Great news today June 27, 2012

A note as we drive home from l.a and the oncologist visit. Yesterday's MRI again shows no change and because of the up and down of the platelets and the results of the MRI, dr.green has declared the treatment to be complete at this time. We will follow up with another MRI in 2 months. In the meantime we will work on getting good exercise and getting back to a more normal state. Yeah!! Thank the Lord for answered prayers and to all of you for your continued prayers and support.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Quick update before I run (yah right - me! run??? - what a joke) to the kitchen to make some malt o meal for Chris's ever increasing appetite.  As of today, the platelets are back up to 103,000 so I will go to Fontana tomorrow and pick up the chemo.  Chris will start the 5 day dose again tomorrow.  Stay tuned and pray that we have no complications like we did the last time!
Love to you all.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Things remain pretty much the same with Chris over the last couple of days.  He runs a low grade fever everyday...not sure what that is all about.  Still with a lot of fatigue.  Waiting for next Tuesday when we will see if his platelets have risen above 100 and everything else remains unchanged.

May 1 is confirmed for my knee replacement procedure.  Anticipate 3 day hospital stay and first week at home the being the most pain.  Chris's sister, Patty will be here the first week and my parents will be here the following week.  We could probably use some meals again for the first couple of weeks.  Of course it would be up to all of you whether or not you could do that.

Get in touch closer to the actually dates and I can let you know what Chris is able to eat at that point.

Thanks everyone for your ongoing love and support.  It means so very much to us.

Chris, Janet, Sam, Ryan and Jon

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Lab work done this morning and platelet count is 45,000 this week.  So, coming up slowly but not at 100,000 yet so no chemo this week.  All else is well.
Stay tuned....

Wednesday, april 11, 2012

Hope everyone had a very happy Easter.  No matter what happens, we are blessed in the knowledge that our Lord came and died for us,  rose again and is coming back for us.
Went to the lab yesterday for the blood draw to check the platelet level for continued chemo.  As I said last week, the platelets need to be at 100,000 before the chemo can be started again.  Yesterday they were at 27,000 so are slowly rising which is good.  Not great, but good.  However, the white blood count is going down and is below the normal range.  To treat this, Chris has to have an injection of neupogen every day for 5 days.  I gave him the first shot yesterday then on Tuesday we will go back to check on his blood counts again.
Meanwhile, I have a knee replacement scheduled for May 1.  So, this is a plea for help while I am not able to take care of things during the early stages of recovery.  Not sure yet what we will need help with, possibly taking Chris to get lab drawn or sitting around with him during the day while I'm in the hospital.  The closer to the day, the more I should know of what we might need.  I talked to my dad yesterday and he said that either he or mom will come down to help.  Problem with that right now is that mom is having substantial shoulder pain and is trying to get to the bottom of the source of it so it can be fixed.
Please keep us in your prayers and know that we continue to have all of you in ours.
with much love,
Chris, Janet, Sam, Ryan and Jonathan

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Good Morning,
Sorry didn't get to posting this yesterday, but Tuesday and Wednesday were exhausting days.
We saw the Neuro-oncologist yesterday morning and he said that there has not been any change in the tumor since the last MRI in February, which is good news.  The problem right now is that the chemo has blown away the platelets in his blood.  The current platelet count is 14,000 and before he can get more chemo it has to be at least 100,000.  There will be another blood draw on Tuesday next week to check how the count is and we will go from there.
Dr. Green tweaked the medications a little bit to help with fatigue and a couple of other things, so we will see how that goes and give him a call back in a couple of weeks to see if more changes need to be made or just leave it alone for now.
Chris still doesn't have much of an appetite and has lost 45 pounds since the end of October.  Right now he lives on smoothies/shakes that we make for him here at home.  We dump as much protein as possible in it so he gets a pretty good serving of it.
We are still dealing with confusion and distortions of reality.  Morning time seems to be the best for him. He is fairly clear and has more energy.  He's usually zapped by 11 or 12 though so it is a very small window of opportunity for him.
We are grateful that the tumor has not grown and thank you all for your continued prayers and concern.  A special thank you to Diane for coming with us to the MRI and the appointment in L.A.  It is hard to do this stuff alone and the extra help is a blessing.
I am going to see a joint specialist tomorrow to talk about a knee replacement since the surgeon who removed my hardware and tried to clean up my knee said the only thing that will fix the problem is a replacement.
Thanks again for all the love and support.  We do appreciate it so much.  We are all doing ok at the moment and just taking things a day at a time.
With much love,
The Marsey Family

