Called to Serve.....

Garrett recieved his clearence from his doctor to turn in his mission papers and received permission from the mission office to serve a mission. He received his call today....





BALTIMORE MARYLAND MISSION!!
Here is a little map I found that shows where he will serve. We are so excited and proud of G and know that he will be an AMAZING missionary! He reports to the Provo Utah MTC on July 7th 2010. Once we get his address and things we will post that so you can all send him letters along the way! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers on Garrett's behalf. The Lord really does hear and answer prayers.

Follow-up #1

Garrett had is first followup appointment with his Oncologist today. He had a CT scan with contrast on Monday and then met with the doc today to review the findings. The doc said....

He's still clean!

The CT scan showed that the blood clots have gone away and that there are no new masses or signs that the cancer has come back. His blood markers, CBC, and one other tests all came back normal. He also got some good news that he no longer has to take the Cumadin (spelling sorry?) blood thinners. He is really excited about that. That means that as far as they are concerned his body is as back to normal as it can be.

YAY for G!

The only bit of "bad" news is that instead of having to wait only a year to turn in mission papers he will have to wait two years. Apparently the first two years are the most likely time that the cancer could come back so they don't want him going anywhere during that time. But once he is cancer free for two years he is free to put in papers. It was a little discouraging but he was happy to know that all is well still.

Thanks to everyone for continued love and support.

And the verdict is.....

Garrett is now considered....

CANCER FREE!!!!

The doctors in Utah said that the tumor is only about 2mm big and that since there is no other tumors left in his body they are almost positive that it is just scar tissue. They also said about 5 years ago and CT scan wouldn't have even shown a tumor that small.

So Garrett has to have blood work done in three months and then another CT scan in 6 months. Other than that for now the only thing he still has to do is take the blood thinners.

YAY!!!!!! Can I get a Woot Woot!

I think that we are planning on having a celabratory party soon...so stay posted for the details!

CT Scan results

Well, Garrett had a CT scan on Wednesday. He has his last round of Chemo on Tuesday and then went in to the Cassia Regional Hospital to have a CT scan with contrast done. This was done to see if the chemo had done its job and gotten rid of all of the tumors in his body. Garrett hates getting this done because he has to drink this "nasty stuff" (as he calls it). I saw it and trust me when I say that it didn't look appealing. It was flavored apple smoothie but G said it didn't taste like apple or smoothie so he doesn't know why they even call it that :)

They had the CT scan on Wednesday and then headed to Twin to meet with Dr. Symingon his oncologist on Thursday for the results. They actually brought the results with them but Dad said he couldn't read what they said because it was so full of "medical mumbo jumbo".

When they got there Dr. Symington showed them what the scans showed. The tumors in his lungs are gone...but the two blood clots are still there. Much smaller than before but still there. If he was not in chemo and healthy the clots would most likely have dissolved by now but due to everything else it takes the body longer to dissolve. The blood clots are still a worry of sorts but not as major of concern as before since now they are much smaller.

The tumors in his lymph nodes are all gone too, except for one very small on one lymph node. Dr. Symington said she didn't want to make any decisions without consulting his other oncologist in Utah first. So Mom, Dad, and Garrett went shopping for a couple of hours while the Dr. called down to the Hunstman Center to discuss what the next course of action is. When they got back to the hospital a couple of hours later still no decision had been made.

Dr. Symington said that they have three options.

1- Do 2 more rounds of Chemo: She said this isn't really a good option because it has already done its job and his body has been through enough. His body has a harder and harder time making new white blood cells after every treatment so she really doesn't want to put him through more.

2- Remove the lymph node and the tumor: This isn't really a good option either due to the blood clots. While they are smaller in order to do surgery they would have to take him off of blood thinners and that could cause more blood clots and complications. It is a risk that she is not really sure is necessary at this point.

3- Do nothing and monitor the tumor to see if it really is a tumor or just scar tissue: This for obvious reasons isn't really the best option either. If it is a tumor and they do nothing it may grow bigger or spread again. They would do a CT scan again in 6-8 weeks to check on it and keep doing CT scans every 6-8 weeks to monitor it. Again, if it was a growing tumor than a lot could happen in 6-8 weeks.

Basically, Garrett is not the textbook patient. The doctor is uncomfortable with all three options. So what has been decided is that there is a Tumor Board that will meet in SLC to discuss all of Garrett's options and decide which is the best possible course of action in this situation. Apparently the Tumor Board meets when the course of action doesn't follow the normal protocal. The Tumor Board meets on Tuesday so we should hear something from them either Wednesday or Thursday.

Pray that their decision will be the most beneficial to Garrett and hopefully get this Cancer overwith!

Last Chemo Treatment.

This is a short little video of G at his last round of Chemo. It was really cool because I (Robyn) was able to take him. It was a really surreal experiance. This treatment was very short. They gave him a bag of saline to hydrate him and then gave him his chemo along with another back of Saline. It took only about and hour and 45 minutes or so. We watched a couple of CSI reruns on the TV. It was very surreal because the room where he gets chemo is just a really large open room with recliner chairs and cabinets everywhere. In each of the chairs was someone who was getting chemo. There were women and men, young and old. Each of them had someone sitting with them and a blanket wrapped over their legs. I was so grateful that I was able to share that with Garrett.

Three down...One to go...HOPEFULLY!!

G finished round three of chemo yesterday. He's pretty beat but feeling energized knowing that there is a very good chance that he will only have one more round to go!! Monday starts round 4 off with 5 days in a row.

He has another pulminary function test today so hopefully that will be a good indicator at how well he is doing. He also has to go every day to the hospital to get Pnuemagen (Spelling...no idea) shots. These shots help his body make white blood cells. If his count is too low they can't do Chemo.

Keep your fingers crossed that this will be the last round. Once they are finished they will schedule him for some various scans to check that the chemo "melted" the tumors in his lungs and stuff like they had planned.

We'll see!! :)

Better LATE than NEVER....

Dad finally emailed me some photos from Graduation and from when the baseball team shaved their heads. So here you go...enjoy.
This is the baseball team showing off their funny bald heads. Can you tell which one is G-baby? His head is the most white and shiny :)

Here's a picture of all of their faces. What good friends they are to do such a crazy thing.

Here is from Graduation. This is Alex, Jayne, Katelyn, G, and Parker. John and I were unable to fly up to attend and Heather had her grandfather pass away so she wasn't able to attend either.

The proud parents with their 5th child graudation from Burley High School. Go Cats!

This is Garrett and Kace and someone else who I am not sure who they are....Sorry.