September 21, 2007

2 Weeks Down, 4 To Go!

Hi Everybody,

Sorry it’s been a while since my last update – there just aren’t enough hours in the day (or energy cells in my body)! By the time I get to a point in the day where I could sit down and write a letter (usually late at night) I’m just too exhausted to think and type at the same time. Anyway, thanks for being patient and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Evan had his 10th radiation treatment yesterday (Wednesday). So that’s 2 weeks down and 4 weeks to go. Honestly, at the moment, that sounds like an eternity to both of us. Maybe next week it will feel a little better – then he can say he’s half way done (with radiation anyway).

The combination of radiation and chemo is starting to take its toll on Evan. However, we’ve been told it could get a lot worse, so we’re trying to be grateful for all the problems he hasn’t had yet. He hasn’t started losing his hair yet. He hasn’t had problems with nausea. His throat, mouth, & taste buds have only been slightly affected. His skin hasn’t felt burned or irritated. And his speech and short-term memory has actually improved (I’m especially grateful for that!).

What he does feel is tired, weak, and his muscles (especially his arms and legs) just ache a lot. He basically feels like he has a bad case of the flu right now (minus the runny nose).

The weakness and fatigue are caused by the chemo & radiation, but the muscle aches are actually caused by the anti-inflammatory/steroid he’s taking, called Decadron. He’s been taking a higher dose of the Decadron ever since the biopsy, to reduce the swelling in his brain. Unfortunately, it comes with lots of nasty side-effects including significant damage to muscle tissue. So, they’ve been gradually reducing his dose over the last two weeks because of the damage it can cause. However, as they lower the dose he may start having problems with speech and short-term memory loss again. So, it’s a catch 22 – we can’t live with it and we can’t live without it.

In addition to the Decadron, Evan has about 5 other medications he takes to minimize the side-effects of the chemo medication. Antibiotics, anti-nausea pills, stuff to fight the “thrush” or yeast infections in his mouth and throat, etc. It’s really crazy to see all the stuff he has to take. He has the mother of all pill boxes, I can tell you that. One cute thing about it though – Lindsay announced last week that from now on she wanted to be Daddy’s “Medicine Girl,” as she calls it. So, four times a day (if she’s home) she takes Evan his water glass and pills. She is very proud of this responsibility. It’s just about the cutest thing ever! I wonder if we have a future nurse on our hands.

I wanted to tell you about several other little “silver-lining” events, like that, that have happened over the last couple weeks also.

Yesterday we received a thick envelope from our darling niece, Emma. Emma is the youngest daughter of Evan’s sister, Joy, and her husband Tim. They live in North Carolina. A few weeks ago at school, Emma told her teacher that she was worried about her Uncle Evan and explained the situation. Well, Emma’s sweet teacher decided to have all the children in Emma’s class make get-well cards for Evan. We had the most wonderful time opening and reading those cards yesterday. We just all sat around looking at them, saying “look at this one, look at this one.” They were absolutely delightful. We’re going to make a special scrapbook of all those cards. Thank you so much Emma!!!!!

Evan’s co-workers at BYU brought him a very cool “get-well-bear” from the Build-A-Bear Workshop. It was delivered by Evan’s wonderful boss and his sweet wife. It arrived wearing a BYU Cougars T-shirt, blue jeans, some very snazzy tennis shoes, and the coolest pair of sunglasses you’ve ever seen. It also came equipped with a little bear-sized football, of course! That has become a highly coveted item in our house. Even though it still belongs to Evan, Evan has graciously agreed to let the kids take turns having it sit in their bedrooms from day to day. Thanks to our friends in Financial Services at BYU – and especially those who have taken on extra work assignments to cover Evan’s responsibilities there. We just can’t thank you enough!

Our dear friend and neighbor organized a small army of men from our ward to take turns driving Evan to radiation twice a week for me. It has been such a blessing I can’t begin to express my gratitude. Not only has it eased the burden for me of driving time and gasoline expense, it has been the best thing ever for Evan. It’s been so good for him to have some interaction with other people, especially other men. It’s been so good! I think one of the hardest things for him has been not going to work and not having that interaction with co-workers, and other people in general, that was such a huge part of his life before. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you guys!

We have received so many other acts of kindness I can’t begin to list them all – phone calls, e-mails, visits, bread, babysitting, dinners, get well cards, gift certificates, lunches and movies with friends, and on and on. We have been so touched by the out-pouring of love and support. Thank you to each and every one of you! Also, a special thank you to my Mom. She has been here for two weeks already, and is planning to stay for another two or three. She’s going to need a serious vacation after this. Thanks Mom!!!

Well, hopefully that caught you up to speed a little bit. We send you all our love and gratitude!

Love,
Margot