Sarah and Pete’s Wedding

Sarah and Pete got married last night.  Everything went very well, especially considering it all got planned in 6 weeks time!  They have such great friends and family, that came from everywhere to take part and help-it was awesome.  The ceremony may have been the shortest ceremony I have ever seen.  I tried to slow it up with my scripture reading, but to no avail.  Here was my reading:

The Gift

• Greetings:     “It’s an honor to be here tonight and to be able to be a part of  Sarah and Pete’s wedding ceremony.  Life is good.

• Back story:    “4 Weeks ago I laid in bed thinking about this night. And I

couldn’t figure out which scripture to read.  As Ilay there thinking about it,

one verse kept coming to meover and over again.  Initially it didn’t make any sense,

but  it was in my head for a reason, so I thought I should read it to you.”

• John 3:16

• “Not your typical verse you would hear at a wedding ceremony.  But within the verse I think there are some great examples of what a married relationship should be based on. Let me read it to you again and see what you think.”

For God loved the world so much=                           All encompassing Love

That he gave his one and only Son=                          +Sacrifice

So that everyone who believes in Him=                  +Faith

Will not perish but have eternal Life=                       A Wedding Gift all wrapped up in the Gift of eternal life.

 

It was a great night and somehow I managed to feel pretty good and make it through.  Thank you for all your prayers.  Here are a few snapshots from the big night:

Hope-the alternative treatments/nutrition

Everyone should have hope in whatever battle they are facing.  I can honestly tell you from a cancer patient’s point of view, it usually doesn’t come from your doctor.  When I was diagnosed 15 months ago.  One of the main things Dr. Belzer said was that my cancer could be incurable.  One other thing Dr. Belzer said, “Stay positive-that is the key to beating this thing”.    His thoughts sounded contradictory, but he at least tried to offer a little hope.  My other surgeon, Dr. Sielaff, didn’t do any better.  He said that if I remained on chemo. I would live about 2-3 years.  He said that if I was able to have surgeries to remove the tumors, that I could live 5-6 years.  Again-not really selling too much hope.   I am hoping to sell a little hope tonight and do better than my doctors did.  I know I have other cancer patients who read this blog.  I just thought I would share some knowledge and let people know that there are other things you can do besides the normal:  chemo, radiation and surgery.

First a disclaimer: I have not completely studied and read all of the books and websites I have noted below.  Many of these books, videos and websites below offer hope to people that have been told by their doctors they have no hope.  I will let you read and watch for yourselves so you can make your own judgments.  They all deal with ways to heal the body naturally through nutrition.  I was truly surprised by some of their claims and statistics.  Several times in the past year I asked my oncologist if there was any nutrition guidelines or supplements I should be taking while fighting cancer and trying to recover from chemo., he said “no”, these seem to suggest otherwise.  I have made some comments below if I have read or watched them.

Books:

1.  Cancer Step Outside the Box by Ty Bollinger                                                            (Read several chapters in this book-very interesting)

2.  The PH Miracle by Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young                 (Read the whole book-easy read.  Great general nutrition guidelines for everyone.)

3. Anti Cancer A New Way of Life by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber                       (Read half of book-author has/had brain cancer)

4.  A Cancer Therapy:  Results of Fifty Cases and the cure of Advanced Cancer by Max Gerson

5.  Outsmart Your Cancer:  Alternative Non-Toxic Treatments That Work by Tanya Pierce

Websites:

www.oasisofhope.com

www.cancerfungus.com (Have actually traded emails with this doctor.)

www.rose-laurel.com (this is similar to the next website below)

www.sutherlandiaopc.com (I have recently purchased stuff from here-in fact I will be receiving the product on Thursday.   I will of course share my thoughts and results from this over the next month.  I have read that this supplement helps with the side effects of chemo along with beating cancer.)

www.contemporarymedicine.net (This one makes a lot of sense to me, unfortunately he is located in Burr Ridge Illinois.  His theory-The doctor first injects patient with insulin, which causes your tumors do become very hungry and then he injects you with your chemo therapy, but at very low levels.  The chemo then becomes very powerful against the tumors because the tumors are starving and want to be fed.  The patient has very few if any side effects because the chemo dose is so low.)

www.brightspot.org

www.drkelley.com

Video to watch:

http://www.consciousmedianetwork.com/members/lday.htm

(The video is pretty cool.  I can’t believe the age of the lady-thanks Pat for sending to me!)

