Phew?!

There are no words for what we are feeling today. Glen came out of his last radiation appointment completely spent. It was emotional and exhausting. He is done with that and on Tuesday he will be done with chemo. Two weeks for the residual effects to begin to clear and then he will begin to feel like himself again.

We're looking forward to a 3 day recovery period before his final treatment. Happy Labor Day to all!
j

Hotel Kabuki

Here we are in the home stretch. And what a wild ride it will be. Glen woke up in the night with his face "on fire." The vicadin didn't cut the pain. By the time we got to UCSF for his regular radiation appointment he was dealing with it, but absolutely miserable. (I'll let him describe the misery to you in more detail when he's ready.) Dr. Yom was there to save the day...in more ways than one. The first thing she did when she saw Glen's red and puffy face was go to her computer and google something that she wanted to share with Glen. When she found it - she had Glen read it. It was a report that the greater the skin reaction to the Cetuximab, the greater the odds are that it's working. So that was a moment of glee - in a weird way. Then she asked him what he was taking for pain and couldn't believe that he was only taking 1 or 2 vicadin. She said, "That's for a sprained ankle, not radiation!" She prescribed some heavier duty pain meds and off I went to the pharmacy. (It's almost a daily visit I think.) Dr. Yom saved the day again because when I got there and the pharmacist said he couldn't fill the prescription (I'm sure he had a very good reason) and told me to go back to my doctor's office for another one. Yah right, drive back to UCSF at 4:30. Anyway...the incredible Dr. Yom convinced him that he could fill it and voila - Glen is feeling much better now...if you know what I mean. Actually, his word was "numb," but I told him that numb was a good thing for the next couple weeks. After that he can start moving out of numbness and into the "colored" world (my reference to Oz).

Phew...now where was I? I really was just going to tell you all that we would be spending our night tomorrow (Thursday) at Hotel Kabuki in Japantown. We have actually had a reservation there for Thursday night for the last month, thinking that it would make it easier on Glen not to have to go to SF twice on Friday. Hotel Kabuki lets patients check in early and check out late so Glen can get some rest. But up to now, he hasn't wanted to stay (I think he likes the normalcy of his own house, bed, kids, etc.). However, since it's his LAST radiation treatment on Friday - we thought we'd make it a "date" and make it easier on ourselves. So we won't be answering emails till Friday afternoon. You can reach us by cell/text until then.

"Talk" later,
j

A week of "lasts"

I thought I'd do a quick post and asked Glen if he wanted me to "say" anything for him.  He said, "It's a week of "lasts"...last Monday, (second to the) last Tuesday, etc. all the way to the LAST radiation on Friday.  Be thinking of him at about 12:30 on Friday when he goes in for his LAST radiation treatment.  What an accomplishment!Last weekend Glen was feeling the difficulty of what he'd been through and was having a hard time looking forward through the remaining weeks.  He had an incredible appointment with Dr. Yom where she really listened to him and let him just sort of "feel" what he was feeling.  She knew that he was struggling and she was concerned about his spirit, but she was so incredibly encouraging and caring.  Her inspiring words really helped Glen refocus and we went home feeling much better. Glen was really re-energized to finish up strong-well as strong as he can be after what his body and mind have endured.  Amazingly though, Dr. Yom wasn't through.  She emailed Glen at 1:00 AM on Friday night/Saturday morning with more encouragement.  She said she was really concerned and wanted him to know that he is making INCREDIBLE progress medically and he really needs to stay strong mentally.  Can you believe that???!!! A doctor staying up worrying about her patient and then emailing him a long email in the middle of the night?   OMG!   We are blessed by fabulous, caring medical experts, supportive, caring friends, business friends, family and even acquaintances and strangers.  Thank you all!  We are in the final stretch and are racing (though at a non-Olympic pace!) to the finish line.  joyce

explanations...

First...to those of you who are trying to text Glen...he left his phone at UCSF this afternoon so he will have to catch up with everyone tomorrow.

Second, he had a great conversation with Dr. Yom today. She "scoped" his throat and is very pleased with the progress. She expects that he'll start feeling more like himself 2 weeks after treatment ends (Sept 2) and a full recovery thereafter.

Third, I know I posted some photos and you all are wondering - what the heck? I spent hours trying to post a slide show and/or just some photos and that was the best I could do. Techy I'm not. So the top photo (I think) is of Glen and the kids at Johnson Hall on the UO campus. For those of you who are in the know...that's the Admin building they used for Animal House! Not a good sign for Niels-or maybe it is!

The other pictures are from our trip to NYC-Sheryl Crow from the Today Show concert, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square from our hotel and Niels with Steve Carrell...sort of...

I may try to get photos up again. Wish me luck!

Hi, I Haqve Missed You

I think it has been over a couple of weeks since my last blog, so I thought I would take a few "good moments" and send a "hoarse" shout out to everyone.

First of all, thanks to Joyce for all the wonderful things she has been in this journey. I simply know I could not be getting through this without her. I will never be able to repay her in any real way, so I guess she will just have to be stuck with me loving her in my unique, oh so fallable, ways. I LOVE YOU HUN!

I feel all the positive energy flowing from each of you out there. It is providing me the energy I never thought I would need, let alone have, to fight this cancer. The past few weeks have been all-consuming. I appreciate your text messages as I find it easier to reply versus talking on the phone.

I truly hope I will be able to find a way to repay those of you that have helped me get to this point. Your visits, short or long, all of the wonderful text messages, wonderful meals for the family, it goes on and on. Your acts of kindness to me are as humbling an experience as I have ever faced. I care and love all of you deeply. (I need to stop, as writing this is making me cry and frankly it hurts physically to cry right now.)

On to status - I completed my 26th radiation treatment today. That means I have 9 more treatments over 7 days. This includes two more dreaded Fridays. But, I know I can do this. Around 1:30 PM on Friday August 29th, I will receive my final radiation. I believe I will get to take "my mask" with me on the final day. I am trying to decide how best to dispose of this wretched thing. I also have 2 more doses of Cetuximab, August 26th and September 2nd. I will likely experience a residual effect from the accumulated radiation and final Cetuximab that should dicipate by the 8th or 10th or September. Then my body can begin to heal. I am really looking forward to this. The day to day progress of getting well.

I will be back at you when I can!

Be Well!