Paul and Kelli Hutton

Our friend Paul passed away today. He was surrounded by his wife Kelli and all of their family. Dena (Kelli's mom) has blogged that they were able to read the many messages of love and support sent on the Hutton blog throughout the day. Everyone is grateful that Paul is no longer suffering.

I can't say enough about what a remarkable young couple Paul and Kelli are. Their strength, hope, and perserverence is inspirational. They both have amazing family support for which I know they are grateful.

So tonight we honor Paul and pray for his spirit. We also pray for continued strength, comfort, and guidance to Kelli, their children Gabe and little Paul, and the parents, brothers and sisters of the Hutton/Wall family.

Jon and Lorri Nichols

Chemo Day

Back at chemo today. Jon's blood work remains perfect and for him it's been a pretty uneventful week. He keeps telling the staff at SCTWC that he's been cancer-free for months but he just enjoys the routine here and how everyone waits on him. He says it's like a vacation in a five-star hotel and his insurance picks up the tab. It's nice that he never seems to lose his sense of humor.

On a more serious note, we ask that you keep our friends Paul and Kelli Hutton in your prayers. Paul has been unable to receive chemo for the past few weeks as his blood counts have been too low. He has been at Swedish Hospital all night receiving blood and platelet transfusion in hopes of starting chemo again. He is also receiving high doses of morphine to control his cough so he's pretty out of it these days. Kelli blogs that he has been surrounded by family day and night.

A Few Wedding Photos

Levi and Ericka, September 15, 2007







Staci and Octavio, October 20, 2007





Father Daughter Dance

Jon Smiles

Remember the guy that would never smile? This picture is from Levi and Ericka's wedding and the smiles have only gotten bigger and broader in the last month. His hair has grown quite a bit more since this photo, too. All in all he looks pretty good for a guy that was supposed to be dead months ago.

Chemo Day

Back at chemo. Jon's blood counts are all completely in the normal range. His platelets have gone from 90 to 272. Unbelievable, says he feels better today then he has felt in two years!

November 2 is the one year anniversary date of his diagnosis. I'm thinking of throwing a Survival Party. Jon thinks I'm wierd :)

Back Home

We returned from California at about 1:30 this morning (our flight was delayed due to high winds). The wedding was beautiful and our happy bride and groom are off enjoying their honeymoon in Hawaii. I have given up being the family photographer because I was finding myself missing out on the activities when I was busy taking the pictures. As such, I am now relying on everyone else to do the job and email me pictures. I have a nice selection of Levi and Ericka but am now waiting for Staci and Octavios. I will do a good wedding picture post of both nuptials as soon as I am up to date with the newly married Marquezs.

Jon is doing amazingly well. He felt great during the entire trip even though he had his decayed tooth extracted on Tuesday without taking the recommended antibiotics first. Of course he woke up in the middle of the night with fever and chills which had subsided by Wednesday with Tylenol, mataki drops, and vitamin C. (Have I mentioned how bullheaded the guy is???) When I'm irritated from taking care of him at 2 in the morning because he didn't take the prescribed meds I remind myself that this is the exact stubbornness that will beat this cancer.

Jon's latest theory is that the combination of Tarceva, Gemzar, and Taxol superkilled his cancer cells. Although he felt like crap at the time he says he feels better now than he has since he was diagnosed. Our new schedule is the best of both worlds...intravenouses Gemzar and Taxol for four weeks, oral Tarceva for one week, and so on, until mid December. We also just found out about a new drug, Nexavar that works with a similiar mechanism as Tarceva but has been proven more effective for both kidney and liver cancer. Cancer cells frequently become immune to chemotherapies that have worked int the past so it is exciting to have as much ammunition in your arsenal as possible (did I just say ammunition? ...I think we've been married too long already.) So life here in the Nichols family is good.

Please remember in your prayers of friends Paul and Kelli Hutton. Paul was diagnosed with testicular cancer around the same time as Jon. He had failed all standard medical treatments and has been treating at SCTWC for the past few months. Although he had initial improvement the last week has been very difficult and his symptoms have rapidly worsened. As I am writing he is receiving a blood and platelet transfusion at Swedish Hospital in hopes of continuing his chemotherapy this week. Please send all of your love, prayers and positive thought to Paul, Kelli and their sons Gabe (3 yrs) and Paul Jr (4 months). Hope must always spring eternal in fighting this disease.

The Week Off

Levi, welcome to the computer age, Excellent Post!!!

FYI everyone, Jon bought a new pair of jeans yesterday :)

Jon felt great all weekend and called excitedly to tell me he "hiked right up that mountain" while hunting in the Methow Valley. Got back home Sunday night and started back on the evil Tarceva last night. He says if he starts feeling poorly he will stop it and check with Dr. Chue on an alternative during his weeks off.

So today is an all around excellent day. Jon feels and looks great. His hair is growing back, he's put on a few pounds, and is in good spirits. Today is also my birthday, we have the day off from chemo and I have the day off work. Our plan is to lounge around most of the day and go out to dinner tonight with the family. It's so nice to have Elizabeth back on this side of the mountain for these occasions.

