Notes From the Service

Thank you to all who came out to show support to those my dad left behind. It was nice to hear so many kind words from so many people. It was once again clear how quickly he made an impact on the local community. Many have asked for an address to mail donations in his name. He would have appreciated support for the local Red Cross chapter where he was honored as "Volunteer of the Year" back in March.

Their address is: American Red Cross, Highlands Chapter, 807 Carol Street, Fayetteville, NC 28303.

My dad was remembered by four different speakers, including myself (Robin). If you would like to read the eulogies, I am trying to get them all posted here. The first was given by longtime friend, John Kwietniak. Followed by friend and golfing partner, Ralph Robertson, who provided these words. Son-in-law Rick Parrish spoke about the father figure my dad was to him. And I spoke last, click here for my eulogy.

The service concluded with the baptism of my daughter, Vivian. I know my dad wanted to be there. It was a beautiful ceremony and I wish I also had a copy of some of the words provided by the priest. He did an amazing job connecting the love of God with the circle of life. Here are some pictures from that service.

Please know that the service at Arlington is open to all and we would love and appreciate everyone who would like to attend. Again, his burial with honors will be Thursday, January 21 at 11 a.m.

Remember Him Always

He fought a valiant battle until November 15, 2009. And as this blog has proven, he never stopped living...even when the outlook wasn't so bright. He has left a lot of broken hearts behind. If you would like to share in the celebration of Drew's life, all are welcome.

Visitation: 6pm-8pm, November 18th at Jernigan Warren Funeral Home, 545 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, North Carolina

Funeral: 1pm, November 19th at the Main Post Chapel, (Building 1-1510), Sedgewick & Jackson Streets, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia will not be until January 21, 2010 at 11a.m. due to the overwhelming number of burials there. But mark your calendar for a final salute.

How to turn a simple operation into two weeks of pure hell in one easy lesson

Hello All



I know many of you are wondering how my simple little operation went and how I am doing. Well the answer is not good and not good, but slowly improving. Let me explain.



We checked into Duke on Sunday, October 18th which was supposed to be only a four day hospital stay. I had a tube stuck down my nose the first day which went all the way into my stomach. I then had to drink some barrium sludge solution which was to help light up my organs and show the doctors a good pathway into my stomach so they wouldn't perforate anything while installing my feeding tube the next day. On Monday I had the operation which was supposed to take around 30 minutes but ended up closer to two hours. While back in my room, recovering, when the drugs started to wear off I was thinking "what the hell, is it supposed to hurt this bad?"

That was the beginning of the next two horrific weeks. I was acutally discharged on Thursday afternoon, for about 12+ hours and stayed overnight locally to see my doctors on Friday when I was scheduled for my next round of chemo. Well when I saw my doctors, and they saw the pain and condition I was in, I was admitted right back to the hospital immediately. The pain was awful but they got it under control, I started to retain some fluids in and around my body cavity which required two "drainings" before I left the hospital. I had a terrible bout with constipation. I've continued to have "no" appetite and have been taking liquid nourishment orally or via the feeding tube. And, you may have heard, the black plague hit the area killing thousands and locusts struck the area whipping out all of the local tobacco crops, (officials are pretty much blaming these last two on me also.)

On the upside, I was finally discharged last Friday and have been at home recovering very slowly. I have the amazing love, and support, and nursing skills of my lovely wife to help me every step along the way. Additionally, you will not believe the amount of visitors I had and where some of them came from. First and foremost I had my two daughters (Pensacola, Fla and Richland, WA) one son-in-law, and two newest granddaughters come to support me and spend time with me. Robin is on maternity leave from work right now and is staying, along with Marjorie and Vivian for an extended period of time. Mark and Jackie had to go back last Friday as Mark was starting a new job on Monday and Jackie had to get back to tend to her kids as Rick had to go back to work flying.

Then I had a couple more total shockers, two old Coast Guard friends, both of whom I was stationed with in San Franscisco in the mid-80s came to visit. John from Kenai, Alaska, and Jeff from Seattle. What a pleasant surprise to see them both. On top of that Annette's sister Margaret and her husband Hall came all the way from southwestern Oregon and visited with me 3 times. Many of Annette's other brothers and sisters a nephew, and her two sons came as well (Oscar, Ike, Dianna, Bill, Myra, Lee, David, and Kelly) I hope I didn't miss anyone in my drugged up state. Thank you each and every one for the effort you made to visit this partially broken down machine.

Unfortunately, we came away from this stay with some not too great news. They said my body is too beat up from all the treatments to have any more chemo treatments, at least for now. In place of this they have hooked us up with some "home health /hospice care." I know what kind of connotation those words carry with them but we aren't thinking that way. However, and I've said this before, your prayers are even more important as they are about the only bullets left that I have to fight this awful disease.

My pain is less here now, the feedings are going fair, I still throw up a lot, the constipation is better but only with medicine to make me churn and burn. I still have no appetite, and I am retaining some body fluids but hey, other than that, I still look marvelous!

Annette and I are certainly enjoying the visit with Robin and her girls. They have brought some needed joy to our household. It is always nice to hear a childs laugh or a babys coo.

Well, I guess that is about it for this blog update. I know the news wasn't too great to hear but it is what it is. Your prayers are needed, don't forget us, please, while we continue this battle.

Love

Drew & Annette

Note from Annette: As you can see, his humor remains intact. It is a great tool in this fight and we do our best to laugh every day. As the summer draws to an end and the trees begin to don their glorious palette of fall colors our thoughts turn to hot cider, and lemonade is enjoyed less often. However, lemonade is also enjoyed hot and spicey! Please hold us close and continue to lift us up. More now than ever .

A New Twist in my Path to Recovery

Hello, Again, Everyone:

I know this update is a sudden one after my last one but there is some news I felt worth sharing. Yesterday, Annette and I were back at Duke to see if I could have my scheduled treatment. I wasn't confident that I would be able to get it due to how I was feeling pretty much all week. Ever since returning from the Outer Banks I have not felt well. In fact I was throwing up again last Sunday night and then Thursday night I had a miserable night with very little sleep as my stomach was killing me, much worse than normal. I have had a sore, sensitive stomach and back aches for quite a while now causing a lot of discomfort. And for the past week I have had zero appetite, I mean none at all.

Well, low and behold, while my white blood cell count had rebounded a little (1400 vs 800 with normal being between 5-6,000) my platelet count was much better (171 vs 87 where they want it >150). As a result, I was able to get my treatment yesterday. Additionally, and this is the new twist, we are going back up tomorrow to be admitted to the hospital and I will have a feeding tube installed in my stomach on Monday. I will likely be discharged on Wednesday and back up there again for treatment on Friday, a busy week for sure. Knowing how weak I feel, with no strength, I think this is the best idea. Since I have no desire for food I can't get enough nourishment and this should rectify that, hopefully. They said it will likely stay in throughout the remainder of my treatments and when I can eat I will and when I can't it will go in via the feeding tube. Oh well, just one more little twist in the road to recovery. Like I said before, Cancer sucks.

This a.m., as suspected, I threw up about 6 times until it finally passed. It usually happens about 8-10 hours after my treatments. Please continue to pray for both of us as this is a battle we are both fighting 24 x 7. One of these days we are going to get some good news to share with you.