My hope comes from God, all of you and my family.  That being said I like to read and research some of the other things people are trying outside the doctors’ office.  I’m really getting sick(no pun intended) of all of this chemo.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers-they keep me hopeful all the time! Back on to chemo again tomorrow-Round 4 in this set.

Chris

Who’s tougher than you – nobody!‏

A friend of mine sent me that title/note a couple weeks ago.  When one of their young sons gets hurt they ask the question, “Who’s tougher than you?” and their sons respond, “Nobody!”  I have to tell you-I didn’t feel so tough this week.  I jumped right back into work and it physically beat me down for a few days.  I am feeling a lot better now.   The first 3 days I would work, come home, then head straight for bed.  I would generally rally for a couple hours during each evening but overall I was destroyed.  I should have worked just 8 hours and then headed home, but instead I worked 9-9.5(Dumb, dumb, dumb).  The other problem was lack of sleep.   I was getting about 6.5 hours sleep each night.  The chemo tends to mess with your sleep, so I wasn’t getting near the rest I needed.  Work was a bit stressful, but my fellow employees and clients were great!  I truly enjoy working and the work  I do, so on some levels it was therapeutic to be back.   Oh yeah-I have officially bounced back today and feel great.

A friend of mine passed away yesterday so that made the week that much tougher.  Sharon Shovan died yesterday evening at 6 p.m.  Sharon is my brother’s mother-in-law(Jill’s mom).  Sharon was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell carcinoma last year around this time.  The lung cancer  never actually showed up in her lungs but rather in her colon andliver.  She had been having lots of stomach pains for a long time.  The doctors thought it was an ulcer or diet related.  When they finally correctly diagnosed things, they gave her dire news.  The tumor in the colon was big and the liver was “infused” with disease.  They removed the colon tumor and started her on chemo therapy.  The doctor said that she would live up to 2 years.  She was in constant pain this past year as her liver continued to swell with disease.  The chemo initially worked and her liver shrank a little bit, but then it quickly went the other way.  They finally stopped giving her chemo just under 5 weeks ago and sent her home.  Dave, Jill, Caden, Zane and Trae drove or flew to Chicago several times over the past 2 months to spend time with her. She had hoped to make it to Christmas and then my nephew, Trae’s, 1st birthday in January.  I believe she was 58 years old.  The news took a toll on Karen and I.  Please pray for my brother Dave, Jill, Jill’s  Sister and Dad as they move forward this weekend.

I literally stumbled on to this song(below) for the first time yesterday.  It seemed to really hit home with me when I think about Sharon’s struggle and passing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2C-h9ji_hU

Chris

Back to Work

Tomorrow I head back to work after my 6 week break.  It’s going to be fun to get back into the swing of things.  That also means Jaxson, Brenden and Karen have to get back into it too.  All of us have been spoiled to a certain degree.   Since Jaxson is only in afternoon Kindergarten it has been lots of one on one time with Dad, until I drop him off at the bus stop.   Tomorrow reality check-I’m glad I will be out of the house early…

I made it through the last round of chemo.  It went about the same as last time, maybe slightly better.  My blood work is still coming back pretty good, with my Bilirubin (Liver#) actually getting even a little better.   For some weird reason I still have hair, but I am guessing that things could change tomorrow.  Usually on the 7th or 8th day after your last round, the hair seems to fall out.

On family health watch, Karen just keeps coughing, Jaxson is just congested and coughing a little and Brenden keeps running low temp fevers on and off-very weird.  I just have my chemo hangover which usually lasts until about day 8 of each round.

