A quick hello

Hi all,

It is funny how I always look forward to summer and imagine lazy, relaxing days — just to find that summer can actually be more hectic than the rest of the year!  Last week flew by in a whirlwind since the baseball and softball seasons came to a close.  Vincent’s last game can summarize his entire ball season — it was called due to the fields being too wet.  He did enjoy the games that he was able to play, loved his coach and enjoyed playing with all his teammates.  As he points out to me on occasion, he just might want to play baseball in the majors when he grows up.

Daphne’s last game was played on the varsity field, under the lights.  She had a great game — two hits that scored two runs!  She also made a great play in the infield that got an out for her team.  She too enjoyed her season and was thrilled to end it with a victory.

Rachel’s team won their first two games of their tournament and played in the championship game for her age level.  All of these games were played on the varsity softball field, a couple under the lights as well.  It was a terrific championship game.  Though there was a controversy towards the end of the game that lead to the eventual defeat of Rachel’s team, the girls were great sports and took it all in stride.  (It probably helped that the runner up team got a trophy also, along with the winning team.)

These late night games were followed by early morning (well, early to the kids) vacation bible school.  The kids once again had a great time at VBS.  Many thanks to Shelli Stohler and all the other wonderful volunteers that run this fantastic program.

As far as Joel is feeling, he and I are a little stumped as to why he is still so fatigued.  Last week, he did pick up the kids from VBS every afternoon and they would go out to lunch together, run errands, etc.  However, Joel still has his days, such as today, when he is awake for only a couple hours the entire day.  We did not expect him to want to run marathons or anything while he is taking a break from his chemotherapy treatments.  However, we were hoping for a higher energy level than what he is experiencing at this point.

I wish I could share pictures of the girls’ final games, or even just of the garden while Rachel is performing her daily task of watering it — but I never seem to have my camera handy.  I will end with a picture of Vincent’s 7th birthday ice cream sundae (chosen over birthday cake).  Take care.   I hope your summer is going well!

April

No treatment today

Hello,

Joel was scheduled to have his bi-weekly chemotherapy today.  As usual, we met with his oncologist first.  Joel explained that he is still struggling with fatigue from this new treatment.  Joel dreads his chemotherapy sessions since he knows he will not feel well for at least a week, if not longer, after the treatment.  Then, once he begins to feel better, it is time for another treatment.  His doctor believes that the treatment is making Joel feel worse than the disease itself.  So, much to Joel’s delight, he will not have another treatment for the next four weeks.  At that point, we will meet with the doctor again and assess Joel’s condition.  Depending on how Joel is feeling, treatment might begin in four weeks, he may have a scan or he might be able to enjoy more time away from chemotherapy.  For the time being, Joel is simply ecstatic in having the break from chemotherapy for a few weeks.

On a side note, the garden is looking fantastic!  The kids are excited to harvest the first fruits of their labor.

Take care!

April

P.S.  Good morning, Shelli!      

Joel B. Peigh Foundation

Hey all.  Hope all is well in your world.  Just plugging away in mine.  On the personal front, April and I have been busy.  We made a trip with friends over to St. Louis a couple weeks back and saw a couple Cardinal victories.  We had a really good time.  We also are tending our garden this year with the kids.  Rachel stays on top of the watering and we even have a few peppers beginning to bear fruit.  The little things get us jacked up around here.

We have started a new treatment as of  Tuesday.   Apparently,  there are 5 different chemotherapy drugs that are approved for my type of cancer.  We have gone through 4 of them as they didn’t work for me and we have now started the 5th.   In the event this one doesn’t work, we’ll be back into more experimental and clinical trial drugs.  I should have a new scan completed in 8 weeks to determine progress.  Keep our fingers crossed.

As you might have noticed a link on the front of the web page taking you to a new website for the Joel B. Peigh foundation for the “peighitforward golf classic”.  I’ve wanted to start a foundation for awhile now and we are in the process of completing that.  The foundation will be designed to host fundraisers.  The golf outing is just the first in what I hope will be many more to come.  My hopes are that the foundation will survive and thrive long after me.  It will be designed to raise money to primarily be filtered to two main areas.  1 — Cancer research and 2 — Families in need that have been afflicted.

