Cool Things

Second to the last chemo cycle, and once again I find the time update. Things are going great... only one more to go!!! But instead of blog about that (I do that all the time) I decided to blog about fun things that have been happening to us.

You'll never guess what we saw today. We got here (the infusion room at the Huntsman) this morning and sat down in our normal spots waiting for the normal day to start. Then I spot a policeman out of the corner of my eye. There is a somewhat private room where some patients can go to get treatment if they are especially sick or something that prevents them from being in the big room with everyone else. Dan and I immediately noticed that the police was just sitting in the doorway. I thought that maybe his mom was sick, but Dan knew right away. Then I saw another policeman and they looked like they were on duty! I read their badge... "Department of corrections".... that's right, they were harboring a fugitive!!!
Okay, not that cool, but they WERE escorting a convict. So cool. We watched them walk out, he was wearing white jail garb with a big number stamped on it and had his hands cuffed around his waist. Hey, even people paying their debt to society can get cancer. Anyone can :) Anyway, I hope that's not one of those things that you had to be there to think was cool. It was just out of the ordinary.

Another exciting happening in our life is we bought tickets to...
AH! I'm so excited I can barely stand it. We have been talking about a vacation ever since Dan was diagnosed 14 months ago, and it's actually happening! Dan and I are notorious for having big plans and dreaming, but this one is actually happening. We're lucky to have our friends the Monahans and Magelssens to visit... it's going to be great. It will be the perfect way to celebrate a new, HEALTHY chapter in our life.

Dan's doctors gave us some GREAT news. The last scans showed that the spots on his lungs are stable. That's really great news, and probably means they are dead. We're so blessed. We have seen so many miracles. I know that we are being taken care of.

I'm trying to be better at updating this thing. Everyone else keeps current with theirs and I love it, so I'll try harder.
Aloha

The Red Devil.. and a few thoughts on Chemotherapy

It's the last day of Dan's second treatment and things are going well. We're hoping for the same quick recovery that happened last time. We are grateful, however, that the infusion has gone better this time around. I never chronicled the story last time, so I will now.

The treatment consists of three days in the outpatient infusion room -- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The first day he gets doxil and cisplatin. They call doxil the "Red Devil". That's comforting. The actual drug is a bright red Kool-Aid color. You can actually watch it run along the IV line, and into Dan. The first time he got this (about three weeks ago), the minute it hit his body his whole chest tightened up and he couldn't breathe. Luckily, the nurse was right there, she yelled at all the other nurses to come and everyone rushed Dan. It was probably the most scared Dan and I have ever been. He just kept looking at me mouthing the words "I'm okay, don't worry". But it was too late. He couldn't talk... he couldn't breathe, I was worried. They stopped the IV from running, put an oxygen mask on him and after a about 1 long minute, things were fine.

The nurses all assured us that this sometimes happens and that it was just an allergic reaction. They loaded him up on Benadryl and diluted the drug and then it went a lot better. The other drug, cisplatin is the one that makes him so sick. In case you're wondering, it is platinum... So swallow your wedding ring and maybe we'll be able to know how Dan feels :) The good news is since this dose is a lot lower than we are used to, it only takes about three days after treatment for Dan to start feeling well again. Then there's about two weeks where he feels normal. He's going to school and he even worked a little bit last week!

Dan is also taking a chemotherapy pill for the first five days of the cycle. I had no idea you could take a pill! Wow! A couple nights ago I realized that the bottle says to use gloves when handling the pill. I mentioned this to Dan and his response was, "And you want me to SWALLOW it?!" Haha, I thought that was pretty funny.

Overall, this chemotherapy is MUCH easier and we are grateful for that. Dan is still sick, but it's bearable. We appreciate your well-wishes and prayers. We are amazed at the support we still feel. It's been over a year and our family and friends haven't skipped a beat when it comes to supporting us. We love you guys. We are so blessed.

Overwhelmed...

Not overwhelmed with life, just overwhelmed with this blog posting. It's been so long and I have so much!

Let me start with my Mr. Fix-It. Our DVD player stopped working. I was grabbing my keys, getting ready to buy another one, when I found this...
Dan had opened up the DVD player and was attempting to fix it! I love this about him. I sat there quietly, not wanting to disturb. Finally, he got out the hammer and it was time to get an all new DVD player. Thanks for trying Dan!!