Tonight I am wiped out so I better get to bed soon-5:30 a.m. will come soon enough.  Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and encouraging words.  You don’t realize how much it always helps-thanks!

Chris

Another quick post

I am doing chemo as I write.  Round #3 of this group.  The plan is for Round #4 on Nov. 4th, a scan on Nov. 16th and then Round#5 if needed on Nov. 18th.

Pray for the cure was awesome last night.  Karen’s sister, Sarah, came with as well as an old friend and co-worker from Bemidji, Gina.  Gina now lives down here in the Burnsville/Savage area.  The meeting was emotional but very uplifting.  Everyone prays for Karen and the guys as well as me.  I woke up this morning ready to take on the world-or at least this next round of chemo.

Karen and the guys continue to struggle with their colds.  All of them have had their ups and downs.  On Sunday I was the only one “healthy” enough to go to church-I find that very ironic.  Still haven’t been with sick with the flu or a cold in 18 months, the problem is I have been sick now 18 times over from the chemo drugs.

I am doing well and I know it is just thanks to all your prayers and God’s good grace.  Whatever challenge, you are facing in your life right now-keep getting up, face it and beat it!

Chris

Things are falling

Today it was a contest of which could fall quicker, snowflakes or my hair follicles.  Today the snow won, but not by much.  I am guessing I will be completely bald within a week or so.   As I type this I can’t seem to keep all the hair off of my keyboard.  All in all I survived my last round pretty well.  Day 1 was not good, Day 2 was better, Day 3 was worse and Day 4 I started to feel a little better.  My latest thought is it takes me about 80 hours to get out of the really yucky stuff.  Even while I am in the “yucky” stuff, I still manage to do a few things.  Last week I went to Brenden’s soccer game in the cold and dark and was rewarded by getting to see him score his first goal of the year.  I was a little too proud and I stormed the field to give him a high five.  He didn’t seem to mind too much as it was already after dark and I think there were about 10-12 people left watching due to the cold.  My blood work continues to look pretty good, so chemo is no problem.  My liver numbers are actually in the normal range just like everyone else who is not on chemo or had 70% of their liver removed.  I think that is a mini-miracle in and of itself.   Th plan is 2 more treatments and then a scan on Nov. 16th.

On the health front, not including me, Karen and the boys all seemed to get colds.  Karen and Brenden got it the worst, with both of them having light fevers.  Karen is up coughing part of the nights, so she is struggling to get all her rest.  Jaxson just seemed to get a mild cough-at least so far.  Brenden is already on the upswing.  I am holding my own with no signs of any of it so far…

Right now I am just enjoying my time off from work and trying to get my rest.  It felt pretty good to not have to go outside in the snow this morning.  Next Monday night is Pray for the Cure(7 p.m.-9 p.m.) if anyone is in the area and wants to attend at Hosanna Lutheran Church.  On Sunday’s you will no longer find me in the regular sermons as I decided to take on a Sunday school class of Kindergartners and 1st Graders-so far, so good.

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and gifts-we really appreciate them!

Chris

41st Birthday

I had a great birthday, just hanging out with the family yesterday.  Thank you for all the well wishes-including the obligatory “older” jokes I received.  I got a cool phone call from my grandmother’s sister-those Finish roots run deep.  Since Grandma Koskela passed away last Dec., Great Aunt Helmi decided to pick up the torch and call and wish me happy birthday(which my grandmother did every year).  We went to church and then spent some time in the prayer chapel.  Some of the prayer ministers were nice enough to suggest getting together since I missed the last Pray for the Cure meeting.  Some of the passages that they quoted where:  Isaiah 61:7 and 3 John verse 2.  As one of the prayer ministers felt and then said, “It is done.”-meaning I have been healed.   Incidentally the next Pray for the Cure meeting is Monday Oct. 19th at 7 p.m. at Hosanna.  Anyone is welcome to attend.

Play Date

Saturday was a play date for the guys.  Karen was working so it was just Brenden, Jaxson, Andrew and I for about 8 hours.  Andrew is someone from Brenden and Jaxson’s school and daycare.  They all had a great time and lucky for me, injuries were minimal.