With love
Drew & Annette

Great Vacation but No Chemo:(

Hello All



I know it has been a few weeks since my last posting but you will understand why very shortly. On October 2nd (my birthday - 59) we were scheduled for starting my second round of two treatments out of 3 rounds total (or 6 treatments in total). Well my blood work done right before we meet with the doctors was not good. Both my white blood cell count and my platelets were too low and not safe for giving chemo. The doctor said lets put it off for a week and let my counts rebound. We were scheduled to go on to Elizabeth City that day (where I was stationed in 1973-74) and visit the area before we headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX for those of you that know).



We arrived in E-City Friday afternoon and stayed the night there as we couldn't check in out at our timeshare at OBX until Saturday late afternoon. We cruised the area and I showed Annette the Air Station I used to work at, toured the helos and C-130s, saw the house that Linda and I used to live in, the school where she taught, and went to a new museum there that featured a lot of the Coast Guard as that is the biggest employer in the area. A very nice display.



On to OBX where we checked into our timeshare. It was nice, old, but clean with lots of room. We were close to the beach. We stayed busy doing lots of fun things like, walks on the beach, reading our books and relaxing on the beach, buying and flying kites on the beach for over 4 hours (I also bought a controllable kite and it is fun). We took a couple of driving tours down to Cape Hatteras in the south and some other place to the north that I forget the name of the town. We saw or visited 3 lighthouses including the famous Cape Hatteras (picture attached). We played golf one day and Annette had her best round ever (52-45=97). It was the first time she broke 100 - way to go babe!



The last two days we really had fun, we did pier fishing at the Nags Head pier for about 7 hours and caught around 15 blues - it was a blast when they were hitting. Then on Friday (we got our next scheduled treatment delayed until yesterday) we went deep sea fishing on a great charter boat - 52 footer. There were 5 of us, not counting the Captain and Mate, and we had an all day charter. Left the dock at 6 am and returned near 4 pm. The weather was fabulous, the seas were relatively calm (3-4 feet), the boat and crew were 1st class, and the fishing was GREAT. We ended up catching 12 yellow fin tuna, near our limit of 15 (3 each), and they weighed in at 250 gross and 120+ net. Our largest one was 31 lbs. Annette and I got 2/5s or almost 48 lbs. of tuna steaks. We rushed home Saturday morning and got them all cut up and packaged and in the freezer by Saturday afternoon. Annette even canned 12 pints of the smaller pieces to use for tuna fish salads. It is fabulous. We ended up with 80 steaks and I love tuna. It was a great experience for me as it was my first time. Annette is an old hand at off shore fishing. We will do it again maybe in the spring.



Back to my health thing - I started feeling "out of sorts" Saturday afternoon. I layed low and lost most of my appetite. Sunday we went to church but I couldn't wait to get home and back to bed where I stayed the rest of the day. One upchuck and just a general lousy feeling overall. Went back to Duke yesterday, and, after more blood work, my counts are still way too low to get my treatments (white cell counts even lower but platelets were a little better). My doctor put me on a oral antibiotic and we go back this Friday to see if I can get my chemo. This 3rd round of treatments is really not going very well, not nearly as originally planned, and this white blood cell count is a problem. As that is needed to help fight off illnesses. I probably had a bug over the weekend but still don't feel very good and still have a poor appetite. This is starting to suck but what are you going to do? Just have to hang in there and take it when I can. I will be staying home a lot so as to reduce my changes of catching something from someone else.



Our weather is turning much cooler now and so I don't miss my golf quite as bad just now. Well, I guess that is enough for this update. I will attach some new pics too. Till next time, keep those prayers coming my way. Trust me I need them.



Drew & Annette

Round 1 of 3 done

Hello All





I just wanted to provide a little update on my progress moving along in this the 3rd round now of my treatments. This will be chemo infusion treatments only (two very powerful ones), given once a week, on Friday's, for three cycles of 2 weeks in a row then a week off, then repeat. I finished the first round this past Friday. The infusions went well, but take a long time, around 4.5 hours total. However, by about 10 pm on Friday night I started to have some of the expected side effects, by throwing up most of the night until around daybreak. While that is fun in itself, it is followed up by a day of just feeling fairly crummy and can't do much. Unfortunately that Saturday was Annette's 39th birthday and I couldn't do anything with her - sorry Babe.





I improved on Sunday and on Monday I even played golf with my brother-in-law Oscar. My appetite is fair at best with lingering nausea but it is mostly controlled with oral medication. Needless to say you don't feel great but not terrible either. Just something we have to deal with in order to get the medicine in you that you need. I am losing a little weight again and definitely muscle tone but "I will be back!"





Annette and I did get to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary last Thursday night wherein we went to a local Chop House which was very good. I will attach a picture from there as well as several of our newest grand daughter, Vivian Fracine Lane Bunch. She's a looker huh? Kind of looks like her grandpa.





My sister, Darla, stopped in here briefly Monday evening while enroute from NY to Florida. Then the crazy nut continued her drive all the way down to Florida. A total of about 24 hours on the road. I thought she had more sense than that - Darla what up?





Speaking of golf for a moment, last Thursday I played for the first time in a month due to some soreness I have had in my stomach and restricting me from swinging. Well, I was invited out, with comp passes, to play one of the famed 8 Pinehurst golf courses. They are numbered 1-8 and we played #8. #2 is the most famous and it is where they have held the US Open twice I believe and will be again 2014. Anyway, it was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks again to Tommy, a friend of a friend who got us on. Annette has also been playing more lately with a group of lady friends and I am happy for her to have some girl company. She doesn't care for my coaching style!





Well enough about the local news around here. I will probably not do another update for a few weeks after we return from the Outer Banks around the 9th of October. Take care and keep those prayers coming our way. They are desperately needed, trust me.





Love


Drew

So Far, So Good

Hello All

Just a brief update to let you know that I have restarted my treatments again after the little setback that I had a week before last requiring a short hospital stay. This past Friday Annette and I were back up to Duke early for blood work and doctor's consultation before we went in for my chemo infusion. We waited 3 hours between appointments and then it was a little over 4 hours for them to give me the juice. It makes for a long day for us, about 12.5 hours up and back along with the treatments but it's better than all those weeks we had to stay in the area.

They reduced my dosage by 20% for the two drugs to see how that would affect me and so far, so good. I am on 3 anti-nausea drugs daily and they seemed to be doing the job. My appetite is fair, not great but OK. My energy level is fairly decent too but my endurance is off I'm sure. I can tell by how far I can walk our dog. I haven't played golf in 3+ weeks and I may see if I can swing a club later this week. Mostly this is due to a strained stomach which hurts when I swing (probably a combination of the tumors and straining from the puking I was doing when I got sick).

The doctor said that depending on how my blood work turns out this coming Friday, she may try and return my dosage for one of the chemos back up to 100% as obviously she would prefer me to have the strongest dosage I can handle. We shall see what will be will be. Oh, also, my Doctor, Hope Uronis, said she just presented my case in front of an interdisciplinary doctors group up at Duke for consultation as she said "nothing has gone normal for me so far and she wanted to get their advise." She said they agreed with her approach and we will just have to see how the cards fall.