Monday, March 19

Chris came home from the hospital on Friday night.  The cultures they did on his urine came back on Friday morning showing a urinary tract infection so they sent him home with IV antibiotic - Vancomycin every 12 hours - for 2 weeks.  I know that a uti in males can make them pretty sick and can affect their mental status.  Chris has been weak and has trouble verbalizing what he wants to say.  I'm praying that this is related specifically to the UTI and will resolve rather than being a setback related to the cancer.
Patty and Ted are coming down on Tuesday to stay for a couple of days in order to give me a little break.  I'll be going out to the desert to recharge a little.  I'm so grateful that they can come down to give me some time away.  I just have to make sure that everyone is ok with starting the infusion and that they know what to watch for with possible kidney failure which is a side effect of Vancomycin and what he had last week in the hospital...don't want a repeat of that!
Pray with me that he starts responding to the medication and his mental status clears up quickly.
Love to all.  CJSRJ

thursday march 15

thursday evening at the hospital.  chris has just been taken down for a renal ultrasound.  lab results earlier today show that kidney function is better but not great.  still with fever tho not as high.  wll plan to get a chest/abd/pelvic ct scan tomorrow to see if thereis apocket of infection somewhere that is causing the fever.  so thats the story for today.  As always thank you for the prayers, we do so appreciate them.  will update tomorrow or when we find out something.  love  cjsrj

Wednesday, March 14, 9pm

Want to let you know the status this evening.  The attending doctor today ordered an abdominal ultrasound to see if there were any clues to the ongoing fever issue.  The ultrasound came back normal.  Chris remains on IV fluids to rehydrate and they will check his kidney and liver function again in the morning.  If the fluids resolve the hydration, kidney and liver issues but the fever remains, he will plan to do an upper body CT scan with contrast to rule out anything there that might be causing the fever including kidney stones and gall bladder problems.  So basically we are just waiting and exploring right now.  Chris slept most of the day today.  He still is "off" mentally in that he isn't always sure where he is, or what the date is (but sometimes he knows), and he is mixing reality with fantasy of some kind made up in his head.  I'm hoping that by getting his fluids back in line and the fever under control he will clear up mentally as well.
We left him at the hospital tonight and will go back in the morning.  He is able to get to the restroom with assistance in walking him there so we do not have the issues we had during the last hospitalization where we had to have someone there all night to keep him from pulling out the i.v. and trying to get up to go to the restroom.  Check back tomorrow for an update.  thank you for the extra thoughts and prayers being said for us during this time.  We love you.  CJSRJ

Admission notice march 14

Brought Chris to the ER at 4 this morning. Temp was 103.9 and he was extremely weak and confused. They gave him 3 bags of fluid did a chest X-ray and ct scan. Kidney function still off but chest X-ray clear and ct showed no bleed or other problem. Started him on Iv antibiotics because they don't know what is causing the fever. He is being admitted to room 1402b at Kaiser Fontana. Will post updates as things happen

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Hello~
Quick update with the recent activities in the Marsey house.  Wednesday night Chris started this month's chemotherapy treatment.  Friday he saw his primary care doctor because his blood pressure has been low and we wanted to see if his meds needed adjusting.  Doctor took him off one of the bp meds.  On Saturday, Chris developed a fever just as he had last month during his chemo treatment.  Tylenol helped to keep the temp in the high 99's to low 100's.  Sunday night was the last of the 5 nights of chemo.  Yesterday I talked to Dr. Green about the fever.  Dr. Green said he doesn't recall having any other patients who complained of fever while taking the Temodar, but wasn't extremely concerned about it.  By this morning I had expected the temp to be back to normal, and if not normal than close to normal.  So, you can imagine my surprise and concern when his temp this morning was 102.9, he was more confused than he has been in quite awhile and he started to slur his speech again.  Back to Colton to see Dr. Smith who had openings in his schedule this morning.  Labs, Chest xray and EKG were done.  The EKG was normal and the chest xray was clear.  The labs came back with mixed results, most significantly it showed a problem with the kidney function.  However, due to the symptoms described along with the intermittent fever, Dr. Smith was concerned that there may be a pulmonary embolism.  He wanted to do a CT angiogram to rule the embolism but couldn't do it because of the affect of the contrast on the kidney function, so he ordered a VQ scan instead.  We drove out to Fontana, Chris had the VQ scan and the doctor who read the scan said there was a very low probability of a pulmonary embolism.  The kidney function remains a problem though, so tomorrow morning we will go bak to see Dr. Smith and the creatinine level drawn again.  If the result is still bad, we'll decide from there what to do.
Check back here for updates after we see the doctor tomorrow.
Love, CJSRJ

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Hello to our wonderful friends and family.  Thank you for continuing to send good wishes and prayers.  Thought it was probably time to give an update on how things are going.

