So here's the deal:

He starts chemo next Monday. He will be hospitalized for 3 days, while they administer the drugs which takes 48 hours @ a time. This is a very hefty chemo consisting of 3 drugs. Then he gets 3 weeks off. They said right around day 17, he will loose his hair. Amy, hair shaving party? Bring it on!
THEN on December 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th, he will start his second round. He will go to the hospital for 10 hours at a time, but can sleep at home. This has only 2 drugs, but causes different side effects than the first set. Merry Christmas...
Once again, he gets 3 weeks off, then they do another PET scan. This will continue for 6 months.
He will have a catheter inserted into his chest for the duration of treatment. Because of this, he will have Home Health Care to help with the dressings and keeping it clean.

I think that's about it. He will have a gamut of scans starting Monday. The first one is to make sure his heart is healthy enough to insert the catheter. The second one is a bone scan to check on his pelvic bones. FUN!!!

This is just the beginning: Meet Dr. Collins and Kristina, her nurse.
I

We qualified for medi-cal!

Our share of cost is still pretty high, but at least we have something.
That said, i can't believe the support and love, and generosity we have been on the receiving end of. God is taking something so crappy, and turning it to his glory. I guess Randy has really touched you hearts. I googled Randy Miller/The Myriad...13 pages popped up with 10 links on each page about him and this battle. Plus on my myspace bulletin list, 8 out of the 10 listed were Randy's video that Jesse and Jeremy did. Blew me away. At the end of this, God WILL be victorious, Randy will be healed, and we will all be on our knees in awe of just what God can do. I already am.

We meet with his oncologist today. Her name is Dr. Carolyn Collins. We have the best of both worlds, an amazing local Dr. and a top notch team from Stanford that she will defer to. We have our support team in place with our family and dear friends, medical costs covered, a roof over our heads, (thanks again) and a never emptied frig. It's either piping fresh hot meals, or leftovers the next day, then more hot food... last night beef enchiladas, oh BABY!!! yummy. Yesterday was a good day. :)

We are both a little nervous to go today, because everytime we go to a Dr's office, the news gets worse. It's all a part of the journey though. He is bringing us along slowly, but i appreciate it. If we knew how scary and hard this was in the beginning, i probably would have grabbed him and ran to Mexico. Can't find him there... oh, wait, cancer is the enemy. Can't hide from that...
All right God, part our red sea, and drown our enemy!

LOVE

God's comandment that covers all else.
LOVE. Love your God, Love your neighbor.
I'M FEELING IT!!!

Harry & David, Country Organics, and Shonnie Wolcott

What a day for deliveries!
If you know Shonnie, you know what just saying her name means. A gift basket full of all the fixins for a banana split, and a cool basket, plus a scooper. All decorated with ribbons and sparkles... The kids are in heaven.
On top of that, friends are bringing us amazing meals throughout the week. I have NEVER in my LIFE opened up a box FULL of H&D stuff. Can't wait to dig into all that goodness. And it's like Christmas opening up our juicing box. Just as soon as we finish up all the fruits and veggies, another box appears on the doorstep. AMAZING!
God is not only showing us how big he is, he's making us smile through our tears, whether we want to or not. Last night I dreampt He was like a beautiful peacock, strolling through the woods, over all of the multicolored leaves and mullberries. Sounds odd, i'm sure. Maybe the fact that my front yard is COVERED with red and yellow leaves and mullberries, had something to with that, but the peacock is all Him. He's so beautiful to me.

We are coping, making it through this battle called "medi-cal". I have a feeling this is gonna kill us first. (sorry, bad joke). I can't wait to have that part over with, so he can start chemo. That probably sounds odd too. Who the heck WANTS to start chemo???

Thanks again for all of your love and prayers. We SOOOOOO feel them! We love all of you.

for those who want to read more about it:

Here's a link with a lot of info about this cancer.

http://sarcomahelp.org/Newsletters/V01N06/Mes_Chondro/mesenchymal_chondrosarcoma.htm

Good news first? Why not...

The chances of amputaion is very low. awsome.
this concludes our good news portion for the evening...

Now the crappy parts:

It is an even MORE rare type of cancer called "Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma".
Big word. Bad prognosis.

The Dr. put it to us like this: It is going to be as hard to fight, if not harder, than lukemia. AWSOME!!!

Chemo is up first, as soon as medi-cal goes through.
Then another surgery. Then radiation. Then hopefully remission.
The research is fleeting because it is so rare. I guess only 2 cases per year, but tomorrow i will post what my sister has found on the subject. (thanks Lorra).

Also we have to look at genetic testing, since his sister has breast cancer, and he has another type of tumor on his adreanl gland, so it hints to a certain genetic abnormality, that pre-disposes them to cancer. So it will effect his other siblings and our children. AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!

medical terminolgy for dummies:

this is the raidology report ( i snuck a peek) teehee...

1.Ring shaped moderate hypermetabolism is noted in the left axilla at the site of the ill defined soft tissue mass noted on CT scan. This is the site of the chondrosarcoma.
2.Moderate-intense hypermetabolism is noted in the markedly enlarged right adrenal gland. This is stable in appearance from prior CT scan. Findings are concerning for adrenal metastasis versus adrenal adenoma.
3. Focal hypermetabolism is noted in the proximal left humerus, right iliac wing and proximal left femur. Only the right iliac wing shows subtle lytic lesions at this site on the CT scan. Findings are concerning for bony metastasis.

Real words, please?
1. There is still a ring of cancer cells around where the main tumor was in his shoulder.
2. There is a 5.2 x 3.8 cm "growth" on his right adrenal glad, that was eating a lot of the stuff they injected into him. (When it metabolises so quickly, this generally means it's malignant). However it doesn't show the same characteristics of the original tumor, therefore is possibly a whole different cancer!
3. Somewhere on his left arm, and left thigh, there are areas that mirror the same characteristics of the chondrosarcoma, and would carry the same prognosis as the original tumor.

Reading this, i feel the weight and gravity of it all and will probably sit here for a moment and pray/cry, and then go back to getting ready for this trip. PLEASE pray that this is all a mistake. I refuse to go down the bad road yet. If anything has been shown to me these last 3 weeks, is that our God is unbelievably good. He is here with us, and i have FAITH that moves mountains, because Jesus says i do. If you don't agree, take it up with Him. He's taking all my calls this weekend.