Through my journey, I have noticed that this disease is in dire need of research dollars.  As good as care is in 2009, curative solutions are still a long ways away and unfortunately in our world that means dollars must be raised to battle this disease.  I also want a portion of proceeds to go and help families that have their world turned upside down by this disease.  Acquiring cancer changes everything in an individuals life from outlook to being able to function tasks that were taken for granted.  I want to be able to help families with their bills, groceries, gas, etc as they undergo their treatments.  We’ll make sure that research dollars will get into the hands of the doctors doing research as opposed to charities with large overhead to eat.

Our 1st event will be August 15th at River Glen Golf Course.  You can sign up from the website and mail your entry fee in.  If you have any problems, please contact us and we’ll help.  There will be plenty of prizes for entrants to win and I look forward to seeing you all there.  If you’d like to sponsor your business or a hole, that is available, it should be  a really fun day.  Gonna keep it short.  I know its been awhile since I’ve posted and am thankful to April for picking up the slack.  Will talk to you soon

Joel

May 20th

Exactly one year ago today, we were informed that Joel has stage IV esophageal cancer.  May 20, 2009, did not bring us good news either.  Joel’s oncologist called him today to regretfully explain that the results from the CT scan Joel had yesterday has shown the cancer has spread in the liver.  Though I don’t know any details yet, we are to meet with the doctor early next week to discuss a new treatment plan.

On a better note, Joel has been feeling well the past few days.  He was fatigued today, but that is probably due more to all the hard work he and the kids exerted in the yard yesterday afternoon.  Rachel has the after-school daily chore of watering the vegetable garden and all the flowers that they planted around the house.  The flowers look great and we are anxiously awaiting to harvest the fruits of their labor.  (Daphne did help as well, however she is not pictured since she had stepped inside for a break.)

An update

Hello,

From the number of phone calls and emails I have been receiving the past couple of days, it appears I should be updating this website more often!

Last weekend, Joel was feeling fatigued, as usual, after his treatment the previous Tuesday.  Monday morning, however, Joel woke up feeling great!  He stated he felt the best he has in months.  He was up, showered and out of the house before 9:00 am.  We were both very hopeful that the last change in his treatment may have done the trick.  We talked optimistically that perhaps he will be feeling better, for progressively longer periods of time, from then on.  We were not discouraged when Joel was tired around 3:00 pm on Monday afternoon.  The rest of Monday, Joel took his periodic naps on the couch.  We had hoped that Tuesday would be another “good day” with perhaps an even longer stretch of energy.  So you can imagine the frustration when Joel could barely open his eyes at 9:00 am Tuesday morning.  For Tuesday, along with Wednesday and today, the fatigue has returned.  The higher energy level was very short lived.  Joel is back battling the same fatigue issues that have plagued him all along.

So, in a way, I don’t feel like I have any new news to report.  We will know more early next week and I will report back then.

April

On to Plan …. D?

Hi again,

Joel and I met with his oncologist this morning, prior to his chemotherapy treatment.  As usual, Joel had his weight, temperature, pulse and blood pressure taken.  All the numbers looked fine, except for his weight — he has lost five pounds since his last visit four weeks ago.  We discussed with his doctor the fact that Joel was still very fatigued, though the Epirubicin was removed from his treatment last time.  Joel was asked the difficult question of whether he was tired or sleepy — and I still don’t think I understand the slight difference between the two.   Anyway, Joel expressed his frustration with all the fatigue he has been having and we had the very difficult discussion of quality of life versus quantity of life.  The goal of Joel’s treatment is to slow down or shrink the cancer.  We discussed the fact that the treatments most likely will not bring remission.  However, the treatment should not be worse than the disease itself.  The course of action now is to modify the treatments as many times as need be in order to control the cancer, without causing too many unwanted side effects, such as constant fatigue.

