The Anderson Family Circus

More more Elf's

2008-12-11T12:18:00.001-08:00

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More Elf's

2008-12-11T12:16:00.001-08:00

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Elf

2008-12-11T12:13:00.001-08:00

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MUCH To Be Thankful For!

2008-11-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

This is the better news post I was hoping to write!
As you all know, we had a terrible scare on Wed. the 26th. Zed's liver functions were skyrocketing each day and he was in terrible pain all night Tues. When the Dr's came in to discuss his case they were pretty grim to say the least. The liver specialist was quite blunt and to the point, saying that if his counts continued on this trend, his other organs could follow and the inevitable would happen. After he left I looked at the nurse and said "what do I do with that?"
She just sort of looked sad and gave me a hug and told me she was sorry.
I was also sort of getting mixed signals from the oncology team, who were saying that even though his counts were going up, he wasn't in liver failure yet and his counts could remain high for days before that happened. Then I ran into the Dr who was on hospital rounds this week,(each week the Dr changes) and asked him point blank, should I get my children here? His answer was, "probably, I'm sorry."
So at that point, I knew I needed to act fast because of the approaching holiday travel rush. My first thought was that I would just ask Kory to come, but then I knew Brady had been having a difficult time being without his dad, so one thing lead to another and everyone made arrangements to come. Walmart was generous enough to pay for 1 flight under the circumstances, and Kory had some sky miles, so he, Brady, and Chelsi flew from Utah. Kristy and Jason changed their plans as they were going out the door to Wyoming and drove with Kristie and Parker here instead. Melissa had to drive to Billings and fly to Denver with a 3 hr layover and arrived here at midnight. I hated to take that step, but didn't want to look back and regret that I waited too long.
It was a very stressful and terrifying experience, not knowing how this would all play out. The arrival of the kids helped soo much!
I talked to the High Priest Group Leader ( Bro. Ed Smith) and asked him if maybe he could bring the kids from my hotel after the shuttle brought them from the airport, and he said "no, let me go get them." He and his wife took 2 cars, gave one to Kory and led him to the hospital, where they decided to spend the night with me. Kory drove back to the airport at midnight and got Melissa. The Smith's also insisted we use their daughters house who was out of town, it's about 10 min from the hospital. Then they wanted to know if we needed them to cook us a Thanksgiving dinner as well. What amazing people!!
We were'nt sure we would have much to be thankful for on Thurs. morning, but one count had come down slightly and the other rose slightly. So we said, "hey we'll take what we can get!"
I also forgot to mention that they had decided to give him 2 bags of platelets and go for the liver biopsy on Wed. also. They were able to go down through his jugular vein and had little bleeding.
Zed responded well to seeing the kids and one of the liver specialists said later, "my team tells me that you guys had a lot to do with these counts coming down." Friday morning one of the counts had come down over 1000 points, after going up more because of the biopsy-it sort of aggravates the liver-the other count came down about 200 points. We were thrilled to say the least. This morning, one count is at 432 and normal range is between 8-48, highest level had been 2618. The other count is at 554 with normal range between 7-55, highest level had been 994. So he is definitely moving in the right direction! He still has a ways to go, he is still putting on water weight, but they said that is to be expected, they may try to remove some of the fluid in his abdomen next week if needed, but only if his platelets will allow.
He is resting much more comfortably and will talk with the kids a little. He also has been able to hold a little food down, his food of choice is lemon italian ice. They did let him say hi to Parker and Boston briefly, which was very nice. The staff has been so awesome! They have tried to accomadate our family in whatever way they can-letting 4 kids spend the night here Wed. It makes you feel good when several of the nurses have let me know how worried they were and have been praying for him, also tells me how sick he was!

