7.17.25 - Round 1 of Chemo

Hi Everyone - It’s time for an update now that we have come out of the woods for a bit!

Last Wednesday, July 9 - Friday, July 11, Jas had his first round of chemo.  It was an absolute fiasco getting to this point as it involved running down to NIH the day before for an echocardiogram last minute due to no appointments in Frederick available for days.  However, God opened the door to make it a possibility and it happened!  The importance in doing this extra step was to allow Jas the chance to have Herceptin included in his treatment, on top of the other chemo meds, which is specifically known to target his type of cancer being he is HER2 positive.  So, we felt we had clarity about moving forward with chemo this first round knowing if he could only get one chance to do chemo, it would include the Herceptin and could give him the biggest bang for his buck.  

While we were thankful for the clarity in moving forward, I don’t know how else to describe the next 4 days that followed other than absolute hell.  They could not get his nausea under control, therefore he lost another chunk of weight that he couldn’t afford to lose.  On top of that, there was an area-wide shortage for a couple days of the pain medication that had been working best, therefore he had to switch to a band aid solution that made him even more nauseated until his original pain med came back in stock.  And for those of you who have experienced this process first hand, with chemo comes steroids.  Which means you can’t sleep for a couple nights on top of everything else.  Thankfully the worst of it was ending about the time the kids came back from the family beach trip, so they didn’t have to see dad go through all that he did. 

On a positive note, these past few days have been some of the best days he has had in over a month.  The constant pain he has had in his neck for about 2 months has subsided.  The fluid that we are pulling off his lung has reduced dramatically.  And the nausea has calmed down because the amount of pain meds he has been needing has reduced.  We know each day can throw a new curve ball at us, but for now we are seeing some quick results from the treatment that has helped keep Jas more comfortable this week.  PRAISE JESUS!

What does this mean for next week/next chemo round?  Honestly, we don’t know.  Due to having lost more weight and the toll it took on his body for many days last time around, we will keep praying and asking God to make it clear our next right step. And can trust He will make it clear in his perfect timing.

Today we met with the palliative care team in Frederick.  Their goal is to help find ways to make Jason more comfortable in the stage he is in, which feels wonderful to know we have a team assigned to him that specializes in this care.  They spent almost 2 hours with us today!  And from that appointment we went directly over to the infusion center to get another liter of fluid pumped back in to help him with dehydration. 

So how did the kids do while they were gone?  They had an AWESOME time with family and we were so happy for them that they could have this mental break from reality of what we knew they would face when they returned home again.  So thankful for my family making the sacrifices they did to make this happen for them knowing we couldn’t go!  And to be honest, Jas and I were able to have more time for rest and recovery while they were gone and a much slower pace, which was needed. Here are some pics from their trip!

I wanted to end this post by sharing a with you all huge blessing that only God could have orchestrated and it has encouraged me in a VERY SPECIAL way!  A few weeks ago I had a thought (in my head only, not verbalized to anyone) about how this would all play out with the house that we have been renting for the past 4 years and our current situation.  I was trying to think through if I should share with our landlord the news about Jason’s recent diagnosis or not, as I didn’t want it to scare him to think we couldn’t afford to continue living here, because that’s not the case. However, I pushed the thought aside and didn’t think about it again UNTIL a few days later…. I was at a dear friend’s house and she pulled me aside to share that someone had anonymously covered our next month’s rent for us. I was in SHOCK!  All the questions of how did they know our landlord, how did our landlord respond (as remember I hadn’t shared the news with him yet), etc.  AND I WAS COMPLETELY AMAZED with how generous that was of whomever decided to bless us in that way!  I shared with Jas & the kids and we all were BLOWN AWAY by the generosity!  Fast forward to the next morning before church, I was thinking through this again and it dawned on me, after confirming with Jas, that I had not shared the thought above with him or ANYONE.  Only GOD knew I had this thought.  Not a single other soul. And in the former 3 cancers, we have never had someone step in and cover our mortgage/housing.  But this time, God knew I had this thought and moved someone’s heart to act to show me that he hears me and he will provide for every single need, that his plan and timing are perfect, and He is in control and here to help me through these hard times.  