I had hoped to load a couple of pictures of my newest granddaughter herein but haven't been able to figure out how to do it by downloading off of Robin's blog into my blog. Techno wheenie I am not. Good looking now that is another story! Little Vivian is apparently doing great and all is going well at home. Her big sister, Marjorie, just loves to feed her and help Mommy out. She is going to be a big helper. My only grandson, Reece, Jackie's second, turned 5 this past week. They are all doing well down in Flordia and enjoying being back in school. Emma changed schools this year from private to a charter public school and is loving it. She is in 3rd grade. That leaves little Adeline the only one home now with Jackie.

Well, I guess that is it for now folks. Annette and I will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary on the 17th and her 39th birthday on the 19th. We are planning a little trip out to the Outer Banks on 10/3 to stay in a timeshare. Till next time, please keep those prayers and well wishes coming our way. We need them more than ever.

Love
Drew

Life's full of lemons

Today's update isn't what I hoped it was going to be. I was fully expecting to hear some wonderful news this week that the second round of treatments had "done the trick" and I would get a clean bill of health and then just go into a monitoring program over the long run. Well there are some new bumps in my road to recovery.



This week Annette and I made two trips up to Duke. On Monday we went for a series of screenings, a CT/PET scan and also an endoscopy. The results would be delivered to us yesterday by our doctors. We met with the medical oncologist first and, unfortunately, the news wasn't what we had hoped for. I have new tumors forming in several locations. I have one large tumor located very near where the original tumor was found in the lower esophagus, some additional spots in my upper stomach, and finally, 4 small spots on the liver. Some other smaller tumors were found but when biopsied were found to be benign. The disturbing aspect of all this is that these are all new and have grown just in the past 3 months since my last screenings.



When I asked my doctor how this happened as I previously understood these were slow gr0wing type tumors she said "that's cancer, it is unpredictable, ever changing and can go from slow growing to agressive without warning." She was surprised by it all. The two rounds of treatments I went through early were effective from a "reactive" standpoint and addressed what I had. However, the earlier chemos apparently weren't "pro-active" in preventing new growth.



As a result, and since I can no longer have any more radiation treatments in this area, or surgery, my only option now is more chemo. She immediately ordered two new, very powerful, chemo drugs to be done via infusion (IV) mode once a week for two weeks then a week off and this goes on for 3 cycles or over the next 9 weeks. I had my first treatment already yesterday afternoon. They take about 4 hours to administer. Side effects can be worse than before: nausea, severe diarehha, possible partial hearing loss, and hair loss (no big deal for me). They started me on a regimen of anti-nauseau, anti-anxiety, and pain pills. So far so good.



While this hit us rather hard yesterday, and we had our weeping moments, by the time we got called for our first round of treatment (about a 3 hour wait) we had digested the situation, considered the options, and got our "game faces back on" to re-enter the fight. I think the mental challege is going to be a little tougher on me this time as the unfortunate reality is that these may be the last bullets I have to fire. If this doesn't work there isn't much more to try except for prayer, prayer and more prayer. This is where you come in as my family and friends. I am pleading with you to keep me in your prayers and extend your postive energy and thoughts my way. I love you all for different reasons and I am asking for your love in return.



Annette is amazing in her support as my non-medical attendant (what the insurance company calls her) and my loving wife. My girls are taking the news hard but also trying hard to be positive in their support. I will keep you posted as things move along. I am doing my best to stay upbeat and positive, but, honestly, it is a little tougher this time around. All I can say is Cancer is a bitch!



Love

Drew



Note from Annette: Each of you has heard the old adage about "life handing you a lemon" and the lemonade thing. We have chosen lemonade! It is more meaningful than I can express to have you share our lemonade.

Fun & Not Fun

Hello All

Just a little update while we await our return trips to Duke for testing and doctors meetings on 8/24 & 28. A lot has been going on with Annette and I over the past two weeks and I thought I might share some of that with you.

Two weeks ago we spent a week down at Myrtle Beach, right on the Inter-Coastal Waterway, at Annette's brother's, Oscar, second home. He has a beautiful place down there and was gracious enough to let us use it for a week. My oldest daughter, Jackie, and her family came up for about 5 fun filled days and my mother flew down from NY for two weeks with us here and at the beach. We just had a marvelous time. We swam, jet skied, tubed, water skied, pontoon boated long leisure trips, went shell hunting along the ICW, and spent one night at a great amusement park for the kids. It was one of the better vacations I have every had. Even my Mom, who is nearly 86, got out on the jet ski with Annette and had a bang up time. We all took some wonderful memories away from there with us. Thanks again Oscar.

Well, for me, that was backed up by the next week of "payback." I own a rental home in Wheeling, WV. I am in the process of selling it, as I have a buyer, but it needed new roofing and the 16 windows needing recaulking and painting before the VA would give the buyer a loan. I was feeling good and tackled the job along with the help of one of my friends in Wheeling and my brother and his buddy who came down from NY to put on the new roof. My friend and I spent 3 days on the roof in advance of my brother's visit stripping off the two layers of old shingles, removing all the old nails and putting down new felt paper. We also bought all the supplies in advance and were ready for when my brother and his friend showed up. When they arrived they jumped on the job and finished the whole roof in basically one full day. Unfortunately they also picked the hottest day, in the last 408 days in Wheeling, and it was a killer. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of stripping and putting on roofing, trust me, when it's 90 degrees out and sunny, on that roof it is more like 120. Now I remember why I went to college. This was the "last" roofing job I will ever do but we got it done and it looks great. Thanks to Rock, Dan, and Bill for their help. I was up there for a week splitting my time between roofing and painting. Plus the 9 hour drives each way on each end. It was a tough week and I'm glad it is over.

The day after I left for Wheeling, Annette headed out for two weeks of visit with her sister Margarete and her brother-in-law Hall in Southwestern Oregon. They have been having a good visit and even had a side trip to Chicago to provide family support for her sister's grandson who had to have an operation to remove a tumor. Thank God the proceedure went well and the prognosis is good. She is also getting a little time to play some golf and just catch up with her sister. She will be home on the 19th.

Well, I guess that is it for this update. My next one will be after the 28th and we pray it all goes well. Enjoy your summer and remember we always love company and have extra room should you need to get away and are thinking about Fayetteville, NC.

Drew

"Stick a fork in him - he's done!"

Yeah that's right, I'm done. After two sessions of 28 radiation treatments each, totalling 56, and chemo treatments done concurrently both times, I am finally done with all the treatments that I think (and hope and pray) I will be needing. We won't know how successful this session went until after some final testing and screenings are done in late August. I probably won't do another update until after those tests. I/we fully expect, and pray, for a clean bill of health at that time. We will just have to wait and see.



However, until then I/we are glad it is over. We were getting pretty tired of driving up to Durham, staying in a motel, eating out all of our meals (that does get old), and generally just getting bored with the whole thing. I was very fortunate throughout this second session in that I didn't experience any of the difficulties I did the first time around with either the tiredness or nausea problems. I had a much easier time of it. The only ill effects I felt was some radiation burns that were like a bad sunburn, that was about it. I attribute a lot of my good fortune to many of you who prayed hard and often for me throughout this whole ordeal. Thank you all for that and keep me in your prayers up until the end of August please and help me get a clean bill report.