Over the last month Chris has been doing pretty well.  He is still suffering from fatigue but has been placed on a medication - Nuvigil - to help with that.  Some days the Nuvigil works better than other days.  Finding food that he is able to eat continues to be a challenge.  Rice Krispies, Malt-o-Meal, eggs and strawberry ice cream are "staples".  He works on the laundry during the day and has favorite shows he watches during the day.  I suggested last night that he and I start walking the cul-de-sac for exercise and to help start building up his stamina (and to make me so much more efficient walking with crutches, LOL).  The current plan is for him to return to work on April 9 and probably he will start back 4 hours a day rather than trying to go full steam ahead.
 
Lab work done over the last 2 weeks has all come back good and he has started his 3rd round of chemo last night.  The dosage has been increased to the maximum it will be for the remainder of the treatment which is Temodar 420 milligrams per night for 5 nights.  He takes Zofran for nausea an hour before and the morning after taking the drug and so far it seems to be working well.  He hasn't felt nauseated or had any more episodes of vomiting which is really great.  The next MRI is scheduled for April 3 and follow up with the neuro-oncologist on April 4.  We totally expect nothing but positive results with that visit, because we know that our God is watching over us and providing his healing power.  Besides, how can he possibly ignore all the prayers that he is bombarded with...right???

After about 16-1/2 weeks, my parents are finally back in their own home, sleeping in their own bed, driving their own car, freezing in the snow in Idaho.  What a blessing it has been to have them here with us helping out in every way they could find.  There is just no way to adequately express our gratitude for the sacrifices they have made to be here.  Unconditional love and support is all we get from them.  Who could possibly ask for more?  Thank you mom and dad.  You are two totally awesome people, an incredible blessing in our lives and we love you more than you can ever know.

Greg continues to call and come over often to make sure his brother is doing ok.  What an incredible display of brotherly love.  They are so close and love each other so much!  It's wonderful to see and to be a part of that experience.  Patty has started emailing us to practice her technical skills that she is picking up, lol and we are on the "special people" list because she doesn't email very many people.  :-)  Colleen and Randy, Mike and Wendy check in with us as well and everyone is just a phone call and an airplane ride away if we need them.  Knowing that they are all ready and willing to come and help is very reassuring.  Of course, all of our local friends and family are here at the drop of a hat as well and are  consistently reminding us of their availability to help with anything we need.  Blessings upon blessings!

Thank you again for continuing to send your good wishes and prayers our way.  We feel so much love and support from so many people.  It is simply awesome.

I am scheduled to return to work on April 2, still on crutches now, waiting for the holes in the tibia to fill in so they are not as much as risk for additional fracture.  Not sure what the next step is since the hardware removal and the arthroscopy clean up didn't really help.  I just can't believe that a little fall from a ladder could cause such major disruption and constant pain!

The boys are doing well.  Jonathan is on spring break right now and my goal for him during this time is to deep clean his room...ughhh!  Ryan is going to school and working and Sam is working and playing as many "gigs" as possible.  They are all incredibly supportive and loving.  They do need reminding that things need to be done around the house and that dad and mom can't do it all, but once reminded they are good at getting it done.

So overall we have progress and progress no matter how big or small is a step forward and heading in the right direction.  Look for another update next month after our visit with Dr. Green where we will get the results of the next MRI.  In the meantime, keep the prayers and good thoughts coming our way.

Thank you for your support and love over the last 5 months.  We love all of you and appreciate each and every one of you for what you do for us.

Blessings,
Chris, Janet, Sam, Ryan and Jonathan

  

Wednesday feb. 8 2012. Great news!!!

