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

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

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

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

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

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!!

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

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