Appointment Moved to Friday....

Hey guys... sorry I forgot to keep you posted! The follow up with Javeed to get the PET scan results got moved to Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for us for just a little while longer.

Oh... and stay tuned for pictures of Tommy Boy's shaved head. Taylor is shaving hers tomorrow in support. We'll post those too. (haha... just kidding!)

~Whit

PET Scan on Monday

Sooo the first two cycles of chemo are done and now its time to do another PET to see if this chemo cocktail is doing the trick and kicking this cancer's ass. Tommy Boy goes in for the PET on Monday, then we'll go meet with Dr. Javeed on Wednesday to see what the PET showed.

Originally the plan was to do 2 cycles, scan again, then either continue with the current cocktail if it is in fact shrinking for the last remaining cycle, OR if it isn't shrinking to then do 2 cycles of the other cocktail (EOX). But the last time our dad was in getting chemo Dr. Javeed said that him and Dr. Jablons (the surgeon at UCSF) think they will just go straight to surgery if its not working. Not really sure how I feel about that... but I guess I am not Dr. Kahn. But I definitely want to hear what our oncologist at UCSF, Dr. Ko, has to say about it. If he agrees, then I will feel better.

We also meet with Dr. Jablons on the 22nd to go over pre-op stuff for whenever he does have the surgery. I am excited for that appointment because the other 2 times we have been down to UCSF we have left feeling really really good about things. The doctors there are just incredible, and it is the BEST feeling to know our dad is in such good hands.

Keep you fingers crossed the PET brings us good news... and we will definitely keep you posted! Thanks again to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers... we are so lucky to have all of you in our lives.
~Whitney

A Very Ewing Thanksgiving

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving -- it was pure magic from beginning to end :) Not only was it a great turn out (47 people in total!!!), but the food was incredible (thanks to the FABULOUS cooks), Danny and Nicole's house looked absolutely beautiful and the entertainment was first class. The kids entertained us all with a talent show -- just like the good ol' days at Grammy and Papa's. We also carried on with our new tradition of "Thankful Leaves" ~ everyone took some time to write down what they were thankful for this year and we all took turns reading them aloud through out the night. So grateful for our family and our time together... so grateful for the opportunity to create wonderful new memories with our ever growing family. We are truly blessed. I can't imagine a more perfect time to reflect on our blessings and give thanks.

Thank you all for your love and support -- special thanks to our family for giving us all exactly what we needed at exactly the right time.

~kyle, whitney & taylor

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart." ~Jean Baptiste Massieu

good news :)

Dad was supposed to go in for chemo today which would have actually sucked because he'd start feeling pretty bad around Friday and through our long Thanksgiving weekend. They called him today and said he should enjoy the weekend and go in for the poison on Monday - woohoo :)

We've got quite the agenda for the weekend so this is truly great news! Everyone is doing their own thing Thursday and we are all meeting up on Friday in Paso Robles for Thanksgiving part deux. We are looking to have a serious turnout for this Ewing family get together. Last count was 48 and growing - and when I say growing, I mean it quite literally. By the time Friday comes, 8 more of my cousins will probably be pregnant - hard to believe there are so many grand babies now... i kinda love it :) I am so looking forward to being surrounded by my entire family - will be missing Mike and Ash, Scott, Kelly and Collin and Matty Boy, but the rest of the crew should be there.

It will be perfect - dad can get a little soul food this weekend - lots of love and laughter, then go in and beat the hell out of the tumor on Monday!



And - as promised... here are the place cards that we worked on last weekend - cutest ever, huh?

Happy Thanksgiving to all... I know I've got a lot to be thankful for - the love and support of friends and family for one.

I'm going to spend some time tomorrow being thankful I'm at the spa instead of work, that the weather is gorgeous when it could easily be raining, that I get to see my family Friday when I never expected everyone to come and especially that I landed where I did - in life, with this crew... when I could have easily been born to anyone else :) lucky me!

~kyle

Accessorizing...

Dad's feeling good. I saw him today at Whit's and he looks pretty good too! It has become clear quite quickly that the chemo has not gotten the best of Tom Ewing :)

We (the girls) were getting crafty and working on the place cards for Thanksgiving, thinking out loud about ways to get a hold of some twigs (should we just buy cinnamon sticks, can Taylor scrounge some up in her hood?). Next thing you know, there goes my dad. Out the door and up a tree. Whitney's birch tree out front. He pruned the heck out of it then proceeded to cut us 40 perfect bundles for our random crafty idea.

We took it inside and worked out a nice assembly line. Whitney stamping, dad embossing, me on handwriting, Taylor and Renee tying the twine. We will be sure to post pics of the gorgeous, eco-friendly, sustainable place cards once they are complete - they were definitely a labor of love!

Also - Whitney gave us these gorgeous necklaces today with St. Joseph (the patron Saint of fathers), an angel wing and a locket. She gave dad a bracelet with some other saint that is the patron saint of cancer patients (or maybe it's just cancer?). He wasn't totally pumped on wearing a bracelet and said he'd keep it in his wallet (this was so not OK with Whitney). Whitney argued that this was a very manly bracelet - I considered this a bit of an oxymoron (Ryan agreed this was 100% an oxymoron - potentially even more so than "jumbo shrimp"). When he came by this afternoon, Whitney asked if he was wearing it and he was. Up above his watch with the charm tucked in between the velcro of his watch band so it didn't dangle. Hilarious.

It was so nice to be together. We had a really good today :)

~kyle

Keep that mojo acomin!

I've been talking to Dad the last few days and he says he's been feelin kinda crappy.

This is the scarey part for me - I feel like a kid again when he went through this twenty years ago.... completely helpless. I've heard of parents wanting to make their kids better when their sick and this is exactly how I feel right now. Everyone knows that our dad is everything to us. Everything. A best friend, coach, river guide, mechanic, carpenter, hair stylist, seamtress, peanut butter and jelly maker. You name it- Dad is the first person we think of who can do it, and do it right - the first time.

He is still kicking cancer's ass, but it looks like may need Dad some chearleaders (don't tell him I said anything) yelling "Defense! Defense!"and"Be Aggressive! Be Be Aggressive!"

The not so blogger,
Taylor

Update from Chemo Round 2

I just got a call from my dad as he was leaving chemo.

Dad: Hi honey, just wanted to call you and let you know that I'm leaving chemo and I feel so good I'm going to go get Panda

(note to reader: i'm pretty sure that panda express would be my father's final meal if he were getting the chair tomorrow which is hilarious, but sweet and simple and i kinda love it. we knew things were bad when even Panda wasn't working for him a few weeks ago).

Me: That's awesome - so you don't feel terrible or you actually feel good?

Dad: I feel good.

Me: So, like you are the rare person who randomly loves chemo and feels like a million bucks after?

Dad: I don't know if I'd quite say that...

But, he is feeling good and is clearly in good spirits. The nurse said that he shouldn't expect to feel any worse than he did the first time around as far as nausea goes, but that he might experience more fatigue than in the past.

So far, so good :)

~Kyle
(not quite the bloggin fool whitney is, but give me some time...)