I have been trying to stay busy on my off chemo weeks, since I am not working right now.  Last week my Dad and I and headed back to Backus to checking out the hunting land and visit with Keith and the Glassman’s.  I spent a couple days helping our Sunday School dept. at church. I spent part of another day visiting with Jill and Zane in the emergency room.  My nephew fell off of a bed and hit a table and got 9 stitches out of it.  He recovered nicely and is doing well.  For some reason he and I really connect and now he is even trying to look like me.  But I think I still got him by about 60+ stitches.

Tomorrow is round 2 of this regiment.  I am feeling great right now.  I bounced back nicely and almost feel as good as did before the last one.  I have been running around playing soccer with the guys and even ran a little with the dog today-so life is good.  Next time you see me, I will probably have a lot less hair-chemo starts to really work its magic on the hair this round.  I should really be a hair model for beginning hair stylists.  Think if they screw up it wouldn’t matter, eventually all their mistakes would just fall out.  I will post again once I get through this next round.  Hopefully both the Twins and Vikes keep up their winning ways.  It just gives me that much more to watch as I am laying around.

Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts, cards and well wishes.  Karen, I and the boys really need it and appreciate it!

Chris

p.s.  The following picture is of 3 guys who’s wives actually commented on the blog last week.  Karen was wondering where these 3 had gone.  The quality is rather poor to protect the not so innocent, but their wives I’m sure will recognize these handsome devils.

Missing in Action?

Round 1 or Round 16?-either way it is over.

I survived my latest trip on the chemo drugs.  My infusion day was pretty rough, just because I was feeling so good and healthy going in.  I got just enough sleep each day to help me get by.  Karen was actually sick with the stomach flu on day 1, so Karen’s Mom had to come save the day again.  Karen was upstairs in bed sick while I was stuck on the coach.  We used our cell phones to communicate throughout the afternoon/evening.

The side effects I feel on this regiment:  heart burn, stomach ache, head ache, nausea, raspy voice, dizzy, muscle spasms, sore throat, cold sores, hair loss(although not yet) diarrhea and constipation.  I am feeling good right now, but similar to a pregnant mother.  I want to snack all the time to try and alleviate the yucky feeling once my stomach gets empty.

I stumbled upon James 1 two weeks ago and found it fitting:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Honestly I have to tell you that I don’t feel great joy while I am on chemo.  But I do feel it once I have bounced back, and that I am so thankful for.  They can keep throwing stuff at me and I promise to keep getting back up!

Here is another picture of Jaxson trying to throw back every rock he could find on a beach.  This picture was taken at sunset in Grand Marais.  It was the 4th beach we had been to that day.  I asked him how in the world did God put all of these rocks on all of these beaches everywhere we went.  He looked at me stoically and said, “Because God is all powerful.”  He then turned back to the beach and kept throwing his rocks.  Something to think about…

Thank you for all your love, prayers, thoughts and gifts.  We are doing well and continuing to battle through everything in front of us.

Chris

Chemo Starts

Chemo begins again on Monday-the 21st.  It will be the same regiment and same schedule, FOLFIRI W/Avastin every 2 weeks. I will have a 4 hour infusion at the hospital and then go home with the chemo. bottle attached for a 46 hour continuous chemo infusion.  after the 46  hours I will go back in and get disconnected and get a Neulasta shot.  I will have a scan after 4 rounds, close to the middle of Nov.,  to see how it is working.  I am not working right now as Pictura had planned that I would be off for 5 weeks.  I have decided to move that to 6 weeks now, so that I can complete 3 full rounds of chemo before going back. Chemo dates right now:  Sept. 21, Oct. 6th and Oct. 20th.  I continue to get myself physically ready by taking all my Dr. Lish supplements.  My blood work should be ready to go!