So, I believe we are on Plan D (?) now.  Joel is to have his Oxaliplatin chemotherapy more often (every two weeks, instead of every three weeks), yet the dosage will be lower.  In addition, he will no longer take the Xeloda chemotherapy pills every day.  Instead, he will alternate weeks — one week taking the pills daily and the next week, not take the pills at all.  Joel is to try this treatment plan for the next two weeks.  Then we will return to the Med Center in two weeks for another CT scan.  His doctor is hoping that coming more often, with a lower dosage, will help Joel feel better between treatments.

I must admit that I did not talk much during the doctor’s appointment since I had to fight back tears for most of it.  In the elevator on the way to his chemotherapy session, I explained to Joel that I realize he must be frustrated with the fatigue, but that I would much rather have him at home (and not in pain, of course) and tired than not being home at all.  Joel brought up the whole quality of life versus quantity of life topic again.  Deep down, I guess I am in denial or shock or disbelief that we are even forced to have these conversations.  I can’t believe we haven’t woken up from this bad dream and found that everything is just fine.  I keep waiting for some really good news that will make everything better.  I keep hoping and praying…..

April

Opening Day

Howdy,

Saturday, April 25th was Opening Day for the kids’ softball and baseball seasons — and the entire family had a great time that day!  Joel was feeling well and was able to attend two of the three games (Vincent and Rachel’s games since Daphne’s game slightly overlapped with Vincent’s game).  This being the first game of the season, I wasn’t quite with it — I forgot my camera until the last game (which was Rachel’s), but even then I forgot to take any pictures until the game was over.  I was sitting right behind home plate, but no pictures of Rachel’s hits or her crossing the plate to score a run.  I also forgot all three kids’ cleats.  I am not in the groove of sunscreen yet either — which Joel and I bore the brunt of that mistake.  Overall, it was a fun, exciting, hot day at the ball fields.

Joel is feeling better than he was just a few days ago.  The fatigue is not as bad as it was, but it still creeps up on him and come the early evening, he is content to nod off in the recliner.  But he is able to get up and about during the day, which we are very thankful for.

With the couple of 80+ degree days we have had, I must end with another great summertime activity…….

Hope you are enjoying spring where you are!  Take care!

April

Unfortunately, no news is not…..

Hello again,

Though I don’t really have bad news, I guess it could be best described as frustrating news.  Two weeks ago today, Joel had his chemotherapy treatment.  He has yet to leave the couch for any significant length of time.  Thankfully Joel is not complaining of any major pain or discomfort.  He is, however, extremely frustrated with his lack of energy.  Every morning for the past week, we had been hoping it would be the day that Joel “snaps” out of this fatigue.  It has yet to occur.

On a side note, this Saturday is opening day for the kids’ softball and baseball seasons.  We hope Joel will feel up to attend the kids’ games this weekend.

Take care–

April

So much for that theory

Hello again,

Though Joel’s chemotherapy treatment was changed this past Tuesday in the hopes of reducing the fatigue he feels, it appears that the adjustment is not working.  As usual after his Tuesday treatment, Joel’s fatigue begins to hit him on Thursday and knocks him out for the following four days or so.  Sure enough, Joel felt very tired come Thursday and has slept most of the day on Friday and today.  I do hope he “snaps out” of this fatigue tomorrow so that he may enjoy Easter with the family.

On that note, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

April

Another day, another treatment

Hello,

Joel had his scheduled treatment today.  Joel and I met with his oncologist before today’s chemotherapy session.  We discussed how fatigued Joel has been after his intravenous treatments.  Dr. Helft believes that the Epirubicin that he receives every three weeks is the culprit.  So today, Joel only received the Oxaliplatin.  (Joel will continue with the daily Xeloda pills).  So far, so good.

We are just sitting on the couch, enjoying the Cardinal game (currently winning, 9 to 3).  The kids are having a wonderful spring break vacation with Grandma and Grandpa Peigh.  They are busy checking out cool things in Kentucky.

Hope all is well with you!  (Think Spring!  This 30 and 40 degree weather needs to take a hike!)

April