Also on Tuesday, we picked up my Mother from the airport. She has come to visit us for two weeks and we are having a great time visiting. On Saturday we head to Myrtle Beach for a week and my oldest daughter's family (Jackie) will be coming to visit for part of that time. We look forward to having a grand time with the grand kids. We plan to do some boating, swimming, playing, and just relaxing. Then, after that I am headed off to Wheeling, WV to put a roof on a rental house I own up there (my brother and two friends will be doing the bulk of the work). Then I have 3 friends coming down from Wheeling to this area to play golf for four days. Annette also has planned a trip out to the west coast, Oregon, to visit her sister and brother-in-law. Our August is getting busy with us getting back to living.



Well folks, I guess that is it for another update. Thanks again for all your prayers and cards throughout this whole long process. You don't know how much it meant to us both.



With Love

Drew & Annette

She'll be coming round the corner when she comes

Ok, we just finished our last full week of treatments. I only have two more to go - oh yeah!!!! We both are anxious for this phase of our treatments, and our lives, to be over. I will go for a CT/PET scan in about 3 weeks to see how these treatments went - keep your fingers crossed for me and those prayers coming that I will be "clean" at that time. No Mom, I'm not on dope, it's a different kind of clean.

I saw two of my doctors and they were pleased with the progress. I am showing some pretty significant skin type burns on my upper back, near the neck, and less on the front, also near the neck. They tend to itch but I can deal with them as long as Annette puts some lotion on me daily. I am still feeling good, and, of course, looking marvelous.

We filled out our week with a couple more museums. One the NC Museum of Art and the other a historic site called Stagville which was a former plantation of 30,000 acres and 900 slaves, both were very big by NC standards. We also had a chance to have dinner with Annette's oldest son's family on Monday evening. A good time was had by all.

Well I guess that is about it for another week. Short but sweet with the end in site. The corner in the title is the end of this tunnel!

Single Digit Midget

Hello All



I was reminded of an old saying in the Coast Guard we used when someone was approaching the "getting out" stage of his career or tour of duty. When they were under a hundred days left in the service you became a two digit midget and then, of course, once you were under 10 days you were a single digit midget. Well, that's me, this week I became a single digit midget.



I now have only 7 treatments left till I'm done with all this (hopefully for ever if God is merciful with me). If not I'll/we will deal with whatever comes my/our way. However, I/we am/are keeping a positive outlook that this will be it. After two separate treatments series, totally 56 treatments, and all the chemo, I am/we are, hopefully, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (I'm just hoping it's not a train coming this way).



We had a good week and everything went great. The doctors remain encouraged and pleased with my progress, as am I. Nothing new took place this week. We did do a couple of side trips to fill our days up there. Annette and I went to two museums, one the NC Life & Science Museum which was primarily geared towards interactive things for kids of all ages. However, they had a fabulous butterfly house where you were walking amongst tropical plants from all over the world and butterflies, also from all over the world, loose to fly around you, sometimes liting on you. It was very neat. Then we toured the Washington Duke Homestead & Tobacco Museum. He was the guy who pretty much introduced tobacco to North Carolina and came up with a different way to cure it that produced the Bright Leaf tobacco. I think he did pretty well seeing how he founded the American Tobacco Company and was able to fund building a university and hospital. It, too, was very interesting.

Well, I guess that is about it for another week. I hope to have some new pictures soon. We wish you all the best and please keep those prayers coming our way!!!!

Drew & Annette

Short Week results in Short Update

Hello All from sunny and hot North Carolina. Annette and I had a shorter week this week up at Duke due to the 3 day weekend the hospital had planned for their staff due to the July 4th holiday. Happy birthdays go out to Annette's mother and my brother on July 4th by the way.

The treatments and doctors visits, along with my blood work, all went well this week. I continue to feel good, look great, and so far, knock knock knock on wood, no real ill affects of the chemo or the radiation treatments this second time around. I am now also over the hump having finished 16 treatments and have just 12 to go. This is a total of 44 radiation treatments so far but God has been good to me so far and is answering many of the prayers you have all been saying on my behalf. Annette and I continue to thank you for that and feel stongly that without those prayers I wouldn't be in as good a shape as I am now.

We took one opportunity to visit with Annette's youngest son, Kelly's, family for dinner on Monday night. Other than that we played 9 holes of golf once and went to the movies to see Public Enemy (I wouldn't recommend it). We were able to come home on Thursday mid-day. We will have a nice 3 day weekend but have no real plans - laying low since we are gone all week each week. Just 2 & 1/2 weeks to go now.

Guess that's it. Told you it would be short.

Drew & Annette

A sore throat is about it

Family and Friends



I just finished my second full week of treatments. I'm almost 1/2 through, 12 out of 28 done (OK 42.8%). And, so far so good. I am still feeling human, still have an appetite, haven't gotten tired, my strength and endurance are about where they were, and, of course, I look marvelous. The only problem I am experiencing right now is like a bad sore throat you get during the winter along with some occasional restriction problems passing food. It isn't serious yet but a bit difficult.



One of the doctors this week put me on a liquid Lidocane which helps to numb the throat right before I eat. It helps for sure. It is short lived but gets me through meals. As long as the situation doesn't get any worse I should be able to deal with it using the Lidocane. They also issued me some pain pills, vicodin, which is the same stuff Dr. House is hooked on in the TV series House. I hope to not get to the point of needing those.



We had a pretty good week. On Monday evening we had dinner with Annette's youngest son, Kelly, and then got a chance to watch him rehearse with the Big Band he is the lead singer with. On Tuesday evening we had a chance to meet and catch up with an old shipmate of mine from boot camp. We just found each other via Facebook and here he lives very near Durham where I go for my treatments at Duke. We hadn't seen each other in 39 years. We had a great time catching up and plan to meet again. He hasn't seen me in 39 years and even he said I look marvelous, just like I did way back in Cape May, NJ 39 years ago. OK so I lie a little bit now and then. I've put on a few pounds since then. However, I do have more hair now that he would recall back then!!!



Also on Tuesday we killed some time going over to Highpoint, NC to visit the world's largest furniture store. Highpoint is the center for furniture in the US in case you didn't know. We had bought some furniture there back in 1992 when I was finishing up my career in the Coast Guard. At that time it was huge, 250,000 sq ft of space. Chump size compaired to today as it is now 1.6 million sq ft of space. It is something to visit, and a great place to shop, if you ever need furniture. Check their web site out at FurniturelandSouth.com - it is an experience for sure.



Annette came home on Wednesday night after my treatment to attend her final board meeting as the Chairwoman for the local American Red Cross after her two year tenure. I drove her down, stayed over night, drove back on Thursday and home again this am. All went well for both of us.



Guess that is it for another week. Keep those prayers coming my way, they certainly are working!!!!



