It's Been A Long Week

We got Tim's results on Tuesday and as Dr. Edenfield said, "it wasn't the homerun we wanted but a good double."

Basically the testing confirmed some of the drugs that have worked previously as well as confirmation about some that haven't worked but most importantly it gave us a new drug called Regorafenib to try.

It's currently in Phase 3 trials & hasn't been approved by the FDA but has seen really great results so far so were really hopeful for Tim to get some good results.

We're now waiting on finding out details of what comes next but we do know that the trial is based in Charleston so although well have a little traveling it won't be too bad.

This morning Tim had a CT scan, we're still working through the details but 100ccs (about 1/2 a cup) of fluid & dye were injected directly into his arm instead of his vein. His arm got really swollen (over 3 inches bigger than the other) & although he was icing it & keeping it elevated about 6 hours later the swelling was continuing & spreading.

We went up to the Cancer Center so Lynn could check it out and were told he needed to go to the ER & they started calling plastic surgeons for the fear he had something called compartment syndrome which can only be fixed by cutting the arm open & leaving it that way for a few days to drain then putting it back together with skin grafts. Needless to say, we got pretty nervous but luckily Lynn was calling into the plastic surgeon so we could skip the ER & meet with him directly. He mentioned that until Tim began having nerve issues or problems moving his joints that we could just go home. Luckily his swelling has reduced about a 1/4" so far and no issues no far with pain or nerve issues so were hoping he may be out of the woods now thanks to the incredible care by Lynn, Tammy, Rose & the rest of the te at the Cancer Center!

We're hoping that today's excitement means that everything else should go pretty smoothly with this new treatment plan, should know more in the next week or two.

Big Announcement

We finally have the total raised from the Golf Tournament, Dinner & Silent Auction which was $14,679.37. That is WAY above what we set our goal to be and we couldn't be more excited about how well everything turned out. Thanks to all who helped, donated or participated, we couldn't have done it without all of you! We're looking forward to 2013 already (but are taking a little time off first :)).

Sorry it's taken so long! After a day of recovery from the tournament I started a new job which I've been trying to get my head wrapped around as well as Tim's surgery and just normal everyday life happening. It's been busy but a lot of fun as well!

Today marks 2 weeks exactly since Tim's surgery & he is doing great. There's been one little mishap with the incision in which the chest tube was reopening a little but that was fixed pretty easily and as of last night only had about a quarter-inch section that needed to seal up still. That may be the result of how quickly he's become reactive again, he went to the gym Tues & Wednesday of last week, played golf Thursday, went to the beach to fish with my dad Friday through Sunday and was back playing golf everyday this week again.

The reason behind why he is playing so much golf is due to his brother surprising him with an invitation to play in the BMW Pro-Am as a guest of the tournament. Steven wrote the nicest email I've read telling of Tim's story to the leaders of the tournament which is what got Tim the spot. The two of them will get to hang out for the next few days as Tim plays & Steven caddies for him, it should be interesting to say the least. Tim is beyond thrilled & even has his outfits for each day planned out (which he is pbly going to kill me for announcing :)). He plays at Chanticleer this morning, Carolina Country Club tomorrow morning & will be teeing of at Thornblade on Saturday morning around 10 in case anyone is planning on heading out there.

Freedom

The rest of yesterday & last night were pretty uneventful, we actually got some decent sleep without being checked on every hour.

This morning Tim had another chest X-ray & we met with the doctors who gave the go-ahead for him to be discharged. They removed the IV needle from his port & changed his chest tube bandage so I saw that incision for the first time. It's much smaller than I envisioned & was already considerably healed up.

Tim is still pretty sore but he hasn't taken any pain meds since yesterday afternoon, nor has he needed them. He's quite a little trooper.

We got home around 12 to find that one of our sweet neighbors had mowed for us. Yet another example of how all of you have gone so above & beyond, we are so grateful!

My mom dropped our dog off & the three of us have been napping all afternoon. There is a pizza on its way now & we have every intention of being lazy bums for the remainder of today & tomorrow and will take it a day at a time from there.

Almost Out

Tim is feeling MUCH better today. He had his first meal this morning and has been snacking ever since.

