Celebrity ALL-EN and Chemo #10

We are huge fans of the show Flipping Out (where Jeff Lewis and his partner Gage renovate and redesign homes), so you can imagine our excitement when we saw that Jeff and Gage are ALL-EN!  Check them out:

Last Friday marked Allen's TENTH chemotherapy treatment.  We had a good meeting with The Cancer Ninja and everything seems to be on track for Allen's next treatments, scans, and radiation simulation.  Props to Allen's port for cooperating better than it ever has before, making treatment a whole lot less stressful this go around! 

Saturday and Sunday Allen had great long runs, running farther than he has since he started treatment!

We are hoping for a healthy, quiet two weeks until Allen's next treatment.  Thanks for all of your support! We are ALL-EN!!

Radiation Update!

We had a great conference call last week with Allen's Radiation Oncologist at MD Anderson in Houston.  She was amazingly accommodating to talk on the phone with us rather than make us drive all the way to Texas! (Leah can't fly this late in her pregnancy, and we didn't want Allen exposed to germs on a plane anyway.)  Not surprisingly, we had a long list of questions for her, and she answered each one, putting our minds at ease.  Our biggest take away was that she agreed with both The Ninja and The Radiator that we can get amazing care right here in Northwest Arkansas, and there is no need to travel to Houston for Allen's radiation.  This was great to hear, considering we had prepared ourselves to live in Houston with Aunt Barby (Leah's Aunt) for three weeks, deliver the baby at a hospital near MD Anderson, and have Leah's mom watch the kiddos in Arkansas while we were in Houston.  Now, Allen can have treatment before work each morning, we can have the baby here locally, and keep the kiddos in a normal routine. Plus, we would have really missed The Ninja if we had to go to Houston! :)

This week, Allen continues on with chemotherapy.  Friday will mark his 10th treatment! We are hoping to keep everyone healthy, so that things continue right on schedule.  Here is Allen surrounded by all the AWESOME cards you all have sent:

He really looks forward to seeing a card waiting for him when he gets home--they pump him up and keep him going during these last weeks when he is SO SICK of chemo! Thank you all for sending them! If you want to mail him one, email Leah at leahbates1212@yahoo.com and she will send you our address.

And, check out who is ALL-EN...

Minnie Mouse!! Uncle David and Aunt Emily just got back from a Disney Cruise and snapped this awesome picture! If you have ALL-EN pictures, we would love to see them! Email them to Leah at leahbates1212@yahoo.com.

Thank you again for all of your support!

Chemotherapy Treatment #9

We had such a GREAT meeting with The Ninja on Friday! Allen had been scanned on Wednesday, so we knew he would have news for us.  Waiting is SO HARD! But, it was SO worth the wait! Allen's scans looked awesome and his chest mass continues to shrink and shrivel up just like we want it to!  There is absolutely no CANcer activity! We couldn't have been more thrilled! There was a little "spot" in Allen's lung that The Ninja attributes to this time of year and a possible cold.  Therefore, just to be extra safe, we decided to drop one of Allen's chemo drugs that can cause issues with the lungs.  The drug has done it's job--eradicating the CANcer--so it isn't imperative to Allen's regimen, and we were planning on dropping that drug for Allen's last two treatments anyway (because it can have a bad interaction with radiation).  After our awesome meeting, we were off to treatment.

Chemo went well, although Allen's port gave us quite a bit of trouble to start with.  The nurse explained that since it isn't stitched down, it can move around as Allen moves.  Therefore, the same exercises don't always work to get it working.  But, we figured it out and once the port "woke up" things went smoothly!

This morning Allen went for a great long run! He has been struggling a bit with headaches, but other than that, he hasn't had very many side-effects.

Nine down, three to go! We want to thank everyone for being so supportive! Allen LOVES getting the little notes of encouragement in the mail, and the ALL-EN photos have been great too!  We honestly couldn't get through this without all of you cheering us on!

Scans This Morning!

Brookelyn and Braedyn are ALL-EN, hoping for Daddy to have GREAT, CANcer FREE scans this morning!  We are also wanting the scans to show that his chest mass is SHRINKING!! Results to follow Friday morning in our regular chemotherapy meeting with The CANcer Ninja.

Quick Update...

Allen returned home from his first business trip since being diagnosed.  Of course there was a TON of prep that went into getting everything ready for him to go - pills, cleaning supplies, special snacks, food, and drinks, etc.  But, it was all worth it when he made it home with no incidents while being away.  For this trip, he was able to drive.  But, in a couple of weeks there will be another BIG test when he has to go on a germy airplane (wearing his mask of course) for another business trip.  We are trying to just take it one day, one week, one hurdle at a time.

Next week is a BIG week for Allen.  He will have another round of scans.  We are hoping and praying that these scans will show that his chest mass has continued to SHRINK A LOT and that his ENTIRE BODY is CANcer FREE! They are scheduled for Wednesday morning at 9:00, and we should have the results from The CANcer Ninja on Friday morning at Allen's regular chemotherapy appointment.  Next Friday's treatment will mark #9, meaning he will have only THREE more to go.  Three sounds like a doable number with the end very near in sight.  In the meantime, we have to try and keep Allen healthy.  This is not an easy feat considering he literally has no immune system right now, and we have two very active, germy kiddos.  It is surprising we have any surface left on the light switches, remotes, door handles, banisters, etc with all the bleach wiping we do.  But, if it works, it is SO worth it.

Please join us in our hopes and prayers for AMAZING, CANcer FREE, SHRINKING tumor, scans next Wednesday!  Thanks so much!