Just a quick post to tell u all that the prayers have been working! God hears us in out time of need and we have been truly heard and blessed. The words of the neuro oncologist today: "it doesn't get any better than this". He said the cancer has definitely gotten much smaller and all the contrast picked up was a small spot in the right temporal lobe. More details later as e are headed home from la now. :-). So happy

Friday, February 3, 2012

Following almost a week long visit from Colleen and Randy, we are back to what has become "normal" for us here at the Marsey house.  Arlo and Norma are back from their trip to Indio, Janet is wheeling around in the wheelchair again at least until next Thursday when weight bearing will be increased to 50%.  Chris is getting emails (thank you very much!) and is anxious to get back to work.  He still gets tired but is wondering if maybe that's because there is nothing else for him to do.  He feels like his taste is coming back a little and is adding a bit more variety to his daily diet.  His hair has pretty much stopped coming out which has left him some on his head but we totally expect all of that to grow back so no big deal.
Follow up MRI is scheduled for next Tuesday and follow up visit with oncology is on Wednesday.  Praying for a positive result that shows the treatment has killed off the cancer and all he has to do is recover from this point on.
Thank you to all have sent emails to Chris and thank you for keeping us in your prayers.
Love to you all.  CJSRJ

Wednesday, January 25,2012

Hello Family and Friends.
I know many of you have been wondering what has happened to my daily posts and I hope you haven't been too concerned that there has been a problem of some kind.  No problems, just not much change and I've been recovering from my own surgery. On the 12th I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee to clean up some of the irregularities and arthritis caused by the fracture last year and he also took out the hardware.

In the meantime, Chris has completed his 25 treatments of radiation therapy and after he takes his last bunch of pills tonight he will have completed the initial 42 day course of chemotherapy.  While his hair has gotten quite thin, he still is by no means bald.  He has done well with keeping food and drink down but complains that nothing really tastes good, (actually doesn't taste at all) or tastes bad.  So we just keep trying to find something that works, oh except for Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal which he does seem to like and he sometimes has for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  Currently he is trying to get rid of a cold and nasty cough that has had him feeling really extra cruddy the last week or so.  He is scheduled for another MRI on Feb 7 and a follow up with oncology on Feb 8. 

Over the last couple of weeks we have been blessed with meals from our sweet neighbor Sue and more from Karen.  My brother Mike and sister-in-law, Wendy came down for the weekend the day I had surgery so my mom and dad were able to get away to see Arlo's brother and sister-in-law, Chet and Kathy in San Marcos.  The visit with Mike and Wendy was really nice and we really appreciate all the help they gave while they were here.  It was good for Chris to be able to ask Wendy some medical questions and to get her opinion on things related to his treatment.  Chris's brother Greg calls to check in every day without fail unless he is here checking on us in person.  The love those two share is an awesome thing.  He has been a steady support for me and the boys from the start and I don't know what we would do without him here with us.   

On Sunday, Arlo and Norma packed up the 5th wheel and headed out to Indio for the week to attend a Bible conference with Chet and Kathy as well as Bernie and Jane and a few other friends who are down for their annual winter stay from Idaho.  This is the time that Arlo and Norma should/would have been in Indio themselves for the annual winter stay but chose to stay with us instead.  Today, Ryan drove out to Ontario to pick up his Auntie, Colleen and she and I just returned to the house from a trip back out to pick up Randy.  I guess we'll be going back out there again tomorrow since Randy's luggage didn't make it with him to Ontario and is somewhere between Denver and here.  :-(  Lois is on the calendar to make a visit tomorrow and Lisa is on for Friday.  All in all should turn out to be a great week.

We are coming up on 3 months since we learned that we were dealing with cancer.  In some ways the time has gone by quickly, in others it seems to be dragging on forever.  There have been so many ups and downs from the beginning and it still truly feels like a roller coaster ride that just won't stop.  It's good to know that we have family and friends on the ride with us, holding our hands, wiping our tears and waiting along side us.  Thank you all for that love and support that gives us the courage to stay on the ride - whether it is going up, up, up or down.
Love, Chris, Janet, Sam, Ryan and Jonathan          

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Since the beginning of this journey we have been thanking "everyone" for the support and love that "everyone" has shown us.  There is no way that we can know who "everyone" is who have been following along with us and praying for us as well as providing love and support for our family members.  This realization became even more clear to me today when I got a call from my sister.  Colleen shared with me the gift she received from the wonderful people she works with at Chesapeake.  Neither Chris nor I have met any of her co-workers, staff, friends but because they love her, they showed their love for us by purchasing a plane ticket and coordinating with Randy for the two of them to come back to spend time with us later in January.  I cannot begin to tell you what this means to us and how thankful we are for the blessings that just keep coming.

