MRI Results

Hope everyone had a great holiday season. Dad has not been feeling well now for quite some time. He had a scheduled MRI today to determine if the chemo was doing anything to the tumors. Dad has been getting pretty anxious because he has been able to feel the tumors more than before and so he thought they were getting bigger. Mom and I have both been telling him that it was because he has lost so much weight. Well, the MRI confirmed that the tumors have not changed. This is good news. Because everything seems to be in neutral, the doctor told him that he can reduce his chemo treatments to every other week. They have also given him a new pain medicine that should help with the effects of his UT infection.

His blood count was down and so they have scheduled him to have a blood transfusion on Friday. That will take about 8 hours. The unfortunate thing is that Friday was when he was scheduled to see his urologist so he needs to reschedule that. They are also going to need to retest his oxygen at the request of insurance. This means to have an accurate reading he will need to stop using it for a few days.

Thanks again for all of the prayers and words of encouragement. We appreciate all of you.

Together at Christmas

Merry day after Christmas. We hope you all had a great time with family and friends. We got up early and drove to Portland to surprise both of our families for Christmas. We arrived at mom and dad's about 11:30. They had made plans with my aunt Cathy and her husband Billie to come over for Christmas day lunch. I so appreciate how mom's sisters have jumped in and helped take care of mom and dad when I am so far away. Aunt Cathy had fixed a ham and other items. Even though no one was expecting us, there was plenty of food. I am thankful for Cathy doing all of this work despite the fact that she had just had a major surgery 3 weeks ago. We visited and enjoyed time together; listened to mom play her new digital piano. Dad was pretty tired and in pain but stayed awake the whole time we were there. He didn't eat much dinner but he did have some light snacks throughout the day. We left around 3:00 to go spend some time with Steve's family that also lives in the Portland area.

Not much change in regard to his infection and health issues. He still doesn't have an appetite and is losing weight. He did have the week off from chemo but has not gotten in to see his urologist yet. I have posted a few pictures from yesterday for you all to see.

Quick Update

Dad called his doctor's office on Monday and told them he felt he was getting dehydrated. They had him coming in and they gave him IV fluids to re-hydrate him. When he went in, he had lost 8 lbs in less than a week. He doesn't really have 8 lbs to lose but somehow he did. He was going to call his urologist today and see if he could get in sooner. I haven't talked to him to find out if that happened. Please pray that he can get in to see the urologist before the 8th of January and that the IV fluids will kick in and he will start eating again.
Thank you.

Long Time

Sorry for the long stretch of no posts. Dad had a few good weeks after Thanksgiving but then last weekend got hit pretty hard and hasn't felt good since. He called his urologist but can't get in until January 8th. His body is just too tired to fight both the cancer and this infection. I keep asking him to call and see if they know just how bad it is and could they see him sooner. Mom and I both think he is getting dehydrated again because he doesn't have the energy to even eat. Usually he ends up in the hospital when he gets dehydrated.

He does have this week off from chemo but it seems that the infection is worse than the side effects of the chemo. He say he takes all of his pain meds (vicodin, Tylenol with codeine and something else) and it doesn't even touch the pain of this infection. If he doesn't get seen for a change in medication for the infection, he really doesn't have the week off.

Their plans for Christmas is to just stay home. Dad just hasn't felt good enough to really do anything. He was very disappointed to miss the church Christmas program yesterday. I told him maybe next year and his response implied there might not be a next year. It has been almost a year since he was diagnosed and it has been a very hard one for both he and mom. I pray the next one will be better.

I posted a picture of mom and dad taken at mom's work Christmas party last weekend. Don't they look good!!! This was the night before dad started not feeling too good.

On behave of Larry and Sherry Cameron and their extended family, we want to wish each of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. Remember: "He became one of us . . . so we could become one of His."

Blessings,

The Camerons and The Douglass'

Wonderful Thanksgiving

We hope that you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. At the beginning of the week it was decided that mom and dad were going to make the trek over the mountains and through the woods to Sisters to spend Thanksgiving with us. Dad had chemo on Wednesday like normal despite asking the doctor to forgo the week so he could have a good holiday. The doctor continues to be pleased with how dad is responding to this treatment. His cancer cell count is down to 2,000. All of his other vitals were good except that he had lost 2 pounds.

