tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19213531059305872992024-03-13T10:53:25.736-07:00kelly and brentThe Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-57180573940612616942009-06-28T21:29:00.000-07:002009-06-30T22:16:10.226-07:00Update on the leg and chemoBrent's pathology reports came back!! Drum roll please..... all the margins are clear. That means the doctors cut far enough from the edges of the cancer to get all of it without leaving any behind. AND... the cancer was 90% dead!!! Dr. Beinart was shooting for 99% but this is still a a great result. Since there was still 10% alive (even though technically it is really all gone since they took the leg), Brent is continuing with the chemo. He will have 4 in-patient treatments every 3 weeks lasting about 5 days that will consist of getting 7 doses of Ifex and then 4 rounds of out-patient treatments of a completely different chemo med. Our friend Britne who just finished her chemo says the out-patients are a piece of cake. We are hoping that all the chemo will be done around November!!<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/3669102141.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/3669102141.jpg" border="0" /></a>Britt finished chemo on June 12th!!!! Her END-OF-CHEMO party at Dr. B's office.<br /><br />Brent's leg(residual limb) is healing very well. He had about half of the stitches taken out at the end of May and the rest 2 weeks later in June (about 20 stitches all together). There is a place located where the back of his knee would be that is having some problems. The skin has folded in and is pretty deep. It isn't painful and doesn't cause him any problems, but the doctors are worried about it from a hygeniene point. In July, Brent will go see a plastic surgeon for a consult to see what can be done about it. Most likely, they will wait until all the chemo is finished to fix it. The swelling has gone down very quickly. Brent was given a compression sock after the surgery that is very tight and worn on the limb to help reduce swelling. He recently had to get a smaller sock since the swelling had decreased so much. Mentally, he's been doing pretty well. He has his good and bad days, but who can blame him. He's slowly becoming more use to it. Also, the phantom sensations were pretty bad the first month. Nuerontin was prescribed for it, but didn't really help alot.<br /><br />Brent's swimming!!!<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0348.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 260px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0348.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0352.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 260px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0352.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Brent started his first round of post-op chemo on June 5th. He was in the hospital from Friday to Wednesday. Everything went as planned. The two biggest complaints were A. he got a dose of steroids at 9 p.m. so he was up all night. I was miserable and not to mention, very cranky. and B. everytime he stood up, he got the hiccups, which can also be an effect of the steroids. Brent felt pretty good the rest of the week, but on Sunday he got the dreaded fever. I was very resistant in calling the doctor. He had been feeling so well and had a good amount of energy so I assumed his counts had just dropped a little and thought we could ride it out. Well good thing Brent called on his own. The doctor on call sent us to the emergency room to be admitted immediately. The bloodwork results showed that he was nuetropenic to say the least. Brent was going to be staying at the hospital for a few days. After a few bags of blood and 2 units of platelets, his counts were high enough for us to go home. Also, Dr. Beinart prescribed Lyrica for the phantom sensations and it has helped alot!<br /><br />The hair is falling out again. This time we decided to take a different approach.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0359.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0359.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0360.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0360.jpg" border="0" /></a>Yes... that is duck tape.<br /><br />In between the first post-op round and the next, Brent got casted for his prosthesis!!!! We are so excited for him to get a leg!!! Can't wait. Brent hates his crutches. At the first appointment, they fit him with a liner and took a few measurements. He will wear this liner inside his socket. The liner is made of silicone and has "ribs" on the outside. These ribs help create a vacuum/suction inside the socket to hold the prosthesis to the limb.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0361.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0361.jpg" border="0" /></a> We call the liner, the Space Suit. The white area is the ribs.<br />Next, they did the casting. The mold was made out of plaster and the whole process was very interesting.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0364.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0364.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />A few days later, we had a test run. Brent was fitted into the test socket, and more measurements were taken. They are going to make a few adjustments and then we will go back for another test run.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0367.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0367.jpg" border="0" /></a>It's a bit hard to see the socket because it is clear. It's over the space suit. That's Scott Spring, Brent's prothetist, on the side. He is really good at what he does and seems to really care about his patients. We think he is awesome!