Relay For Life 2008 Lemoore, CA

Last night I went to Relay For Life for a few hours. I had gone 2 years ago to support my friend Joyce Winter who is a survivor of Melanoma. This year I went to support her once again and also to support my mom. When I first got there and saw Joyce I just hugged her so incredibly tight and tears came to my eyes. You see, just days before she found out that her dad, Jack Poole, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. It just breaks my heart that we are both going through this with our parents. Her mother is also a breast cancer survivor. Joyce gave the luminary speech that night. It was very emotional. I have been very naive you see, like you, I have thought that stuff like cancer didn't happen in our family. Our family has never had to go through such tragedy. It was always someone I knew and prayed for. I had taken life for granted so much. I admit that I thanked God for my health each day but really I said it very passively. Are we truly thankful? Do we thank God for the very breath he has given us to wake up every morning, to kiss our family, our husband, wife or children? As I sat in my chair last night and listen to my dear friend's survival story, I PRAISED God for my life, for my friend's health and his miracle in her, and for my family's life. We need to not take life for granted. Each day is a gift. We need to stop being ignorant and start taking care of the body God gave to us. Please listen to the speech that my precious friend Joyce Winter delivered last night to hundreds of people. She is a cancer survivor and has been cancer free since this past August. Thanks to relay for life and all the donations that support cancer research that continues to find a cure for this tremendous disease. Please pray for her dad as well.

Love to all, Shannon

Info on Ontak

Here's a link that describes Ontak and what it is suppose to do:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/56433.php

Off Chemo On Ontak

Well the bio chemo was not working. Well, we can't say that for sure because it did stop the aggressiveness of the cancer. The PET scan detected no new tumors but there was no shrinkage either. I really didn't know how to feel yesterday.....a little let down but I still will praise God that there is no new tumors. Dr. Miller wants to take mom off the chemo that she had started and try a new immunotherapy called ONTAK. I dont' know much about it but I know that mom is so happy not to go back into the hospital. This treatment will require 1-2 hours of outpatient IV therapy Tues-Friday every 3 weeks for the next 2 months and then she will have another PET scan after that to see how this treatment works. I know that mom and Sarah need a break from that hard chemo--it was just so hard on mom's little body (she is down to 129 lbs). We are really praying that this will not effect her body so harshly and she will be able to eat properly and have little nausea. Pray for next week, she starts on Tuesday.

Love to all, Shannon

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpassses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Mexico by Shan

hey everyone, just thought I would write about my take on Mexico. Boogie beat me to putting up pics -- they are so great. I had a fantastic time, though it was challenging to say the least with driving to LA and flying to Mexico with the 4 kiddos by myself. Gavin was unable to go becasue he was doing his last detachment on the USS Ronald Reagan with VFA 115...Yippee! I was sad that he couldn't join us. Mom and I shared a room together and the kids had an adjoining room -- it was crazy at times but so well worth it. I was so impressed with mom and how strong she was. She walked all over the resort (steps were difficult) and by the end of the trip she was able to pick Nate up and hold him for a while. I think it really strengthened her physically and mentally which is what she (and we) needed. She was eating like a champ and I was thinking that she may have put on a few LBS. The last full day she wasn't feeling too great and she had gotten sick a bit. The worst part was leaving on Tuesday. I couldn't say goodbye to her enough and I kept coming back to her to give her a kiss and a hug. It felt exactly the way it always does whenever she leaves me wherever we are or if I am leaving her from KY......a homesick feeling I will never get use to. Now we are back to reality, the reality that we still have to face this terrible disease and start the fight back up again. Mom called me that Tuesday night a bit upset saying that she walked back into her "cancer room," and she was sad. I was sad too. The thought of her having to go back into the hospital for another round of treatment breaks my heart. For a week we lived like nothing was wrong, no cancer, no sicknes even though we could see that she was still weak. Everything was good. Today mom gets the "official" results of the PET scan -- that is at 5pm EST. I or Boog will post info as soon as possible. Thanks for all your prayers --

Love to all --shannon

More and More and More Pics

1)Gabby, Luke, Jake
2)Sam and Sarah
3)Boog, Mom, Jenn
4)Caroline, Gabby, Jaclyn
5)Jake, Sam, Luke

More and More Pics

1)Mom and Jenn
2)Jaclyn and Gig
3)The Hamptons: Jenn, Jake, Jaclyn, Boog, Luke
4)Mom, Gabby, Sarah, Shan, Caroline, Nate, Sam, Steph
5)Jaclyn and Caroline enjoying Pina Coladas

More Pics

1) The Girls gettin crazy at Senior Frogs (Mom, Sarah, Steph, Jenn, Shan)
2) Luke, Jake, and Gabby after doing the slide into the Lagoon at Senior Frog's
3) Nate, Gig, and Shan
4) The Girly Cousins: Jaclyn, Caroline, Gabby
5) Sarah and Mom looking great

