WE LOVE YOU DAD!!!

This is one of the hardest blogs to write and we have dreaded it from day one.  We have lost a great husband, a great father, a great grandfather and a great friend to heaven tonight.  Dad went home to heaven around 5:45 pm on 12/10/14.  He was a fighter and these past 4 years have been a roller coaster, he had lots of tests, lots of appointments and lots of pain.  Through it all, he stayed very strong, very positive and was a great fighter.  We could not have done any of this without all the love and prayers that we received from everyone.  We have so many good and happy memories of dad and we are sure that you all do as well.  He touched the lives of so many people and he will be missed dearly.  He is not in pain anymore, he does not have cancer anymore, he has all of his fingers back, his ankle is normal and he will be watching over us all.  We miss you Dad and WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Thanks to all for your support.  Dad loved you all and appreciated everything.

There will be a viewing Monday evening (12/15/14) and Tuesday morning (12/16/14) before the funeral at 11am.  It will be held and mom and dads church on Nathaniel Drive in Pleasant Grove.

The Latest

Dad seems to be doing well.  It was a rough recovery but he is up and back to working on his wood projects again.  He seems to be strong and feeling okay.  The doctor told him that his transplant would only buy him a couple of months, it will be two months next week.  He will find out where his numbers are on Wednesday.  He is kind of in a lose lose situation with the measles trial.  If he finds out next week that his transplant has put him back in remission then he will not qualify for the measles trial.  If his numbers are back on the rise again then he may qualify but there are only 37 spots for the trial and over 400 people wanting in.  We are still praying.  He has been the most amazing fighter and we are just so grateful for each day he continues to be with us.  I was just thinking about how much suffering and sacrifices have been made the past three years to keep him with us and my heart aches for him and my mom.  He has been the greatest example to us of being positive in tough circumstances and never giving up hope.  It has brought our family closer together and in the end family is what matters.  He has begun to think about funeral arrangements and was able to hear one of the songs he wants played on the violin at his funeral.  Later that night he just sobbed telling me how he is not ready to leave this earth and not be able to watch his sweet grandchildren grow.  I know that he will still be able to watch them grow and will be able to see them and help them from a much happier, pain free place, but how do you console someone who is dying who does not want to die?

How it is going. . .

It has been almost two weeks since dad went into the hospital for his transplant and so far everything is going as expected and there have not been any surprises this time around.  Having said that, Dad is still very miserable.  He has had to get up to use the bathroom almost every half hour on some days, he can not keep any food down, he has sores all over the inside of his lips and he has broken out in a rash all over his body.  The doctors are not sure what has caused the rash as of yet but are thinking that it is just a reaction to one of the many drugs he is taking right now.  They brought in a dermatologist to take a few biopsies to find out the cause.  He has hit bottom and his numbers are on their way back up.  His cells have engrafted which means that things should start to get better from here.  He has a lot of trouble staying awake and is not all with it right now but this is to be expected.  Mom is doing good and is in high spirits because this has been the most uneventful (in a good way) transplant of the three and she knows what to expect.  He does enjoy visitors but be ware that you might hear some pretty good stories.  Just call before you go to make sure he is up to it as things can go south in a matter of minutes without warning.  Docs say that if everything continues to go well he might be able to come home at the end of this week. 

Transplant Update

After a bout of pneumonia and a visit with a heart doctor dad is now in full swing with his transplant. He went into the hospital on Tuesday the 8th and received a mega dose of chemo.  Wednesday they began to push the the 1st of two bags of stem cells into him and he quickly developed an allergic reaction.  His throat began to swell and he coughed until he could no longer breath.  Emergency response was called in and the doctor was right there to counteract the reaction, however because of the time it took to get his body back to normal the second bag of stem cells was at room temperature too long and most of the stem cells died.  They said that there was enough in the first bag to do the job and that the second bag was just a bonus so it was ok and they pushed the second bag in as well just incase some were still alive.  Dad is doing well tonight and feels ok.  It will probably start to hit him hard Saturday or Sunday.  He is up at the Huntsman Center and does enjoy visitors but asks that you call first to make sure he is feeling up to it.  If you need a phone number you can message or email any one of us.  Thank you for all of the support and prayers at this difficult time.  