<br /><br />Once the socket is ready, Scott will make all the arrangements for the components of the leg to come in, and piece them together. Hopefully it will only take a few more weeks!!<br /><br />Brent is finishing up round 2 of post-op chemo right now. He started Friday, June 26 and hasn't complained too much. Dr. Beinart lowered the dose because Brent's counts dropped so low last time, so we are in here for 1 less day!! He has been sleeping alot this round, and thankfully not keeping me up all night. Still getting the hiccups.<br />I'm getting pretty burnt out on the hospital stays lately. I have actually snuck away quite a bit this round! Went to Cafe Adobe with my mom and stepdad on Saturday.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0368.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0368.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0371.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0371.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-49612179272346632742009-06-08T16:49:00.001-07:002009-06-28T21:27:35.149-07:00more...<strong>Mini Vacation<br /></strong>Before Brent's surgery, Mandy and Nick flew down and the whole family got to go to New Braunfels. We had so much fun!!<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_00312.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 475px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_00312.jpg" border="0" /></a>Eric and Nick with the Potato Gun<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/DSCN1443.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 475px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/DSCN1443.jpg" border="0" /></a>Paul getting the tubes ready to float the river<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/DSCN1446.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/DSCN1446.jpg" border="0" /></a>All of us at the Grist Mill-YUM!!<br /><br />After a few days in New Braunfels, we decided to drive up to Grandma and Grandpa Cassell's in Marble Falls to visit and play golf.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/DSCN1452.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/DSCN1452.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/DSCN1448.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/DSCN1448.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Brent had surgery </strong><br />Well I know this update is late, and mostly everyone already knows Brent had his surgery but I still needed to post about it. Brent's surgery was on Friday, May 8th. He was originally scheduled to come in at 7 am for surgery at 9 am but when Brent called on Thursday to confirm, they told him it was moved to 3 pm and we needed to be there by 1 p.m. So Friday morning we slept in, and were slowing gathering our things, when the hospital called and said the time was wrong and we had to come right away (which was around 10:30 am). Talk about stress overload! Brent wasn't mentally prepared to be going in so early. We loaded everything up, said our goodbyes and headed out.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0236.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0236.jpg" border="0" /></a>Saying goodbye :(<br /><br />It was a really hard day. On the way, Brent had a few breakdowns. How can you be willing to tell someone to cut off your leg? When we got to the hospital, Brent was taken back to the pre-op area and I wasn't allowed to come, but once the nurse saw the heartache Brent was going through, she snuck me in. After a few more breakdowns, Brent was taken back so that he could have two nerve blocks put in his leg, one in the back nerve (sciatic) and one in the front (femoral). This was done for pain management after the surgery. Once they were done with this, they took him up to surgery and then a few hours later, he was done! Dr. Marco and Dr. Jones said he did very well in surgery. When he started waking up, the nurse came and got me. He kept asking if it was really gone. New part of our life-Phantom Sensations. Brent could still feel his leg.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0080.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0080.jpg" border="0" /></a>It was a LONG day!<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0077.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0077.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Besides all that happened that day, we actually had a FUN time at the hospital. We had quite a few visitors and we're almost kicked out for being too loud. Nick brought the Wii up and we had a blast.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0240.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0240.jpg" border="0" /></a>My mom playing soccer.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0244.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 475px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0244.jpg" border="0" /></a>David hula hooping.<br /><br /><strong>Bridget’s Wedding </strong><br />One of my most wonderful friends from high school, Bridget got married on May 16th. I am so happy for her! She was a beautiful bride and her wedding was gorgeous!<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/4596_587947287015_25404774_35753409.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 504px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 301px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/4596_587947287015_25404774_35753409.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/4596_587947356875_25404774_35753423.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 504px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 302px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/4596_587947356875_25404774_35753423.jpg" border="0" /></a>The New Mr. and Mrs. Derek Dupree!!<br /><br /><strong>Ivy's Bday</strong><br />Ivy (my cousin) turned 7 this year! She’s getting so big!!