They came in about 45 min ago to remove his chest tube which luckily wasn't as bad as he expected. They've also unhooked his IV so as long as he does what he is supposed to we will be headed home tomorrow!

Making Progress

Tim has been making great progress today. He got up once and we've finally got his pain meds regulated & are staying ahead of the pain.

He got a good nap in this afternoon and although he still has the chest tube in they removed the suction which is a great step for his progress.

As long as he keeps progressing as well as he has been they will be removing the tube in the morning.

Thanks for everyone's support, we really appreciate all of your visits, thoughts, prayers, texts, calls, emails, etc!

Settled In

We are all settled into a room. Tim is in some pain from the chest tube so we're working on getting his pain meds regulated but is otherwise feeling pretty good all things considered. It was a really early morning so we'll probably be napping & just hanging out for the rest of the day.

Dr. Stephenson mentioned that dependent upon how he does over the next 24 hrs they may be able to take out the tube tomorrow & if he's doing really well they may discharge him as early as tomorrow afternoon but he'll be out by Sunday at the latest barring any complications.

The nurse putting in his IV this morning was incredibly entertained by how much Emla cream (numbs the skin so sticks dont hurt) Tim had layered on both of his hands "just in case". He was also apparently a chatty little guy in post-op recovery and was entertaining the nurses. Pretty standard charming behavior in both incidences for Tim though :)

Thanks so much for all of the support, I'll update whenever anything else changes!

Done

The doctor just came out to say the the surgery is over & everything went well. He should be in a room in the next 2 hours.

Earlier Start Than Expected

Tim went back to surgery around 7AM, because he didn't have to have an A-line or Epidural (not sure why you need it other than if they need to break ribs so guess its a good thing he didnt!).

Pre-Op went really smoothly, he was pretty anxious at first but his anesthesiologist, Rocky, came by and was awesome which really calmed him down. Dr. Stephenson also came by and gave orders for them to use his port rather than a normal IV which Tim was also really happy about. They've said the surgery should last about an hour so he should be done around 9 and we will hopefully be headed to his room around 11.

It's Early

So it's about 5AM, we've been up for an hour already & we're on our way to the hospital for Tim's surgery which should begin around 8. I'll update the blog periodically today to keep everyone informed so just be sure to keep visiting the site. That's about all I've got, my brain isn't really functioning yet. :)

Golf Tournament and Whats Next

I guess last time we wrote on here was to talk about the Dragon Boat Race. We had a great time and won both of our heats by a long shot but barely missed the cut for the finals. Hopefully its something we can do again next year.

I cannot say thank you enough to everyone for their help and support with the golf tournament.  We all had a great time and helped me raise money for something that I am very passionate about.  We are still waiting to pay a couple of expenses and then we will have the final number to post.  I am hoping that we will exceed our goal for this year. 

For those that werent able to make it out to Greenville Country Club last Monday you missed a great time and I will take just a few minutes to talk a little bit about it.  We had 37 teams that played and there were a few holes that got backed up but that is to be expected when you have that many teams.  At dinner we exceeded the 400 person count.  Dr. Edenfield and Jim Kaltenbach did a great job explaining where the money that we raised was going to.  I didnt think that I would be a part of Dr. Edenfield's study this soon but I am and I am extremely happy that people are helping out.

Like I said I am already going into Dr. Edenfield's study and that is taking place on Thursday.  I will be heading over to Greenville Memorial at 5:30 am for my 8:00 surgery.  Dr. James Stephenson is going to be the doctor taking the biopsy.  I dont know how long the surgery will last but they are going in and taking a small sample of one of the spots on my lung and I'll be in the hospital until at least Saturday, possibly Sunday.  It's a pretty straight forward surgery but because its on my lung I'll have to have a chest tube for a few days. They will then take that sample and test it against every type of chemo out there to see which best fits me.  This process will take about 2 weeks to complete before I get the results back. We will go up to Chapel Hill to meet with my other oncologist Dr. Bert O'Neill after the results are back and should know what we're going to do next within about 3 weeks.

If you think about it please send prayers & good thoughts our way over the next few days for a smooth surgery & recovery & again over the next few weeks. We're really hoping that this might be what we need to get rid of this thing once & for all.

Thanks,
Tim