Better Night

So tonight has been a better night. After last night, all I can say is what a difference a day makes. We were able to go over to Eaton to the street dance and Eaton days tonight. We didn't stay long. We ate at the street barbecue and then went to my aunt and uncles for a quick visit. We were back in town by 9, so it was a great night. Ken still has the hiccups and he had a couple of close calls, but he was able to keep it under control and he seems much better. The hiccups seem to be hanging on longer this time, but we are hopeful that they will stop completely by tomorrow. Hope you are all geared up for a great weekend. Do something fun. Bev and Ken

Day 4 of Round 5

This is day 4 of round 5 for Ken. Wow, it is hitting him hard. The evenings are the worst. I can't believe as sick as he is at night, that he has been able to work every day. Pretty amazing. He has had the hiccups since Tues night at 8:00. He gets into trouble with the nausea when the hiccups get so quick that he can't breathe. It is hard to watch. Poor Ken. But hopefully, by this time tomorrow, day 5 he will be better. The doc said it would be harder every round and he was right. So yes, he has hiccups and yes, he is throwing up, a lot. But he seems to be keeping his spirits up. I don't know how. He is amazing.
So let's change the subject. For those that have been asking, Ken's mom is getting along better. She is walking with a cane and we are getting her apt ready for her to come home. She is still in the rehab center. She will have to have some home help at first, but she is so anxious to get home. I have been moving furniture and changing things around for her. I think she will be fine when she gets home.
I have had a rough week too. Up until now, I have only been working on Saturdays or Sundays at Babies R Us. This week, I decided to try a Wed night so that I could be home this weekend with Ken. Wow. They worked me till 12:30 in the morning. I was supposed to get off at 10:00, but some big wigs were coming in today. So they kept us all to do extra cleaning. I was so happy that I had typed a resignation letter earlier in the day. It wasn't hard for me to hand it to the manager as we left last night. I will miss the work. Most of the time, I really liked it. But in the big picture of things, I wasn't making any money and Ken and his mom need me at home. So, I quit. I better get my shopping for Norah done tomorrow, in case they take my discount card away after my shift on Saturday. Need anything special Katy?
I was so tired today. I was feeling sorry for myself till I got home tonight and witnessed Ken's predicament. Sure wakes a person up to what is really important and what really matters. I'm not nearly as tired now. And that is good because I have to go to work at the Bookstore to run some backups. Hopefully, I will be only an hour or so. I hope it goes well so I can stay home with Ken. I am working at the Baby store on Sat morning and at the Bookstore on Sunday to run some program updates. Feel sorry for me? Don't. I'm not having near as much trouble as Ken. It won't be bad and I get next weekend off. Yeah. I think I will take a day off next week as well. I need a day to clean house. It is a mess, but not important tonight.
Our daughter Anna that lives in New York City is coming to Colorado next week. Ken is looking forward to seeing her on Wed. We are excited to see her. We will get to see Tessa that day too as she will be in Denver with Anna on Wed.
That's an update for now. Please say an extra prayer for Ken tonight. He is amazing. Love to all of you and as usual, thank you so much for your support. Bev

Here we go again...

This is so not fair. Ken felt so good last week. We were in Nebraska with my parents and had a really good time. We just relaxed and enjoyed 5 days of retirement life with my folks. Ken felt great physically. We bought some fireworks and Ken loved sending the Roman candles into the air. We watched the neighborhood shoot fireworks before and after the big show, till midnight. Nebraska has less restrictions than Colorado, so they were shooting some really big fireworks at home. It was amazing.
But as the weekend started to wind down, Ken was more and more upset and depressed. I feel so bad for him. He is so brave and quiet when he feels sad. He drove all the way home on Sunday, but didn't talk much. He absolutely wanted to be anywhere but Denver on Monday. We had no choice. We went to the University of Colorado Hospital Cancer Center for his 5th round of chemo yesterday. It was tough for Ken to walk in. He knew what to expect and was almost sick before we even got started. We are so ready for this to be over.
We started with blood tests. The nurse drew blood from his pic line in his arm. Then while we waited for the test results, we went to the BIC office so Tamia could change Ken's dressing on his pic line. Then we headed to the infusion center. It was not long before they came in to say that his blood tests looked fine and we could get started. It is pretty boring for Ken. He just sits in the chair and lets it all drip into his arm. It takes about 5 1/2 hours. He can get up and move around, but he doesn't. No one moves around much. Ken was in chair #19 again. They have about 30 chairs and they were pretty full yesterday. He even had 2 different people in the same chair next to him yesterday. One at 9 when Ken got started and another by 11. Ken didn't pay much attention to what was going on in the ward. He was pretty nauseous as we started. So he slept most of the day. Amazing what a difference a day makes. Those drugs really wiped him out.
I spent the morning refilling his medications in the pharmacy and filling his pill boxes for the next 21 days. He has some meds he takes for the first 5 days, some that he takes day 6 thru 15, some he takes on Mondays and Thursdays, and some he takes every day. Then he has some he takes just when he needs it, for nausea and hiccups. It is crazy and was tough to keep straight. So we got 3 of those weekly pill boxes and made labels for day 1 thru 21. I put all his meds except the as needed ones into the boxes. It is easier for him. And we don't have to look at all those prescription boxes every day. A little easier to manage.
So where are we now? Ready or not, ready for round five. Ken felt pretty bad last night. He was able to eat a little so he could take his meds. But he wasn't happy about it. He even had the hiccups a little already. It just isn't fair. I feel so sad for him. They say each round gets a little harder because the drugs compound each time. We know he will get thru it. Only 6 more weeks. The weeks seem to pass by and we are getting thru. But each day is hard for him. I don't know how he manages to look so in control. I know he isn't on the inside. But he is amazing and tough.
We are headed back to Denver this afternoon to get his $3400 shot. He will try to work every day the rest of the week. I don't know how he does it. He is so thankful to his staff for carrying on without him. We are so thankful that everyone understands and is supportive. But we are so ready for this to be over...