So it looks like Jon will be feeling well for Staci and Octavio's wedding. I am so grateful that he's in good shape for the trip! We leave Thursday morning for the festivities and will be back late Sunday night. I will post some pictures early next week.

We received some disconcerting news last Tuesday while Jon was at chemo. It seems Aaron Barrett, our pancreatic survivor hero is back in treatment. The details are sketchy but apparently his cancer has reoccurred and was detected either in blood work or during a scan. He had been cancer free for two years. We will attempt to follow his progress.

All in all Jon's been feeling pretty good this week. The news about Aaron "took the wind out of his sails for a minute" but he's back to his old self. He is quite proud of the fact that he hasn't taken or felt like he's needed any pain medication in the last year. It was amusing during our visit with Dr. Reilly when he had asked Jon what he had been taking for pain and Jon responded "pain, why would I take something for that?" He also, of course informed Dr. Reilly of his favorite Marine Corp saying, "Pain is Weakness Leaving The Body" or maybe cancer leaving the body in this case!

Today is the usual crash and burn day but it seemed to go much better without the Tarceva. He is packing right now to go deer hunting for the weekend with his friend Jeremy. Hopefully his energy will hold out for the trip.

One final dilemma...remember the jeans scenario from last year? Well the two pair he finally bought are now starting to wear out. He just can't decide if he should spring for a new pair or just keep wearing the old ones just in case he doesn't live long enough to get his monies worth out of another new pair. He finally settled on asking me if I can patch them for him. Maybe I'll just do some shopping over the weekend instead!

Platelets On The Rise

Jon has successfully managed to raise his platelets from 90 to 142 with sesame oil. Yes, it's the stuff you buy off the shelf at the specialty grocery store. He takes two tablespoons orally and two topically (you can imagine he's really tried to work that equation with me!) As a result, he was able to receive all of his chemo today and is in good spirits.

Kristi is still visiting from Japan so she did the honors and escorted Jon to chemo today. I took the day off and did all those important things I never get around to like my own doctors appointments, laundry, oil change, etc. I'm just about to pick up Kelsey to take him job hunting before his guitar lesson at 5.

We had a good trip to Vancouver last weekend. I attended meetings and Jon napped in the hotel room during the day. We had dinner with some of the other Commission members and it was a great opportunity for Jon to get to know more of my colleagues. Last Friday I was short staffed at the office so Jon showed up in the afternoon wearing a button down shirt and his "dress" black jeans to fill in for my receptionist. I don't think Sarah is in any danger of being replaced but it was pretty entertaining to watch him interact with all of my patients. I have to admit there is never a dull moment around here.

So we're on track for having next week off to celebrate Ocativo and Staci's nuptials on the 20th!

Down with Tarceva

All I can say is that Tarceva has got to go! Jon has been remarkably better this week. It is amazing how differently a person can tolerate the variety of chemotherapies. He has done great since Monday and had a decent work out yesterday. Today is his usual "crash and burn" but Jon managed with a short nap and just left to take Kelsey to piano lessons so I can get our dinner going. (We found this awesome studio in Puyallup and Kelsey is growing by leaps and bounds in his music.) We are going to town with the sesame oil (right on, Dena!) in hopes of raising his platelets so we can continue the Gemzar. We are motivated to stay on schedule so that we can have the week off for Staci and Octavio's wedding. We also just realized that if he stays on schedule we can have Tuesday, October 16 to ourselves which just happens to be my birthday. I might drag him to the mountains instead of spending the whole day hooked up to an IV-they say its already snowing at 3500 feet!

So at least for today things are looking up...

We're back at chemo today. Jon decided to stop the Tarceva but continues with the Gemzar and Taxol. Everyone here seems to agree that its the Tarceva that's making him feel so poorly and he does seem somewhat better since he discontinued it. Dr. Chue agreed that he can take the Tarceva only during his "week off." His platelets were so low today that they considered not doing the intravenous chemo but went forward with the caution that if they drop any further he will not be able to receive chemo next week. He is supposed to be using Rapunzels cold press sesame seed oil both internally and externally to raise his platelet count (yes, I am totally serious!). For some reason he didn't take it last week but is motivated to follow up now. His white counts were up a little, just slightly out of the normal range. The doctor originally said he could have his decayed tooth extracted if the white count was good, but she put the kibosh on it when she saw his platelet count. One more incentive to get that sesame oil going.

We had an excellent meeting with Dr Reilly today (naturopath extraordinaire). He outlined a detailed plan for Jon's supplement regime specific to this round of chemo. Jon was much more forthcoming with his side effects than he's been in the past and actually answered all of the doctors questions. I think he might have finally realized that the more information you give your caregivers the better the final outcome might be.

So we'll see how this week goes. I have a Department of Health retreat in Vancouver on Saturday and Sunday so I will be working all weekend. If Jon's up to it he will tag along, if not he will be in town to celebrate Tony and Tonya's 25th Wedding Anniversary. We have learned to just "go with the flow" these days.