Sorry, I didn't intend for this to be a novel. But now last but not least, our family wants to thank everyone who might read this for all of the faith, prayers and fasting on our behalf!!! I know what a miracle has happened and how it happened! We have been amazed at how many people told us they were fasting and praying for him. Our bishop at home called a special ward fast, Roice was inspired to call a family fast, my dear friend Colleen called old friends in Riverdale, Zed's family, the Smith's and Kristie's family also. It was so comforting to know that so many people were helping us. What would we do without the gospel and our faith? Kory rallied my kids and has been such a rock and it has helped so much to have them all here, I hate to see them leave, but know they have jobs they need to get back to.
He still has a ways to go, but is definitely doing better. He is resting much better and trying to eat so that is so nice to see. Again, thanks so much! We love all of you and appreciate your concern for this dear, sweet man.
Love Lannis

Update from Mayo-Day 18

2008-11-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I will try this again, somehow the update I just wrote didn't work, so I'm starting over.
Some of you have called and know pretty much the latest that is going on, but I will try to summarize for the rest of you.

It has been a trying week to say the least, we knew this wouldn't be a walk in the park, but it seems like everything I worried about is happening. Saturday evening Zed's nose started bleeding about 6:30 and we couldn't really get it controlled until about 4 am. I was putting pressure on the bridge while the nurses were putting cold compresses on his forehead and getting platelets in him. He also had blood running down his throat, which caused coughing and vomiting, and made things worse. Once we finally got it stopped, they told him to try not to disturb the clot and so he could hardly breathe. It was a very LONG night. He also gained 2 kilograms of water weight in 12 hrs which is a lot!
Sunday morning he finally said, "I'm getting rid of this clot" which scared me to death. I thought we were going to start all over again, but it actually helped and he could finally breathe normally again. He had a pretty good day Sunday and even managed to lose some of the water weight, with the help of some diuretics. But on Monday morning his weight had gone back up and his liver functions had gone WAY up. They do labs every morning and give us the report so we know where we are. (His blood counts are actually looking pretty good.) Anyway, after discussing this with the team of Dr's, they have decided that he may have a condition called, "Veno-Occlusive Disease". This is something they have been keeping their eye on but when the liver functions went way up they felt that may be why his legs and feet have been swelling, he has had rapid weight gain and swelling in the abdomen. It is a condition that is caused by the high dose chemo and described as a "potenially serious" problem. What happens is that the tiny vessels in the liver become swollen and clogged and therefore the liver is unable to process the blood and clear the toxins out of the body. They called in a couple of liver specialists to consult on the case as well. They can't be 100% certain that is what he has without a biopsy, but don't want to do one as it would be too risky because of his low platelet and clotting problems. They did decide to try an "anti-clotting" medication that may thin out the blood in the liver and allow it to start working properly again. They have also taken away any medications that may be stressful to the liver. About the only thing they can do now is wait and watch and hope that it starts to heal on its own. I said before that one of the lessons that we were probably supposed to learn from all of this was patience and it is really being tested! The Dr's here seem to be very good about making sure that I am aware of everything they are and can be doing, but sometimes you wonder if they are telling you everything and you want them to say exactly what it is and whats going to happen, even though I know they don't have crystal balls.
The High Priest group leaders have come and given him a couple of blessings and have been very good to keep calling to check on how things are going. We appreciate the calls of encouragement and concern, they help to keep me from getting too discouraged. He does have some pain and they are good to control it for him, but it does make him sleep alot. But I think that helps him not only to heal, but to be able to deal with all that is happening. He keeps asking where the back door is though. He doesn't really have a desire to eat and I have to keep nagging him, while being careful that whatever goes down, stays down. He calls me "the food pusher".
I know you are all praying for him and we appreciate your faith and prayers so much. It's about all we can do, and does bring peace and comfort. I hope to be able to post in a few days with better news, I'm trying to just take things "one day at a time", until then thanks for all the love and encouragement. Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving with your various families.
Love,
Zed and Lannis

"The Haircut"

2008-11-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

I know in the earlier post I said I wasn't going to post any pictures, but then the nurse suggested we go ahead and just get rid of the hair today, so here are a few pictures of the big step. It started to really come out this morning in the shower and has been a nuisance all day, he quite likes being rid of the fuzz and falling hair. I think he looks pretty good.