Drew

"I'm so lucky"

Every time my brother, Rocky, and I talk he keeps saying to me, kiddingly, "you're so lucky" going through all these treatments. And, while he is just saying it in fun, today I got a real sense that he may be more of a prophet than I gave him credit for being. I just finished my first full week of radiation treatments and so far everything is going great (knock on wood). I am now 25% through my second round of treatments (7 down, 21 to go) and so far so good. I am not experiencing any nausea nor tiredness so far. I truly believe that all the prayers that are being said on my behalf have had a very positive affect on my situation. Keep it up everyone, please.

The reason I say I am lucky is in part due to a woman I spoke with just today at the radiation treatment waiting area at Duke. Her husband was in being treated at the time. I had been talking with another woman when this one overheard me and came to talk with me. She said her husband (close to my age) had the same type of treatments I had before, he even had the same team of doctors I have, and he had his esophagus removed way back in October, a full 8 months ago. Well he hasn't been able to eat ever since, has lost 60 lbs., was pushed in on a wheelchair by his wife, hasn't felt good since the surgery, and has been on a feeding tube ever since the operation. He looked terrible and old. His wife said to me "they wish he never had the surgery." His cancer has come back, it is spreading, and his prognosis isn't good. Then on top of all that she, who was probably in her early 50's, said the really sad part is they have a 13 month old "surprise" baby. Shocking. It was a real awakening for me. All I could think of is that could have been me. If God hadn't stepped in when he did who knows where I would be today. Thanks again to all of you who continue to pray for me.

On Wednesday I saw one of my medical oncologist who was very encouraged by my progress. Yesterday I saw my radiation oncologist who spent about 10 seconds looking at my bare chest and back and said "you look great." You and I both know that what he meant to say was "you look marvelous:)" So, yes Rocky, I think you're right, I am so lucky!!!!!

Now I think sometimes my mother doesn't really believe me when I say I am feeling good so I am going to attach a couple of new pictures that were taken a week ago when we took our boat out with Annette's oldest son's family up on Jordan Lake about 1.25 hours from our home. That's me tubing and waterskiing. This week Annette and I played golf twice during the day up in Durham, went in the pool at the hotel, went out for dinner with Annette's oldest brother, Ike and his wife Diana, and last night we went to a Duham Bulls (Triple A farm club) baseball game. See Mom, I really do feel good.

I keep on knocking on wood each time I say I am feeling good because during the first round of treatments back in February/March, I made the mistake of telling one of my doctors that "if this is as bad as it gets I can handle this no problem." His response was "it can change in a hurry." Well all of about 2 hours later, after an allergic reaction to one of the chemo drugs, I was hospitilized for two days with a fever, terrible chills, and a horrible all over body rash. Then I felt like hell for the next 5 weeks. I've learned to keep my mouth shut or knock on a lot of wood.

That's it for this update. Annette and I hope you are all well. Thanks to all who keep sending us cards of encouragement and, of course, for your continued good wishes and prayers. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there.

Signed

One Lucky Guy, Husband, and Dad

And now for Round Two!

Hello Family and Friends

Just an update to let you know what transpired this past week. Annette and I ended up taking two daily trips up to Duke on Thursday and Friday. We would have stayed overnight if we had know we would need to return on Friday but we didn't find that out until we were there on Thursday. This was to learn about the planned next round of treatments for me since surgery is out of the picture. Well, I'm going back to radiation and chemo treatments which will likely be 6 weeks long again. It was so much fun the first time we thought we might do it again!!! Oh well, the alternative is much worse.

We met with the chemo and radiation oncologists on both days. Also I had one more CT/PET scan on Thursday and a CT/Sim scan on Friday. Fortunately, this time, the PET scan did show the new tumors up at the top of my esophagus and NOwhere else. The chemo doctor said she believes that they (about 12 small tumors) showed up this time (bright images of radioactive sugar) where they didn't a month ago is likely due to the fact that the surgeon had taken several biopsyes (sp?) of them just prior to the planned surgery last month. The act of doing that likely created scarring and, as a result, the tumors showed "activity" which in turn allowed for the sugar to attach to them and be noted. Sounds plausible huh?

As a result of that, on Friday I had to have the CT/Sim scan wherein the radiation team draws the tattoos on my body as reference points and the rad doc will then do his "planning" on where the techs are to shoot the radiation treatments this time around. It was so much fun to get two more IV's this week for the contrast solution and to get to drink the lovely tasting contrast solution, twice more, as well. For those of you who know what I'm talking about, that stuff taste great huh:(?

I start my new round of 5 1/2 weeks of radiation treatments next Thursday. I will only be taking one chemo drug this time, orally (7 double whopper sized pills/day), which is Xeloda. I pray that I may not experience as much nausea from this as the last time as it was the infusion chemo drugs that made me feel so crummy.

By the way, thank you to all of you who have been paying your taxes on time. My Xeloda alone was just over $4K this time not counting the other drugs they gave me for nausea prevention. Oh, I am also planning on taking a ginger supplement daily based on a recent article in the paper my daughter sent me showing the positive affects of ginger for chemo patients fighting nausea. I'll take anything to not feel like I did before.

We may try and do it a little different this time and maybe drive up on Monday return home on Tuesday, return on Wednesday and stay until Friday. This will give us at least a little time to take care of the house and our plants. That way we will only have to stay over 3 nights vs. 4 or 5 depending on if we went up on Monday or Sunday night. It will be a pain again, all this traveling, but again, the alternative is much worse.

We continue to ask for your prayers and well wishes for us as we continue to travel this bumpy path to full remission (hence the title of this blog). The love and support we have received so far is truely amazing and much appreciated. God is guiding us down this path to remission. We always love to hear from you tooooooo...

Love
Drew & Annette

Confusion Say

All



Just a quick update to let you know what transpired yesterdat at Duke. We were scheduled to meet with my surgeon and the medical oncologist. Met with the oncolgist first. She was totally mystified as to why my previous 6 weeks of chemo hadn't taken care of these "newly discovered" small tumors at the top of my esophagus while they had been addressed everywhere else. She said they didn't show up in the PET scan due to their small size (< 1cm).

Bottom line, yesterday wasn't all that productive. The surgeon basically said he is done with me unless I need something in the future like my esophagus streached or possibly a feeding tube installed. Otherwise, he says they have no plans to operate on me. The last thing he said to us was that he will be "praying for me." I'm not sure how I should interpret that but I will look it positively.

So back over to the medical oncologist, she then contacted the radiation oncologist to see if I am still a viable canidate for more radiation treatments. He said yes that it is "technically fisable" and that since this area is far enough away from the earlier treated area they can still zap me.

As a result, they scheduled me for one more PET/CT scan next Thursday and then more consultations with the medical and radiation oncologists after that to discuss the new "plan." They suspect it may be radiation (shorter term due to the small size of the tumors) and just oral chemo which was used to enhance the effect of the radiation. This is not the one that got me sick. I suspect that this round of treatment won't be near as bad as the earlier one. And, of course, all of the doctors said "you look marvalous." What can I say - just good genes I guess. I have put back on at least 16 lbs and my strength is back up. I would say I'm probably 85% again. Put me in coach - I'm ready to play!

Till next time - be well, be safe, have fun, stop to smell the roses, and God Bless.