<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/ivysbday.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/ivysbday.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Whit went to her last Prom</strong><br />Isn't she GORGEOUS?<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_01622.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 375px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_01622.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Memorial Weekend </strong><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/memorialweekend.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 370px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/memorialweekend.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Graduations </strong><br />Do we have a doctor in the house? Why YES we do! Laura graduated from med school at UT Southwestern Thursday, June 4th. She will be starting her residency at UT Southwestern in anesthesiology in July.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_02322.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_02322.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Whitney graduated from Clements high school June 5th (the day after Laura's...it was a long night). She headed up to Utah Valley University last week.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0179.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 375px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0179.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0344.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 475px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0344.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0345.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0345.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Baby Fever</strong><br />We (well not us but our friends) have a few new additions!!<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/n625529074_1347640_68491.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 404px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/n625529074_1347640_68491.jpg" border="0" /></a> Rylan Patrick Simmons was born on January 25th to our fun friends Jennika and Brodie<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_10291.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_10291.jpg" border="0" /></a> Laci May Nielsen was born on April 21 to proud parents Rob and Jessica<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0310.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0310.jpg" border="0" /></a> My amazing sister gave birth to Colton Mathew Locke on June 2 with help from her wonderful fiance Jimmy.<br /><br />AND, drum roll please.... Laura is due in November with a boy!!!!The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-20535457722794749982009-06-04T10:18:00.000-07:002009-06-11T23:39:00.996-07:00Since we’ve been gone….A lot has happened since we posted last, so lets get everyone up to speed.<br /><br /><strong>Round 4: February 20-24</strong><br />Everything went well except he got a fever.... again. Had to go back into the hospital March 4th for a blood transfusion.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0125.jpg"></a><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 480px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0125.jpg" border="0" /><br />Check out Brent's nails.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0161.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 480px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0161.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo</strong><br />This year I got to go to the Cookoff with my friend Jessica Johnson.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/cookoff.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 550px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/cookoff.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I also went to see Clay Walker with her.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0127.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 480px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0127.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Laura came to town and we (including Brent!!) went to see Brad Paisley the night before his 5th round started.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/brad.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 550px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/brad.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p><br /><strong>Round 5: March 13-17<br /></strong>We’ve been so blessed to have Laura around so much lately. She kept us all entertained up at the hospital. Brent was assigned a double room but they didn’t put anyone else in there, so we had tons of room….and I got my own bed!!<br /></p><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0157.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0157.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0158.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0158.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0160.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0160.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><strong>New Friends<br /></strong><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0163.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0163.jpg" border="0" /></a> This is our new friend Brittne. Brittne is 20 years old, has Ewing’s Sarcoma and was in the hospital at the same time as Brent. Her doctors are Dr. Marco and Dr. Beinart also. Last November, Brittne had a very large tumor removed from her spine and had 3 vertebrae replaced. She will be finishing up the rest of her outpatient treatments in the middle of June or July. Her last scans showed NED (No Evidence of Disease). A BIG Congratulations goes out to her!!