Chris and I were able to spend a bit of time with Allan and Melissa this evening...another one of our blessings as well as the texts from the Taylors tonight and the phone call from the Lavoies last night.  Our Fitty Cruise companions are major blessings.

For those who are wondering, Mom and Dad are still here with us.  Dad has been in charge of getting Chris to radiation therapy and Mom has been in charge of making sure the medications get dispensed.  Mike and Wendy fly in tomorrow evening for the weekend so Mom and Dad are taking advantage of their visit to go to San Marcos and spend a couple of days with Uncle Chet and Aunt Kathy.  Looking forward to a nice weekend for all.

Signing off for the night.  We pray that we can be even the tiniest bit of a blessing to you that you are to us.  With so much love and devotion to you for all that you are to us, CJSRJ    

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Hello Friends and Family,
Spent a lovely afternoon with Chris today.  Went to radation therapy, then to lunch and finally stopped by my office for a little bit.  chris enjoyed the outing but is tired tonight.  Tomorrow he goes for a follow up with the neurosurgeon.  Not expecting anything earthshaking. 

So just to clear things up, over the last few days I have been neglectful in writing on the blog.  Mostly because there really hasn't been anything that has changed and also because I get a little tired in the evening and don't get to it if there isn't anything really important to share.  So, just to be clear and make sure that everyone is on the same page, I want to let everyone know that if there is no blog update made over a day or more, it is safe to assme that things are moving along as expected.  If there is any change or something important comes up that everyone needs to know right away, I will be right on the blog to share the information.  Otherwise, don't worry that something has gone terribly wrong and I haven't had time to write about it. 

thank you for your concern and worry that something was happening that you were not aware of.  We appreciate your love and concern.  We love you all so very much!!

With love,
CJSRJ

Monday, January 9, 2012

Hello!  I know I've been away for a little bit.  there hasn't been a lot going on that is new and different to report.  Chris looks like he is getting better every day.  His hair is still falling out but not at the same rate as it was.  He saw the neurologist on Friday who was surprised to see him looking so good.  that was good to hear.  Chris is bored to tears.  TV is horrible and he doesn't really have any hobbies besides golf and things that take up too much energy for him to attempt right now.  Visits from friends just to hang out and talk is good though I think. Dan came by for a bit last week and Lisa came by on Friday and brought delicious dinner.  Greg came over on Saturday so Mom, Dad and I could go to Victoria Gardens for a little shopping trip.  Sunday we met Ron and Kathy at Nick's burgers for lunch and were joined by Gina and Buster too.  What a really great lunch,  we thank all of you for inviting us to spend the time with you.  Karen and Christian sweetly brought by tamales for us.  Clemencia came by today for a couple of hours and talked with Chris which does make him very happy.
 Yum, love tamales (as long as I don't have to make them.)  lol

Thank you for continuing to pray.  We pray that the requests going up to God hourly/daily/etc.keep coming and we will keep adding to them as well.
Love you all, CJSRJ

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Everyday seems to be a little better and thank you to my dear friend Dusty, aka Dr. Rigsby, aka Mr. Mayor for telling me the reason why Chris is so much better this week than last week is because the treatment is working and is killing off those bad little cancer cells.  That's the best news I've heard in a couple of months!  That means the prayers are working too.  We'll keep doing the treatment and praying, you all keep praying too and we'll get there!!
Love with all our hearts,
CJSRJ

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Pardon me while I pick up a few stray hairs off the keyboard...they seem to be everywhere, except where they belong...on Chris's head.  :-(
Very active day today.  Started out with a visit from office mate Dan which was thoroughly enjoyed.  Took several walks around the yard, then walked from the parking lot into the radiation therapy office and then back out again.  Was beat by the time he got home though and needed a brief nap to recharge.  I had a really nice visit with my sweet high school friend Val this evening.  Really terrific getting a chance to catch up.  Chris feels like he is getting better and less confused which Arlo agrees with (and so do I).  Just pray that this improvement continues day by day.  
Oops, Chris is back up again and looking for me to come to bed.  Guess I better get in there so he can get to sleep for the night.
Love you all, CJSRJ

January 2, 2012

Happy New Year.

Everything is pretty much status quo yesterday and today.  Back to therapy again tomorrow afternoon.  Chris continues to lose his hair, remains less fatigued and is more stable on his feet.  That's pretty much it for tonight.  Check back tomorrow to see if there are any changes.

Thank you for your continued love and support.
Love you all, CJSRJ