Later that night, we tried making a gingerbread house! It turned out pretty good I think. See for yourself...
And finally, Christmas.
We spend Christmas Eve and Day with my whole family. It was SO MUCH fun!!! There were ten kids under the age of 7. I love it. This was Dan's first Christmas with kids since he was a kid. I really think he liked it. Here we are staying up that night getting ready for the morning festivities...
Christmas morning was amazing. It was madness. I love being with my family. These Christmas memories are the ones I will always hold on to. I love you guys.

Then we were on to Kansas. We loved being there. Dan's "Papa" is very sick and it was a perfect time for us to be there with family.
We love you Grammy and Papa. It was a nice, relaxing trip that got us ready to start school again. Oh, and if you are ever in Salina, Kansas you MUST stop at Serious BBQ. It's amazing.

Happy 2009 everyone! I need some New Years Resolutions, so let me know if you have any good ideas!

A Surprising Plot Twist

It seems we have jumped the gun a little bit.

I'd like to think that Dan and I always try to look for the positive and hope for the best. This is how we have tried to view the past year. After Dan's last lung surgery we hoped for the best and assumed it would be the last treatment and he would be in remission, just like our doctors predicted. The bad part about always looking to the bright side is that sometimes it doesn't go that way.

Before his right lung surgery we were told that because of how well the tumors in his left lung had responded to the chemotherapy, then we could almost be guaranteed that the right lung would look the same. This would mean Dan would be DONE with treatment! That is why we were so excited! However, the right lung tumors did not look good. A good portion of them were still alive when they took them out.

Dr. Randall said that because of how alive they still were, there is about a 75% chance that they will come back. If Dan does more chemo, then the chances would possibly drop down to 25-50%. Daniel and I are never really concerned with statistics and percentages, however, in this circumstance we were able to use those numbers to guide us in a decision. We decided that Dan needs to do more chemotherapy. It was almost a no-brainer.

He will start at the beginning of next year, so that we can enjoy the Christmas holiday and our New Year's trip to Kansas. The good news is that this chemotherapy will be much less intense than what he has done before. It is outpatient, meaning we won't have to stay overnight in the hospital. He is getting the same drugs, but just a lower dose. We are still enrolled in classes and hope to both be able to go to school. Isn't that great?!

But don't worry... because we're not worried. Dan and I know the end result... it's just getting there that is keeping us guessing. We're doing great. Especially Dan. He is so strong and everyday I see that he is preparing himself both mentally and physically for this next challenge. I wish he didn't have to do this, but it is neat watching him make this switch in his mind... and as he would say: "It's go time".

I hope you are all loving Christmas decorations as much as I am. It's nice to see that everyone is finally catching up to what I started over a month ago :) Thank you for your love and prayers. I promise that they are what's keeping us going. Life is good.

I love anniversaries! I love them so much I have figured out how to have two. We were married last year on November 20th, two days before Thanksgiving. So, we will celebrate (well, as soon as I convince Daniel) on November 20th AND the Tuesday before Thanksgiving! It's perfect. Can you believe we have been married for over a year now? Wow!! To celebrate, Daniel surprised me with a room at the Marriott (thanks Nancy!) and a NICE dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Those of you who know me know that I LOVE food, and this food was beyond words. You are all just going to have to go there. I'm seriously in love with it.
Do you know what the best part was? Every time the waiters came to bring food, fill up the water, etc... they would say "More water, Mrs. Hedlund?" Ahh! I had never been to a restaurant fancy enough where they all know your name! It was so fun.
We also tried our cake. Big mistake. It was crunchy, it wasn't crunchy a year ago... enough said.
So, in light of the Thanksgiving holiday and our anniversary I would like to name a few things that I am grateful for about this past year:

• Getting married to the most wonderful person that I could have ever imagined. When we got married, I had no idea the depth of his character and how it would be tested this past year. I was pleasantly surprised and feel lucky he's my husband.