<br /><br />We have another new friend. Chris is around the same age as Brent and was in the hospital most days that Brent was there. Chris is fighting through his 5th type of cancer. He’s a fighter and will get through this. He is finishing up the last of his treatments this month.<br /><br />Please pray for our new friends as they continue on their journeys!!<br /><br /><strong>Tea Party April 15 </strong><br />My mom and I were on a Tea Party committee! It was so much fun and really awesome to feel like you re a part of something. Aunt Pammy-How did we miss you?<strong><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/teaparty.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 454px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 600px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/teaparty.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_01832.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 550px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_01832.jpg" border="0" /></a> </strong>My cousin is Miss Rodeo Austin and she spoke at the Tea Party. Isn’t she gorgeous?? Boys back off-she’s only 16. Courtney will be competing for Miss Rodeo Texas later this month.<br /><br /><strong>Rockets Game<br /></strong>We went to the 5th game of the first round of the playoffs for the rockets. It was so much fun and the rockets won!! Too bad they couldn’t beat the Lakers! Maybe next year.<br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/rockets.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 450px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 280px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/rockets.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-75423100687531995272009-03-21T17:35:00.000-07:002009-03-21T19:42:42.270-07:00Big Decisions AheadBrent is doing very well. He had his fourth treatment from February 20-24. On the 20th, he had an MRI to see the change in the tumor. His doc said that the tumor has shrank quite a bit; probably from the size of a small orange to a key lime. The one area of concern is that the cancer affected part of the tibia and part of the fibula, and the tissue where the tumor was is now dead. The nerve/foot drop is also a problem. So there are only 2 options for Brent’s surgery. <br /><br />A.) A total knee replacement including taking out part of the tibia and fibula with a skin graph from his upper thigh, and a nerve graph from his other leg for the foot drop.<br /><br />B.) Above-the-knee amputation.<br /><br />I think that the amputation is the most logical choice and probably the choice Brent will go with. With the amputation, the chance of the cancer coming back in the same area is 5% compared to the knee replacement which is 15%. This is a HUGE difference when it comes to cancer. Also, with the knee replacement he will have scars all around his knee, then on his thigh where they do the skin graph, and also where they take the one nerve out and then another where they put it in. As for the foot drop, the nerve graph only has a 10% chance of working, so Brent would be more functional with a prosthetic. We went to the prosthetic company and looked at what they have to offer. It was funny because Brent actually thought it was cool looking at the different types of knees and legs. Of course his engineering side came out and he wanted to know everything about them. I think we are going to talk to the surgeon one last time to make sure we have all the facts straight.The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-13595809086358837592009-03-15T23:20:00.000-07:002009-03-15T23:30:59.072-07:00Third Times a Charm!Treatment #3: January 30-February 3<br />I LOVE Brent’s doctor!! Since round 2 was so horrible, he lowered the doses for the chemo meds. It has made a HUGE difference. We had little scare a week after his treatment when the doctor called and said he thought Brent’s counts were too low and that he might need another blood transfusion. So we headed back to the hospital to have more blood drawn to see where his counts were. Luckily, it turned out that they had gone up so we got to go home without a blood transfusion. Brent has had so much more energy; he even took me to Cheesecake Factory on the Thursday before Valentine’s Day… DELICIOUS!! Our lives felt a bit normal for a whole evening. Laura and Erik came into town for Valentine’s weekend. We love having them here and wish we could see them more. We all goofed off shooting BB guns Saturday and then had a “romantic” Valentine’s dinner at Sweet Mesquite. The week before Brent went in for his 4th treatment, he was able to go to work for a few hours each day and was doing really well. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0092.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 300px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0092.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Laura and Erik got a new puppy. His name is Hurley and he is ADORABLE! Natalie and Robby loved playing with him.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0094.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0094.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0098.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0098.