Well folks, Dad is in the ER for the same thing… he is having difficulty breathing. We have a gut feeling he has fluid on his lungs. He could possibly have air pockets on his lungs which is actually worse than having fluid on the lungs. At the time of me write this posting, Dad had an ER room, but no test were done yet. Whenever he goes to the ER, the trend is that MD Anderson admits him into the hospital. I could be wrong, but I would venture to say that’s where he’s going to be tonight. I hope and pray this isn’t going to screw his clinical trial up as MD Anderson has the power to take him off the clinical trial until he gets feeling better.

Then on top of it, Jennifer isn’t feeling very well. She had a pounding headache and got sick 3 times while going to MD Anderson. Mom called me up and I came and picked her up from MD Anderson. I got her home, gave her some toast, 7up, and a heating pad. Her headache is pretty while gone.  So, she seems to be doing much better now.

I will update yall about Dad later on tonight…

Update as of 6:25pm: Dad is being admitted into the hospital. After running test, the drs are puzzled. They think he may have pneumonia but not sure. We are not sure what this means for the clinical trial – on rather he will be allowed to continue. Please pray that he will be able to continue.

Day Three of the clinical trial. It has been a long three days but we are kicking cancer butt. As of 8:55pm tonight, dad has

• endured 58 straight hours of chemo dripping into his body
• has had 2 EKG’s
• 12 blood test
• vit K shot
• 60mg of lasix (water pill through an IV due to swollen body)
• potassium IV (due to the amount of lasix)
• breathing treatment

It is only Wed! He still have 8 more blood test and over 36 more hours of chemo.

We have spent over 27 hours of being at MD Anderson in the last 3 days. We will be there for half the day on Thurs and at least 10 hours on Friday. Dad is hanging in there. Up and downs. We got the food for the feeding tube and so he has had a mixture of soft food and the protein liquid for the feeding tube. Everyone we are working with are really sweet and we have met some people who are on the same trial but have been on it for a while and are seeing good results so keep those prayers going and I know we are kicking cancer butt every moment.”

On a side note… Dad has had a mini make-over this week. His eyebrows were getting kinda bushy so mom trimmed them. Adam helped daddy shave the other day and I cut his toe nails tonight. With his new clothes and his mini make over, he is looking good!”

Today, in the midst of all that was happening, we got to visit with friends of ours that is going through the journey of having cancer. Our family met Kim and Rick the first time dad had radiation as Rick has esophagus cancer – just like dad. He also went into remission but has found out that the cancer has come back. They live in California but are here for the week as Rick will be getting more test done on Tues. It was so great to see them and visit with them.

I ask that you pray for them as they wait for the test results and to see what the next step is.

Good day everyone! Day 1 of the battle is still happening! Yup, I kid you not! We had a 12 hour round trip from Home to MD Anderson – about 10 hours at the hospital. Dad’s clinical trial chemo is a pump which runs for 48 hours non stop. So even though we are home, the battle is still going! He will get a new pump on Wednesday which will run another 48 hours. So a total of almost 100 hours of chemo by the end of the week. We are killing cancer every moment!

Today, dad got an EKG and had his blood taken 4 times to check on levels. Tuesday, he will have another EKG and 1 blood test done – to compare and make sure all is good. Tues, we also will have a meeting with the department that will be putting his port in on 7/21 – as a pre-op.

WE ARE KICKING CANCER BUTT!!!!”

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!

—
Audrey Hepburn

The battle has begun and WE WILL WIN!!! Go Team C!!!!

Getting up at 5am to leave by 6am. Dad starts his first day of the clinical trial in about 12 hours!

Cancer – you may be thinking you won but guess what — the Cunningham’s are about to attack and when we do, you will not know what happened cause you will be destroyed. Team C – prepare your weapons! We are going in and kicking some cancer butt.

• Battle plan:
  • Stage One: over 40 hours of Chemo in 5 days.
  • Cancer: We got God on our side and we are ready to destroy you and kick you off the island!
  • Ready! Prepare! Attack!
  • Forward MARCH Team C!

The battle has begun and WE WILL WIN!!!

12 hours at MD Anderson and we got what we needed done. It was a long long day for us but thankfully, Dad was able to get what he needed done.

This morning, we started:

• with a biopsy (done for research as part of the trial).
• Then he got a feeding tube.
• Then he had a PIC put in.
• Then an xray to make sure the PIC was correct.
• Then we had to go and they had to test the feeding tube with water to make sure all was flowing correct.

Dad got knocked out twice, changed clothes several times and was not allowed to eat the entire time. He also had to get poked for an IV (again – he just had one yesterday as well). We went to 2 different buildings – which is several minutes (even by cart) away. To say the least, dad was poked etc a lot. To say the least, we are tried and ready to rest for a while. Dad has the green light to start the trial on Monday! Monday will be 8 hours of chemo (not including wait time and driving time).

Team C is ready to fight and win!

Cancer – your days are numbered!

