Finally I can breathe. We have been on pins and needles, drug around, played chutes and ladders games, all over the place. Our emotions have run high and low. First the battles with insurance, then this week's pre-test, we just kept thinking something bad was going to happen. We have gotten a lot more bad news than good news. But today, today was a good day. Today, we won. Thank you Lord!
Dusty went to the hospital a little before 8:45 am. They had to hook him up to all the vital machines and get him situated to be there for ten hours. They had to take his blood once an hour and monitor his heart rate and other vitals. He did great! The only thing that he didn't like was being woken up every hour. He likes his sleep! I sent him some balloons in his room to cheer him up. He sounded a little down, but I think he was just tired. The trial drug's only known side effects strong fatigue and swelling of the hands and feet.
He is back at the hotel and is getting ready for bed. He has to be back at the hospital tomorrow for about five hours. He said he is starting to feel "crappy". I hope he feels better in the morning.
The boys and me are doing well. We are hanging in there. I've been rotating who gets to sleep with me. Well, I decided to let them both sleep with me one night. That won't happen again. Tonight, it's just me and my Blue Dog and the boys are stairs. Reynolds has his first Valentine's Day Dance at school tomorrow night. I know, kindergarten dance?? Reynolds said, "I need to wear long sleeves because the girls will be inside dancing and the boys might want to go outside and workout. Because that's what we do!" Ha! Oh, is that what boys do. Funny kid! Harland keeps saying, "I wanna see Daddy." It breaks my heart. But, all in all, we are hanging in there. I'm drinking MUCH more coffee, sleeping less, and look like a wreck, but whatev! :)
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Quick update
This is a quick update on how Dusty is feeling and where we are with our treatments.
Dusty has completely stopped responding to chemotherapy. There are no more options to try. We got accepted into a phase one clinical trial at MD Anderson. We were ecstatic to say the least. It gave us hope again. Hope that we so desperately needed. Dusty has continued to lose weight and is now down about 75 lbs. (at least he had the weight to lose but now he is getting below healthy). He can't eat and can't swallow. We found out that he does have a metastasis that has spread to his right lung but they are not concerned about it at this time because it has not changed in ten months. His spirits have been lifted with this clinical trial. We are hoping and praying for results. We should know February 28 if it is working.
At first our insurance denied the clinical trial, it was the worst beating that we've taken so far. We thought it was the first chisel in his tombstone. We were desperate. After three days of being sick and unable to focus on anything in life, we got the call that Dusty's insurance came through for the trial and they would cover it. AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have had many ups and downs through this but this was by far the biggest!
Dusty and my dad left for Houston Sunday, February 3. Dusty passed all his pre-test and met with the doctor on Tuesday, February 5. He starts the clinical trial on Thursday, February 7. He will be taking 1000 mg. of a chemo drug that is in trial. He takes it daily. They don't know the side effects yet but know that it does cause fatigue. Dusty will come home Saturday. Yay!
He has to travel back and forth to Houston about five times a month for the next 2.5 months.
We are still accepting donations and/or sky miles or hotel points.
Photos taken by Jessica V Photography:
http://www.jessicavphotography.com/index.php/2013/01/30/augusta-ga-family-photographer-hayden-family/
Dusty has completely stopped responding to chemotherapy. There are no more options to try. We got accepted into a phase one clinical trial at MD Anderson. We were ecstatic to say the least. It gave us hope again. Hope that we so desperately needed. Dusty has continued to lose weight and is now down about 75 lbs. (at least he had the weight to lose but now he is getting below healthy). He can't eat and can't swallow. We found out that he does have a metastasis that has spread to his right lung but they are not concerned about it at this time because it has not changed in ten months. His spirits have been lifted with this clinical trial. We are hoping and praying for results. We should know February 28 if it is working.
At first our insurance denied the clinical trial, it was the worst beating that we've taken so far. We thought it was the first chisel in his tombstone. We were desperate. After three days of being sick and unable to focus on anything in life, we got the call that Dusty's insurance came through for the trial and they would cover it. AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have had many ups and downs through this but this was by far the biggest!
Dusty and my dad left for Houston Sunday, February 3. Dusty passed all his pre-test and met with the doctor on Tuesday, February 5. He starts the clinical trial on Thursday, February 7. He will be taking 1000 mg. of a chemo drug that is in trial. He takes it daily. They don't know the side effects yet but know that it does cause fatigue. Dusty will come home Saturday. Yay!
He has to travel back and forth to Houston about five times a month for the next 2.5 months.
We are still accepting donations and/or sky miles or hotel points.
Photos taken by Jessica V Photography:
http://www.jessicavphotography.com/index.php/2013/01/30/augusta-ga-family-photographer-hayden-family/
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