New Update

We want to keep everyone as informed as possible. This is what we know now.

Dad went in for a bone marrow biopsy and a bunch of other tests. We don't know the results yet. He did not start his transplant yet though. They are waiting to do another test, some kind of angiogram test. They will be going up through his femoral artery to his heart to test his veins and arteries so that if and when something happens during or after the transplant they will know exactly how to treat it instead of guessing. Still no word on when that will happen but probably the first part of next week. Then the transplant.

Thanks again for all the kind words, love and prayers that have been sent mom and dad's way. They appreciate everyone of you.

Very Sad Update

We are sorry we have not kept everyone up to speed.  We are also not sure how many people are still following this blog to support our Father (and Mother for that matter) but we would like to let everyone know of our current status. So here it goes:

This is probably one of the hardest blogs to write.  We received some very sad news last week and have been trying to cope with it since then.  Last week we found out that Dads cancer is no longer being affected by chemo or medicines.  He went on a last effort chemo for 3 weeks twice a week that made him really really sick and was in bed almost the whole time.  The cancer responded by increased numbers, his numbers are in fact about half of what they were when he was first diagnosed so nothing is doing anything at the moment.  Mom and Dad went to Texas and Seattle to try different doctors and to get different opinions.  They didn't have any other options saying he was not healthy enough or saying the insurance company keeps turning them.  Things did not seem good and the news kept getting worse and worse.

We also found out that Dads cancer has progressed into Plasma-Cell Leukemia.  We have been told that it could go out of control at any time and there is nothing we can do.  So this is where we are at, Dad is going up to the hospital tomorrow where they are probably going to give him one more dose of chemo and give him one more stem cell transplant and use his remaining stem cells they have on ice.  The purpose of this transplant is to prolong his life as much as possible.  Our goal is for him to make it till September so that he can participate in the Mayo Clinics trial with the Measles Virus.  In order to participate it has to be his absolute last option, which it already is at this point.  They have treated 2 people with multiple myeloma this way and 1 person went back into remission while the other chose to stop the treatment because of severe headaches.  It is our hope and prayers that everything falls into place and that he is able to participate in this trial, it is Dads hope as well but more so, that he is able to participate even if it doesn't work so that the next person will benefit from it.

These last couple of months have been a struggle for everyone, but Mom and Dad are staying very strong.  They have a very deep love for one another and for everyone who has supported them ever.  Please know of their love and our love for you all, we could not have made it this far without you.  We did have the extreme pleasure of having their bishop come over and give Dad a blessing with family there.  Dad was told to be at peace and know that he is a very good man.  Thank you Bishop!

Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts and kind words.  We love you all.  If you have any questions please ask.  We will let everyone know how the transplant goes.  Please keep them in your prayers.  Thanks again for everything.

Why So Soon?

I do not know how many people are still follow this blog but there is some sad news to report.  We have had a good couple of wonderful and amazing years with dad and feel so blessed to have each and every day with him that we can get.  His energy has been good and he has taken up woodworking and made some amazing things.  Sadly, things are not going as good lately.  Back in August dad found out that his numbers were on the rise again.  In an attempt to lower his numbers down to the point where he could have another transplant he was put on a chemo pill.  After three weeks on that pill news came that it did nothing for him,  and in fact his numbers had doubled.  He is now on a different type of chemo in another attempt to get the numbers down.  His options are limited and a transplant can not take place unless they can get the numbers down far enough.  Things are not looking good and we are all still trying to hold onto any last shred of hope we have.  Even if they do get his numbers down far enough for the transplant, the type of transplant they want to do is very risky and chances of survival of the transplant are not good.  But if he were to survive the transplant there is a small chance he could be cured, but having the transplant means 1-3 months in the hospital and if you know my dad you know how much he likes hospitals.  He is not sure at this point if it is worth being away from family for only a small chance, and is just taking it one day at a time.  He has only been on this round of chemo for a few days and it is already starting to take its toll.  His energy levels are dropping and his spirits are low.  Any well wishes anyone could send would be a great help at this time.  He reads his email everyday so if you want to send a little note of love and sympathy send it to teamlightning1@gmail.com.  Please keep him in your prayers at this difficult time.