NEXT WEEK'S SCHEDULE

LAST CHEMO TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18

PET SCAN WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19

CONSULT WITH DR. CHUE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 9:30AM

Beating The Odds

I saw our primary care physician, Dr. Day, today for my yearly physical. She was the unfortunate doctor to find Jon's cancer. Naturally she asked how he was doing and I was pleased to report, "Very well, I even brought you a picture." She laughed and said "He has certainly beat the odds."

She kept the picture

Could this Be The Last???

Jon has just completed Chemo #37..hard to believe what a journey it's been. He is in acupuncture with Darren right now getting his weekly "needling" Last night he told me that he actually looks forward to his chemo sessions and I would have to agree. We get to spend the entire day together, the staff here is amazing, and everyone spoils him rotten. In all seriousness, Jon does miss interacting with the world on a regular basis and is sometimes jealous that I have a job to go to each day. I will take that as a sign he is getting better...when he feels crappy he just wants to sleep, then sometimes he feels good enough to know he's bored out of his mind, other times he feels good enough to be active and productive which is the only state the man has ever known. This experience has softened the old guy (sorry boys, but it's true) and has made him much more empathetic to others who have struggled and walked a different path. Jon and I have been extremely fortunate in our lives and the cancer experience has humbled us both.

Dr Chan (the primary care physician) paid his weekly visit and volunteered to schedule Jon's PET scan before I even had a chance to ask. I think everyone here is as excited as we are to see the results. Jon will have one more chemo next week and the PET scan shortly thereafter. Best case scenario is no more cancer (which Dr. Chan fully expects-the guy IS learning) and worst case scenario is surgery or more chemo. We will have an appointment to discuss this all with Dr. Chue sometime around Christmas. Darren (acupuncturist) came in for a visit during which he and Jon discussed Jon working as a Cancer Advocate at SCTWC. Knowing Jon, Darren quickly pointed out that it was a paid position :) I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for him to share his knowledge and strength with others on their cancer journey. Darren also informed Jon that he will continue to see him for his "after care" I just love how everyone here just assumes he will have a cure.

At this point we are entertaining the possibility of next week being our last chemotherapy appointment. I'm quite sure we could find something else enjoyable to do on my day off!

OH, GRANNY WHALEN!

Remember last year when Jon refused to buy new jeans in case he might die and not get his money's worth? Well he started that nonsense again this fall. He had a pair of jeans that were fairly worn and had a couple of holes in them. He asked me to patch them for him but I refused and told him he needed a new pair since he was going to live til 100. When we were in California for Staci and Octavio's wedding he asked his mother-in-law, Faye Whalen, if she would do the honors. Although I protested, she agreed and suggested that Levi bring them to her in Arizona during his upcoming visit. I then tried to convince Levi that he should just throw them in the trash, but being the compliant son he followed his father's orders.

To my delight, when Levi and Ericka returned they presented me with the most attractive pair of jeans I think I had ever seen. Granny Whalen said, "Oh, I'll fix Jon's jeans all right," then proceeded to sew on glitter, heart shaped pink patches. We all laughed our heads off and came up with a plan to put them in his closet with all of his other jeans so he would just pull them out on a dark morning and put them on. Jon has some days where he is pretty foggy in the head after chemo so we were pretty sure we'd get away with it. Sadly, last week Jon walked out of the closet shouting, "Faye ruined my jeans!" Although I was disappointed he didn't actually put them on, the look on his face was priceless!

Excellent job, G-dub!

A Good Bet To Lose.

