Update on my sweet Jared.....

Sorry its been soo long since my last update...my how time flies! So Jared had another round of Chemotherapy. He started monday March 7th, it was only a 5 day cycle, finishing on friday..but instead of 170mg of Temodar a day (which is what he took the first round), they doubled it to 300mg of Temodar. We were thinking no big deal...he flew through the chemo & radiation like it was nothing. But we were in for a surprise...and not the good kind! By thursday he started tasting a metal flavor in his mouth. It got worse over the next days and weeks, til he pretty much just stopped eating all together....I think he's lost almost 10 pounds.
But even worse he has been sooooo tired. Tired like when you havent sleep all night and cant think straight. But for Jared he was sleeping all the time! The worst days were probably the end of last week. thursday, friday and saturday I think he was asleep longer than he was awake. It was killing him. And I worried about him driving to work and stuff. It made me really stop and think about how you always hear people say....if the cancer dosent kill them, the chemotherapy will. It literally zapped the life right out of him. It was soo hard to see him go from doing soo well, happy & motivated, to soo tired that he was a zombie, not functioning and when he was awake, he was down about how tired he felt all the time.
Then on saturday night, he started feeling itchy all over. His head, his back, his arms, everything itched. He started putting anti-itch cream on, but that only locked in the heat and made it worse. By sunday morning we were calling the pharmacy, he said its probably a reaction to the Temodar, so they had him take Zyrtec and it helped.
So fast-forward to today, tuesday...I think I finally have my husband back YEA! Although he says his food still tastes weird, he is eating again. And even better, he only slept for about an hour today!
We will go back to Huntsman next tuesday, March 29th, have more blood drawn, and get a prescription for another month of Chemotherapy. Yuck! Dr. Coleman wants to up his dose again, this time to 400mg per day, but I say no way!! Hopefully he will let him take a lower dose for more days or something. At least until his body can adjust to the posion he's putting in it! Another option is to reduce the anti-sezure medicine he's on. That slows your brain down too and can make you tired. Its a double edged sword! Hopefully we can get some answers next week when we go!

Great News....Its Shrinking!

This is the Radiation department gals...they LOVED Jared! After his 33 treatments they gave him a blanket and a certificate and LOTS of hugs! He wanted to bring them in some donuts to say thanks! Jared was able to touch a lot of peoples lives, also having radiation. He was an inspiration!

I decided to take you on a journey of what we do and see each time we go to the Huntsman Center. Outside we drive up to the front and guys are waiting to valet park our car. They are college boys, and they are not allowed to take tips of any kind. Above there's a shot of the main entrance. The Radiation department is straight ahead. The Neuro-oncology department is up the stairs on the second floor. Once were upstairs we got to Clinic E. We check in and then go to Clinic Lab (blood drawn) first, just down the hall.

Then a nurse takes Jared's weight, blood pressure, and temperature...what a good sport!

Here is the Clinic E waiting room. Its NEVER this empty. Its usually CHUCK FULL of people waiting! Our appointment was at 8:00 am so we were the first appointment of the day.

Here we are waiting.....I guess even when your first, you still have to wait!

K so Jared's MRI from November is on the left (before his biopsy) and the MRI on the right is from yesterday. The tumor is the whitish cloudy-lookin' stuff. Its kinda hard to tell, because the brain slices don't always match up exactly, but his tumor is smaller on the right. The big black dot at the bottom is from his original biopsy in 1999. its a pocket of fluid. The doctors aren't worried about it, its not harming him and its just brain fluid.

This is Barbie, one of the nurses. She is soo fun! We love to see her. She always teases Jared and gives him a hard time!

This is John Conley, PhD. Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He is such a great guy! He has been their for Jared since the beginning...11 years ago. A really sweet guy! He asked Jared and I if we would consider being in a group with other people with Brain Tumors. He thinks Jared's story would help inspire others. He isn't a member of the church, but he always tells us that their is something different about us. He says its a feeling we carry with us. But we know its the gospel and our Eternal Perspective on life!

Jared with Sean Strope PA-C. He works alongside Dr. Coleman as his assistant. He has been really helpful. Always takes the time to find out how we are doing.

Jared with Dr. Howard Coleman MD PhD. He is Jared's Neuro-Oncologist. This guy is soo smart. He came to Huntsman last summer from Texas. We like to think of him as a Scientist. Just brilliant! A really great guy!
We know that we are soo blessed to be at the Huntsman Center and associated with these amazing people who have blessed our lives. They truly are wonderful!