Gosh, it brings me to tears again just typing this out. Time to add another stone to my Altar of Remembrance as this one was so personalized and tenderhearted from our loving Father!  

Reminds me of Matthew 6:31-34…  Do Not Worry

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

With that, I wanted to end with how THANKFUL we are to all that have shown us love in so many different forms!  Prayers, venmos, gift cards, checks, meals, help around the house, rides for the kids, grocery runs, texts, specialized medical help, personalized gifts, special fun days for the kids, you name it!  We don’t know how we would get through this without our village near and far!  We have such a unique blend of family and friends that are part of our tribe ranging from our blood family, Church Family, FC Frederick soccer family, MEVC volleyball family, Urbana/Frederick Family, World Wide Work family, etc. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!

Much Love, 

Meg

7.6.25 - Time for an update

Hey All - 

I get the privilege to address you directly this time. I guess Meg has the confidence (or maybe superior editing skills) to make sure it reads correctly and concisely.  Between the pain meds and sleep deficiency, it's been hard to concentrate, let alone read or even string a sentence together. Here goes nothing ;) 

Yesterday was a better day and maybe one of the better ones I’ve had in the past 3-4 weeks. Now better is a relative term, but I was able to sit up downstairs for the better part of the day. So praying that with each day and a little more healing, I’ll be able to lower the need for pain meds which will reduce the other side effects.

Since the last post, though not much has changed, we did learn that the recurrence of cancer is most likely from the esophageal which I had way back in 2011/2012. I know this shocked Meg and I just from the duration it was ‘dormant’. But we also get the sense that the doctors are just as puzzled. Therefore, at this point with some other genetic markers, we will see how the Oncology team will deal with it for me. 

The second and really unfortunate effect of having the catheter drainage put into my lungs was the recovery time needed.  Therefore, Meg and I weren’t able to go with her family on their beach vacation this year. This past week, just trying to make it to NIH for recovery treatment was enough to wipe me out for that day and the next. The really hard decision was made, but the blessing was that we could still send the kids with other family members. And what a blessing that was, as they need their own time away and a breather from all of the heaviness that we are dealing with. Right now it does help not having them worry as we work through appointments here. Even with the ROCKSTAR support network we have, I’ve seen the toll it is already taking on Meg to make sure everyone is set up and where they need to be. 

Now with me not going on the beach trip, we’ve been able to get into the oncology rotation a week sooner. Though we still are praying on whether this is the right path, I have an appointment on Tuesday to get a PICC line put in and then start my first round of chemo on Wednesday. While we recognize no chemo is curative, they believe that this might loosen up my abdomen to allow for more food and fluid with the hope of gaining some weight back and reducing some of the pain.  

With this all happening so fast, one of the hardest things I had to do was to cancel a fishing trip to Canada that Tyler and I had been planning for months. We were so excited to spend some ‘dude-time’ together and really use it as a rite of passage. The day we were to leave I was in the hospital, so we had to flex quickly. So as quickly as the fishing trip had to be put on hold, we decided that we’d all go as a family to watch Taylor play volleyball in Florida. The silver lining and what God knew we needed was some sweet time together as a family.  Though it was a tough trip for me physically, we got some good family time and the team was so gracious to me.  Check out the pics of the sweatshirt the families on the team blessed me with to wear as we cheered on our girls.  After this team having been together for 7+ months it feels like one big family!

Also wanted to share how God’s been working over these last couple weeks. First, I don't have enough space to articulate how the many financial blessings have matched areas where we weren’t even thinking.  Second, having the kids still go on the beach trip, though it time away, will restore their souls and their hearts. Third, we have felt confident so far in the decisions we’ve been praying about. 

We do ask that you continue to pray alongside us, for it be clear on each next step we need to take on treatment, pain management and/or palliative care. We also can’t THANK YOU enough for your love, support, help with the kids, meals and financial blessings you’ve flooded us with.

Love,

J