2008-11-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

No we didn't shower "spot" in there

This is the "scullet"

The "bozo the clown" look

Almost done

What a handsome dude

Day +7 and counting

2008-11-14T12:02:00.001-08:00

Well we're still here, Zed has'nt escaped yet, though he has threatened to. Not much new to report except that everything they said about this week was true. He has definitely hit bottom.
His blood counts are in the "basement" and so therefore his side effects are showing up. He has had nausea, not too much vomiting though, diarrhea, VERY sore throat, hair falling out in handfuls, persistent nose bleeds and just feeling very tired and "yucky".
They do tell us that this is all expected and not to worry, so that brings peace of mind, but still hard to watch and thankfully he is able to sleep alot. They put him on a pain pump today so that hopefully he can even out the pain control and not have peaks and valleys. His throat hurts so much that he can hardly eat or drink. In fact it looks like he is trying to swallow a brick by the look on his face. His appetite is practically non-existent so getting him to try to eat or drink is hard to do.
He is starting to feel slightly better, Wednesday was probably his worst day yet, although he didn't have a very good night Thursday either. They are giving him blood again today, and have given him platelets a few times also.
According to what they are telling us, possiby Monday his counts will start to rise again, therefore making him feel much better. So we are slowly getting there, but probably won't leave the hospital until middle or end of next week.
I am not posting any pictures this time, you wouldn't want to see them. (I'm just saying)
*Note to my children-don't freak out by that statement, he's just not looking real great right now, but doing ok!
So as always, thanks for all your prayers and phone calls of concern! We love you and are hoping against hope that we might be home for Thanksgiving.

Love to all,
Zed and Lannis

It's Transplant Day!!

2008-11-07T18:00:00.000-08:00

The day we have waited for finally arrived! The transplant team said it would be kind of anti-climatic and it sort of was. But we are thankful that everything went along very smoothly and was a little boring, but we like boring! (as opposed to the alternative) They were scheduled to start this morning at 11 am, but because of an earlier transplant in another room that went longer than expected, they got started at 12:55. He was given 6 bags of stem cells and finished at about 2 pm. It was a little like a party in that some of the staff were all coming in to wish him well and see how things were going. They even said we should be singing "Happy Birthday" or some sort of welcome home song to his returning cells.
They hooked him up to oxygen and a heart monitor and checked his vitals before and after every bag to make sure everything was going well. They had warned us that some of the side effects could be, a rise in blood pressure, severe flushing and nausea. He didn't have any of those and they said that was rare. Also a weird side effect of the preservative that the cells are stored in is a "creamed corn" or "garlic" smell in the room. Even that was very minimal.
He slept quite a bit after he was done because of the pre-meds that they gave him, but felt well enough to eat dinner. They told us that within about 45 minutes the stem cells migrate right back to the space in the marrow where they were taken. They don't fully understand how this happens, it's amazing. So now we move forward to day +1, +2, and so on to "engraftment", when the cells start to make new blood cells. He will be in the hospital for another 10-14 days until that happens.
It is a very interesting, well orchestrated process and a little nerve racking when you consider what they are actually doing to your body. This whole process takes you kind of to the brink of death and then they "rescue" you, (that is what they call it.) It has been an exciting day for us and we are thankful all went well. Thanks so much for all of your good wishes and concern. We are so blessed to have so many friends and family praying for us. We love and miss you so much!

Zed and Lannis

2008-11-07T17:57:00.001-08:00

Whiteboard in room, wishing him well on transplant day

Cells just starting to flow

2008-11-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

Doing all the cross checks to make sure he is getting correct cells

Closer view of bag number 1

He was able to sleep during most of procedure,bruising on stomach is from shots they have to give him daily in different spots

He was hooked up to heart monitor and oxygen during transplant as a precaution

Cells fresh from freezer

2008-11-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

thawing bag of stem cells in water bath

retrieving cells from liquid nitrogen

bag 6 of 6 stem cells-almost done

transplant team-scott,genoa,leslie

sleeping peacefully after transplant complete

2008-11-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

My "awesome" bed

"Medication Induced" nap

Starting round 2 (notice board)

Giving iv @ hotel (his own party ball)

Getting released from "round 1"

