Pain at a 10!

Poor Craig!  On Tuesday (2 days ago) he was awakened in the late morning suddenly with horrible pain in his abdomen.  Unfortunately I was not home so he had to deal with it by himself for a little while until I received a desperate text to come home asap!  When I got home the poor guy was moaning and more miserable than I've seen him for a long time. It was unbearable pain. We went up to the Acute Care Center at Huntsman Hospital which is so much better than going to an ER. They know his history and could immediately get him into a room. His pain was at a 9-10 and the morphine they gave him did not touch the pain. His whole abdomen was very tender and the center of the pain was right at his belly button. Even jiggling his bed at all created pain. They gave him morphine and it still wasn't hitting the pain.  He had a CT scan that showed a kidney stone but it was not where it should cause pain. His kidney looked inflamed so there is something going on there. Dilaudid was then given for pain and after about 4 doses of that he started to feel some relief!  He was moved to a room in the hospital and started to settle down more. They wouldn't let him eat or drink all day because there was a possibility of doing surgery or a procedure under anesthesia. His mouth was extremely dry and he could only suck on little ice chips. They continued the Dilaudid through the night and he was able to rest.

On Wednesday, his pain disappeared and he was able to touch his stomach again without pain.  Amazingly the pain didn't come back all day. The doctors are not sure what caused the pain in the first place.  The scan didn't show a bowel obstruction/perforation or internal bleeding.  The doctors said that sometimes we don't know the answers. I didn't like that answer!  Later in the afternoon the 3 doctors came in (all oncologists!) with news about his kidneys.  He has Acute Tubular Necrosis which means the kidney is breaking down inside and granules of the tubes are showing up in the urine.  This usually occurs when there's been a trauma like a heart attack or stroke. We really can't figure out what happened but it must have something to do with the pain. Now we know that the kidneys are worse than we thought. They can sometimes repair themselves if you don't have any other health issues. Obviously, he does. The doctors took him off his cancer drug, Sutent, which they feel is contributing to his kidney issues.  They also took him off his blood pressure medicines to preserve kidney function. His creatinine level is now 3.2 where it should be under 2. He's been flirting with above 2 for the last year but now it's gone much higher.  The protein in his urine is also too high which means Kidney Wasting Disease.  His level is 3 grams.

Today is Thursday and he is doing well but wants to go home. They want to observe him another day. The issue now will be what to do about the cancer and still keep his kidney function going.

Maddie and Mitch are engaged!

Here they are at the Jefferson Memorial in Wash DC on Sat., Feb. 13, where Mitch went down on one knee in 8 degree weather (brrr!) and asked Maddie to marry him!  Mitch goes to VCU (Virginia Commonwealth) medical school in Richmond VA.  Maddie visited over President's Day weekend and this happened!  We are all thrilled!  love 

2015 Update

We're still alive but you wouldn't know it from the infrequent blog posts!  Craig has been doing fairly well for the last year and a half.  No major upsets or hospital stays.  He is really showing the cancer who's boss!  His doctor has even stepped aside (haha) and told Craig he might as well direct his own care as he's the one calling the shots.  Craig did have some tumor growth (about 25%) on the scan in July 2015 but chose not to change anything (he did increase the Sutent for about a week but it made him throw up too much) and the new scan from last week shows no new growth from the last scan!  So Craig seems to know what's going on in his body better than anyone else does.  I was pushing hard to try a new drug but he resisted (and won of course!). We feel pretty lucky to be 6.5 years into this and he's still kicking!  We definitely acknowledge that not a lot of people diagnosed with cancer are still around after this many years.

Craig has been feeling ok but tired and having quite a bit of discomfort in his gut. The diarrhea is relentless and if that's not bad enough, he throws up some food most days.  Hope you're not eating as you're reading this!  Eating is his hardest thing.  He often says that if he didn't have to eat his ife would be easier.  White bread and English muffins are his mainstays in food.  Sometimes potatoes but protein is the hardest thing for him to digest.  He would really love to eat a salad but it is just too hard to digest and when he does try it he usually pays for it for hours after.

One other issue he's dealing with is his kidney function.  The numbers that show kidney function are going up each time they check meaning the kidney is not doing its job as well as it should. The creatinine level should be under 2 but he is up to 2.5 now.  We're working with a nephrologist to try and help his kidney function.  A few of the drugs he takes are tough on kidneys so we have to decide what he can change.