Drew

God's Intervention

Hello All:

I'm sure many of you are wondering what the heck is going on. I was supposed to be in the hospital now recovering from surgery. Well, if you don't believe in God having the almighty power to step in and change things when necessary then I don't know what kind of proof you will need. I, for one, Annette for two, and my daughters for three and four believe He made his move this past Monday when dealing with little ole me.

My two daughters, Jackie and Robin, were here for the surgery. They, Annette and I, went up to Durham Sunday afternoon, checked into a hotel and were ready for the 5 hour surgery Monday am. I checked into Duke at 7:30 am for prepping for the 9:30 surgery. Everything was going as planned . All the IVs were connected, along with other preparations, (even had an epidural in my back for pain,) had markings on my body where they were going to cut, and the gas doctors had done their thing. I was out and ready for surgery in the operating room.

My surgeon, God bless him, had to do one more endoscopy before he began to make the incisions. Well, when doing so he found more "small active cancer tumors" in the upper end of my esophagus. This was the area where he had planned to reattach the stomach after he had also taken a portion of that. Had he gone ahead and cut he would not have had any place to reattach it that was healthy, and who knows what would have happened next. The surgeon used the term "it could have been disastrous" had they continued. He called off the surgery and now we are going to drop back and look for a new course of action that will likely include more chemo treatments but whether radiation is also called for isn't clear right now. We have to return next Thursday to find out the new strategy they will plan for me.

I was held overnight in the hospital as I had nausea from the anesthetic, and wasn't able to urinate. They had to install a catheter which was also a lot of fun. But, bottom line is we are back home now, I am still fully intact and we are waiting to find out what happens next.

Back to God for a minute. I am sure He stepped in at the last minute to stop this surgery as it was the wrong thing to do. This may have been as a result of the many prayers I was receiving from many of you and others as well. The fact that this is also a "teaching hospital" may also benefit others in the future. I am only assuming there were interns present that may have learned from this whole episode and as a result maybe they will remember it in the future and it may result in someone else being saved - who knows. I just know that God stepped up at the last minute and made a great save. Thank you everyone for your prayers.

Some of you may be wondering why they didn't see these cancer cells before, seeing how I had 3 endoscopies before this, (one as recently as 3 weeks ago,) and that remains a mystery. The cells may have been hidden behind something else, or were just too small, or who knows. For whatever reason they weren't noted earlier. I'm just glad he found them when he did. We don't see this as a setback but are thankful that we have the team we do to help us fight this thing. I will let you know more as we know more. Till then, please keep the prayers coming - they helped before and will again next time.

Yours
Drew

Surgery Next Week

Hello All.



Just a brief update to let you know that next Monday is my surgery day. Tomorrow, 5/14, Annette and I are going up to Duke for my pre-op consultation. We'll be meeting with my surgeon again and the gas doctor (don't ask me to spell anesthesiologist - am I close?).



Then in the late afternoon we will be picking up Robin, my youngest daughter, who is flying into Raleigh (from Pasco, WA) and is coming to visit before, and after, the surgery. My oldest daughter, Jackie, is arriving on Saturday, and will also be here up until Wednesday after my surgery. I hope I do well, maybe I should study up some so I don't mess up while they are here. It will be nice to see them both and I want to thank them for making the efforts to come AND to their husbands, Mark and Rick, for watching their kids thereby allowing them time to come for a brief visit.



The surgery will be around 5 hours long. They will remove my esophagus and the upper 1/3 of my stomach and then reattach the remaining part of my stomach to the upper end of where my esophagus was. Sounds kind of cool huh? However, warning, don't try this at home. I am a little nervous but not too bad. We are very confident in the hospital and my surgeon, I just have a little chicken in me. I'm not looking forward to the feeding tube I will have temporarily installed, or the expected 10-14 days in-patient stay, but we will do what we have to do to get well. I/we still have a lot of living to do and might as well get started with it today!



I'll keep you posted on the back side once I can via the blog or e-mail. Annette will have her cell phone but probably only be able to have it turned on when she is not at the hospital. Her number, should you want it, is 910-286-3434. Thanks in advance for any positive thoughts and prayers you might send our way.



Oh, one more thing, we just took a brief trip south to visit Jackie's family and attend their oldest daughter, Emma's, First Communion. They live in Pensacola, Florida. Then we slipped over to Biloxi for a couple of days of gambling at a very nice casino there, the Beau Rivage. We had a good time. I will attach a couple of pics from the trip - see I told you I look marvelous! That's me on the rope swing!



Yours

Drew

Post Treatment Results

Hello Family and Friends

This past Wednesday and Thursday found Annette and I back up to Duke for follow up testing following the six weeks of treatments we went through. I say we as Annette has been right there at my side and had to put up with all my ups and downs, my complaining, my grumpy moods, my puking, and generally feeling like crap for so long.

We were back to basically go through the same scans and testing we did pre-treatment so as to compare it to the post-treatment results (CT & PET scans, an endoscopy, and blood work). Well, bottom line, everything went really well and the doctors were very pleased with the results. The treatments did what they were supposed to do. The turmor is now broken up into little "ulcer" sized bits and there was no evidence of any other cancer cells showing up any place else. All good news.

We then met with each of our doctors and finally the surgeon who will do my operation. It is scheduled for May 18th when they will remove my esophagus and about 1/3 of the upper side of my stomach (standard procedure), pull the remaining stomach up and reattach it to become my new esophagus. Two small incisions in my right side to remove the existing esophagus then one incision each in the middle of my chest and up by my thoat to reattach the stomach. 10-14 days in the hospital with 3 weeks of "light duty" following that and no "heavy lifting" for 6 weeks after the surgery.

A feeding tube will be installed and will remain until I can take adequate nurishment on my own. Small meals, 5-6 times a day, will be the norm for me after the surgery. They said I may never eat "American sized meals" again but it will depend on me. They said "you know those foot-long subs at Subway, well you might be able to eat 1/4 of one of those." It seems like I should only have to pay $1.25 now for a sub vs. $5 bucks huh? Guess there will be a lot of take-homes in the future. Oh well, we will have to do what we have to do!

As for me right now, I am feeling pretty darn good (and, of course, I look marvalous). I am eating a lot better, enjoying a few alcoholic beverages again, and generally getting some of my strength and endurance back, at least until the 18th. The surgery could have been even earlier but I asked to put it off till mid-May to give me time to put a little weight back on this skinny little frame. Annette isn't happy, saying I am not what she bought into:) Also, this may be the last 3+ weeks I eat like an "American" again so I want to enjoy it.

That's it for now. We will keep you posted as things progress. Thanks in advance for your prayers and cards. They are most welcomed.

Be blessed
Drew

Back In the Human Race

Hello Family and Friends



Just a little update to let you know that I am feeling "alive" again and ready to rejoin the human race. My racing engine may not be running on all 8 cylinders just yet, but it is firing on at least 6 right now! And that is a drastic improvement.



The doctors had told me I would start to feel somewhat "human" again after about 10 days after the end of treatments. Well, I am here to tell you that they are right!!!