Some Misc. Updates:

• Our 10 year anniversary was yesterday the 18th.  I am amazingly blessed to have been married to this loving, beautiful woman this long.  While I have been sick during this cancer journey, she has taken care of:  cleaning, laundry, cooking, mowing, snow shoveling, the finances, taking care of the guys during at night when they have their bad dreams, getting them off to school and daycare while still working 40 hours a week to help pay the bills and maintain our insurances.  She truly is amazing and I thank God every day that she is my wife and the mother of my children.  It has been an awesome 10 years!  We actually celebrated early as we thought I would be in the hospital.  Last weekend we decided to do a last minute trip up the North Shore and had a great time.
• We never found the nickel that Brenden swallowed.  Doctors said not to worry about it, that it would have passed by now without any problems.
• On the last night of Jaxson’s T-Ball game he didn’t hit the coach in the rear again.  Instead he walked up to him and thanked him-even without his parents prompting.
• Brenden moved into a small Fall soccer league and continues to love it.  I am having a tough time sitting on the side line watching and have been scolded by Brenden several times for coaching from the sideline.
• The Garden Walk that was at Pat Groeper’s house was great and we received some special gifts from it.
• Sarah, Karen’s sister, is still planning on getting married soon, but we don’t have a date yet.  She was waiting on the date to find out my schedule.
• Brenden and Jaxson are both enjoying school.  Jaxson said the only part he doesn’t like is that he has to sit still so long.  Jaxson has already came home with a card from a girl. He thought he should give her a card back that had a heart on it and said “love Jaxson”.   Yeah we are in trouble already and he is only in Kindergarten.  Brenden says that 1st grade is the best grade ever.
• Our families continue to help us a lot during this challenge.  My Dad makes it to almost all of my appointments.  He has been so omni-present at these appointments that Dr. Sielaff was surprised last month when he wasn’t there.  His comments were very fitting, “Where is the big guy?”  I explained that he was on a trip.  He then said, “I am just so used to him being here that I am kind of thrown off”.  “He really seems like a great guy to have on your side.”  I couldn’t help but feel very happy, proud and blessed.  Our Mom’s, my brother, sister and Karen’s sisters have helped us a lot along the way with taking care of the boys and moving in when we need them to.  Karen’s Dad and Rick have taken turns doing projects around the house when needed.
• I have had a colon surgery, then 2 rounds of chemo, then another colon surgery, then 5 rounds of chemo and then a laproscopic surgery, then 8 rounds of chemo, then a liver surgery and now some chemo again.  Anyone detecting a pattern here?
• My weight has been on a roller coaster these past 15 months.  I have ranged from 181 to 151 lbs.  Right now I am at 164 lbs.
• I have hair, but for only a few more weeks.  I told the boys so they are ready for the transition back to baldness.

I have included a few pictures from the last couple of months.  I had forgotten that they had a couple pictures from my July surgery.  I will post next week after I survive round 1.  Thank you for all your gifts, prayers and thoughts.

Chris

Surgery off, for now

I had a PET scan this morning and it showed that the bad tumor that the Dr. was concerned with really “lights up”, the smaller tumor did not “light up” as much.  “Light Up” means that the tumor is active and is absorbing sugars, thereby growing.  The doctors best guess is that the bad tumor has taken over the good tumors location, thereby getting too close to the bile ducts.  If he was to do the surgery it would be very risky and may permanently damage the liver, so it is back to chemotherapy.  My surgeon has already spoken to my Oncologist and my Oncologist is confident that since I had a good response before, I will have a good response again.  The plan is to get me back on chemo again and shrink that tumor so that he can safely do surgery in the future. The first question that comes to everyone’s mind, including mine, is how long will I have to be on chemotherapy.  The answer is, only God knows.  Last time it took 8 rounds and 4 months to get me in a good position for surgery, so I am guessing a time-line similar to that.  As I continually learn throughout this process, 2 steps forward, 1 step back.  The good news is that there were no other areas that lit up during all 3 of my scans.  Also, I will not be in the hospital for my 10 year wedding anniversary.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  It is time to charge forward into the next phase of this battle.

Chris