Update of Week One

2008-11-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

As of the last update, we thought they were releasing Zed from hospital on Fri (24th). But he had to be "fever free" for 48 hrs before they would release him and he had his last fever fri morning. They also found that he needed a blood transfusion so they kept him in hospital until Mon morning (27th). They arranged for a home health care agency to come to the hotel room to administer his iv antibiotic on Mon evening and show me how to do it for 2 doses on Tue and 1 on Wed morning. When we saw the Dr on Tues morning, he said Zed still looked really good and would admit him on Wed. He told us that the bacteria was a staph of some sort that I can neither pronounce nor remember and that he did'nt want to see him back in his office next week to say "3 times a charm". He was re-admitted Wed afternoon (we asked why they just didn't keep him in and they said the insurance likes to "separate" one admission from the next to keep billing straight. Who understands insurance companies?!?!)
So on Wed they started giving him pre-chemo medications and started Chemo on Thur (29th) @ 8 am--every 6 hrs round the clock for 3 days for 1st medication, 2nd medication started 1 time daily for 2 days on Nov 2nd, and then 3rd medication 1 time daily for 2 days starting Nov 4th. Each medication comes with its own set of side effects and precautions. First one called, Busulfan, can cause severe diarrhea, fever and sore throat. Second one called, Melphalan, can cause terrible mouth and throat sores. So they make him keep ice in his mouth 1/2 hr before, during the treatment, and 1/2 hr after. This medication doesn't stay stable very long so they rush it from pharmacy to him and practically shoot it into him. The iv pump sounded like a milking machine while he was receiving this one. The third medication is called Thiotepa and is excreted through the sweat and can cause skin burns if left on skin, so he will have to shower 2-3 times daily while on this one. Things are going well so far, only had severe nausea one day, other than that, they have been able to control it pretty well. He also had a fever spike
one night (101) which kind of scared all of us. They had to do blood cultures and urine samples etc. per the protocal of the hospital for fevers, but it went down and has not returned and cultures were negative--Whew!
We have both watched more TV and surfed the web more than we have in a year, and I brought some craft projects along to keep me busy too. We are still doing well, hoping that everything continues to go as scheduled. They tell us most of the side effects will actually show up next week and he may think "why did I do this", but we hope that they will be minimal. He still feels real good and has a good appetite and attitude, he is keeping all the nurses laughing especially after naming his iv pole "spot". When it beeps he tells them, "hey Spot is barking." He also likes to draw pictures on the white board in the room of his full urinal.
Thanks for the phone calls, we have nothing but time, so don't worry about "bothering" us. I spend each night here on a recliner (torture chamber ha ha) that folds down, and go back to the hotel for a couple of hours each day to shower, change, do laundry, etc. So that about wraps up the latest from Arizona. Sorry to make you jealous, (everyone but Utahna) but it has been in the 90's every day. We do miss the crisp fall air though, never thought I would admit that. Transplant day is Nov 7th!!
Love you all very much!
Zed and Lannis

2008-11-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

The "penthouse suite" they moved us to

View from hospital room

Named his "friend" that goes everywhere with him, SPOT

Late Breaking News---(lame attempt at humor)

2008-10-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Mayo Clinic--

This week was supposed to be "The" week, so they admitted Zed a day earlier (tue-21st) than they had originally told us. We were taken a little off guard, but we decided that, hey let's get this thing started. Well they admitted him, started to get his IV fluids and pre-chemo meds going and then Tue evening he spiked a fever (around 101). He was feeling great and almost called the nurse a liar. She called the Dr (who called the nurse, who called the lady with the alligator purse--ha ha- can you tell I'm getting a little stir CRAZY!) anyway he said to get blood cultures and then give him some antibiotics. After they got those going, Zed asked the nurse to re-take his temp, I think he thought for sure she had done it wrong, and it was 103. Soooo, they have continued to give him antibiotics waiting for the blood cultures to come back and he keeps having fevers off and on, still feeling perfectly fine with scattered flurries of boredom! Last night they decided to culture again and this morning his Dr said the cultures are growing--with some sort of bacteria and won't know more until the rest of the labs come back tomorrow (fri). They are therefore not going to go forward until they get this cleared up (too dangerous!) They will continue to give IV antibiotics thru the weekend, probably release him Fri, then re-admit him middle of next week. I told him I think one of the lessons we are supposed to be learning from all of this is PATIENCE! And we are both struggling with the learning curve. Here are some more pictures, some of our hotel rooms(both of them-ha! ha!) I don't much like the one with all the traffic in and out all thru the night, and a few of Zed. So anyway thanks again for all of your love and concern and thoughts and prayers! We love you all and feel a little like this is all some sort of weird dream. The people here have been very nice to us however and it's weird but the other visitors coming and going all make you feel welcome too, like we all part of some weird club together. Talked to a couple from Hawaii yesterday whose son (Kory's age) is here with almost the identical situation as Zed's. He just finished his chemo and is scheduled for transplant tomorrow. We still realize how very blessed we have been and continue to be, to be able to be here for treatment! Love to all--

