Next step

During are meeting with Dr. Ott he said that Chris would probably need a blood transfusion. So we are now looking into how to donate my blood to him during surgery. I did not realize that it was so difficult. I thought that I'd go somewhere, donate my blood, they'd hold it till March 9th and then use it on Chris. But that is so fffaaarrrr from how its done. I am learning a lot. One great thing is that my insurance will pay for myself or Chris to donate (he could donate to himself before the surgery but he needs to heal). If your insurance doesn't pay its about $450.00 (wow!) Also if they don't use my blood it will be thrown away! I thought that maybe they could just give it to someone else since I will have already been screened. Nope. I will go in donate a pint of blood then I have to have a physical by my doctor and then I can donate another pint etc. Who knew that this was such a complicated process. But first things first Chris and I have to see if we have the same blood type. Neither of us can remember so today I will call doctors to ask what type we are. We are also lucky enough to have Megan and Ryan with strep throat. We are trying are best to keep them away from Chris. The bright side though is that if Chris got it now he'd still have 3 weeks to get better (he doesn't like it when I say that:) He is doing great. Everyday he is getting stronger and acting more like the "old Chris" I even had him take out the garbage the other day he's doing so well:) Thanks again for all the prayers, miracles do happen. Love ya, Ricki

Tuesday's news

Sorry we are posting so late tonight. We attended the Jazz game thanks to Chris coaching Jr Jazz.
We visited the surgeon today, Dr Ott, at IMC.
He took us to a conference room with a big screen TV hooked up to their computer system. He first showed Chris' CT scan from 12/17 and pointed out a mass by the pancreas that was about 2 inches in diameter, it was a swollen lymph node due to the cancer. He then showed us the CT done last week and showed us the same area, the swollon lymph node was gone...it did not even show in the scan. In fact, Dr Ott pointed out that the radiologist noted that Chris had pancreatitis because he thought it was a regular scan and not a follow up for the cancer...the radiologist could not see the cancer because it had reduced so much.
Dr. Ott stated this was the best reduction due to the chemotherapy and the radiation that he had ever seen, he called it a miracle!
So needless to say, we were very excited as the treatments could not have gone any better!
So the next step is to remove the areas that are cancer related so the residual that is still there will not go back to the full cancer seen in December. Chris will be having the "Whipple" surgery on March 9th.
He will be in the hospital for 7 days recovering and about 3 weeks before he can return to work if all goes well.
This is the 1 in 8 chance we were looking for for survival...without the surgery, death was the only outcome, great news!!
In the whipple they detach the stomach from the small intestines, remove half the pancreas (the head), remove the gall bladder, and the ducts associated with those 2 organs. Then the small intestine is connected directly to the remaining part of the pancreas and to the liver and the stomach is reattached below on a different area of the small instine. Basically, this allows for the cancer to be removed and function of the pancreas and liver to work normal as before to digest food. There can be complications, like the stomach not working for 4 to 6 weeks, but that is not common.
Chris will be in ICU for a day, then gradually he will be downgraded to a point where he can go home and recover for 3 weeks.
Gratefully, Chris' work will pay him completely while he is off his full paycheck and our insurance will pick up the bill on the 6 to 8 hour surgery.
We really appreciate your prayers and your concerns for our family! They have paid off with the best results possible, we love you all and say THANK YOU!! Miracles do happen, we hope our blessings continue...Chris wants to be around a while longer to pester Ricki and see his children grow.

Whoaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!

Dr. Ott the man that would perform the Whipple procedure called Chris and told him that he wants to meet with us on Tues., Feb. 17th at 2:30pm to discuss the CT scan. This is a good sign because if the CT scan had come back inoperable we would be speaking with Dr. Whisenant the oncologist. So we are thinking that the cancer must have pulled away enough from the artery to perform surgery. We will try not to get are hopes up to high until we hear what Dr. Ott has to say. But we are still smiling...big:) So, hopefully you won't hear from me until Tues. night. Ricki