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-74150432736994641902009-03-15T22:42:00.000-07:002009-03-15T23:29:39.216-07:00The Other CancerIn the midst of Brent's terrible #2 treatment, I had minor surgery (well...I wouldn’t call it surgery) to remove more abnormal moles. I had three spots cut out of my left foot. Luckily, the reports came back as abnormal and not melanoma again. The best part about it was that I was awake during the procedure. The dr was going to sedate me, but I forgot I wasn’t supposed to eat after midnight the night before. I woke up that morning, started eating my toast and halfway through it, I remembered. Brent started yelling at me “Spit it out, Spit it out!” At the hospital, I was referred to as “the girl who ate toast”; they didn’t know what to do with me. After quite a bit of embarrassment, the anesthesiologist decided they would just numb my leg. It was so neat being awake during the procedure because I got to talk to the nurses and dr the whole time and he let me sit up and watch part of it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0069.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0069.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0054.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0054.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The Pathetic PatientsThe Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-44234448093769390942009-03-07T15:40:00.001-08:002009-03-14T21:04:21.351-07:00Terrible TwoBrent’s second round started on Jan 9th. This round didn’t go as well as the last one. One problem was that we didn’t get to the hospital until around 2, so by the time they got Brent admitted and the meds were mixed it was around 10:00 at night. Another problem was that since Brent has so many different fluids being pumping into him, he has to go to the bathroom A LOT; so he decided that this round he wasn’t going to drink as much water. BIG MISTAKE!! The number one rule while going through chemo is to drink, drink, drink because it helps flush out all the meds, and he can start feeling well sooner. By Sunday, Brent was completely wiped out.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0037.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 350px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0037.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />the beginning<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0040.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />the end<br /><br />Tuesday he was released and got to come home, and we were greeted by this wonderful sign our friends' cute kids made. We love you guys!! Thank you to Robby, LuLu (Natalie), Mark, Elia,and Lauren (and Jess!!).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0044.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 375px; height: 250px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0044.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />That night Brent started getting nauseated. He threw up once in the middle of the night and again when we woke up the next morning (Wednesday). We headed to the hospital for his Neulasta shot and when we got to the hospital, he threw up again. The nurses called the doctor and 10 minutes later, Brent was readmitted. They decided they would keep him for a few hours to give him Zofran and Decadron for the nausea, and fluids since he wasn’t keeping anything down. He was released the same day and was feeling much better when we got home. Everything after that was going pretty well until the next Sunday (January 18th) when Brent got a fever. We called the dr. and were told to give him Tylenol to keep the fever down until the office was open in the morning. Monday we headed up to the Medical Center and Brent was admitted once again. Brent’s counts were extremely low. His white blood count was 0.18; normal is between 5-10. I don’t remember what his reds and platelets were, but they were really low too. The doctors tested him for all kinds of infection, but didn’t find any. This means that most likely his fever was just because his white counts were so low. They also gave him blood and platelet transfusions!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 300px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0057.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0058.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0058.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0060.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0060.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Platelets<br /><br />Brent felt so much better after all was done, and we had a nice last week before he went in for the next treatment.The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-64972319579804878102009-03-06T21:22:00.000-08:002009-03-14T20:54:04.769-07:00Fun with Family!New Years day we went to the Aquarium downtown with all of Brent's family to celebrated Grandma and Grandpa Cassell's 50th wedding anniversary. We are so happy for them!! Love you guys!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0025.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 375px; height: 250px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0025.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Giant sting ray<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0031.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 375px; height: 250px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0031.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />the Weaver kids<br /><br />After the holidays I got to spend some time with my grandparents so I have to post some pics of it. I love them so much and was so happy I got to spend time with them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/SANY0512.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 375px; height: 250px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/SANY0512.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Papa, Vicki & meThe Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-67835394430280646392009-02-01T19:16:00.000-08:002009-03-14T20:55:17.679-07:00Merry Christmas and A Happy New YOU!Despite all that is going on, we had a great Christmas. Brent had enough energy to get out of bed and open presents with everyone. <br /><br />I stole these pics of Christmas from Whit's facebook. <br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/christmas3.