Down the final stretch.....I hope.

Hello Everyone - I hope all is well with you and your families.  I feel of your faith, love, and support each day.  I have confidence in the future because of you.  The future is bright because of YOU!! 

Thank you for following the example of our Savior, as he is the source of all that is good.  You are His hands, lifting and helping those in need.  Thank

I have had two foot doctor appointments and started another cycle of chemotherapy since my last post.  At the first podiatrist appointment, he said I was 80% healed and told me to come back in a week.  He was very pleased with the progress.  In the second appointment he thought that the hole in the foot was getting smaller and the skin was looking better.  He told me to come back in two weeks because I was going to have chemotherapy and my body would need to recover in order to fully heal the foot. 

I started cycle 2 chemotherapy will have the week 2 medication for cycle 2, tomorrow.  My blood work is showing that I did not have the dramatic drop in my white blood cells that I had the first cycle.  I am feeling better than I did last cycle.  Fortunately, the week 2 medication is not really chemo.  It is a companion drug that will not hurt my immune system at all. 

In order to get my antibiotic for my foot infection, I have been going Infusion Services in the Provo hospital.  Many people have helped drive me back and forth to these appointments.  Thank You so much - you know who you are : )

A tender mercy occurred recently.  One of the nurses at the hospital saw that I would need two more weeks of this IV antibiotic.  She took it upon herself to find a way for Angela and I to administer the antibiotics to me at home.  This will be a great relief for us.  It will save so much time, not having to drive to Provo every day.  Angela has administered IV medication at home before; but it has been a couple of years. 

Through all of this, I am truly appreciating what it is like to have a hot shower.  I have not been able to get my foot wet (as water is a conduit for disease) and am subsequently taking sponge baths.  I am really looking forward to that day when my foot is healed and I can take a nice hot shower.  (It is the little things in life that matter the most.)

So, overall, things are looking  up.  We are planning a trip to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to meet with a sarcoma doctor there.  The institute has several sarcoma doctors.  We are going to meet with a head doctor and establish a relationship with the institute.  We had great success reaching out to the doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital and great treatment resulted in that correspondence.  We are hoping a similar thing happens with Dana-Farber.  We want them to discuss my case as a team and get their treatment recommendations.  The farther along we go, we realize that the more doctors we have discussing my case, the better the treatment recommendations.

I must take a moment and thank Angela, my beautiful, talented, amazing wife.  When we completed the initial treatment recommended by Huntsman (back in the day), it was Angela that was asking the probing questions.  She was the one demanding proven treatment options.  It was she that suggested looking beyond Utah, reaching out to other colleagues, looking for the best treatment in the WORLD!  Well, she is still doing it.  She is still my biggest advocate, my best friend, and my true love.  Thank you, my Angel.

-Doug-