Chemo Day! As you may have read on my prior blogs, Jon's white counts have been low and he has been using supplements not medications to raise them. We had been debating the pros and cons of using the Lukeine all weekend and Jon finally said he would bet me that his white count would be normal and he would be able to have chemo today. Well guess who won the bet?? His differentiated white counts were all normal as were his platelets. Only the hemoglobin and hematocrit were slightly low. He is also feeling much better since yesterday and we've come to the conclusion that it was his cold more than anything that drug him down over the weekend. I guess after everything we've been through we've become a bit paranoid any time he starts to feel bad. We have this fear that if he starts to get sick he won't get out of bed for weeks. Jon also said that as the PET scan closer he starts to get a bit nervous about the results. I would say I am more excited then nervous...we haven't had a bad scan yet (other than the first one!) I fully expect to see improvement, the only question will be how much and if he will need surgery.

We have a new doctor at SCTWC. He is a Primary Care Physician who sees Jon each visit (don't worry Dr. Chue is still in charge, we just see him and Dr. Reilly once a month). That position was formerly delegated to a Physicians Assistant until two weeks ago. Our new guy, Dr. Chan came in for his weekly visit. He is a fairly young, sincere and genuine guy. Of course you know Jon, he has to give the poor guy a bad time so he's not quite sure what to think of the whole thing. When Jon told him we were using a natural product and that he didn't take the meds to raise his white count he practically fell out of his chair. The first question he asked was how much it cost. When I told him my cost was around $12 and that it would sell for $25 or so at a health food store he was even more stunned. Next he asked how many pills were in a bottle. They guy just couldn't believe that we could obtain something that effective for the price. That led to a discussion of the pharmaceutical companies and their power in health care. We were teasing him about the elaborate lunches they bring to SCTWC and Dr. Chan said "Oh, they've really toned that down, they use to take us on exotic vacations but that's been illegal for about ten years." Wow...ever wonder what drives our healthcare system??

Dr. Chan went on to say that he really enjoyed working at SCTWC and how different it was from his former job. He was excited to tell us that he has referred other pancreatic cancer patients to Dr. Chue and they have actually lived for up to three years. As he was leaving the room Jon said, "Dr. Chan, just want to let you know, I plan on living a lot longer then three years...I'm shooting for 90 or so." Dr. Chan was a little flustered and said "Yes, of course that is our goal"

When our mind and body therapist, Robin paid us a visit later in the day we told her the story. Jon said she had a little work to do in the Hope department with our new Dr. Chan. Robin thanked Jon for what he had said to Dr. Chan and commented that the learning curve is quite steep for doctors coming in form other facilities.

So all in all a successful day. Jon continues to kick cancer's ass. I am asking that the PET scan be scheduled after next Tuesday's chemo.

Today was a pretty good day. Jon and Kelsey were up at 6:30 and out the door by 7. Both reported having a really good time and lots of snow in the mountains. Jon was impressed with Kelsey's shooting abilities and bragged about the "big guns" he was able to handle. Jon says he feels better today, he thinks his past few days are the result of the week of Tarceva and a cold. He's still refusing the lukeine and taking the supplements. I guess if his white count is still low he will just get another week off. I hate for him to miss any chemos because I am driven to have the PET scan before Christmas but you all know Jon, he's going to do it his way.

I'm posting some pictures of our granddaughter, Maelie. Last weekend was Levi and Ericka's first full weekend with her. They had us over for dinner and we all spent the entire evening just watching her. She is hilarious and full of energy, a Nichols through and through!

Looks like the big, bad Jon has finally hit the wall. He ran out of steam Thursday afternoon and has felt really tired and crappy ever since. I suppose we can't complain after 35 chemos a guy's got to get a little run down. I am trying to convince him to take the Lukiene but not luck so far...I guess I could just surprise him with a syringe in the middle of the night! Chemo is scheduled again for Tuesday but he won't get it if his white count doesn't come up.

We had a visit from our friend Martin and Valerie yesterday on their way back from Hawaii to Montana. It was great to see them and perked Jon up a bit. Kelsey and I are going to get our Christmas tree today and put up the Christmas lights. All the men are planning on going up to the mountains for some jeeping and shooting tomorrow. I hope Jon is up to it, he has a new rifle that he loves and always enjoys the opportunity to hang out with Levi and Kelsey.