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 275px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/christmas3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Brent got this really cool book from Nick called Weird Texas. It has all kinds of Texas urban legends.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/christmas4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/christmas4.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Erik and Laura<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/christmas5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/christmas5.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Nick<br /><br />Christmas evening we played the Wii Fit board a bit and Brent was able to play for a bit with us.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 350px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0009.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 425px; height: 300px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0013.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />He even got the highest score!!<br /><br />.................................................................................................<br /><br />On the morning of New Year's Eve, Brent realized he was continuously losing quite a bit of hair, and decided this was the day for a NEW Brent. Aunt Kelly was coming in town this day so we had her take some family pictures of us before Brent lost his hair. That night, instead of partying like it was 1999, we said goodbye to the old Brent and welcomed the New Brent and the New Year.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0015.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0015.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Nick did a test to see how much hair would come out if he barely tugged at it. <br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0019.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0019.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Here we go!<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0016.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 450px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0016.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />BEFORE<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0021.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 450px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/IMG_0021.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />AFTERThe Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-4634380521998893372009-02-01T13:58:00.000-08:002009-03-14T21:00:23.647-07:00And it begins…So I know I am a bit behind on posts but here is some info about the first round of chemo.<br /><br />Round 1 started on Friday, December 19, 2008. The night before, we had Ken Barrow and Paul give Brent a blessing. Ken gave one of the best blessings I have ever heard. I loved it. On Friday, we arrived at the hospital around 3:30 p.m. and were placed in room 826. Brent's vitals were taken and we realized he had a fever of 101, so the doctor started him on Levaquin, an antibiotic. Since Brent had been in so much pain, he was also started on morphine which made him very groggy. After a few hours of waiting around, the chemo meds officially started around 10:00 p.m. It will typically take 3-5 hours after we have arrived for the chemo to be started, because his blood has to be taken to check his counts and also because they need time to make the meds once we get there.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/P6270212.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 250px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/P6270212.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Brent's lines coming out of his port.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/P6270214.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/P6270214.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Some scary stuff!<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/P6270211.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 500px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/P6270211.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />All the bags Brent was hooked up to.<br /><br />On Saturday, Brent was a bit tired for most of the day. I think this was mainly due to the morphine, BUT… after all these months, the pain finally went away. The doctor says this was either because the tumor was shrinking and not pressing on the nerve anymore, or because the nerve is damaged enough to not feel pain anymore. Either way, no more morphine or pain! This day Brent noticed a case of Drop Foot, probably also due to the nerve damage. He can’t lift his foot at all, it just hangs there. He was fitted for a brace that helps with this. The doctors are unsure if he will ever regain the ability to lift his foot. When he goes in for his surgery to remove the tumor, his doctor might also decide to do nerve reconstruction in which they would take part of a different nerve and piece it into the nerve in his leg, and hopefully it will regain function again.<br /><br />Sunday and Monday Brent started to look like a cancer patient. Very weak, pale in color, eyes slightly darker, speech is uncharacteristically slow and soft. Tuesday we got to bring him home. He seems to be getting sicker. Stays in bed except to go to the bathroom and then when he does, he would work to sit up, then rest, then work to stand up, then rest (with aid of crutches), then make his way to the toilet, then the same on the way back.