He's coming home today!

Craig is coming home! He has enough control over his bowels and he's staying hydrated so he'll be coming home this afternoon. He'll be on antibiotics for 2 months to keep the c diff at bay. He's so relieved to get to sleep uninterrupted and in his own bed. Hurray!

It's Thursday and he's still in the hospital

Poor Craig!  He's still in the hospital.  Still spending way too much time in the bathroom.  They doubled his antibiotics yesterday hoping to see some reduction in the diarrhea but so far not a lot of success.  He'll have a few hours when it slows down but as soon as he eats something it goes right through him.  We've had his Dr. at Huntsman talk to the Drs. at IMC and they've come up with nothing.  They talk about taking him off the Sutent to see if that will help the c.diff.  Craig feels that Sutent helps the diarrhea and has tried a night without it and it wasn't any better.

We spoke with the GI doctor in the afternoon and he felt Craig is making progress and it will take some time to feel better. He wants Craig to stay on the higher dose of both antibiotics for 2 weeks. Craig does feel he's having more control so that's good. Tonight he ate a little more and even is thinking about food he'd like to eat. He hasn't had an appetite for quite awhile which is a good sign. He also has been drinking enough to go off the IV drip today. His kidney function is very close to normal. And to top it all off, we took a stroll around the whole 9th floor! Some pretty good progress today!

Still at IMC

It's Tuesday night (2/5) and I just came home from being with Craig all day in the hospital.  He's been there since last Friday night.  They have been treating him for c. diff since then (it was confirmed finally on Sunday) and he isn't really showing a lot of progress.  The frequent diarrhea just won't stop.  Poor guy is in the bathroom about every half hour and more if he's eaten something.  So he tends to not want to eat or drink much because that just means more time in the bathroom.  The good news is his kidney function is almost normal again and he's not dehydrated anymore.  He's been on IV fluid for most of the time but today they took it off as they felt he was drinking enough to keep up with it.  We brought in his favorite frozen limeade yesterday and he likes to drink that.  He says he can actually taste it.  He has also had thrush in his mouth which has taken away his taste buds.  The thrush is about cleared up thankfully.  Another night in the hospital where he isn't sleeping too well (does anyone?).  The sad thing is the bathroom visits don't really ease up too much in the night.  He didn't take his Sutent tonight thinking maybe it is stopping the drugs from helping.  I think the doctors are a little baffled why he isn't getting better but I think it's the cancer that suppresses his normal immune response.  We also just need to be patient.  Please keep him in your prayers!  We appreciate it!

From Vegas to the ER

We arrived in Las Vegas on Tues. 1/29 escaping the bad weather in SLC. We enjoyed a great day Wed. laying by the pool, reading and floating around in the huge hot tub lazy river.  Ate at a buffet that night which didn't sit too well with Craig.  On Thursday he started feeling sick.  Nausea, weakness, cramping and diarrhea.  We debated going to an urgent clinic or hospital in Vegas but chose to drive straight to Salt Lake on Friday.  The drive was awful for Craig.  We stopped about once an hour or more wherever we could for him to go.  He looked gray and was totally wiped out and miserable.  He didn't want to drink a lot to prevent him having to go more so by the time we rolled into the ER at IMC Friday night he was wasted.  We waited 3 hours to be seen by a doctor and finally got an IV and pain medicine in him about 10:30 pm.  His kidneys were not doing well, he was basically in kidney failure.  They admitted him and we finally got to a room about 2 am.  Poor Craig...he was really miserable.  We were afraid c. diff had come back or never really left.

C Diff is Gone, Hello Back Injury

Craig's feeling better.  The good bacteria is winning the battle and the c. diff seems to have left his system after 2 weeks of Flagyl.  Luckily no fecal transplant needed!  We cross-country skied up Millcreek Canyon last week with Scout and Craig did pretty dang good for an old guy.  Unluckily, the next day we had icy rain and Craig fell on the driveway and probably cracked a rib.  He's moving pretty gingerly now.  Not much you can do but wait for it to heal.  We're escaping the cold and yucky air in Salt Lake and heading to Las Vegas this week.

C.Diff

Craig has had a sinus infection for the past few months and has taken 3 different antibiotics to try and get rid of it. Now after all the antibiotics he has Clostridium difficile, known as "C.Diff". To understand what C.diff is I've copied the definition from WebMD:

The average human digestive tract is home to as many as 1,000 species of microorganisms. Most of them are harmless -- or even helpful -- under normal circumstances. But when something upsets the balance of these organisms in your gut, otherwise harmless bacteria can grow out of control and make you sick. One of the worst offenders is a bacterium called Clostridium difficile (C. difficile, or C. diff). As the bacteria overgrow they release toxins that attack the lining of the intestines, causing a condition called Clostridium difficile colitis.

Poor Craig has been suffering the last week with increased pain in the abdomen and relentless diarrhea. Last Thursday (1/10) he had a test that determined he has C. diff. Now he's on another antibiotic (Flagyl) that is supposed to cure this. He has little appetite and is dehydrated but is feeling a little better day by day. C.diff can be hard to cure with a compromised immune system. He'll be on a two week course of antibiotics which should hopefully make it go away. Otherwise there's another antibiotic he could take that's very expensive (Vancomycin) which he'll have to take if the first one doesn't work. He's also trying to eat yogurt every day (not his favorite) and taking a Probiotic pill to help balance the organisms in his gut.

2012 Wrap Up

Well, we made it through 2012 without much incident.  Craig is still kicking (and throwing up) almost daily.  His body is still going although his stomach is weak and not enjoying the normal rich foods of the holiday season.  Luckily he's not losing weight so that's miracle in itself.  He has been cross country skiing twice and has amazing energy at times then crashes for awhile.  But he's always moving at some point during the day.  His last doctor appointment the end of October was positive mostly.  The scan showed the tumors are still not growing.  Amazing after 2 years and 2 months of being on Sutent.  His blood work was good except for the Chromogranin A which has gone from about 8,000 to 13,000.  That is the tumor marker number that has been all over the place.  But since he's been on Sutent it's been way down.  So the upward trend is not a good sign but we'll reserve too much judgment until he has another appointment the end of January.  This will not include a scan, just blood work.

The rest of the family is doing well.  Chase will be starting his final semester at the U of U in Economics.  Graduating in May!  Craig was diagnosed right before Chase graduated high school.  We're almost 4 years later so we are shooting for Craig being at Chase's U graduation. That will be a momentous day and truly a miracle for all of us.  Maddie is in her 2nd year at the U and is majoring in Biology.  She plans to be a Physician's Assistant one day.  She will be a T.A. in Anatomy this upcoming semester.  She loved the class last semester so is thrilled to be chosen to T.A.  I am enjoying my "off-season" from work and going to Pilates 2 times a week and walking/hiking with Scout most other days.  Running doesn't sound fun in the cold cold air we're experiencing now.  Looking forward to Spring.  Maddie and I plan to run another half marathon in 2013.  She's great to prod her mother along. Wishing everyone reading this a Happy 2013!  We didn't send out Christmas cards because we didn't have a photo I loved so sorry about that.  Here's a few photos from Christmas...

Chase, Suzy, Craig and Maddie at Harmon Christmas party at Hatches. 

Maddie made beautiful gingerbread cookies.

Chase and Maddie with her beautiful chocolate dessert

 Craig and Lisa (little sister) making the traditional ebleskivers.

 The original Doutré family:  Grandma Greta with (left to right) Lisa, Greta-Ann, Scott, Craig and David.

 The five Doutré kids.