Round four

Here we are at the end of Ken's bad week in round four. Only 2 more rounds, only 7 more weeks. Ken is hanging in there. He had a tougher time this round, but he made it thru it.

He was sicker the first week with nausea. Though he said he would rather be sick than have the hiccups. He still had the hiccups for about 3 days, but at least it wasn't 5 days like last time.

Ken did pretty well last week, his lowest white blood count week. He was more tired than previous weeks and he was more emotional. But we know it was just the drugs, so we just dealt with it. He didn't work as hard last week, though it really is hard to get him to leave work. I'm so thankful that it is summer and he doesn't have as many students and events to manage.

We are looking forward to next week. We are headed to my parents for a little R & R for the holiday. Ken loves fireworks, so the 4th is one of his favorite days. Hope everyone has a good week. We are getting along fine. We still appreciate all your prayers and well wishes. Ken is on the back end of this, thank GOD. Bless you all. Bev

Living life to the fullest

Finish the race. That is what Bev says. I haven't written in a long time so first I apologize for that. Second, I personally can't say thank you enough to all of you who have helped me, supported me, prayed for me. I have always tried to be a person who would help out someone else when they needed help, but have found it so hard to accept when people give me help. I feel almost unworthy. But I want to say a special personal thanks to Bob, Stephanie and Brett for their help in setting up and donating proceeds from their garage sales; and to all of those who donated time, baked goods, merchandise for sale that helped us raise money. I would try to mention each by name but am afraid I would leave someone out and I don't want to be guilty of that. You know when you watch the Academy awards and the winners get up and start a long list of people to thank, I always figured the next day they had to say sorry to someone they forgot to mention. My hiccups are going and I can't sleep. I just watched a rerun of Oprah after the Late late show. It was about kids who are heroes in their own right. Celine Dion wrote a book about 12 of them. In addition, a viewer told Oprah to watch a utube video about a boy who never spoke a word named Elliot. Elliot's parents created a blog before he was born to help with explanation due to the fact he was diagnosed with a fatal disease. He wasn't expected to live past birth. But he did. Each day at his birth time, Elliot's parents would celebrate another birthday. Day 2, day 3, then one month, then two months. Elliot's dad would write him letters telling him how proud they were of him, why he had to wear tubes to breath, etc. Two months became three. Unbelievable in medical terms. On day 99, Elliot's dad wrote to him saying he went to live with Jesus. At his funeral, they released 99 balloons in his honor. They disappeared quickly. Just like the days of our lives disappear quickly. When Oprah asked how they did it, his mom said she knew she could be sad later, and decided to live each and every moment happily with Elliot while he was there. They had over 3000 photos in 99 days. They did announce they are expecting another baby shortly, healthy I hope. It might be the chemo that heighten my emotions, but I was brought to tears thinking what love and devotion these parents had for Elliot. Sometimes I think I have it so bad I don't want to go on, then I think of people like this who have gone through so much more and show me that there is a reason for each of us to be here and to live life to the fullest each and every day. I feel embarrassed to need and accept help, but know that God has given me friends that are willing to do just that for me. I can not say thank you enough to all of you. I know I intend to try to live life each day to its fullest and hope that you are able to do the same. I remember a few years back a movie about a guy who could listen to the thoughts of women. Although a comedy, there was a serious part where a girl thought no one even knew she existed. So she almost committed suicide but because the guy could read her thoughts, figured out what she was up to and saved her. Saying Hi to a total stranger, or helping someone out in the store or wherever, or my favorite of buying lemonade from the kids lemonade stand on the corner is what I think God wants us to do for each other. Thanks to you for helping me out, that is what I hope to do for others. Amazing that while writing this I didn't feel any hiccups but now that I'm done, I feel them again. Oh well, just a few more days and they will be done. Live life to the fullest, and leave all of your hiccuping to me! LOL!

Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup

We took Ken to Denver for his neulasta shot yesterday. He slept all the way there, thank goodness. At least he can sleep without hiccuping. Poor guy. They have started again and the medicine doesn't seem to help. Dr. Myint gave him a different medicine to try this time. It is very strong and will make him sleepy. So he won't be able to work long days this week. He is miserable and frustrated. If he is troubled with them still today, we are going to try to take a combination of the drugs that he took last round and the drug they gave him this time. Then he will probably sleep all day. I think I need to contact my nephew, the pharmacist, to see what he can tell us. I hate to see Ken so medicated, but I know his chest hurts from the hiccups already and it's only day two. Last round he hiccuped thru day 5. At least he seems to be over his nausea.