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

—
Willie Nelson

Today was very long but we got a lot done! After a couple weeks of frustration and worry, everything is coming together. God has heard our prayers and tonight, my family is tried but so humble to the steps and efforts from everyone to get us to the direction we need to go.

Here is the update: The insurance APPROVED the clinical trial. This was a HUGE relief as we would not be able to afford the treatments out of pocket. Dad will start the trial on Monday, July 14th. The trial that the drs finally went with will be less intense that we thought but will still take a lot of time. After looking at dad’s case, they feel this is a good study for him to be in. The first 2 weeks, he will be on only one chemo. The 1st week, he will be at MD Anderson (MDA) 5 days. The 2nd week will be 3 days. He will have another PET and CT scan on July 25th to just monitor things. The 3rd week, he will start taking two chemos – one at MDA and one at home. He will remain on the two chemos – going 3 times a week for a total of 6 weeks. Then we will retest. At this time, they expect some change. Then he will start over again with the same cycle as described above. The hours each day varies – from 1 hour to 8 hours of chemo. Once he goes on the 2nd chemo – it will be a pump which will pump chemo continuously the entire week. However, each day we will be there bright and early so we will be leaving the house anywhere from 5:30 -7am.

Additional things we found out today: The heart dr (from Tues) talked with the clinical trial dr and they figured out a med that will help regulate his afib and he can still be on the trial. They feel once his heart is regulated again, his breathing will get better. (FYI:He had to get off of his current afib meds due to it conflicting with the chemo so his heart rate/beats have been too fast causing him to be out of breath). Blood work came back and his thyroid level is a little elevated but not enough to go on meds. They will retest in a few weeks and compare. The heart dr said that with a lot of chemo, sometimes, the thyroid gland can start acting up which is why they tested dad. His white blood count (WBC) was up a little bit but they said that is most likely because he had his chest tube out on Tues and so the skin(and inside where the tube was) is healing. We also got most of the results from dad’s PET/CT scan that he had today. It showed the same areas that we expected to have cancer. We do not believe it has spread but will be getting the official record tomorrow (hopefully). Amen to that!

So what needs to be done before Monday:
Dad will be getting his feeding tube and a PIC in tomorrow (July 11th). We are hoping that the feeding tube will allow him to stop losing weight and maybe even gain weight. It will also stop the frustration dad has of throwing up almost every meal. If he is getting better nutrient, hopefully he will not only gain weight but get some energy – which he needs! He is now 187 pounds (losing over 70 pounds in recent months). The PIC will allow the chemo to enter the body. On July 21st, they will take the PIC out and put a chemo Port in (1st available opening). The Port will remain in until he is done with the trial. He will also have a small biopsy tomorrow to help the research part of the trial (optional but he would like to do it).

We got some long few weeks but I feel like this is the route God is taking us. I thank all of you for all of your support. It is without a doubt, so humbling for my family to have such love around us. Our faith is strong, our fight is stronger and God is beyond the healer of all of us. In case you did not see the video my brother posted, I am going to include the clip here. As a family, we were just looking at different videos. Adam happen to click onto this video and the end of the video – we were all crying especially due to the last few seconds – God was talking to us and saying Dennis you will be healed. When there seems to be no human cure – there is God’s cure. His healing is among us. Please take a moment and watch.

Great news everyone!!! DAD HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR THE CLINICAL TRIAL. He will start on Monday, July 14th!!!!!!!!

The other day, I hooked my laptop up to the TV as Jennifer wanted to show some videos to Dad, Mom, and I. After we got done, I was just randomly picking videos to watch as a family. I was browsing between Youtube and God Vine. I was on God Vine’s website when I came across this 1 video. I clicked on it and as we were watching it, I started crying.

Basically, it’s husband / father dying from cancer. While he was lying there in the hospital bed, the doctors tells the wife that there is nothing else they can do. Throughout this entire video, you can see he is hooked up to an IV and receiving meds through an IV. At the very end, the husband makes it and pulls through because he underwent a “Experimental: First in human trials” aka clinical trial.

Like I mention, I was randomly picking videos and this was the entire families first time watching the video. What was the chances of me picking something that was related to a clinical trial when Dad is scheduled to be in a clinical trial starting next week? I personally think it was God telling me to click on to it so that Dad knows everything will be alright.

Here is the video I am talking about:

Today is Wednesday, July 9th.  Dad is schedule to start his clinical trial on Monday, July 14th.  However, the insurance company is dragging their feet and wont give us a yes or no answer if they are going to cover it or not.

One thing we did get approved that we are super happy about, the insurance company authorized dad to have a PETScan done tomorrow, July 10th.  You see, the insurance company has denied dad from getting PETScans for about year to year and half now. They would only authorize CT scans with contrast. They claim the CT scans with contrast is just as good.

The thing about is, the PETScan shows the whole body where as the CT Scan is isolated in 1 spot.  So, if the cancer has spread, you wouldn’t know about it unless you did a CT scan of the whole body.  I guaranteed you, they have not done that either.

