It Is All Good

For those of you who participated in the golf outing and didn't look inside your bag of goodies, I still wanted to express my gratitude. It was an amazing event and we were just beside ourselves with the turnout. I hope everyone had as much fun as Johnny and I did!

This is the "thank you" note that was included in the bag and it pertains to everyone involved:

Dear Friends,

To begin by only saying thank you just doesn’t seem like enough.

Our world came to a screeching halt on July 8, 2009. We had never experienced anything so devastating in our 21 years of marriage. We felt scared, hopeless, and lost. We had no idea what the future would hold. One thing we knew for certain from the minute we received Johnny’s diagnosis: We were not alone.

Immediately after the dreaded diagnosis, our friends were there to provide for us. Food, comfort, Kleenex, wine, friends to laugh with, and shoulders to cry on have yet to be in short supply.

Johnny’s philosophy has always been, “Surround Yourself with Good People.” This summer and fall have driven home the power of his philosophy. Good people have provided for us in so many ways. To be on the receiving end of a fundraiser is a humbling and overwhelming experience. One of our dearest friends told us, “Allow people the blessing of helping.” The blessings have been all ours, to be sure.

The magnitude of this fundraiser and others that are planned have provided us with comfort in the knowledge that no matter what, we are cared for. I will be able to stay with Johnny whenever necessary without worrying about how everything will be taken care of financially. The comfort this provides cannot be described.

To Larry Larson, Brian Tumbleson, Jeff Altergott: Heartfelt thanks in abundance. You guys are amazing. You will forever be held close to our hearts. Huge thanks also to Dave Schiele, Jeff and Maria Brawley for rounding up so many sponsors and raffle prizes. To our Express-1 family, your support has allowed Johnny to keep his “good” weeks normal and has made the “bad” weeks tolerable. To Stevie and Lori Wells, thanks for everything you have done to make this day possible. To all the volunteers, prize donors, hole sponsors, golfers, friends, family and Toad fans, I wish I could create a word that means, “The Biggest Thanks Ever,” but since it is really all we have -- Thank You.

This journey could have been lonely and long without you. Thanks for sticking by us.

From the heart of our bottoms (where this all got started) and the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.

Most sincerely,

Johnny “Toad” and Pam
Quinn and Jake


And now for today's news:

Today was Cycle #7. We started like every other treatment with a visit to Dr. Ansari's office. He gave us the results of the PET/CT scans that were performed last Thursday. Are you ready for this?

Drum roll, please . . . . .

LIVER:

First scan - Multiple lesions in the liver, largest lesion straddles both lobes and is 3.5 X 3.0 cm in diameter. Consistent with metastatic disease.

This scan - Only TWO lesions remain in the liver, all others have RESOLVED! The largest lesion measures 1.8 x 1.5 cm in diameter. Markedly improved.

LYMPH NODES:

First scan - Multiple lymph nodes involved in the para-aortic area. Consistent with metastatic lymphadenopathy.

This scan - Metastatic disease to the left para-aortic lymph nodes has RESOLVED!

COLON:

First scan - Primary adenocarcinoma of the rectosigmoid junction identified. This tumor measured approximately 15 cm. with considerable circumferential wall thickening.

This scan - Marked improvement in the size of the primary tumor. Abnormal wall thickening shows marked improvement.

For those of you who are still scratching your head and going, "Huh?" What that all means is Johnny's cancer is running away with it's tail tucked between its legs. EVERYTHING is better. No, it isn't completely gone, but we didn't expect it to be. He still has 5 more cycles after today, and with what has happened already I don't think it is crazy to think that we will see additional improvement before surgery.

Surgery is still on. As of right now we don't know where or with whom, but for the very first time he actually mentioned that it could be possible to have surgery right here in South Bend. I voiced my concern that we are still dealing with the liver and we still don't have a liver specialist in South Bend. I want it done right, not for convenience. Dr. Ansari said that he agreed and that once we are finished with round 12 of chemo, he will order an additional set of scans to include an MRI. When he has the results of those scans we will sit down and figure out our best options. He said that he will choose for us what he would choose for himself. He also assured me that whatever we decide, we will all be happy with the decision. I liked that, and left his office content.

Oh, but wait. . . there is still more good news! After our visit with Dr. Ansari we went back to the infusion center where they had to draw labs and access his port. (Port access has gone very well the last 3 times, thankyouverymuch!) They always bring us a copy of the labs, because, yeah I am "one of those" wives! Anywho, when Mary brought us the the last page of labs, she was all smiles and wanted to play a guessing game for his CEA level. (Reminder: here are his previous CEA levels starting on July 10th -- 60.4, 34.1, 13.8,and 7.9) Can YOU guess? Here is a hint: Cut it in half again! Today's CEA level was 3.7. THREE POINT FRICKIN' SEVEN!!! According to the lab sheet, normal is 3.1. (I know, Ansari kept telling us FIVE, but evidently he didn't think it would drop so low!!)

Dr. Ansari used the term Partial Remission today. Partial is good; total is better. Total is our goal.

We are OVERJOYED to think that all the crap Johnny has had to deal with since July 8th has been worth it. It is a much different feeling to have them running in the toxic chemicals when you know they are working! He is very upbeat and you can see the relief written all over his face. I feel like I am breathing again for the first time in a very long time.

Please don't forget to pray for him just because things are going well. We know better than to assume everything is going to be just fine with no possibility of bumps in the road. There is still a long way to go, but we are confident that slow and steady will win this race.

I've posted late tonight, and now I am super tired. I need to go give Johnny a good sniffing and then fall off to sleep myself. Thanks for your continued support and interest in the blog. It is my therapy and a good stress outlet for me; and as most of you know I am quite open in sharing personal details of our daily life. I'm just so thankful that I have a captive audience! What will we talk about when Johnny is all better? Hmmmmm. . .

Praying tonight for Megan McKeel. Sheryl and Rick, if you need anything you know where we are!

Oh, and Check This Out! Thanks again, Jessica!

Oh, one more thing: Read Mitch Albom's newest book, Have a Little Faith. It is amazing.

Wait, wait, one more thing: Fish Fry this Friday, October 16th from noon until 8 pm at the Eagles Lodge by the Riverfront Cafe and Ampitheatre. Seriously, I have never seen so much fish and cole slaw in my life. Come eat it or the Brawley's are going to have to eat fish for a month of Sundays!