Lannis

kitchen @ hotel

bed in hotel room

View from front door of Hotel room

Entering the library

first day in hospital

after morning shower

"going for my walk"

hospital room(home for next 2-3 weeks

looking up in atrium of hospital

outside view of hospital

News from Arizona

2008-10-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hi to everyone--

This weekend was our last before Zed is admitted to the hospital next week, so we decided to rent a car and do a little "exploring". We drove north to Sedona which is about 100 miles from here and a place that a few different people suggested we go see. It is very pretty and about the same elevation as Ogden. It looks alot like the Zions National Park area (red rock sculpture) and the town is very much like Park City. Lots of art and galleries, but we didn't take the time to really check them out much. We took a few pictures that are posted and had a nice mexican dinner and drove home. Their claim to fame is that John McCain owns a home there.

Then on Saturday, we drove over to Mesa, about 30 miles from here and went to the temple, also took some pictures there. Very beautiful and different temple. Then we did a little shopping at a huge outlet mall ( I was really missing my daughters and daughter-in-law because Zed just didn't appreciate how cool it was!) then we got pizza at another place we were told we should visit while here, Organ Stop Pizza. This was also very cool, a huge wall of pipe organs shown thru glass and a gentleman playing the biggest, most elaborate pipe organ I've ever seen. It was really fun. We went to the Larkspur Ward today and enjoyed their meetings and the High Priest Group presidency gave Zed a beautiful blessing and ensured us that if we needed anything they would be there and are planning on visiting him in hospital. Very nice people. We are always amazed how a little place like Star Valley has such far reaching ties in the world. I sat next to someone in Relief Society whose mother was in Zed's graduating class (Scott and Jan Viegel's daughter for those of you who know them) anyway, we've had a great weekend and now onto the next chapter--(ok Lannis shut up right!!) Anyway just a little news of what we've been doing.

We are trying to update when anything changes down here. Nothing much has happened except for the harvesting of stem cells. They gave Zed the Nupegen (growth factor) shots for 5 days --one each day, starting last Sat morn and started the collection on Tue morn. They needed at least 4 million cells per kilogram of his weight and were able to collect 6 over 3 days. They said that was very good. They freeze those cells until ready to transplant. On Monday they are going to do another biopsy on the "new" cancer that showed up on the PET scan to determine if this is indeed Hodgkins or something new. Then Wed he is scheduled to be admitted to the hospital. This will be the beginning of the "conditioning" process--chemotherapy for 9 days. They countdown--day minus 9, minus 8, etc and on day 0 is transplant day. This is the day when all of his bone marrow has been destroyed and they infuse the collected cells. This is done like a blood transfusion. So you will know what is happening for the next couple of weeks, lots of chemo and the side effects that go with it. (not looking forward to watching this) I will keep you updated on how he's doing. Thanks again for all your faith and prayers, we really do feel it has given us peace and strength to endure. We love you all

Zed and Lannis

Finally updating from AZ

2008-10-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

As everyone 40 and older knows, we are NOT the computer generation. SO we do not really know what we are doing when we are supposed to add to this blog, but we'll do the best we can to keep it updated and post pictures. Things are progressing and we are very impressed with this hospital and staff. They are very organized and seem to keep things moving and always keep us well informed about what is happening next. We are in the process of harvesting stem cells (tue and probably wed) then will meet with the Dr again next week, tentatively entering hospital the 21st. Here are a few pictures of the harvesting process.