The nurses said that caffeine and carbonated drinks will enhance the hiccups, so no coke and tea for Ken today. He only had 1 coke yesterday, but he is willing to try anything and I have made him decaf tea to take to work. Hope that helps.

Back to the Blog

This is Bev. Welcome back, or should I say, about time we got around to writing again.

We had a little break from this, but as of today, we are starting our 2nd half of this RCHOP chemo, so time to get back to writing and let you know what is happening.

Since last time....

Ken received chemo on Tuesday, May 26th. He had a rough first night, but we made it thru. That is where I left off. By Wed, he was plagued with the darn hiccups. He literally hiccuped till Sunday. No kidding. He hardly slept and on Friday night it was the worst. I timed them and he was sometimes hiccuping 20 times a minute, every 3 seconds. Poor guy. We took Aunt Lavon to a dinner theatre on Thursday night and poor Ken. Except for when he was eating, he hiccuped all the way thru. Luckily he wasn't very loud that night and we were sitting clear over to the side, so hopefully, the actors didn't notice. (If you haven't been to the Candlelight Theatre yet, you should check it out. Great place.) We received some medicine on Wed for Ken's hiccups, but it didn't help. So we have some stronger medicine for this round. Let's hope it helps. He has had the hiccups every time for the first few days.

The rest of the time, once the hiccups stopped, Ken felt great. He tired easily, but was able to work every day. He wore his mask the entire 2nd week and so far, so good. This third week, he helped me get ready for a garage sale that we had last Sat. Our subdivision was having their neighborhood garage sale and they put up signs and advertised in the paper. Two of our neighbors across the street said that they wanted to do their sale in Ken's honor as a fund raiser for us. So we thought we better jump in and do a sale as well.

So we printed signs with Ken's picture on it, telling his story and took them to the pool, the play ground, the entrances to the 'hood and posted them on our fences. Then I asked friends to help me put on a bake sale. Let's just say, it was a huge success. We had so much food. I sold angel food cakes, lemon bars, banana and zucchini breads, apple coffee cake, Panera bread coffee cake, spice muffins, brownies by the plate and individually, cupcakes and more. We sold coffee and pop and water too. We probably made $120 - $150 on the food.

Then, I sold about $200 in Cookie Lee Jewelry that was just sitting in my basement. Yeah. We sold a bed that Linda Carpenter had donated for $100, and a few other $50 items and a ton of little things. All in all, with the neighbors contribution and our sale, we made $1100.00. We were shocked and very excited. We were hoping to make half that. So thank you, thank you, thank you to all that helped. We had so many people that donated food, brought stuff to sell, came by and helped on Friday with setup. (Thank you Terry, Linda and Ed - I couldn't have gotten ready without your help.) We even had Linda Carpenter and Linda Caster come by and help at the sale. And Stephanie, our daughter was a big help too. We put out a donation jar that made about $70, and sold a few bracelets. All in all it was a great day.

Ken said he felt a little weird. He mostly sat in the garage and listened to people. I was on the driveway telling people more about his story and he just listened. I think it was a little hard for him to be in spotlight. He is so ready for this to be over. He just wants to be normal again. But I thought it was great. So many people came by to share their cancer stories. And I have never seen so much traffic. So again, thank you, to all of you that helped in any little way. We sure appreciate it. But most of all, thank you to our neighbors, Bob, Stephanie and Brett. I really didn't have the energy to do the sale. I was tired before I brought up the first box of stuff. But I can't thank them enough for the idea and the plan. It turned out to be such a success and we are so glad that we did it. (Super glad that it is over too. LOL)

So that brings us to today. We went to Denver today to get Ken's 4th round of Chemo. He was feeling pretty pucky when we got home tonight, so he is laying down and trying to get the nausea meds to work. Hopefully, this will pass and he will feel better soon. I have been hounding Ken to write in his blog. And I have a cousin to thank for putting me in my place. I had lunch with Jeff (my cousin) today and he mildly pointed out that no one expects Ken to feel like writing all the time. I did a double take. He was so right. Ken and I had some heart to heart talks this weekend. He has been feeling so much better now that his lung is fixed. He doesn't feel sick all the time. But he still has the 5 lb limit on lifting things and he still gets tired easily. And he has to be so careful not to be around people that are sick. So it is hard for him to keep going sometimes. He wants it to be OVER.

So I sorta think it has been hard for him to get in the mood to write. He is tired of dealing with it. He said that he is a starter. He loves to start new projects. But he doesn't always see them thru. He starts them and then trains his staff or someone else to carry it out. This is one time that he can't train someone else. He has to finish this. He has to walk the walk and finish the race. We only have 9 weeks left. Three first weeks of nausea and hiccups, three scary weeks of low immune system and three weeks of feeling better. He can do it. We can get thru this. We have so much support. We just have to keep going and encourage Ken to do it. He really is doing great.

Love to you all. Bev and Ken