back from vacation

Sorry, again, for the lack of posts. Ainsley and I decided last minute to go to California for a week to visit my parents. We had bought the plane tickets long before we knew Duben had cancer, and later decided we wouldn't go. Since Duben's treatment was postponed the trip would happen in his off week while he would be feeling okay. We decided two days before the trip to actually go. We're glad we did. Duben felt great all week and Ainsley had lots of fun grandparent time.

Duben had his second treatment on the 13th. He did really well. He was able to use his new port to receive his treatment, and really noticed a difference. It was much more comfortable for him that way. After the treatment he felt good, which was such a relief. It still wiped him out and he came home and slept, but I was so grateful he wasn't nauseous and sick.

He went back in to visit with his doctor on the 23rd and his blood counts were low again. He isnt able to get any shots anymore to boost his counts, so we have to wait it out. The nurses told us that he was only able to get the shots once at the start of his treatment. The shot to boost his blood levels reacts badly to one of his chemo drugs, and they wont be able to use them going forward. We're assuming that because of this we will probably have to push back a few treatments due to low blood counts throughout the next few months. We're not worried about pushing back his treatments when needed. We figure, as long as we can continue treatment and Duben continues to feel well, we aren't concerned how long it takes. We are grateful for the team of doctors and nurses we have working with us. They continue to be so compassionate and supportive.

We continue to feel so blessed to be able to live a "normal" life throughout all of this. Ainsley is doing well, she's talking so much more! She is such a blessing to us, we just love her energy and how happy she always is. Mom and baby are doing well. We had our 20 week ultrasound on the 14th and he's already measuring bigger than expected. The doctor might change the due date to the end of January. Duben continues to work and is enjoying his job. And he still has his hair!!
We are grateful for the continued prayers. We can honestly say we feel the strength and comfort from them. Thank you. We love you all!

duben, the bionic man

on thursday morning duben went in for a quick surgery to get his "power port" put in his chest.

he'll have this for the remainder of his chemotherapy and probably another year after. this is so he doesn't have to have an IV put in his arm every time for chemo or when he gets his major tests (PET/CT scans).

anything really that involves an IV, they will use his port now.

we're getting pretty tired of hospitals, but grateful to have met so many great doctors and nurses along the way.

the surgery went really well and he was back to work the same day.

friday we went in for his second round of treatment. every week they take his blood to look at his blood count to make sure it's not too low. sadly, his white count was too low this week for him to get his treatment. if they were to do the chemo it would bring it even lower, which would be a huge risk for him getting sick. if he did get sick, its just about a guarantee he'd end up in the hospital. they told us for the weekend he wasn't allowed to go to the store or church so he would avoid large crowds.

for those days he can go to church we really hope everyone remembers that if you or your child seems to be sick, please stay home!

to help with his low count, he had to get a shot which helps him produce more of his white blood cells. we went in for another shot today and he'll go in again tomorrow to see if he's ready for his next treatment. hopefully he'll be able to get his second treatment tomorrow.

besides his low counts, duben has really been feeling great this past week. we're so grateful for the nice weather to get out and have some fun outside finally.

duben is noticing his hair seems to be slowly falling out since saturday. we're just waiting for the bulk of it before we bring out the razor. we were lucky to have a great friend take some pictures of our family yesterday. they turned out great. sadly, ainsley wouldn't smile. she was so worried about the cows she saw in the field near by.

thank you to everyone who's helped this week! i've had a hard time having to leave ainsley so much for doctor appointments, but i'm so grateful she's with people we love. we are so grateful for all the love and support we continue to receive.

we love you all!

finally an update!

Sorry for the long delay in getting another post up. Things have been busy lately. I promise I'll be better.

Promise.

So here's the latest with us.

Duben had his first chemo session Friday, August 26th. We both woke up that morning really feeling the magnitude of it all. It was all really happening and he was starting chemo that day. To say we were nervous is a bit of an understatement. It really hit us that the next year will be like nothing we've ever known. We are so thankful to know we have the support of so many amazing people to help us fight our way through it all.

This gives us so much strength.

Thank you.

The Oncology Clinic we go to for Duben's chemotherapy is right here in Bentonville, which is nice being so close to home. The nurses at the clinic have been amazing. They explained everything so well and were so accommodating and really tried to put us both at ease.

At the beginning of the treatment they load you up with a nice mixture of pain killers and other things to help with nausea. One of the drugs was Benadryl, which ended up making Duben pretty tired. He managed to sleep through some of it, which was a nice relief.

It has been interesting to learn so much about how the whole process works, which the different types of drugs and how they administer them, but I'll spare those details.

Everything went well until we got to the last drug. For some reason it made Duben feel a little warm and by the end of it, he felt pretty queasy.

The next few hours were pretty rough.

Luckily I have an amazing friend who walked me through all of his different nausea pills and he got what he needed. We had some of our friends come over and give him a blessing and he was able to sleep through the night and felt much better in the morning.

Thank you to everyone who helped us that day.

It was such an emotional day, and it meant so much to us to have our friends there. Thank you all.

The drugs they give him in the start of his chemo stay in his system for a few days, so his 'bad days' are a few days later. Tuesday/Wednesday for us.

So we were able to relax and enjoy the weekend without any problems, he is mostly just tired. Sure enough Tuesday/Wednesday he felt a little nauseous, but luckily it was controllable with his medications.

The past few days he has felt really good and we are trying to keep up a 'normal' routine. He is still working full time, he just takes naps at lunch time to help with the fatigue.

The other good news is, he still has his hair! We are debating the different styles to try out when the first of his hair starts falling out....

this is my favorite...with my name, of course.

or the other pretty one...

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful for all the support and service we've received. It has made this easier on us knowing that we have such an amazing support system here in Arkansas.

Thank you.