This saying sits on the front counter in Clinic E. I LOVE what it says. Basically Cancer is just a thing...it cant control us!

We went back to the Huntsman Center this morning to find out the results of Jared's MRI taken yesterday. As we met with Dr. Coleman He delivered the Great News! Jared's Tumor is shrinking! We were actually really surprised (and soo was the doctor) that you could see it shrinking. Usually it takes a full month or two after ending Radiation before you can start to see a difference. He also said that Jared's blood levels were that of a normal person. Ha Ha! I mean, they weren't low at all, right where they needed to be. We were soo Happy & Grateful!
Jared will have a little bit of a break, and start Chemo again on Monday March 7th. And then we will go back to see Dr. Coleman at the end of the month on March 29th. So until then Jared can have a normal life for awhile!

All Done!

Yea! Jared had his last Radiation treatment this morning! I cant believe he is done! The nurses up at Huntsman were soo cute to him! They gave him a blanket and a certificate of completing his 33 treatments along with lots of hugs! I told him I think a few of them had the hots for him and his bald head! He also got to bring home his scary mask that he wore every day during radiation. I still think its creepy! Every time I went to treatments with him (which was just a few times) other patients would talk to Jared like they were long lost friends. It was amazing to see the effect that Jared had made on these other patients. He was always soo positive and happy to see everyone. And because he felt soo great, Im sure he was an inspiration to others who were struggling. There was one cute older guy, Jared would tease him because they were at about the same place in their treatments, but this older guy hadnt lost any of his hair, and here Jared was completely bald. ha ha! Jared was just a great sport, about all of it, and so he could joke about it! Hopefully his hair will grow back..it might take a few months...we'll see!
We go next monday..Valentines day, for his MRI. Then on tuesday we meet with Dr. Coleman for the results from his MRI. We are very Hopeful, that it will be good news! We will keep you posted!
Thanks again for all the Love & Prayers!

Stoddard Family...

The famous Hoopernacle..owned by Jared's uncle Hal

This was the house in Hooper Jared lived in, his uncle Hal was right next door

Jared with Hal

The kids love to play in uncle Hals playhouse

Jared with his sister Angie

Jared with his mom Karen

Hal, Jared, Karen, Angie & her daughter Jessica...can you tell its freezing!

A couple of days ago we took a trip out to Hooper where Jared was born and his family lived til he was about 5 years old. Because Jared's dad & older brother Scott were killed when Jared was 6, He has always been close to his dads brother Hal Stoddard. Hal is just about the greatest guy you could ever meet! Very humble and full of love! He still lives in Hooper with his darling wife Joyce. Jared loves to go out and visit them, because if you know Jared, Jared is a true country boy through and through and would love to live out in the middle of nowhere..not that Hooper is nowhere..its just a great quiet little town. So to him Hooper is home. Here are some of the pictures we took that day.

The Final Stretch....

WOW! We are down to the final week of Jared's Radiaion & Chemotherapy. His 33 treatments of Radiation will end on Monday February 7th. It seems like its been soo long since the Biopsy, it truly is amazing how fast time flies! There isnt any new news. Jared is still doing just Great! That has been the most amazing part of all! We just kept bracing ourselves for him to get sick...but it never happened. I think only 3 times has he told me he felt a little tired. And thats about it. He has felt great, and looks great! Even with his bald head..ha ha! He has also felt strong in his left leg..he's running up the stairs! Its been really amazing. We will go in for an MRI on Monday February 14th and meet with Dr. Coleman. After the MRI we will beable to see what the tumor is doing. Hopefully it shows some sign of shrinking. The Radiation will stay in his body for a couple of months, so his tumor could continue to shrink. He will continue to be on the Chemo, just not every day, probably 5 days out of the month.
Again, we thank you all for your prayers...we feel soo blessed!

Its official...he's a Skinhead!

Just look at that Good-lookin' head! Well, I missed taking the picture right before he went to the Mansfiled's and borrowed Trents electric shaver...dang it! So by the time I got to him, he had already started shaving his head! But if I had gotten a picture, you would have seen that he had completly gone balled, in just 4 spots on his head, he was starting to look like a cancer patient! Soo we shaved him smooth! It looks really good, he's lucky he has a perfect head for baldness..ha ha! Except for his scar on the top, which is a little lumpy-bumpy! But he cant see it, so it dosent bother him. But I think he looks a little mean and rough with no hair! The girls are sad though, cause they love to do their daddys hair, but I told them it will grow back before you know it!