Out of the hospital

We came home from the hospital last night at 5:30pm. The CT scan that we took at 11:00am that morning was still not in the computer and Chris wasn't having much pain in his chest so they decided to release him. We are hoping to get the results today over the phone to see if Chris is operable or inoperable and hopefully get some answers of what might of caused the pain. Chris is getting ready for work right now, that's a good sign:) I want to take a minute and thank my family especially my mom who has lived at our house since last Wed. we totally could not have gotten through this without her. She watched kids, did laundry, dishes, meals, drove people around, let Megan drive her around (Ahhh), and all of the other responsibilities that come along with motherhood. Her and Katie have become good friends. Thanks Mom! We love ya. Hopefully I'll be able to get on after the doctor calls and let you know what he says. I know that it will take awhile because 4 doctors have to get together and discuss the scan. Patience. Not one of my better features:). Again, we can't thank you enough for all that you are doing for us. I rely on all of your prayers to get me through the day. Love ya, Ricki

In the hospital

Today has been eventful. Chris is in the hospital right now. He is on a good dose of morphine to help with his pain until tomorrow morning when he gets a CT scan. They couldn't do any tests today because of the coumadin. They did an ultrasound, it showed that his gallbadder was enlarged but that was about all they could tell, a CT scan will show us more. (What is causing him so much pain). I took all the kids to the hospital to see him. They had a hard time, he
has tubes everywhere including in his nose and he was very tired. We talked for a few minutes then had family prayer and then left. You could tell it was hard on everyone. We came home and the Bishop and Bro Mitchell were kind enough to stop by and check on us. They gave each of us a blessing. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Pray for the doctors. We love and appreciate all of you, and we can't thank you enough. Please feel free to pass this blog address onto anyone who knows Chris. Thanks. Ricki

Yesterday Chris went and had his blood drawn to check his coumadin levels. It was off balance so he will continue to give himself shots till Thursday when they will check his blood level again. He had a lot of chest pain last night causing him not to sleep well, he thinks that it might be caused by the coumadin (that stuff is bad news) so I will call the doctor today and see what he says.

Wed. Chris had an endoscopy. They replaced the stent it was full of gunk and was clogged completely. The dr. noticed that the mass around the stent was smaller but one of the ulcers that was there was 3 times bigger so Chris is now taking Prilosec twice a day. They are going to check to see if it is bacteria related or a result of the cancer. While I was waiting for Chris in the waiting room surgery called me to tell me that my surgery was scheduled for 5:30am the next morning. I got their phone number and told them that I wasn't sure if I would be having mine. My mom said she would get everyone ready for school and my dad would drive me to the hospital and stay with me so that Chris could recover. He's pretty stubborn he ended up taking me and enjoyed being with me for the day. I am recovering nicely and Chris is doing very well right now due to a functioning stent that now allows his food to digest instead of sitting in his stomach and going nowhere but up and out. We hope all of you are doing well and appreciate your support and love.

Ricki

Monday Feb. 2 Chris went to see Dr. Whizenant the oncologist. Chris has been very sick still. Lots of throwing up and very tired. They found 2 blood clots in Chris' arm so he is now on coumadin (a blood thinner). 11 years ago when he had a blood clot he had to stay in the hospital until the coumadin was regulated but now you get a shot everyday until its regulated. So Chris learned how to give himself a shot today. He did great!! We also set up an appointment to have a CT scan done on Feb. 17th and then to meet with Dr. Whizenant, Dr. Ott (GI dr), and Dr. Sause (radiation) to see if surgery is an option. Which Chris and I will pray about to see if that's what would be best. On Tues. Feb 3rd Chris came home from work sicker than sick. He can't keep anything down, not even a sip of water. I called Dr. Doxey to see if there might be something wrong with the stent (he has all the symptoms from when this first started). He had Chris stop taking the coumadin and go to the hospital to have some lab work done. Chris went and had his blood drawn. Later Dr. Doxey called to tell us that his levels are high that he has to much bile in his blood and that he wants to perform a endoscopy tomorrow at 2pm. Like I said Chris can't eat, drink, sit down, sleep etc. because he's in a lot of pain. I tried to convince him to just go to the ER its only $100 but he said he could tough it out. So last night he didn't get much sleep, and my poor children had to listen to him throw up (Rye cried alot) . It's tough watching and listening to Chris you feel pretty helpless. So it is now Wed. Feb 4th Chris will probably just have us wait until 2pm to go to the hospital. Mine as well he's waited this long.:) I'm suppose to have surgery tomorrow. Just in-out getting my bladder fixed after five children (so that I can jump on the trampoline) but will see if that happens. My family is wonderful and I know that they'd help nurse Chris and I, but will see. I have to thank Megan for all that she's done on the blog, she's great. Either her or I will keep you updated. Thanks again everyone we love ya tons.Ricki