Pictures from Mexico

1) Gig with Grandkids (Jake,Luke, Sam, Nate, Gabby, Jaclyn, Caroline)
2) Gig with Grandkids (Jake, Luke, Gabby, Sam, Nate, Jaclyn, Caroline)
3) Mom with her own kiddos (Sarah, Boog, Shan)
4) Jake, Sam, Caroline, Jaclyn, Gabby, Gig, Luke

What We Know and What We Dont

We know the new Pet Scan reveals Mom's cancer has not gone into remission. Dr Miller's exact words were "there are still lots of things going on." The scan still shows several "hot spots". I was praying for better news. However, like Shan mentioned, He said no new spots were revealed. It seems the treatment has stopped any new spread of disease, but has not significantly taking any of the cancer away. Dr. Miller says that the chemo has helped, but is not 100% sure whether it has been effective enough to continue on with a 3rd or 4th round. We were expecting to get a clearer answer today, but they couldnt pull up Mom's old Pet scan from Jan 30 to compare the two scans. They had the CD right there, but the computer couldnt read it for some reason. With only the written report from Jan 30 to reference , Dr Miller wanted to reserve judgement on the next plan of attack. We are going to meet with him again on Monday, after He has compared the two scans side by side. No one really knew how to take the news. I guess we all thought it was gonna be so much more cut and dry. I definitely wanted more positive results. Im sorta numb and dont know how to feel. Mom is still in good spirits.

Love ,
Boog

These are the results????

hey everyone....I talked to Sarah just a bit ago and she put me on speaker phone during the meeting though I could barely hear Dr. Miller speaking. It was so frustrating. They could not retrieve the last PET scans from Jan. because of some type of difficulty and so they really couldn't compare these past results to the originals. Dr. Miller did say that there are no new tumors, Praise God! But he said he couldnt' give an accurate analysis to whether they have shrunk to a great degree. We are going to go get the original films from Norton's and they are going to finally be able to compare scans by Monday or Tuesday. So really we don't know much. I hope I am getting all this right, Boogie will be able to elaborate more. I can't help to feel frustrated because in my sense I feel like they were not prepared but that is my opinion. I was not able to make it to KY anyhow because I brought a souvenir home from Mexico, mutezuma's revenge. I finally feel a bit better. I get to go pick up Gavin at the base in about an hour so I am so happy about that. I will post some pic and tell some events of Mexico soon. I had a wonderful time and it was so great to be with mom. Thanks again for some many of you that call and email me and tell me that you are praying. I can't tell you how much it means to me.

Love to all --shannon

Fun and Relaxing Times in Mexico

Im happy to be back - okay, that is an outright lie. I'd much rather be in Mexico for a few more weeks. The real world is way too fast, and it might take me a couple days to catch back up. We all had a great time, Mom included. She felt good 90% of the time, which was truly a blessing. The weather was great and the food was endless. I dont think there was a night I didnt get 10 hrs of sleep. Now that is a vacation. Jenn took about 328 pictures, so Ill try to post some of those later to show you some of the fun we had. Shan can elaborate on some of the fun details that went on during the week. She will accuse me of laying around the pool, reading all day (best mindless fiction was Jeffrey Archer's "A Prisoner of Birth"--a fun read) ----Guilty as charged! When can I go back?

Mom has an appointment on Friday morning to review her recent scans. We'll know then how successful her treatment has been and what the next step will be.

Love,
Boog

Gone to Mexico - Might Not Come Back

Tomorrow we leave for Cancun. I know you are jealous. Those going: Mom, Sarah, Steph, Me, Jenn, Luke, Jake, Jaclyn, Shan, Gabby, Caroline, Sam, and Nate. Julie (just started nursing job) and Gavin (slave to the Navy) got the bum deals and arent able to go. We will miss them. I will not be looking hard for an internet connection - I will be way too busy laying by the pool/beach sipping on a cold drink - so i guess there wont be another blog entry until we get back, unless Shan is a lot more industrious and resourceful than me (which will be very easy this week). We are all looking forward to spending some really good, quality time with Mom. It is time we will definitely savor. The 7 cousins should have an absolute ball together. Please pray for our safe travel and for Mom to feel really well, so she can truly enjoy this week with her family.
Love to all,
Boogie

Smaller and Smaller

quick update....just talk to mom and she just finished her tap. She lost another 7-8 pounds of fluid and now she is down to 135 lbs. It shocks me to know that she is loosing weight so quickly but the doctors expected this. Jan (one of her BF from childhood) is with her today and they are going out to dinner tonight --I told her that she better stuff moms face with food. Mom did say she was starving. Good sign! I need all my prayer warriors out there praying for tomorrow and lifting my mom up in prayer for the PET scan. I am going to try somehow to fly to KY for the results when we get back from Cancun. I never thought I would be commuting this much back and forth from CA to KY -- our move can't come soon enough (May 23)!!!