He is now more than half way through his treatments...yea! The doctors are still so amazed that he is doing soo well, and feels so great! Jared told me just last night, I know his sounds crazy, but I feel better right now on Chem & Radiation, than I have felt in years! Weird huh? He used to kinda drag his left leg, and stumble when he walked...now he is running up the stairs (something I havent seen him do in a really long time!) It is such a miracle to us! Hopefully its a sign of things to come!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers, we are soo blessed to have each of you in our lives..we feel your love!

13 Treatments down....20 more to go!

This Picture was our inspiration for wanting to do puzzles....it hangs up in the Huntsman Cancer Center. This puzzle was bought by Jon Huntsman, and given to one of his 18 year old grandsons as a joke. But the grandson looked at it as a quest! It took him 6 months to complete and has....get this.....24,000 peices! It is amazing to look at...and it makes our little 1000 peice puzzles look easy! See we can do hard things!

After 3 weeks, we are almost half way through Jared's Radiation & Chemo treatments. He will have a total of 33 treatments, so if everything goes as scheduled, he should be done sometime around, monday February 7th. The only thing that will change that is if he gets sick or if his white blood count goes down too low. They take a sample of his blood each week, and so far his count has been above normal, so thats great! He has been really lucky and he has felt really good! The only side effect he has had is that he sometimes feels a little dizzy at night after he takes his Chemo pills. But other than that, he has done great! But because of the Radiation he has a few balding spots on his head. The doctor said he will just loose his hair where they are radiating him. Its hard to tell in the pictures above, but its getting a little thin...we cut it short again last night, because hes finding hair everywhere!

When we go up to the Huntsman center for his appointments, they have puzzles in all the waiting rooms, at first I thought it was a little strange, but one day while I was waiting for Jared I sat down and started working on one, and I realized it was very relaxing, and very therapeutic. Sooo, weve been doing puzzles at our house! I think weve done a total of 5 puzzles, 1000 peices each! Its really fun and its been good for Jared...and It keeps him using his brain!

1 Treatment down...32 More to go..

1 treatment down....32 more to go...that was Jared's comment as he came out of his first radiation treatment today. He asked them if I could go back with thim and take some pictures before his treatment, (I promise it was not my idea)..but I was glad to beable to see what he will be having done each time. So they made him a mask and a pillow last week. Its very important that he is radiated in the exact same place each day, so they made this mask and pillow, then they snap the mask to the table. It was awful! I have closterfobia, so to see my sweet husband lying their, with his face snaped down to a table was really hard for me. He cant open his eyes or even open his mouth to speak. I asked the Rad guys what they do if someone like me had to have treatments. They said they have to take anxiety medicine before each treatment! Yikes! I had anxiety just being in the room! So I quickly took some pictures and got out of there. His actual radiation lasts just under 10 minutes and they radiate him in 4 different places. He will loose his hair, but just in the places where he has his treatment, so he might look a little funny, but that is the least of our worries! Well just have to keep his hair short. Hopefully he doesnt get too sick! He is doing so great, Ive been soo proud of the way he has handeled all of this! Love you Jared!

Radiation Treatment....

We went back to the Huntsman yesterday, to the Radiation department. They made Jared's mask for his treatments. Its like a wet cloth that they put over his face, and as it dried, it hardened to the shape of his head. Its got lots of holes in it so he can breath. But they will put this on him each time before treatment and bolt it to the bed, to help make sure he gets the radiation in the same place each time. Each treatment will last about 4-5 minutes. They are thinking he will have 30 to 35 treatments.
We will go back next thursday to have a run through and to discuss his treatment plan. Then his Chemo & Radiation will both start the following monday on December 20th.
Hopefully he will beable to tolerate having both together, every day, for 6 weeks.

Radiation...

We went up to Huntsman today and met with the Radiation doctor, Dr. Shreeve. Jared had a mask made for his head, for his radiation treatments. This will help so that he will get the radiation in the same spot everytime he goes. His radiation treatments will start next monday on December 13th, his treatments will be every day, monday through friday, for 6 weeks, for a total of 30 treatments. It sounds like alot, but it will be the most effective way to help shrink his tumor.