Just a Bump in the Road

On Thursday, February 6th, I had an infusion up north and an appointment with Dr. Lindsey. My infusion was scheduled for 10:00 am, but I needed to be there at 9:00 am to get my blood work started. For some reason, I felt the need to leave the house at 7:30 am to get there on time. As I headed out, the roads were TERRIBLE! They hadn't been plowed and everyone was driving well under the speed limit. As I got through Nephi Canyon around 8:20 am, it suddenly hit me. And maybe it hit you as you read... Manti is 2.5 hours from Huntsman on a normal day. If I left at 7:30 am, I wouldn't get to Huntsman until 10:00 am and I'd be an hour late! On top of already being an hour late, the roads were awful all the way to the point of the mountain just before Draper! I had to stop for gas in Nephi and I called Huntsman to let them know I'd be late. How on earth did I make such a big mistake? How did I not realize I needed to leave earlier? I recalled at one point knowing it would b...

Yesterday (Which was Thursday, January 23rd), I had an appointment with the MA I see on a regular basis and an infusion. Prior to every infusion and visit, I have labs done. The past few times I've gone to the lab for my blood work they've struggled to get IV's in me. The hospital has been a little cooler lately and my veins tend to get difficult when my body is cold. In December, I had to have a PET scan done. I had the IV done without an issue. However, when I went to get blood drawn from the IV, they couldn't draw blood out of it. That meant a new IV was needed. I ended up getting stabbed three more times before they could get it to work! Four total IVs in one day! It gets a little long sometimes haha THIS time, however, one shot and done! That's how I like it! It was even better because I told the lady giving me the IV that taking off the tape at the end of the day was the worst and I need to shave my arms before I come up. She pulled out another piece of tape, ...

A comment was made to me last night that has been made to me a few times over the past year or so. While the comment is a generous compliment, it has never sat well with me and I've struggled to know how to respond. This morning, I felt pressed to share... This journey with cancer has been difficult at times and some people tell me how inspiring I am to them. Very kind. But here is the truth: I have tried to endure the trials of my life on my own in the past. I failed miserab ly every time and was miserable while doing it. If I were to try and survive this trial of cancer on my own, the person you would see on a daily basis would be a shell of a man. The real inspiration in this journey? The one that truly deserves the praise? Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. It is only through the strength and peace they afford me that I am able to manage each day. It is only through their mercy that I can smile and endure this. The only good decision I'...

So on December 12th, I had quite a long day. It was the first day that scans were scheduled since September 12th, which was when we received all of the great news about tumors disappearing in my brain! But...those days are always longer. Here's what went down... I had a PET scan scheduled for 7:00 am up at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Unfortunately, that meant leaving the house by 4:30 am. Way too early for me! This was my first PET scan since my initial diagnosis. The reason for the PET scan was a possible tumor that had shown up in my left hamstring back in October. My normal CT scans only get from the hips up. In order to get the whole body, they did the PET scan. I had to sit in a room for 75 minutes while this glucose tracer was absorbed into my cells. Loads of fun sitting in a small room by yourself for that long lol The actual PET scan only took about 20 minutes, but the room was freezing! Which lead to some problems... After the PET scan I needed to get blood work don...

Thanksgiving for our family is a little different than most. When the kids are with us for Thanksgiving, we have pizza subs for dinner and root beer floats for dessert (Well, I refrain from the root beer float...). No turkey. No traditional sides. No pie. The reason for this? Four years ago, Kim's dad, Dave, unexpectedly passed away the day before Thanksgiving. The next day, no one felt like celebrating Thanksgiving, to say the least. I suggested we make pizza subs since that was one of Dave's favorite things to make. In fact, he'd wanted to open up a shop to sell them. Since then, that's become a regular tradition on Thanksgiving. Not only does it provide us with an opportunity to remember Dave and celebrate his life, but it's far easier to make and clean up than a regular Thanksgiving dinner! lol Anyway, this year was no different. We all enjoyed pizza subs for dinner and they were sure good! We also started the morning off with family scripture study and a real...

So on October 31st, I had an appointment with the PA for my back doctor. I had emergency spinal surgery on February 10th to remove a lesion that was compressing my spinal cord. The compression caused me to lose movement in both of my legs and the ability to urinate normally. So that was almost 9 months ago. Unfortunately, I still struggle on a daily basis with pain at the incision site as well as extreme soreness and discomfort in the muscles between my shoulder blades. The pain at the incision site is a random, all day type of pain. The discomfort between my shoulder blades tends to get worse as the day goes on. The more I do throughout the day, the worse the pain is. In fact, there are times that I struggle to stand up anymore because the pain is so much. I'm not an expert, but I had assumed that after 9 months this type of pain would have been resolved. I know the muscles in my back are being asked to do more and to adjust, but I thought that would have been resolved a while ago...

So on October 29th, I had a visit up to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital for a visit with my oncologist and an infusion...maybe. After my October 8th visit, Dr. Hu, my oncologist, decided that we should restart my immunotherapy infusions, but only if the neuro-ophthalmologist cleared it and my body continued to improve. These are the side effects I'd dealt with from immunotherapy and the steroids... -Swelling in my face, stomach, knees, and ankles -Nausea -Vision problems -Lack of energy -Tender to the touch -This weird zinging/tingling sensation in both legs (Feels kind of like your legs are waking up, but all the time) All in all, it's been quite the journey since starting my immunotherapy. My last infusion of immunotherapy drugs was on August 22nd, over two months ago. During the time since then, I've also been able to get off of my steroid completely. As of my visit on the 29th, I was on NO DRUGS! Since entering the hospital on January 24th for my emergency brain s...