Love to all -- Shannon

"My health may fail, and my spirit my grow weak, but God is the strength of my heart, he is mine forever." Psalm 73:26

Still Not Feeling Great

Mom is still not feeling all that great. Her stomach has never fully settled from round 2 and she is still getting sick periodically. We have all been praying she would feel a ton better before we left for Cancun. She is getting ready to get tapped today in the next couple of hours. Hopefully, draining some of that fluid off will help her get over the little rut she's in. We'll still have a few more days to go, so she has some more time to start feeling better. Ive kidded her --you can feel a little yucky up in your bedroom, in rainy Louisville, KY or feel a little yucky on the beach in Cancun. It is an easy choice, but who likes to feel yucky anywhere, right? Yucky is yucky no matter where you are.

Tomorrow she has all her scans done to see what the tumors look like. Like I mentioned before, we arent going to find out the results until we get back. But I must admit, it will feel weird knowing that those scans have been done, and the important results are "out there". I will want to know what they reveal. Im not a very patient person. I hate to not know something. Im an investigator by nature. A studier. Someone who loves to examine the facts. And the facts will be available, but we wont know them for a couple of weeks. Are the tumors smaller? Have they grown? Are they the same? Have they totally remitted? Ive been wanting to know the answers to those questions for weeks already. It will be super hard for me to wait another week and a half. As for Mom, it wont bother her in the least. She doesnt seem to feel the same need to know like I do. Honestly, I dont know what to make of that. Maybe she is just a lot stronger than me. She is definitely more patient. Maybe she understands whether she knows today or 2 weeks from now doesnt really matter. What we know or dont know wont change the reality of the results any way. Maybe she's scared. Or maybe she's confident. Honestly, I dont know. She doesnt like to talk about it, so I dont bring it up. I just try to stay positive around her. I think that is what she wants from me, but Im not sure. She might talk more candidly to Shan, Sarah, Jenn, Steph, and Julie. The girls have that girl vibe. Im the only guy in the whole family here in Louisville. My vibe is very different from theirs. Sometimes I feel like the title of the book, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". It is true we are wired differently, that is for sure. God designed us that way. The trick is to appreciate the differences and realize that both sexes compliment each other. How that applies in this case......I have no idea. I just love my Mom and hope she knows Im there for her in any way I can.

Pray for Mom. God bless,
Boogie

I Am The Biggest Loser!

This is totally unrelated to Mom, but many have asked how my weight loss competition was going. My family and friends know I'm a big loser, but now it is official --Im the biggest loser of them all! The final weigh in was this morning. I pulled some big numbers, making the Yellow team proud. I lost 33 lbs in eight weeks, going from 216 to 183, a total loss of 15.3 %. There was no magic formula. It was a lot of hard work, but the plan was very simple--Eat well and excercise a ton. You have to burn more calories than you consume. There is no other way. Here are a few specific things I did that work well:
1)Eat little meals every 3 hrs that include lean protein like chicken, turkey, or seafood. This keeps your metabolism high. Make breakfast your biggest little meal and reduce the calories of each meal a little as the day goes on.
2)Drink tons of water. This helps your metabolism and curbs hunger.
3)Avoid fried foods, sweets, drinks with calories, and anything processed or enriched (no white bread-eat only whole wheat or whole grain)
4)Try to exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Do anything for 45 min that gets your heart rate up.
5)If crazy like me, do another 45 min in the afternoon.
6)With extra time lift weights so to keep muscle tissue (wanna burn fat, not muscle)
I will admit I had a special plan for the last 24 hrs. I dont recommend trying this at home. I went on a 24 hr total food and water fast. Believe me, not drinking water for 24 hrs is a lot harder than not eating. Last night I weighed 189. Then I woke up this morning at 5:00, put 5 layers of clothes on, got to the YMCA at 5:30 and ran 3 miles on the treadmill and rode 30 min on the bike. I thought I was gonna pass out. I came home--all 5 layers were ringing wet. Weighed 182. I had lost 7lbs of water. Again, do not try this at home. I got the idea off a wrestling web site for cutting weight. Bad idea. I felt miserable. Stick to the normal plan, numbers 1-6 above. After I weighed in I drank a half gallon of Gatorade and ate a PB and J sandwich and Kit Kat. It may have been the greatest meal of my life. Ok, it was. Then Jenn surprised me with having PF Chang's delivered to me for lunch. She is a sweetie. Im just now starting to feel normal. We have plans to go out with everybody for pizza tonight. I have been craving pizza for weeks. Yummy. Yellow Team rules!

Boog