Yes everyone, I really did say Tarceva.

Jon feels strongly that his pneumonia was caused by infection, not the Tarceva, but he has promised to discontinue it immediately if he has any adverse side effects. Dr Chue agrees.

CHEMO NUMBER TWENTY-TWO

It's hard to believe that this man has endured 22 intravenous chemos! His bloodwork today was actually in the normal range in red cells, white cells, and platelets. He asks..."then why do I feel like shit??" The answer..."this is chemotherapy".

It was a pretty good weekend. Jon and Kelsey camped and jeeped with Levi but Jon was ready to head home with fatigue and swollen feet by the time I arrived on Saturday. We spent Memorial Day in Seattle at the Sculpture Park and Folk Life Festival. Jon was beat by the end of the day but is back in excellent spirits by Tuesday morning.

His message for today...."Keep those prayers coming"

Four more chemos to go until the PET scan. Probably onto Tarceva and Interferon in July. Tarceva is oral chemo, Interferon is a subdermal immune booster. Both are self-administered and don't require one day a week hooked up to an IV bag.

A Surprisingly Good Week

All in all this has been a pretty good week. Jon continues the dance of the red and white blood cells...one day they're up the next they're down. This week it was good red cells, bad white cells. He laughed when he realized he had convinced himself that he was going to feel bad for the next six weeks because his red count was down last week, only to find it was back in the normal range this Tuesday. Amazing what your mind can do!

Jon, Levi, and Kelsey left for Nachees yesterday for a long weekend of camping and jeeping. Levi calls this the "Two best days of the year...the First Jeep Weekend of Summer and Christmas morning." His enthusiasm is contagious! I will be meeting them tomorrow morning. I hear a rumor that Chinook pass is littered with "Dr. Pooh" signs directing me to their campsite :)

Hitting the Wall

Looks like Jon has finally hit the wall on this round of chemo. Everything went well on Tuesday, his red count is down a little but his white count was up (yes, he did it with the essential oils!). Unfortunately by Wednesday he was fairly tired and that has progressed for the last couple of days. The fatigue is a result of his lowered red counts. Today he and Kyle worked on one of his houses which mostly involved Kyle working and Jon sleeping in the truck.

Jon told me last week that he has felt great on the "cancer scale" all month and was ready to deal with any of the upcoming side effects because he had the opportunity to feel fairly normal and productive over the last month. I am grateful he has done so well and am preparing for the next 6 weeks as well. Everything should remain status quo until the PET scan the last week of June. I suggested he just take a 6 week nap and I'll wake him when its over :)

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate all of your continued support.

We are back at chemo today and Jon continues to feel great. His red counts and platelets are all good but he is showing a decrease in his white blood cells. The nurse told us today that if the white count continues to decrease he will have to start on leukine or neupogen next week to boost his immune system. Jon, of course, says he will fix it with herbs and essential oils by next week. We'll see....we're not planning any more trips to the ER so I'll hold him down for the meds if I have to!

A Day For Celebration

Chemo went well yesterday. Jon's blood counts are within a few tenths of a point of normal, much improved from a few weeks ago. He slowed down a little the end of last week but is still feeling good most of the time.

Dr. Chu reviewed the CT scan from the hospital with us. He concurred that the pneumonia made it impossible to see any tumor in the lung so we don't know if its still there. He was very encouraged when he looked at the liver and reminded us that since the tumors are confined to the right lobe of the liver Jon is a candidate for surgery (radiofrequency ablation or resection) if chemo doesn't remove all of the cancer cells. We are still hoping to avoid surgery but it is nice to know there are other options available. The liver regenerates so Jon has plenty of healthy liver if it ever comes down to that.

Today is a big day for us. Jon has survived (and thrived) six months since his diagnosis. Only 10% of pancreatic cancer patients live this long and none of them are out mountain biking and hiking! Our odds of a complete cure increase exponentially with achieving this goal, from 4% to 40%. With each passing month the odds are more in our favor. PET scan is scheduled in 8 weeks which is the most sensitive test to determine the size and location of any remaining cancer.

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement, Join us in celebrating today!!