The C-Word

Well, it's been an interesting summer with lots of changes around here. Jon started to not feel great when we were at Sunriver...about mid June. It didn't seem like a big deal, but continued on through our vacation in Utah and when we got home. He had some strange digestive symptoms...lots of burps, upset stomach, sometimes feeling like vomiting, but never actually doing it, headache, loss of appetite. Some days better than others. Finally after we were home, I made him an appointment to see the family doctor on a Friday. Well, when it came down to that Friday, he kept flip-flopping on whether to go in or not. He thought he felt better that morning and it was probably nothing and he'd just feel silly going in, so at the last minute he decided not to go and went in to work instead.
Well, the next week came and one night we had Thai Chicken Pasta for dinner. Jon had not really been eating a lot for a few weeks now. This night he ate two helpings for dinner and that night, he felt horrible. He couldn't sleep at all. He was in so much pain. Once again he felt like vomiting, but nothing. He wanted to vomit, because maybe he'd feel some relief with it. He called the doctor first thing in the morning and was able to get in the next day.
At first the doctor thought it was pancreatitis  due to his symptoms and his very high triglycerides. So they did some blood tests and ordered a ct scan. It seemed to take forever to get the ct scan approved by the insurance and he wasn't feeling any better, so with some encouragement and push from our friend, Sharon, and myself, he went into the ER on a Friday night. They did a ct scan and found a growth in his retroperitoneal area. To make a long story shorter...he ended up spending a week at the local hospital while they tried to figure out what to do with him. The surgeon felt like this was something they should send to a bigger hospital, but the medical internist was trying to keep him local. Here are some pics from Jon's stay at Rancho. He felt ok. there, but was just going crazy waiting. I would usually go visit him once with the kids...we'd hang out and play games, walk outside, visit, etc. Then I'd go back later in the evening just me or sometimes a few friends. Like a date ;)

 We had some fun times at the hospital. One day we decided to see how much everyone weighed on the cool hospital bed. Jon had figured out how to use the scale. Carter and I both weighed exactly the same thing. 128.4 lbs. We thought that was funny. Then we tried to weigh the whole family together, but we exceeded the weight limit of something like 400 pounds. Then we tried to guess what we all weighed together...by adding our weights. I think Becca won and it was close to 700 pounds. Another day Jon showed them how to blow up the gloves like balloons. They thought that was so cool and would giggle when a nurse walked in...afraid they'd get in trouble for playing with the gloves.

Jon finally was pretty up front with the internist that he didn't care about convenience, but wanted to be transferred somewhere where he would receive the care he needed. They ended up transferring him to Loma Linda hospital. Jon was very impressed with the surgical oncologist there and the whole staff. They seemed on the ball and pretty quick about getting things done. The oncologist said his mass could be one of a hundred things, but he had narrowed it down to three things that he thought it might be. Lymphoma, Sarcoma, or a germ cell tumor. Blood tests later came back with a certain type of protein elevated that was indicative of a germ cell tumor. This, the doctor said, would be the best one to have. He said if you're going to have cancer, this is a good one.
They would still need to do a biopsy before we proceeded with treatment. The first biopsy was unsuccessful. I guess it wasn't good tissue. So a week later they did it again. Actually, Jon happened to already be in the hospital that week because he had woken up on Tuesday with a swollen, discolored let. He went to the ER and they admitted him. It was a DVT. Deep Vein Thrombosis. They put him on blood thinners or anti-coagulants. He will be on them for months, actually maybe forever. So, here we are. Tomorrow we finally get to go in and meet with Medical Oncology. I think they will go over the biopsy with us and determine what the plan is for treatment. The surgical oncologist said it is treated with Chemo. We'll find out more tomorrow.
Jon has been in really good spirits through all of this. He is anxious to get things going and feel better. I have felt my testimony of this gospel buoy me up during this trial. I truly do have a testimony that God is real. He loves us. He knows us. He has a plan for us. He is in charge. I trust Him. We will get through this. I'm thankful for Jon and his patience, his good attitude, and his positive demeanor. He is a great husband and father. I am so thankful to be a part of his life.