CT results

I"m in Portland, OR to pick up my mother-in-law.  The doctor called me with the CT scan results.  She said that, besides the 10 or so lumps we could feel in Jake's torso and legs, he had two more small tumors near his lungs (not in).  Those are the two she is most worried about.  She is also concerned that the tumors came back so quickly and are growing so fast.

Jake is ademate that he doesn't want anymore chemo...although that is what the doctor thinks would be the best route to get them all.

God,
Here's my heart.
It's broken.
Can you fix it?
Please hold it until it's all better.

Lumps!

Before retiring to bed, Jake showed me that he had found lumps on his thighs and stomach.  A wave of emotions follow me to my room as I try to stay calm and wondered if sleep would come tonight.

As I lie awake, in my bed, hope of rest floats out the window with the breeze.  I finally succumbed to taking a sleeping pill with the hope that my fears would no longer weary me and peace would rest my soul until the break of dawn.

The doctor said it could be anything...not necessarily new tumors.  So...another trip to the hospital.
(Sigh!)

I was right!

Just talked to the doc.  More radiation therapy, probably in August, which coincidentally, is when he started his first radiation therapy.  I wish one of the doctors would say, "Don't worry, we can get this!"

I do have hope.
Dave gave Jake a blessing telling him that he would be healed from his cancer.
There is where my trust will lie for these next few months!

Must it be so hard?

Tender...

Jake is on the right and Zack is helping him to the tent so he can lay down.

Jake was able to walk on his left leg on Thursday, but it's still a bit of a gimpy walk...unsteady.

I was so happy to see Jake walk in the door on Thursday! That means he's healing!

About 4:15 p.m., Thursday, I felt some urgency to go down the mountain and call the Urologist. I just happened to catch him before he left his office. He had the pathology report and told us that there were still live cancer cells where they removed the tumor. They won't do anything for about 6 weeks because he needs some time to heal. Monday, we should get a game plan for further treatment...our guess is more radiation therapy.

I have to say, I was hoping for the news..."We got it all out and Jake's cancer free!" I guess we always hope for the best case scenario, but...

Jake's doing well. We're not crying about it because we feel it will be fine...just more appointments to keep, more driving to Salt Lake, more bills to pay...

We are so happy that the tumor is out of his body and he is healing! It's great to see his smile and I love his skinny hugs!

Thanks for your prayers, love and support!

Looking Good!

Doesn't he look great?

This is our friend, Kara, who surprised us with a visit!  She used to babysit Jake and John when they were little.  We just love her!  It was fun walking down memory lane with her and as you can see, it was easy for her to get Jake to smile!

I guess he got some sleep last night because he was in a much better mood today.  John and Zack have been staying with him at night and keeping him entertained.  I love when they do brother-bonding.  The sweet thing is, they are happy to do it...even though they don't get much sleep.

We've had lots of visitors!  Carl and Kathryn Tucker came up, Fern, Sam, Carrie and Aaron (who brought some stuff to keep him entertained), Brett Johnson & fam, Shauna's family, Kara, grandma Sweet, the bishop, the Buchanans, Mike & Jessica, Cherie and her mom and some beautiful girls from the hospital room next door who wanted to meet Jake & bros. (Jake was so cute...the girls came late and as we were leaving, they hadn't shown up yet..."But mom!  I thought the nice girls were coming!"  They showed up right after we left and brought him and bros. some yummy cookies!)  John said he was bringing us a cookie, but they didn't quite make it all the way home.  I'll just have to imagine how good they were! :)

The Bucks gave us an awesome supply of snacks and treats to keep us through our hospital stay!  (So much appreciated!)

I AM HEALING

Jake will probably be here until Monday.  He is healing well.  He accidently bit of a piece of his cheek (Owie!)  It's too painful for hm to put any pressure on his left leg (because of the muscle removal wound).  He has two wound drains that hopefully will be coming out soon...but maybe not till Wednesday.  We have to come back to the hospial once a week until he is really healed well...I'm guessing for all of July.

Wednesday is when we see if they got all of the cancer out...then we might know a game plan...maybe not until we see the Hem/Onc doctor in about 3 weeks.  He says his arms are really weak for the walker...maybe we'll have to borrow grandma's walker when we get home.  We'll be keeping him upstairs while he heals.

Good times!  Love you guys! 

Thanks for loving us!