So we were a bit nervous about mom and dad driving here on Thursday morning. The roads are icy in the mornings even if there hasn't been snow. Sarah had come home from college on Wednesday and said that the roads were pretty clear; just a few spots of packed snow and ice. Mom and dad arrived safely. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Dad was very tired so after some breakfast, he rested most of the day. We did get him up for our turkey dinner and he ate quite a plate full. He didn't use oxygen all weekend long and was doing pretty good other than being so tired. He is dealing with another infection so he was popping pills but at least we were together.

We were blessed by the wonderful people that I work for. They knew that mom and dad were coming and wanted me to be able to spend time with them and not cooking all weekend long. So they prepared meals for us ahead of time and also gave us a gift card to our local grocery store to help with the cost. We had a wonderful beef stroganoff that was made with pot roast, a very yummy Mexican lasagna , cranberry cream cheese bars and french toast made with eggnog. Thanksgiving morning they delivered a fresh pumpkin and chocolate cream pie and also a pumpkin roll. What a blessing. It really did allow me to spend more time with mom and dad and we never wanted for anything.

Mom and dad headed out about 1:00 on Saturday, just before the famous Sisters Christmas parade. They wanted to get home before it got too dark. Dad told me as he was walking out the door that he hoped it wasn't his last Thanksgiving but if it was, it was a good one. Dad actually drove the whole 150+ miles home. They got home and unpacked, went to the Twisted Comfort restaurant for a bowl of soup and then rested for the evening. Sunday they were able to make it to church and had a very quite day.

Another highlight for mom and dad was having Sarah come from college to spend the weekend with them last weekend. She came to help them decorate their apartment for Christmas. They were thinking they wouldn't get to do very much but with Sarah's help, in her words, "Santa vomited all over Grandpa and Grandma's house". They were very appreciative of her spending the weekend with 2 old people, hanging Christmas decor.

We hope this holiday season is a special time for all of you. That you get to spend quality AND quantity time with your loved ones. Remember the true reason for the season: For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. May God bless you all!

Chemo Day

Dad had chemo again today. His numbers continue to be good. His blood pressure is good, he gained 1 pound, his oxygen was down to 89% and his blood count was good, even the red. The best news is that his cancer count continues to go down. When we started this journey in January, dads cancer count was 42,000. It went as low as 3,000 before starting to rise again. That is when the doctor decided to switch his chemo treatment. Well, his count went from 6,500 to 3,000 this week. The doctor is really pleased how dad's body is responding to this chemo treatment. Dad sounded good tonight, no nausea and feeling really good. It's a good day in the Cameron household.

Good Visit

We got to spend some time with mom and dad this weekend. Dad was doing pretty good on Friday. Sarah and I both spent the night with them. We got up on Saturday and met Chuck and Aunt Charlene for breakfast. Dad ate all of his breakfast!! Mom said he hasn't done that for awhile. That afternoon dad rested while mom, Sarah and I went to a movie. Mom doesn't go to movies very often so this was a nice outing for her despite the pouring rain. Steve and Emily showed up around 5 and we had some pizza. Dad just wasn't feeling well enough to go to the volleyball game. It was pouring down rain and we really can't have him getting sick. With his immune system down we decided it best if he not venture out in the cold. Kaity's team won her volleyball game so we are one of 8 teams going to the state playoffs next weekend. We stopped by mom and dad's on the way out of town so Kaity could say hello. I have posted some pictures so you can see how mom looks with her new hair do and how dad looks with his new no-hair do.

Dad meets with his surgeon tomorrow to get his stitches out around his port. They will also determine if the procedure they did last week will allow them to use the port or if they will need to remove it and put in a new port somewhere else. Mom also has a doctors appt tomorrow. We have discovered that she has not been taking care of herself and taking her medications either. It will not be a fun visit for her but it will hopefully get her back on track. I will let you know what happens.