California Here We Came...

We just returned from Huntington Beach. Everyone is tan and tired. Craig enjoyed boogie boarding and biking on the boardwalk. He didn't have the endurance for his normal all day body surfing but he did pretty good for any middle aged guy! The weather was a little cooler than usual but we didn't let it ruin the fun. A few afternoons the wind gave us a dermabrasion...but it was free so who really cared? The Harmons were great roommates and it gave our kids an appreciation for being from a smaller family (no really...we loved sharing the house with 9 people!). Chase's shoulders are peeling but it only adds to the muscle layers. We did spend a day at Sea World (pictured). Here's some photos for your viewing pleasure...

Next week on Tues. July 7 we meet with the intervention radiologist Dr. Burdett and the next day Craig starts chemo at Huntsman Cancer Hospital. We check in at 6 am on July 8 and he's there until the next day. It's called chemoembolization where they direct the chemo directly to the liver through the hepatic artery in the groin. They will then target the tumors in the liver and make them go away! He's really feeling pretty good right now so it's hard for him to think of putting this stuff in his body to make him feel lousy. If it kills the tumors...he's gonna do it and fight back! Cancer cannot win!

Next year we have to get back to the beach and ride our bikes and use the 3 additional boogie boards Craig bought. Craig was a great scavenger... wood for the fire on the beach, coat hangers for marshmallows, straps for the boogie boards. If we didn't have it, he found it or created it!

Good News!

Good news! After the CT scan on Wed. night, Dr. Jones called the next day and said that there is no new tumor growth in comparison to last month. We're so happy to hear this news! This means Craig will probably hold off on chemo until after our trip to the beach in late June so he can feel as good as possible for this fun, family vacation. We meet with Dr. Jones again next week.

Chase graduated from Skyline High School yesterday. We had a fun lunch with 7 of the boys and parents in our neighborhood all graduating, most have been together since 1st grade. We then went on to the graduation ceremony at the Huntsman Center. Here's Chase out in front ready to take on the world.

Craig is 54!!

June 1 was Craig's 54th birthday! He didn't have a great big party but he did enjoy some banana cream and coconut cream pie from Cowboy Grub with a few friends. The Air Force did a flyover our house a few times which also added to the excitement of the day. Thanks to whomever arranged that!

One exciting thing that happened for Craig's birthday last Saturday was arranged for by his sister Lisa. While driving down to Great Harvest, Craig and I were pulled over by a policeman who said Craig ran the stop sign at Valley View and Wander Lane. Craig said he hadn't noticed he did that and told the officer that he has cancer and we were discussing the chemo coming up. The officer took Craig's license, registration and insurance card back to his vehicle. He took about 5 minutes to come back and then asked Craig to get out of the car. Craig complied and then the officer said he was going to have to arrest him for an outstanding violation involving our dog wandering without a leash and a neighbor's complaint. The officer said Craig had not acknowledged numerous letters and now he would have to take him in. He proceeded to search Craig for weapons and then have him put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. Craig's look on his face says it all...could anything else happen? He took Craig to his patrol car and opened the front door and out popped Lisa from under a camouflage jacket, Craig's little sister who created this whole thing for his birthday. The gift is that this officer, Lisa's neighbor, will take him on a "ride along" one night to see the inner workings of the Salt Lake City police. Craig's look of shock on his face was slightly relieved knowing this wasn't for real but he still hasn't decided if he thought it was funny...

Old Friends

Three of Craig's buddies from his growing up days on Dearborn St. came into town last weekend (May 22-23). Ryan Conlon, Glen Williams and Kelly Murdock plus Craig's brother Dave and his wife Marie all stopped by for burgers and some chatting about old times. It was fun for the boys to remember the good old days of homemade bombs, wild girls and secret clubs. Here's a picture of the group before we sent them home after midnight. Thanks to the boys for getting together to reminisce...it meant a lot to Craig.

Dr. Visits

On Tuesday, May 26, we had 2 doctor appointments. One with the intervention radiologist (IR), Dr. Burdett and one with the GI oncologist, Dr. Jones. Dr. Burdett will be the doctor overseeing the chemoembolization which is the chemotherapy directed at the liver through the hepatic artery. She explained that a small portion of the liver would be "embolized" which would target the tumors in the liver in that area through their blood vessels and hopefully preserve the other portion of the liver to maintain liver function. Then after Craig recovers from that session, about 4 weeks later they would go in and do it to another portion of the liver. This is really the only treatment available for his type of cancer. We hope to have this scheduled next week so he'll have about two weeks to recover before we go to California for a much-awaited beach vacation.

We then met with Dr. Jones who assessed Craig's current health and how the octreotide is working. Craig relayed his current symptoms which include flushing of the face and neck and hypoglycemia (low sugar 2-3 times/day) and slightly less diarrhea. Dr. Jones decided that the drug is not doing what it should and told him to stop the injections. Craig will see how he feels without the drug as the research is not conclusive as to whether this drug will help with his extensive tumor load in the liver. So now he's back to where he began and not feeling great with a recent cold. We'll see how his body reacts now that he's not taking the shots.

After the appointment Dr. Jones wanted more blood drawn so we stopped by the lab. They drew blood and he felt pretty low suger at the time. When we got home Dr. Jones called to say his blood sugar level was 34! Normal is 100. Very low...he needs to eat and drink every 2-3 hours to keep it up. The tumor must be producing insulin they think...but no one really knows exactly what is going on. Dr. Jones said the cancer is a low grade, neuroendocrine tumor but not the islet cell, more like a carcinoid. It is all becoming very obvious that they are making the best "educated" guess but no one is positive exactly what type of cancer has invaded Craig's body.

26 years

On May 21 we celebrated our 26th anniversary by staying at The Inn at Snowbird. It was a very romantic night...fireplace, cinnamon bears and a hot tub. What more could you want?

Family Photo

Thanks to our photographer, Heather George, we have a new photo heading for our blog. Cute Heather sent this to me today with our names all on it to add to the top of the blog. This is one of our favorite photos from the photo shoot two weeks ago. She captured some great images of our family which we are so thankful for. Thanks Heather!