This weekend we were invited down to Myrtle Beach, by Annette's brother Oscar and his wife Sue, whom I love, and we stayed at their lovely waterfront home on the Inter-coastal Waterway. I helped him haul down his 22' pontoon boat, get it cleaned up and launched and secured in his boat lift. We did a shake down cruise up the waterway and had a great time. We did a little maintenance on the boat, the boat lift, his pier, and the cover for his boat. Everything went really well and we had a great 3-day weekend. The weather was nice (70's and sunny), and we even played 9-holes of golf one afternoon. We played cards in the evenings (no bragging but I put a whipping on them), Phase 10 (have you every heard of it?).



My appetite came back quite a ways, especially after Oscar fixed us some prime rib on the grill, and we even went out to a buffet one night. This was a huge step for me. I'm not pigging out but I am eating more and my energy level was way up. I contribute it to good sunny weather, fresh air, good company, and just a great time overall.



Nothing further to report at this time other than I am feeling much better and, of course, looking marvelous. I'm glad to be back in the race.



Keep those thoughts and prayers coming and thanks again for all the wonderful cards I have received from so many of you.



Love

Drew

The Longest Damn Six Weeks I Can Remember

Hello Family and Friends:



I am a day late in getting this week's update out as we were busy yesterday at a family reunion for Annette's family and I still wasn't feeling very well following the final chemo treatment on Thursday. However, I woke up this morning feeling much better and I even had some appetite for the first time in 3 days. Thank God for little things.



Yep, we're done with this phase of our treatments! Six weeks of radiation treatments (28 in total), and 6 chemo infusions of one drug, two of another, and 28 days of oral chemo pills (10/day) and we're done. Thank God. In reflection, I can say that I had 3 pretty good weeks (1, 2, & 6) and 3 that were a struggle (3-5). While it is physically challenging, I can say the mental challenge was more than I expected it to be. The mind can be a very powerful thing, (even mine,) more so than I can recall at other time in my life.



The simple act of saying "chemo" over the past several weeks often brought about involuntarily gagging. Also, for a couple of weeks there, I couldn't even hear the word chocolate without getting queasy. This was due to the first time I got so sick from the chemo I upchucked my lunch which included a chocolate dessert and got to see it again. Little things like that play with your mind which in turn controls physical feelings. Smell associations are also something I am now dealing with. I have no desire for coffee anymore as I associate the smell of coffee with the RT waiting room where they had coffee and cookies for the patients. Weird. Maybe I need a hypnotist to get me back to my old self. Oh well, there are worse things for sure.



Overall Week 6 was good until Thursday's chemo infusion. All I had was RT the first 3 days and that was no problem. Got the infusion and I was fine for about 8 hours until I got sick and I haven't felt well since then, until the middle of the night last night. Then it broke much like you might expect with a fever when it breaks. As I said, weird but true.



We are home now and in the rest and rehab role. We have nothing further until 4/22-23 when we return to Duke for two full days of follow up testing, bascially doing everything they did originally (pet scan, endoscopy, etc.) to see how effective all the treatments were. A decision will be made at that time as to when my surgery will be but they anticipate approximately 2-4 weeks following that, or around mid-late May. I need to put some weight back on as I have lost about 20 pounds recently. This is not the type of diet one wants to go on. My muscle tone is gone.



I probably won't update my blog much here for a while unless things change. The doctors told me I should start feeling somewhat normal again in about 10 days. To that I say hoorah as I'm sure Annette does too. She has been an amazing trooper throughout this entire process supporting me in every way and bugging me to take medication or food or whatever when I didn't want to. She has had to lather me up with skin creams lately, mainly on my back, as I have very dry skin now from the RT. I'm sure I couldn't have gotten through it without her. Even Guinney, our dog, was right by my side much of the time I was sleeping as she knew I wasn't well. Every time I would upchuck she would start barking at me like she was giving me encouragement.



Well I guess that it is for now. I can't thank all of you enough for all of your well wishes, your thoughtful cards, and, most of all, your continued prayers. They were all more welcomed than you can ever imagine. Also, please continue!! We need and appreciate every single one. I also love to hear comments back from you either via the blog or via e-mails. It reminds me just how blessed I am.



Love

Drew

Week 5 Update - Winding Down

Hello Family and Friends - Week 5 was better than the last two weeks and my/our spirits are also starting to pick up as I/we see the end of the tunnel just around one more bend in the tracks. While I didn't necessarily start off the week feeling that well (nausea and still no appetite), on Monday after my lab work and RT, we met with our medical oncologist, Dr. Hope Uronis (great name for a doctor huh - Hope). She decided it was time for me to experience a part of the 60's that I failed to take advantage of the first time around - she put me on pot!

Yep, I am now officially on medical marijuana. Unfortunately, it is in a small pill form and not a dobbie I could smoke. Oh well, better late than never I guess. Like my friend Jeff said - the steroids I was on will wipe out my sporting records, now I won't even be able to get a job with any place that does drug testing - guess I will have to stay retired. The pot is to help both my appetite (getting the munchies) and the nagging nausea. The first time I took it I took a nap in the afternoon and woke up with a craving for shrimp. We went to Red Lobster and I had both a shrimp cocktail and shrimp dinner.

On Tuesday, while enroute to the hospital, Dr. Uronis called me to say they had decided to delay my normal chemo infusion scheduled for that day until Thursday to let me get feeling a little better. I liked the decision and made the most of Tuesday and Wednesday to rest and also meet up in the evenings with Annette's sons families. We had dinner with Kelly's family one night in Burlington and then Wednesday night we met with David's family in Greensboro. We had a nice visit with them and the grandsons. They are all so special to us.

RT went OK all week but on Thursday when I did get chemo, later that evening I got nauseous again and lost my cookies once in the evening and once the next morning. We went in on Friday early for the RT so we can come home early but they checked the vitals and my BP was down again so they required me to have a bag of IV saline solution and one of an anti-nausea drug before turning us loose to go. It took about an extra 3.5 hours. Oh well, you do what you must and actually now I feel about as good as I have in a month, so obviously it helped me.

We will lay low again this weekend with just a short birthday party to attend for Annette's sister where we will see some of the family today. They have been so supportive throughout this whole ordeal. Tomorrow we may plant some flowers in the deck boxes but that is about it for plans. Rest and relax, watch some of the NCAA tournament and get ready for our FINAL week. Sounds good doesn't it? It does to us.

Take care and your thoughts and prayers are always welcomed.

Drew & Annette

Week 4 update - Sometimes the windshield, sometimes the bug

Well, Week 4 was better than Week 3, but unfortunately, not a lot better. While I didn't have any hospital stays or strong allergic reactions to the chemo like last week, I still had a somewhat shaky week.

I was telling Annette that I felt at my worst starting point (health wise/feeling) for any week so far. Monday started off fine with just RT and we had a great evening wherein we got a chance to visit with Annette's youngest son, Kelly, have dinner with him and then we were invited to listen to him sing at a rehersal with a big band that he sings with. They are great and he has an amazing voice.

On Tuesday I had RT and regular infusion of chemo (without the research drug.) At the very end of the session I got a little nauseated and upchucked . We went back to the hotel and I went straight to bed where I upchucked all night and couldn't keep down water.