Stem Cells

News from Arizona

2008-10-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

My Mom asked me to post an update as they are busy in AZ while Dad is being used as a human pin cushion! She said that there running all sorts of tests to make sure that he is good to go, so far the Dr said he looks to be in good health, and his age is good for this too. The oldest they have done this on is a 78 year olds so he is young.The Dr's want to move quickly and have planned for him to start the procedure around the 13th of October. They will fly home next week and then return around the 10th they were hoping to get more time at home to tie up loose ends and spend time as a family but it looks as if they will only have a few days and then be back again. He will start the injections of the medication that will exhilarate marrow production and allow his stem cells to come through the bone walls so that they can be harvested. Once they have enough healthy stem cells they will start what they call a "lethal dose of Chemo" for about 7 days. Then give give him back the new stem cells and they should start to rebuild into new healthy marrow. He will most likely be in the hospital for three weeks and then he will have to stay in the area to make sure all is well. It will probably total 40 days. If he's lucky it might rid him of his Rheumatoid Arthritis as well, we're not getting greedy though we want the Cancer gone first!! Im no Dr and this is all coming second hand so I hope it's correct.

Thanks for all your love, concern, and prayers.

The Anderson's

Here is some info from the Mayo Clinics web site on the procedure...

Definition:

A stem cell transplant is the infusion of healthy stem cells into your body. A stem cell transplant may be necessary if your bone marrow stops working and doesn't produce enough healthy stem cells. A stem cell transplant can help your body make enough healthy white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets, and reduce your risk of life-threatening infections, anemia and bleeding.
Although the procedure to replenish your body's supply of healthy blood-forming cells is generally called a stem cell transplant, it's also known as a bone marrow transplant or an umbilical cord blood transplant, depending on the source of the stem cells. Stem cell transplants can use cells from your own body (autologous stem cell transplant) or they can utilize stem cells from donors (allogenic stem cell transplant).

Why it's Done:

Destroy unhealthy bone marrow that may contain cancer cells. In the case of cancer a stem cell transplant procedure may help rid the bone marrow of cancer cells. When healthy stem cells are transplanted, normal cell production can resume. In addition, immune factors in the transplanted cells may help destroy any cancer cells that remain in your bone marrow.

Here is a link with further info http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stem-cells/CA00081

News from the PET scan report

2008-09-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone--

I'm sorry it's taken a few days to update everyone on the Dr's report--I was hoping to be able to leave all this blogging to the young mom's and the fun activities of their little families, but it looks like we may have to keep everyone updated (those who want to be) on our situation for a while longer.

We saw the oncologist Thurs and we were hoping to be told everything looked good, see ya later. Well it was not that easy, the lymph nodes that were enlarged are smaller and the spleen is smaller, but new lymph nodes are now envolved and the Dr wants us to go to the Huntsman center in Salt Lake to consult with the bone marrow transplant team. They will review the report also and consult with Zed's Dr to decide if a bone marrow transplant should be done. Apparantly these cancer cells were resistant to the chemo and are now growing for whatever reason. The Dr feels that a transplant may be the only thing that can bring a cure as there are no other chemo drugs that can be used on his type of cancer.

They are supposed to call us Mon (8th) to set up the appt. and then will consult with Zed's Dr on how to proceed. They will try to use his own marrow if possible (I don't understand completely how this is possible, since his marrow is compromised from the chemo?), if this isn't possible they will test his siblings and then if no match is found, there is a donor bank. (Children are not good canidates) We understand when it's done, he would be in the hospital for 2-3 weeks and then recovery for about 1-2 months. He would have to sort of be in quarantine being careful who and what he is exposed to, grandkids would have to stay away (little germ factories) and would have to have all his childhood immunizations re-done until slowly his immune system re-builds.

We will know more of course after the visit to Huntsman and we are struggling to stay optimistic, but know that positive attitude is very important in a fight like this. I wanted to get this done in time to ask for you all to include him in your fasting today, but didn't get it done. Anyway, we appreciate all your love and prayers on his behalf and know that Heavenly Father's Hand is in all things and He will not leave us alone in our trials. We will keep updating the blog so you will know what's happening, thanks for your love and concern.

Lannis

Good News!!