Below is a link that MD Anderson wanted Dad, Mom, Jennifer and I to watch couple weeks ago.  I thought I would share it with everyone.  The purpose of the video is to communicate to patients, their families and health care providers information they may need to know about Phase I clinical trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

• MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Phase I Clinical Trials: Access to Hope
• 28 min 44 second video

Dad got left chest tube out! They looked at an ultrasound and xray and felt he did not need a tube on the right! Amen. However they r concern about dad’s heart beat. After EKG, heart rate was 117. So we r waiting to see heart Dr at MD Anderson. They feel this is why dad is out of breathe. Still trying to get feeding tube and chemo port schedule. He will have a PET scan on Thursday to give us more detail of where the cancer is.

Mom talked to clinical trial office and still waiting for insurance to approve trail. If all goes to plan… We are count down to starting the trail in 6 days. Cancer -ur time is limited. Team C is ready to take you down. Keep u posted. Prayers always.

PS: Dad has afib. He was recently taken off of his meds so he could enter this clinical trial. He is not allowed on it if he is in the trial.

Well folks, today’s been an interesting day at MD Anderson. Dad was schedule to:

1. Get a feeding tube put in his stomach
2. Removed the small, temporary drainage tube for his right lung
3. Insert a bigger drainage tube in the right lung, just like his left lung
4. Remove the left lung drainage tube

Dad has been off his heart meds the last couple days for all these procedures that was schedule for today. His blood pressure was fine, but his heart rate was too fast for the doctors comfort level since dad would be put under. So, MD Anderson actually did an EKG. Naturally, Dad was in a-fib which I think he is in a-fib 24/7.

The final decision was made… all procedures was cancel except removing the small, temporary drainage tube for his right lung. Supposedly he will have the procedures done next week.

MD Anderson discharge dad and he is now home.

Dad is scheduled for a chest xray, the chest tube and a feeding tube today. The dr came in yesterday and explained that if his esophagus was closed up to much to get the tube down through the tumor, they would have to put the feeding tube in a different way which is a little more complicated than the normal way. He will be in and out of procedures from 8:30am to at least 1:30pm.

Yesterday was a great day – his spirits were up and he was able to get two good meals without getting sick.

Dad went to MD Anderson (MDA) yesterday because his left chest tube was clogged. After xray and ultrasound, MDA found that he had air pockets in the right lungs that had developed over the last 4 days. He also had developed fluid in the right lung. There was some fluid on the left but MDA said they had to focus on the right lung as it was in bad shape. They wanted to put a chest tube on the right side but due to dad’s heart meds, they could not do that for 48 hrs. So he is off his heart meds and they will do that on Thurs.

However, dad was breathing so hard that they could not wait to do something. So MDA put this small tube in the upper area of his lung which is draining the fluid out and sucking the air out. This is a temp fix until Thur but he had to stay in the hospital for it. It was a long long day – the lung drs had to talk to all kinds of drs including his clinical drs. After 14 hrs, mom and I pulled into the driveway.

Mom, Adam and I will be going back to the hospital to be with dad this afternoon. He will be having his chest tube on Thurs and start his clinical trial on July 14th if all goes well.

Hey Folks,

Dad went to the pulmonary doctor today.  Mom and Jennifer went with him and I stayed behind to do some errands around town, plus take care of the dogs.   Well, mom call me and from my understanding, his left lung is basically good.  I am not 100% sure if the left lung drainage tube was clogged or not given the reason why we went in the first place.

He now has problems with the right lung.  I am not going to go into all the details, but I will say that the doctors are admitting into the hospital.  Why?  Well, Dad needs a procedure done ASAP to resolve this issue.  Problem is, Dad is on a blood thinner for his a-fib condition.

Due to the nature of Dad’s current condition, MD Anderson does not want to wait for the blood thinner medication to be filter out of his system.  They want to do the procedure today.  Therefore, there is a risk in doing the procedure and that’s why they are admitting him to MD Anderson.

More details as soon as I know something…

Looks like dad’s drainage tube is clogged again. If he can make it through today, we will go to Md Anderson in the morning to get it unclogged. If he can’t make it until the morning, we will be heading to the ER again. He is really breathing hard.

====

Update: 07/01/2014

We are heading to the doctor soon. Dad can be stubborn at times! He did not want to go to the ER cause he knew they would admit him. So he said he was going to try to make it until this morning. So we are going today.

Today’s sermon: About Healing. Loved the stories the pastor talked about today.

1. God offering healing through miracles- the small ones and big ones. I smiled at this comment as I always say that one thing my cancer has shown me is to enjoy the sunrises and enjoy the moments that bring a smile to your face.
2. God offers healing through modern medicine. This one hit me hard – with dad starting on new meds soon.
3. God offers healing through endurance. Yes, we have to remember that it takes time to find the right path.
4. God offers healing through salvation. People ask me how I know there is a God. I tell them because I have seen God’s work through people. I have seen the beauty on this earth. I have seen how God has taken horrible things like cancer and helped others be giving encouragement.

Today – that sermon hit home to my heart.