• I'm grateful for our experience with great doctors. We have the chance to rub shoulders and be treated by brilliant doctors who are among the best in their field. How grateful I am for people who have dedicated their life to study Sarcoma for the sole reason of saving Daniel's life and others like him.
• A family who has been overwhelmingly supportive. Both sides, in their own ways, have never backed down in the love and support. It is one of the few things this past year that has been constant and we are grateful. Our extended family has been especially wonderful. Thank you!
  

• Our cute apartment! I love having my own little (and I mean little :) house to come home to. Dan and I both sigh with relief as we walk through the doors. It means we're home. The best feeling was to come home after a long stay in the hospital.
• The knowledge we have that our Heavenly Father is in charge of everything. It's comforting to know that no matter what happens, He is very aware of our circumstance and will send us the help we need. We're grateful for all the help He has sent us this year.
  
• As weird as it sounds, we really are grateful for work and school. There was a period of time where we didn't have jobs or school and it just made us appreciate them even more. We appreciate accomplishing something and heading towards a goal. Dan and I both love our jobs right now. Dan's still at the MTC and I'm an aide at the health center.
  

Hope you all are enjoying your leftovers from Thanksgiving! I know we are!

Okay, I can't hold it in anymore... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

So, my husband might not approve of this, but I can't hold it in anymore. I'm ready for Christmas! My house has been decorated for a week and now I have decided to decorate my blog. It's just too exciting.

I blame this on my mom. Christmas was such a happy time growing up. She made everything so special and every inch of our house was covered in pine trees and garland. Three weeks is just not enough time to do all of the celebrating that I want to do! So we will now start celebrating!!

This is kind of a random posting, but I just wanted to post a few pictures. Sorry these are so outdated. Enjoy!

This is Dan and I with our pumpkins we carved at Jim and Bekah's. It was so fun!

And this is Dan and I at a Jason Mraz concert. I know it sounds like we're obsessed about him... well, actually, I think we might be.

and finally, this is a picture of some of Dan's visitors

Thank you so much for all of you who came to visit in the hospital. I can't tell you how much it helps Dan... and me too! It breaks up the time in the hospital and gives us lots of reasons to smile. We love you!
Thanks to all those who sent us cards and who had us in your thoughts. You'll never know how much you bless our life.

Life is wonderful, life goes full circle...

That title is from a song by Jason Mraz (he is our favorite!). He's one of those artists that just put you in a good mood when you listen to him. On the way to the hospital this morning at 5:30 am, Dan and I were blasting this song and singing along. Sometimes we all need to remind ourselves that life really is wonderful. Parts of life might not always be wonderful, but at the end of the day we're alive, we have wonderful friends and family, and we're being watched from above.

Anyways.....

I would just like to take this opportunity to announce to everyone that my husband is CANCER FREE! Well... the scans in 6 weeks will verify my hypothesis, but as far as we're concerned today, he is cancer free.
Dr. Karwande took out 25 nodules from Daniel's right lung today. The surgery was a complete success and Daniel's strong body is recovering beautifully. This surgery was very short. Dan was in there from about 8:45 am to noon. The short amount of time it took was a very wonderful surprise for us in the waiting room. Dan woke up and was quickly made very comfortable. We had a surprisingly pleasant and fun afternoon joking around with everyone there (both sets of wonderful parents, Lauren and Jim).
All of a sudden, Dan started to have a sharp pain on the top of his shoulder. What an odd place for a pain! The anesthesiologist thought that maybe the source was the chest tubes they put in his lungs to drain out all of the fluid. He said they might be rubbing up against the top of his lung and creating some pain. Those will come out soon, but in the meantime, they gave him some morphine to supplement the epidural. The pain disappeared after a nap and Dan has been great ever since. He has just been very tired.
Right now he is peacefully sleeping... and given the circumstances, life couldn't be better.

I just want to thank you all for your prayers on our behalf. I wish I could come hug and kiss each one of you. I sincerely give all my thanks for your prayers. Because of you, Heavenly Father has poured out His blessings for us today. We love you all. Please keep the prayers coming, as we find out the pathology of those nodules in a couple days. This will tell us how much of those nodules were dead cancer cells. We are looking for a very high percentage!
We truly are being blessed, there's no other way to explain it.

P.S. - We're at Timpanogos Regional in Orem. Daniel LOVES visitors... hint hint :)