2008-06-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone:

I know I haven't updated this blog for awhile, and a lot of you may not read this anymore, but I thought I would give you the latest so the word would be out. We went to the Dr today (16th) to get the results of the CAT scan that was done on the 12th. We actually didn't talk directly to him, but to his associate as it was an extremely busy day for them (monday's usually are) Anyway, he had studied the results and said that it seems the enlarged lymph nodes have been reduced and everything looks good. He does have an enlarged spleen, but that could be due to a couple of things--side effects of the Chemo, just a normal thing for him, or scarring from the effects of the disease. They are stopping the Chemo for now and in about a month they want another PET scan done at the Huntsman Center. This is something they would have done at the end of Chemo anyway, so now that the CAT scan indicates that he may be in remission, they will do the PET scan to determine if he really is in remission and what is really causing the enlarged spleen. So, we came away feeling cautiously optimistic. He is feeling good and his blood looked good too, so now we kind of sit back and watch and wait. They are planning on following up on him about every month or so. We feel very blessed and again appreciate all of the faith and prayers on his behalf. We love you all, hope all is well with each of your families.

Love Lannis

A long time coming

2008-04-23T06:39:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a very long time with no update. So I guess it's time to update so the villagers will put down there fire sticks and pitch forks,
here is your update!

Zed had been doing really good he was starting to feel a little better after a couple of months of chemo, his Dr. even said to him on his visit on the 7th that he looked as good as he had remembered him ten years ago after finishing chemo the first time. That was good to hear, maybe things were starting to look up for him and he was slowly getting stronger and feeling better.
As the week of the 7th went on he became tired and was more nauseous then normal, when they went in for round two on the 14th they said his blood was low again (this could account for the extra tiredness and nausea) so they gave him the option to get chemo and then go for a blood transfusion or get a blood transfusion and then come back on Tue for the second part of chemo.

They decided to do the blood first, he gets his chemo at McKay Dee this is where is Dr office is, but the hospital for there insurance is Ogden Regional so they have to go there for the blood transfusion. They were there from about 3:30ish to I think my mom said 11:00. This is Zeds third blood transfusion since December so I said that if he starts to act different then his normal self its cause he doesn't have much of his own blood left.

Mom said that he was able to rest well during the transfusion so that was a plus. He seems to be feeling a little better this week. He is scheduled to receive chemo again on the 28th, lets hope his blood is where it needs to be! Thanks for all your love and support

Luck of the Irish.....We had a St. Patties Day dinner out at Mom & Dad's - Kory made Corn beef & Cabbage stew it was very yummy!

2008-03-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

Brady, being the baby of the family has a hard
time when the other babies get held.

What a perfect picture. Kristie is Boston's fav,
he doesn't make a peep when she holds him

Grandma needs to smile

This is the only picture I could get of Parker, he is fast! He throws a football better then most grown men.

Happy Chemo Day! I mean St.Patrick's Day!

2008-03-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Zed had chemo again today, and will have again next Monday. We we're happy that his blood levels were good enough to receive chemo. There still low but we will take what we can get, count your many blessings! He has been feeling pretty good lately, and has been out and about working in the shop. Here are a few pictures from the hospital.

2008-03-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

I love this picture!!

They put a diuretic in the chemo to help flush it out of his system, which makes him have to go the the restroom about every ten minutes or so. So he has to take his little sidekick with him. He has requested one with better wheels!

Lannis biding her time (love the Grandma glasses)

He looks a little stoned in this picture.

Three generations of NOT smiling

2008-03-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Zed Getting Chemo

2008-03-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

Feeling well enuogh to make faces

Monday Feb 25th

2008-02-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Zed had Chemo yesterday, we were very excited that his blood count was where it needed to be to receive Chemo again. His Dr. said that he looked really good. He is starting to get some color back in his face and has even gained some weight back. Mom is fating him up, and slimming herself down, there a pretty good team! There are two parts to each Chemo treatment, he received part one yesterday and will receive the second part next Monday, and hopefully will be healthy enough to continue this scheduale and recieve Chemo again in two weeks.
He has been feeling pretty good this past week and has been out in the shop working. Thanks for all your Prayers and thoughts.