That's the latest on Craig. He is pretty amazing enduring many years of cancer.

Below is Thanksgiving in California.That's Maddie's boyfriend Mitch on the left. He's going to med school in Richmond, Virginia at VCU. He's a great guy, we love him! As you can see, Craig was full of energy on this trip! He really does feel better on trips but he comes home exhausted!

We're very appreciative this Christmas for the life we have and the time we continue to have to spend together. Chase is here for the holidays from LA where he has lived the last year and a half.  He is
working as a copywriter for an ad agency, David and Goliath. He lives in Venice Beach and loves the good weather and single life. Maddie has one more semester at the U of U and will graduate in May 2016 in biology/chemistry. She will take the MCAT in April and apply for medical school next year. This is the gingerbread house she created this year for The Primary Children's Hospital Festival of Trees. It sold for $435!! All proceeds go to the hospital.

More Thanksgiving photos...Craig enjoying Universal Studios...

Eating at Cheesecake Factory in Santa Monica.

Craig retiling the pool in September. Very ingenius system in a little inflatable boat!

August 2015 - Annual Yellowstone trip with his siblings 

(Maddie and I tagged along this year as well as Marie, Taylor and Ellie)

 Taylor, Maddie and Ellie

 Maddie, Ellie and Lisa

Marie, Craig, Lisa, Suzy and David

Maddie with Mitch at his white coat ceremony in August.

Suzy and Scout volunteer at Primary Children's Hospital.  Scout is a therapy dog and loves visiting the kids and playing with them in the therapy gym.

Greta Ann

This crazy, full of life, energetic, tough-as-nails, beautiful woman passed away yesterday, March 1, 2014.  Craig's younger sister, Greta Ann, 53 years young.  Lived life to the fullest until the effects of lifelong diabetes caught up with her.  She leaves behind an amazing 20 year old daughter, Caylie, who has already lost her dad to cancer 12 years ago.  We will all now adopt another daughter whom we love dearly.  The Doutré silblings are absolute heroes in the loving way they have cared for Greta Ann these last 6 months.  We'll miss you girl...have a wonderful reunion with Paul and your dad.

December 18 Appointment

Craig had a CT scan yesterday and we met with the doctor today for the results and things are still good!  We are so lucky!!!  Craig's body is adapting to the tumors in his liver; when the tumors block blood vessels, the body just makes new blood vessels around the tumors.  Craig is so amazing and now we're planning on hitting the road in our new motorhome after the first of the year!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Chromogranin up? and Summer catchup

Craig's regular checkup was pretty uneventful, same old blood tests and physical exam. A few days later we got the results of the blood test and his Chromogranin A (tumor marker) has more than doubled.  9,140 on 5/14/13 to 25,360 on 9/18/13.  It was as high as 500,000+ when he was first diagnosed but the trend has been under 10,000 since he's been on Sutent.  He will have a scan in December and a blood test again which will tell us if the trend is up or it's just a fluke. Keep your fingers crossed.

Craig has said that this summer he has felt better than he's felt since he's had cancer. It's was a good summer with not a lot of vacationing but just enjoying life and friends and family.  Here's a few photos...

Craig's Birthday - June 1

Craig cutting trees on the canal behind the house so we can throw balls down for Scout to retrieve.

Suzy's birthday dinner at Market Street Grill Cottonwood

Taylor Doutré leaving for his Albuquerque NM mission (same area as Grandpa Dave)

Bulls Only Rodeo in Francis with Thomases, Gardners and McDermotts

 

Craig and Dave going bowling before Craig's 40 year Highland High reunion

 

Scout on one of many hikes up Millcreek Canyon

And when anyone asks me how Craig is doing...I say "he's roofing our house!"  What an amazing guy!

Lucky us! Good news again!

It's happened again!  We had a doctor appointment today to see the results of Craig's scans yesterday and the news is good!  No new growth!  Those tumors are basically scared to grow now.  I think they've given up and that's fine with us.  They're still there but basically the same size they were 2 years ago.  Sutent has really been the miracle drug for Craig. We did hear today that Sutent only works in pancreatic cancer patients with neuroendocrine tumors like Craig has.  We really did win the cancer lottery in having this rare form of pancreatic cancer.  We wish it was as good for others with cancer.  We know we are totally blessed.  Thanks for everyone's prayers and good thoughts.