors. It immediately made him sick to his stomach. He hasn't had any food today so that's partially why. I feel kind of quilty now. I've already had one order of sweet potato fries yesterday for dinner and I'm thinking of going up there now to get another for lunch...maybe throw in a salad too! He should be out of the procedure around 1 or 2. I'll keep you updated. Thanks for everyone's calls, texts and prayers you're sending our way.

Next Monday is the day

These are the zinnias we grew from seed in our backyard. Don't they just make you happy? I smile every time I go in the backyard and see them.

Craig got moved up a day for chemo...well actually he'll still have it on Sept. 1 but he checks in on Aug. 31 at 3 pm to get ready for it. Dr. Carlisle will do it early Tues. morning instead of us showing up at 6 am on Tuesday. We're hoping for the suite again but the odds of that at 3 pm aren't great. Craig's not exactly looking forward to it (although I am looking forward to the sweet potato fries) and is trying this week to use the energy he has to get a few things done. Hopefully he'll fit a bike ride up to Dog Lake in there and a hike. He is weighing in at 180 right now which is about 15 down from his start weight. He looks great but doesn't feel as good as he looks. His dad, Grandpa Dave, is in the hospital with heart and kidney problems and his sister Greta-Ann is in the hospital in Seattle with diabetes complications...so the Doutre's are not faring well at the moment. Health truly is everything...you don't need much more to be happy.

This is Scout watching me take pictures of the zinnias...I tried to get him to pose in front of them but he was more interested in me throwing the ball. (Note the 2 he has by him...he always has 2, one ball is just not fun.)

If by chance you want to contact us and don't have our email or phone number... they are sdoutre@comcast.net and our home phone is 801-274-7600. I recently realized directory assistance gives you our 2nd business line in the house so sometimes that may be confusing. Craig loves hearing from you and sometimes you might not want to be so public on the blog. Thanks to everyone who is thinking about us right now. We are hoping this time might not be as awful as last time. Maybe your body starts to get used to it more...

Summer Fun

Just wanted to put up a few pictures of fun times this summer...
This is Craig and Maddie with Ryder Jeffries who stopped by to visit with his mom and baby brother from Oklahoma. We miss having them in the neighborhood.Maddie holding Ryder, Jenn and baby Cash.John and Trish Lewis, Alix and her husband Clint, Fisher and Annabelle, Craig and I. Jon and Trish lived in our basement apt. on Highland View Circle where Alix was born and in the Commonwealth house. Their cute family has grown up so much. They visited from Idaho.

Todd, Sarah and Eliza Gardner and Maddie in the pool. It's been a great summer for pool time. We love having the Gardner family over. Sarah is due the end of Sept. with a baby boy!Scout with his favorite toy "Bowser". He has had it since he was a puppy and really loves him and doesn't chew him up! Scout is a great dog. The kids say I love him more than them...just sometimes!My brother Kent celebrated his 60th birthday on August 12. Here he is with his daughters Nicole and Kristy and granddaughter Brinley. We love you guys!
All of my siblings together on Kent's birthday...Kent, Kathy, Mary Ann, Craig and me! I love you all, you've been such a great support to me and my family.

Maddie turned 16 on August 15!! Here she is with our good friend Sherrie Thomas up Millcreek Canyon last Sunday. Maddie's friends surprised her with a party at our house the night before.

Our good friends, the Thomas family...Jason, Sherrie, Maddie and Jake. Paola (center) is here from Brazil as an exchange student. Maddie just returned from a year in Brazil. The Thomas family does so much for us and always makes us feel loved. We really appreciate their friendship.
Maddie with her "new" car courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Doutre and Craig and I. Watch out, there's a new driver in the neighborhood. We obviously don't have pictures of everyone (stop by and we'll take a picture!)...but we want all of you to know how much we love and appreciate you. We couldn't do this alone. We appreciate every call, note, visit and thought in our behalf. Craig is feeling better the last 4-5 days and even went on an excursion to Idaho with Todd Gardner yesterday. So life is good right now...too bad we just got the call for the next chemo. Sept. 1 at 8 am we will report to Huntsman for the 2nd chemoembolization of the liver. New doctor, catheter in and we're ready to go in and kill some more tumors!

"There is HOPE"

Today as we drove home from 4 hours at the doctor's office...Craig said "I feel like there is HOPE!" It makes me cry to write this because it has felt so hopeless at times but today we were buoyed up by a doctor that spoke with confidence and purpose. We met Dr. Carlisle, our new intervention radiologist, and he listened and he offered new ideas and he gave us hope. I can't tell you how much that changes our outlook. He looked at Craig as a whole person with needs and wants and understood his need for quality of life. He offered new options in treatment that would include a new radiation treatment for tumors in the liver. It's new and seeing good results without the downside of chemo. He explained that the tumors are showing signs of necrosis (dying) and even though the size looks the same on the scan, the insides are dying. He thought it would be good to wait a few weeks to do the chemo again before we do the radiation treatment since it takes 6-8 weeks to schedule. We can do both. We can kill this cancer and give Craig the quality of life he deserves for as long as possible. There truly is hope!

These are supposed to be the "good" days...

It's been over 2 weeks since I last wrote. Craig has had good days and bad days. Definitely not the way the doctors had presented it. They said probably 2 weeks of feeling yucky then 4 weeks of feeling pretty good before the next treatment. Well, we're into it almost 5 weeks and he really can't say he's feeling even "good" consistently. His liver is so tender and feels as if it's been beat up. His energy level is pretty low. He can't imagine going back into his liver again anytime soon.

We did get some bad news last week after the CT scan. The liver is stable and there is no evidence of change from the previous scan. The tumors have not changed...he's been through all this and the chemo has not killed any part of the tumors. This is our best option in conquering this disease and the first treatment did not do anything. There is a little good news. The liver function is still good. So his liver is still holding strong even after being blasted with poison.

We meet with the new intervention radiologist, Dr. Carlisle, tomorrow to discuss the next treatment. Hopefully he'll have some encouraging ideas of how he can attack the tumors in the liver. I'll post again after that appointment.

Thanks for everyone's love and encouragement. Craig has got to keep fighting this!