<br /><br />Wednesday he had to go back to get a shot. The shot is called Neulasta and it is given to boast his white blood cells. Brent got really sick when they gave him the shot, but it was probably because he was nervous about getting it, and also because he was already so whipped out from the chemo.<br /><br />Days 6-7 - Very weak, but not getting sicker.<br />Days 8-12 - Gradually regaining some strength. Can walk with crutches short distances (40-50 yards), but is exhausted afterwards.<br />Day 13 - Hair has been slowly starting to fall out, so he buzzed it short.<br />Days 13-16 - Continuing to strengthen. Can walk without crutches short distances, but when tired he uses the crutches.<br />Days 17-20 - Able to go to work for a few hours a day, but is real tired at end of day. Uses crutches to conserve energy.<br /><br />According to his doctors, he is progressing as expected. After all is said<br />and done, they expect a full recovery from the cancer.<br /><br />Thank you to Paul for keeping track of all the progress Brent made over the days.<br /><br />These were a few thoughts from Paul (Brent’s dad):<br /><br />“We are all coping with this as best we can. We have occasional bad days, but remain optimistic. I think I am gaining an understanding of what others in my position have been through, and are going through. At times it feels like I'm living in a different dimension watching the rest of the world go by. Everything feels different, even though it looks the same. It's like when there's a partial eclipse of the sun, everything is just... eerie. And I'm not even the cancer patient, just a parent of one. My heart goes out to all who witness the suffering of a child.<br /><br />Well, life goes on, and we're going along with it. We will learn to adapt, and everything will be fine. Thank you so much for your love, prayers and support; it really does help ease the burden of dealing with this.”<br /><br />Thank you to all our wonderful friends and family who were able to come by and visit Brent. Mandy and Nick flew for the holidays on the 19th and came by over the weekend along with Whitney. Big Nick, Jennika, Brody, Chris and Desiree came by Sunday, but sadly Brent didn't remember much from that day. Ken Barrow and Rex Robinson also stopped by that day. Larry Alemany came by Monday. Also, thank you to Bill and Lynn Moore for sending us gorgeous flowers. Thank you to any others that I didn't mention. It's hard to remember anything from a month ago.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/P6290215.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 325px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/P6290215.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Our beautiful flowers from the Moores!The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-70137776323766778782009-01-12T22:05:00.000-08:002009-03-14T20:59:01.946-07:00Some info for inquiring mindsBrent’s oncologist is Dr. Garth Beinart. He is a great doctor who worked at MD Anderson before coming to Methodist. Brent’s orthopedic surgeons who found the tumor and who will be doing his surgery after the first 6 rounds of chemo are Dr. Rex Marco and Dr. Jerry Buchert. Jerry is Dr. Marco’s PA whom we love. He was the one who broke the news to us, and he was very professional yet personal about it. Dr. Marco specializes in tumors and is supposedly one of the best. He trained at MD Anderson also. We are very grateful for all our wonderful doctors who are helping Brent through this. We talked to many friends and doctors before making a final decision on Brent’s doctors and we are very happy with the choices we have made.<br /><br />The typical protocol for Ewing’s Sarcoma is called VAI. This stands for the 3 different chemotherapy drugs that are used: Vincristine, Doxorubicin(also known as Adriamycin) and Ifosfamide (also known as Ifex). The Vincristine is only given on Day 1 and only takes about 15-30 minutes to run. Vincristine is light sensitive and has no color. The Adriamycin runs constantly for 3 days straight. Adriamycin is light sensitive also, and is red in color. This medicine causes urine to become orange and can have long term effects on the heart. There is a lifetime max that a patient can receive of this drug because of the heart damage it can cause. Adriamycin can also burn the skin. Ifex is given once a day for 4 days. It runs for 2-3 hours each time. Ifex is not light sensitive and is colorless. This is the most potent drug that Brent is receiving. A medication called Mesna is given in addition to these drugs but is not a chemotherapy drug. Mesna is used to protect the bladder and kidneys from the effects of the Ifex. Brent will be at the hospital for 3-4 days each time. He will have 6 treatments then surgery and then 6 more treatments. The treatments will be 3 weeks apart, just enough time for him to start feeling well before he gets hit with the drugs again.The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-29299093303418669312009-01-11T10:43:00.000-08:002009-03-14T21:00:08.037-07:00A third nipple!I am definitely past due on updates, so there will be a few long posts over the next couple days.<br /><br />After we found out that Brent had cancer, we went through a few more days of testing, body scans, and consultations. On Thursday the 18th, he had a Power Port put in. The port is implanted into his chest and a catheter is feed into a major artery in the heart. The doctors do this because they don't want to constantly be poking him with needles and also because some chemo meds are so strong that if they went into a vein in his arm, it would deteriorate the vein. Feeding the meds through the artery helps dilute them before they hit the rest of the body.<br /><br />This is what the power port looks like:<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/portin.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 248px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 218px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/portin.