I went in early in the am as I knew I was dehydrated and sure enough my BP was way down (68/48) and they had to give me two bottles of IV saline solution. Had RT and returned to the hotel. Thursday they thought I would need to do the same so I went in early, but my BP had recovered and fortunately I didn't need any IV. Had RT on Thursday and Friday and we returned home early to Fayetteville.

They have given me several more drugs, anti-nausea pills (3x), steroids (2x) to help the appetite (which I have none, nadda, zilch), the worlds most expensive mouthwash for a very sensitive mouth ($595), and one more liquid to help with the swallowing. This has me up to about 30 pills a day now along with the washes, skin creams, and various other stuff. You have to be really diligent to remember to take everything you are supposed to when you are supposed to.

And while I don't want to sound totally in the dumps, I do think that the cumulative affect after 4 weeks of treatment is taking a toll on me both physically and mentally. I am doing my best to maintain a positive attitude and keep my eye on the golden ring, but the mind can work on you and get you down if you let it. I am doing my best not to let that happen but the uphill battle is getting a little steeper each week.

My biggest challenge right now, on an hourly/daily basis, is the lack of appetite. I don't want anything. I haven't had a cup of coffee in a week. I have to force down anything I take in. Nothing tastes good, nothing appeals to me and in fact all food just about makes me nauseous to think about. But I'm trying , and Annette is pushing me as she should.

I sometimes think how fortunate I am to be young, strong, and in otherwise good health (and, oh yeah, good looking) to fight this battle. I can hardly imagine how difficult it is for the elderly or very young children. It makes me want to cry just to think about how difficult it must be for them. Also, I am so fortunate to have the love and support of a good woman who has been right there every step of the way to wipe my brow when I puke, get me anything I need, push me to eat when I don't want to, and generally be my Nurse Nightingale. I'm lousy company now, too, but she puts up with me without bopping me on top of my head like she probably should.

I am laying low this weekend just trying to rest. Our weather is crummy so that makes it easier. I'm watching basketball tournaments and golf so I'm not bored. I am glad there are only two more weeks of treatments. Between the cold sensitivity issues, mouth sores, nausea, fatigue, and generally crummy feeling this thing is starting to not be much fun. I'll get through it with your continued support and prayers and we will look back at it and say "that wasn't so bad and thank God it all turned out well."

Till next week I'll hang in there and you do the same. Dont' forget those prayers, I know I can use all I can get.

Week 3 Update - Easy Street No Mo

Me and my big mouth. On Tuesday, which is my long day, between my RT and chemo infusions I met with one of my doctors about noon and he asked me how I was doing. I said "great - if this is bad as it gets I feel very fortunate." He responded by saying "beware, it can change quickly." Wow, it turns out he was a prophet! Because six hours later I hit a brick wall on our stoll down Treatment Alley and Easy Street.

At 6 pm, or about 1.5 hours after I finished my infusion of two chemo drugs in the afternoon, while we were at the motel, I started to get cold. First I put on a sweater, than turned up the heat, and then jumped under all the covers in bed with my clothes on. Nothing helped. I developed a serious case of rigors, (violent chills) and couldn't stop shaking. It went on for over an hour and then I started to vomit violently too. Then Annette noticed I had a fire engine red rash over my back and chest. Oh fun. Annette promptly, and fortunately, called my chemo oncologist and she had me admitted to the hospital promptly. I was running a fever of 102, my blood pressure was up, I vomitted twice more, the rash spread over my entire body head to toe, and I was generally feeling like hell.

Well, it turns out I had an allergic reaction to one of the drugs, my research one, the panitumumab. They hooked me up to IVs of a variety of stuff over the next two days, mostly IV benadryl that night, and then potassium and magnesium due to an electrolite embalance, drew tons of blood for lab and culture testing, and poked and prodded me until it wasn't fun any more. Doctors were coming out of the woodwork to see my amazing rash as it was so impressive (red & white blotches that looked like sun poisioning all over). My blood pressure got dangerously low (70/30) at one point but after two days I was finally discharged. I am better but pretty well worn out. I learned two valuable lessons, be thankful to God for the good days because there may be some bad ones coming, and, oh yeah, keep my big mouth shut!

I resumed RT on Thursday and Friday and we came home early Friday for the weekend. The doctors will have to put their heads together to decide if I continue in the research study or not. I only have one more application but they would need to do something to prevent a reoccurrance. I'm not going through that again. We are in a wait and see period right now as I'm not scheduled for that drug again for about 10 more days.

The weather is beautiful, 75-80 this weekend and my brother and his wife are coming up from Myrtle Beach to visit. We plan to get some sun and if I feel up to it maybe play 9 holes - we shall see. Feeling better but still kind of weak. My appetite is also off. Well, guess that is it for now. Please continue to send your prayers my way. After a week like this one they become ever more welcomed and needed.

God Bless you all and Thank God for Annette's support throughout.

Drew

Week Two Update

Well, we finished up Week Two, which also represents 1/3rd of the way through, and I had an overall excellent week. I feel really really good. All my hospital treatments, including the RT and chemo, went off without a hitch. My oral applications are also going well. My only, ahhh, difficult side affect is a bad case of constipation. I won't enlighten you with the details but suffice it to say, the dam burst on Thursday evening and I feel sort of "normal" again. I am taking more pills now to help that situation. The expected rash has still not really caught hold, the anticipated cold sensitivity may be only starting to show itself, and the fatigue that I experienced last week was MUCH reduced this week due to the lack of travel I am sure.

Annette and I were able to take a small suite at a Quality Inn about 7 minutes from Duke and we have two rooms so if I rest in the bedroom she can read or watch TV or whatever in the other room. It is working out very well. We also got out a little to explore some of downtown Durham and tried a couple of neat restaurants we will go back to again. Not having to drive 20 hours a week on top of all the treatments is huge for both of us and our dog can be with us too. We met with several of my doctors and they too were very encouraged by my progress and condition (and oh yeah - they said "I look really good" too) see I told you.

However, the overall most encouraging sign was noticed by Annette. Wednesday evening we went out for Chinese and she noticed I was eating really well and seemed to not be struggling as much to get my food down. When I thought about it I realized she may be right. We asked our Radiation Oncologist on Thursday if this could even be possible this early and he said yes. The tumor may be already reducing in size thereby giving me some welcomed relief. Keep your fingers crossed this is true.

We have the weekend off and are home catching up on administrative things. It is supposed to rain hard most of the weekend. Please keep sending your prayers our way, we can use them. Drew & Annette

Me writing a blog - what next, programing my TIVO?

Hello family and friends. My youngest daughter, Robin, suggested to her old man that maybe I should start a blog about this process vs. the e-mail updates. That way, people could cruise in there at their leisure and view it when they want, reply if they like, and share with others if they see fit. Seemed like a good idea to me. So in I go to Blogville, which is near Whoville I believe, and start to enter information about me that will be forever floating around in cyberspace. I also have a facebook now but still don't know what the hell that is all about. I don't want to get too techno cool at this stage of my life. If I don't watch out Best Buys Geek Squad will be looking to hire me, yeah right. However, I think that I will start making my progress updates within here and just ask you to look at it, or don't look at it, whenever you like. Each and every one of you are special to Annette and I and we certainly can feel the love and prayers you are sending our way each and every day. Till next time - God Bless