UPDATE FEB 4TH

2008-02-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
We went to the Dr this morning not knowing if they would be able to give another Chemo treatment or not. The news was good, his blood counts were in good shape. We got another treatment lasting about 5 hrs. So far, so good. We are going back tomorrow to get a shot to help his white blood count so it doesn't get depleted down too much like last time. We'll keep you posted. Love to all
-Lannis

Update on Zed

2008-01-31T13:56:00.000-08:00

Zed had his first chemo treatment on Monday January 21. He tolerated the treatment very well, he said that he felt really good almost immediately. His hacking cough and night sweats went away, which is great but he started to get really severe hiccups in return. The Dr seems to think that the lump in his abdomen is shrinking and pressing on a nerve or his diaphram.

As the week past after the first treatment he slowly lost energy and we were hoping the second treatment scheduled for Tuesday January 29th would give him a boost. Unfortunately they were unable to give him chemo on Tuesday, as his red blood count was too low to receive chemo. A healthy person’s red blood count should be around 40 his was 27. So they sent him to the hospital to have yet another blood transfusion, this time he received 3 unit of blood. Mom and Dad were at the hospital from about 1 in the afternoon till about 11 that night. It's a long process it takes 2-3 hours per unit of blood. Because the cancer is also in his marrow, his body is unable to build back his blood supply as quickly as needed to have chemo once a week.

Hopefully as treatments continue it will kill the cancer in the marrow and he will be able to receive treatments on schedule, supposedly every 2 weeks. They had him come back into the Dr. on Wed and Thurs to receive a shot to build his white blood count up, the transfusion is for the red blood cells. They wanted to give him an IV on Thursday, as he is dehydrated, but let him go home with strict orders to drink lots of Gatorade. He seemed to be in pretty good spirits on Thurs night as he was sharing his wit with us all. He said we all had to take a drink of his Gatorade to help him finish before mom got home, so he wouldn't get in trouble! He had about 4 large Gatorades in 6 hours.

He is getting thin, in August his weight was about 230 He now weighs 198. Hopefully we can get him back on track soon! We appreciate your love, concern and prayers - it's what keeps us going. We love you all.

What is Hodgkin's disease?

2008-01-31T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hodgkin's disease

Hodgkin's disease is one of a group of cancers called lymphomas. Lymphoma is a general term for cancers that develop in the lymphatic system. Hodgkin's disease, an uncommon lymphoma, accounts for less than 1 percent of all cases of cancer in this country. Other cancers of the lymphatic system are called non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are the subject of another NCI booklet, What You Need To Know About™ Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
The lymphatic system is part of the body's immune system. It helps the body fight disease and infection. The lymphatic system includes a network of thin lymphatic vessels that branch, like blood vessels, into tissues throughout the body. Lymphatic vessels carry lymph, a colorless, watery fluid that contains infection-fighting cells called lymphocytes. Along this network of vessels are small organs called lymph nodes. Clusters of lymph nodes are found in the underarms, groin, neck, chest, and abdomen. Other parts of the lymphatic system are the spleen, thymus, tonsils, and bone marrow. Lymphatic tissue is also found in other parts of the body, including the stomach, intestines, and skin.
Cancer is a group of many related diseases that begin in cells, the body's basic unit of life. To understand Hodgkin's disease, it is helpful to know about normal cells and what happens when they become cancerous. The body is made up of many types of cells. Normally, cells grow and divide to produce more cells only when the body needs them. This orderly process helps keep the body healthy. Sometimes cells keep dividing when new cells are not needed, creating a mass of extra tissue. This mass is called a growth or tumor. Tumors can be either benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
In Hodgkin's disease, cells in the lymphatic system become abnormal. They divide too rapidly and grow without any order or control. Because lymphatic tissue is present in many parts of the body, Hodgkin's disease can start almost anywhere. Hodgkin's disease may occur in a single lymph node, a group of lymph nodes, or, sometimes, in other parts of the lymphatic system such as the bone marrow and spleen. This type of cancer tends to spread in a fairly orderly way from one group of lymph nodes to the next group. For example, Hodgkin's disease that arises in the lymph nodes in the neck spreads first to the nodes above the collarbones, and then to the lymph nodes under the arms and within the chest. If you have to have cancer, Hodgkin's is the one to get