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />To access the port, they use a thick needle that is inserted into the center of the port. At the end of the needle, there are feed lines that all the chemo medicines and fluids are hooked up to.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/portaccessed.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 238px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 111px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/portaccessed.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/portaccessedpic.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 174px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/portaccessedpic.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is basically what it looks like in the end when it is accessed.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/P6290217.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 250px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/P6290217.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When it's not accessed, it looks like a third nipple.<br /><br /><a href="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0017-Copy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/IMG_0017-Copy.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-90999972043370052402008-12-12T22:09:00.000-08:002009-03-14T21:02:59.669-07:00Drum Roll Please.....Well the results are in. Looks like Brent has Ewing's Sarcoma. Ewing's is a type of bone cancer that is typically found in male Caucasian teenagers. This bone tumor usually grows in the pelvis, ribs, femur, fibula, and/or tibia. It is highly invasive and metastases are common, especially in the lungs and skeleton; which is interesting to learn because when the doctors looked at Brent's CT scan they found a small spot in his lung. It hasn't been tested yet so we don't know if that spot is also malignant. The tumor is in the fibula, and also around the outside of the bone. It is about the size of a clementine. His orthopaedic surgeon told us that treatment would involve 4-6 months of chemo, then surgery to remove the mass after it has shrunk down, and then 4-6 more months of chemo. He will lose his hair and be sick quite a bit, so we aren't looking forward to that. We are going to meet with a few different oncologists next week to see what they say, and when he will start the chemo. We are grateful for all the love and support, and ask that you continue to keep him in your prayers as we start on this journey.The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1921353105930587299.post-61715002393219320492008-12-05T07:55:00.000-08:002009-03-14T21:02:01.412-07:00Don't drink the water!!This is our first post!! We have officially given in to the blog world. Please remember that it is a work in progress and I haven't learned how to do everything yet.<br /><br />Apparently there must be something in our water. I think we have been dubbed the world's youngest couple with cancer. Our first cancer encounter was back in July when I received a call at 7:00 in the morning and was told to come to the dr's office and bring my husband. When they tell you to bring your husband, it's probably something serious. Turns out I had skin cancer, and needed surgery from it. Everything worked out fine and I was left with a pretty big scar. When I went back in November, they found 2 more cancerous moles that need to be surgically removed. So in January I will have 2 seperate surgeries to take care of that. Now on to Brent, who is the main concern. Eight months ago, his leg started bothering him when he would go running or play any sports. Just recently the pain has escalated. He can't sleep most nights and lately has not been able to sit for long periods of time. In the last few weeks his leg has gotten really swollen.<br /><br /><a href="http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/?action=view¤t=P6130210-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i314/tx0719/brent2008/P6130210-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><br />It's the leg on the left, and it's swollen on the outside under the knee. One good thing is that his right leg now looks muscular.<br /><br />So he went to a sports medicine doctor and did physical therapy, with no relief. After that, we thought it was a nerve problem so he went to the nuerologist. To make things short, we finally found some great doctors who did an MRI and found a good size mass in his leg and some abnormalities in his bone. From looking at the MRI, the doctors believe it is cancerous. At the moment, we are waiting on an opening for a biopsy. They also did a CT scan and found another spot in his lung but that one doesn't look cancerous. There is a chance that when they do the biopsy, it may come back as benign, but we are trying to be prepared for anything and everything. Either way, the mass must come out and his nerve will probably be worthless after all this. The drs say he won't be able to do much physical activity after all is said and done.. which if you know Brent, is heart breaking since he loves exercising and playing sports *not that you could tell by his LARGE muscles :) * We are trying to stay optimistic at the moment and hope for the best. I am not writing this to get anyone's pity or sympathy, Brent would just like everyone to know in hopes that you would pray for him. We are so grateful for the love and support from all of our friends and family. We love you all!! I will try to keep the blog updated with anything we find out.<br /><br />PS...we are all fasting for him on Sunday if anyone wants to add him to their list.The Weavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15191670183960134565noreply@blogger.com12