It's been an absolutely excellent week. Jon has felt great since last Monday and is working and working out regularly. We had a wonderful time at our friends, Gary and Eileen's wedding, complete with Jon dancing with me and everyone one of my girlfriends. (pictures will follow!) We topped off the weekend with a mountain bike ride from Pete Lake to Cooper Lake near Roslyn. In typical Jon fashion, the ride started out through some wooded trails, after our first turn off we were forced to carry our bikes up a steep, rocky side of a mountain, (did I mention it was 90 degrees and the mosquitoes were attacking?) then down a forest service road through the woods. When we got to the top of the mountain there was a beautiful meadow of wildflowers and wild strawberries. The strawberries were about 5mm in diameter but had a concentrated flavor like eating 20 normal sized ones. It was cool to be doing some of our regular stuff again!

We leave Thursday for our trip back to the Freestone. We are planning a mountain bike ride down Slate's pass and some day hikes....then some relaxing by the pool. Kelsey is visiting Savannah, his friend in Atlanta, Elizabeth is preparing her move back to Seattle (Yeah! we sold the Cheney house) while Staci and Levi are busily planning their weddings. All in all some very exciting times for our family!

Will He Ever Learn?

It's truly amazing but when Jon actually followed the doctors orders he began to feel much better. His stomach barely bothers him and his energy level is that of a normal person (which, of course, is still not Jon's previous level.) His only recent complaint is sore muscles from his workouts!

It's been a fairly uneventful week. Jon is at a plateau with his energy, still requiring about two naps a day but he is more physically active. He's lifted weights and walked Lakeland Hills twice in the past week. He traveled to Cheney with Kelsey and I to help Elizabeth get our rental house ready to sell. He could do a task, take a nap, etc. His stomach remains painful and sensitive. I was not impressed when he told me he's going to start taking the mediciation Dr. Chue prescribed to him two months ago (He promised he'd take it last month but hasn't followed through-I guess he's just a slow learner). His hair and fingernails are growing back and his mood is good.

Kelsey leaves for a visit to Staci's on Wednesday while Jon and I attend Eileen and Gary's wedding at their cabin in Roslyn this weekend. Next week it's back to the Freestone for our one year anniversary! Jon's promising day hikes and mountain bike rides. Let's hope he's up to it!!

Back to Work

Jon's been attempting to work on one of his foreclosure houses this week. It's pretty funny because he leaves for work when I do, but he uses all his energy getting there. Then he naps for a few hours before he has enough energy to do any work. Then, of course, he needs a break for lunch. After lunch he puts in a few hours and feels a reasonable sense of accomplishment before heading home for dinner. Don't laugh, its progress!

Stac, I've asked him to wait the entire three months before restarting chemo. He may not think he needs the break, but the rest of us do. I want to make sure he is ready and able to dance with you at your wedding!

Getting Stronger

Today is the first day in months that Jon has officially felt "Good". Yesterday we walked Lakeland Hills together (long steep hill by our house) but he still needed two naps to be able to do it. Today he awoke at 6:30 to go jeeping with Levi and actually seemed like his old self (minus the hair!) His stomach is improving (we'll see how it tolerates six hours of jeeping?) and his energy level, toes, and fingers are much better.

He will begin lifting weights tomorrow and work on getting some strength back. He is planning on taking the month of August off from chemo and then starting back in September. That is one less month than he's allowed but a good compromise between getting strong and getting through the last of the chemos.

Its been a long nine months and I am excited to have the old Jon back, even if its just for a month or two. We might get a short backpacking trip in this summer after all!

We saw Master Chue today. He told us that Jon could safely have a three month break from chemo using the Interferon to keep him stable. He is tolerating the Interferon well, but still hasn't recovered from this last series of chemo. His toes and fingers have stopped bleeding, his nosebleeds have slowed down, and he can stay out of bed most of the day. Any physical labor is still difficult but his energy level is slightly better each day. His stomach still hurts all of the time and I am going to put a call into Dr. Chue tomorrow since Jon failed to mention it during our appointment.

I would say that Jon is relieved he can have that much leeway to recover but, at the same time, is anxious to get through this process. Surprisingly, he agreed to try the oxyplatin again, but this time with four weeks on, one week off. His plan is to start working out as soon as his energy returns, then start back on chemo once he feels strong and ready for the next fight. I would expect that to be sometime towards the end of August, but he can wait until early October if need be.

We are going to take a trip back to Mazama to celebrate our first anniversary on August 5. We are also going to visit my family in Pennsylvania for my parents 50th wedding anniversary on August 25.

Today I am grateful for:
1. The opportunity to celebrate our first anniversary.
2. Jon making the trip to Pa with me to visit my family and see the town I grew up in.
3. Jon being healthy enough to attend Levi and Staci's weddings
4-10. Dr Chue and everyone at SCTWC
11. Everyone reading this blog who continues to inspire us with all of your love, prayers, and support. Thank You!

CT RESULTS

The good news is there was no cancer detected in the pancreas! Bad news is that one of the liver tumors is too large for an ablation right now. It is also the one next to the Superior Vena Cava. Dr. Precht told us there are some surgeons at Stanford University we could consult for a second opinion, but we aren't going to pursue that right now. So its onto one more round of chemo and then a CT scan some time in the fall. At that point we will reconsider the ablation. Of course, there always remains the possibility that they could be gone after the next round. Right now Jon is still on Interferon which doesn't appear to have any side effects. We see Dr. Chu next Tuesday to plan the next course of chemo. We are expecting to start again the end of July or early August.

The Surgical Consult

We saw the surgeon today and like most of the MDs (with the exception of Dr. Chue), his first reaction was "you realize you are dealing with pancreatic cancer, right? After reviewing all of the reports and scans he finally realized that we weren't crazy, just extremely well-informed, motivated, and still alive. Once we pursuaded him to our way of thinking he ordered another CT scan to clarify our options. To his credit, he made one phone call and we were in and out of radiology within an hour. We expect the results on Thursday so please keep those prayer coming!!

So hears the deal...The largest tumor in the liver abutts the Superior Vena Cava, a major vein in the thorax that supplies the heart, lungs, and all the major organs. If the tumor has not shrunk away from that vein then any kind of surgery is too risky right now. That means another round of chemo before the ablation is even possible. If this CT scan confirms that there is no longer cancer in the pancreas and the liver tumors have shrunk in the right direction then we all agree that the radio frequency ablation is the way to go. We also agree that a liver resection and removal of any part of the pancreas is far too risky. Either way Jon will have at least one more round of chemo.

He's feeling pretty decent today. His nose still bleeds and his toes and fingers hurt but his energy level is increasing and he actually looks pretty good. Yesterday he managed to shovel some beauty bark at his last foreclosure house. We are going to attempt Mt. Peak tomorrow and have everyone over for the barbq. I am excited that he will be out of bed and able to participate in the festivities. Attending Riley's wedding was a huge boost. We had a wonderful time and although he slept in the car most of the ride down and back he was able to fully participate in all of the festivities. It was a beautiful wedding on top of their 40 acre mountain home, complete with a log cabin built from the trees on their property. For any of you that remember Nancy and Gary Hudson, we were honored to accompany Nancy on this trip.

So, the saga continues. We are praying for the ablation, one more round of chemo and then a complete cure. It all feel completely within our grasp with a little more perseverance and fortitude.