Hey everyone. I'm sorry I haven't posted for awhile. Things have been busy around here.
Now that Spring has sprung the chores have increased a little. It is so nice to be outside, though. It almost doesn't seem like work. All the hard stuff is being taken care of by Ken's uncle Chuck, whom we greatly appreciate. Keeping up with Ken's perfectionist nature is no easy task, but I think the place looks pretty nice, so far.

Ken is in his third week off, in his three week cycle after that last week of chemo, and is still feeling rotten, so he has decided to hold off for another week and see if he feels better before starting the third chemo treatment. Apparently, it doesn't hurt anything to do so. I am hoping he'll start to feel better soon.

Ken's sister Gina was down this past weekend with her family. It was really great to see everyone. The kids and I tried to play down by the creek, but it was too wet and we were not prepared. The kids had on flip-flops and we didn't have any tools with which to catch critters, so we are planning for their next trip with great anticipation.

I wish I had more to tell you on Ken, but what can I say? Vomit, sleep, repeat. Poor guy. But he is still trying to eat, to drink lots of water, and to avoid going to that awful place called the hospital.

Thanks so much for checking in. Everything is running pretty smoothly here; I hope the same is true on your end.

Love to you all,
Inga

Hello Kenny fans!! Thanks for checking in. I finally found a minute to send you all an update.

This week was a chemo week, which is never good. Lots of throwing up and not a lot of rest for either of us. It hit him pretty hard this time, but with any luck, he'll be better in a few days. The last round was tough, but he was almost back to normal just prior to this week. I hope he'll have a couple good weeks starting very soon.

I wish I had more details for you but we're in for a long wait, yet. We have one more round of chemo, then they will take a scan. Then nine more weeks of one week of chemo and two weeks off. Then another scan. Until then, we wait. Thanks for waiting with me. -Inga

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long. Things move at such a pace around here.

Ken is doing so well! He has gained back half of the weight he had lost. He is holding steady at 165 lbs. He is eating like a horse. He is trying diligently to eat as much as possible before his chemo treatment on Monday. I am just so proud of him.

We are also pushing the alkaline water that Laura spoke about in the last post. In addition to The Selvaggio's, I would like to thank Jim Gall for quickly coming over to install the ionizer with no prior notice. In the middle of racing season with thousands of things to do and he dropped everything to come to our aid. Where would we be without such good friends? You guys are just the best!

I would also like to thank Ken's uncle Chuck for coming to cut my grass this week. Ken slept to the sound of lawnmower blades magically cutting his grass without him. And thanks to our dear sweet Matthew for stepping up and helping his Dad with all the heavy lifting he cannot currently handle. The maturity and compassion he has shown for Ken in these recent months makes me so proud. Ken, too.

Thanks for checking in. Next week may be nasty, (it's Ken's second week of chemo, after having had the last two weeks off, in this 18-week "1 week of chemo w/ 2 weeks off; x 6" treatment), but I'll try to post when I can. Love to all! Inga

Hi everybody,

This is Ken's sister, Laura, here to provide a quick update, after my recent visit to Springfield, this last weekend.

This first week of the six weeks of chemo therapy that is planned for Ken, over the next eighteen weeks, was pretty tough. As of this last weekend, it had been a week since the completion of the first week of chemo, (Ken is now in the two-weeks off portion), with another week scheduled to start a week from today. The dehydration is very dangerous, (per the incident last week of Ken's pressure dropping to 60/40), and I'm concerned that the twice-per-week visit from the infusion care nursing staff is not sufficient. We're working out a round-the-clock bedside attendance plan, especially for the chemo weeks.

Inga has been absolutely amazing. Any one of us should be so lucky to have someone like her at our side and in our corner, if we ever became this sick. She works tirelessly, night and day, caring for Ken, and keeping up with her own job, and providing the continual updates to the rest of the family and this blog. She is always upbeat, and she always knows the best balance between the pushing and coddling, when it comes to Ken. I don't think he could have made it this far, without her. She is a warrior and an angel, all in one.

And thank heavens for Debbie, for her ongoing help, and her expertise and connections when it comes to the paper work/financial aspect of this situation. Because of her, Ken's social security disability and other financial aid was in place, almost immediately. That was a tremendous load off Ken's mind, and not having to worry about that end of things has allowed Ken to fully focus on this battle and getting well. Knowing she is always so close is a great comfort for everyone, especially for Ken and Inga.

If you get a moment to send Kenny a note or a card, (or just post a comment to this blog), you might want to joke him about the lawn mowing event, last week! It really kicked his butt, doing that, and he was pretty sorry, the next day. When Mike (Ken's older brother), and I walked in on Saturday morning, and commented about it, all Kenny whispered up to us was "that was really stupid", and then he smiled a little bit. Ha! He's still got such a great sense of humor. He sleeps most of the time, but he's continuing with a little bit of solid foods every day, (though the liquid feedings through the J-tube are still going, every night), and making a great effort to consume the recommended amount of alkaline water, to achieve the detoxifying benefits of that therapy, too. Which brings me to another 'thank you':

Thank you, so so much, to Frank and Barb, for the Jupiter water ionizing and filtration system! God bless them!!! As a gift, they purchased this system for Kenny, optimistic and enthused about the potential health benefits of pH therapy in treating cancer. If you would like to help us in our plan to repay Frank and Barb, (even though they insist that they do not expect it), please write or call. Again, thank you, so so much, to Frank and Barb!

Thanks to everyone, from Ken, and from Inga, and all the family, for your cards, calls and kind wishes. It means so much, and it is truly appreciated.

Love you all,
Laura

Hi everyone! I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful weather! Almost a little too hot for me today. Almost. Ken didn't think so-he decided after his blood transfusion this morning he was going to mow the grass!!!!! They said he would feel better afterward, but my goodness! I tried every way from Sunday to get him to let Matthew do it when he got home from school, but to no avail. There was no stopping him. Just goes to show you; you can't come between a man and his John Deere. Matthew did all the push mowing, so all Ken had to do was ride. But he did the whole yard start to finish, including airing up the tires on the mower and fixing a light on the street sign. I was surprised he did so well. He was quite tired afterward and is now sleeping like a baby :)

After his spell last week, where his blood pressure dropped to 60/40, they have been monitoring him closely. After a little hydration and the transfusion today, he should be feeling better in the coming days. I'll let you know.

His brother is making the trek down from Wisconsin this weekend as well as his sister Laura so hopefully he will feel well enough to visit with them. I don't know how long this “blood high” will last. We'll see.

Thanks for checking in,

Inga

Hey all. Thanks for checking in. It's been crazy around here.

We went to the clinic on Friday, (two days ago), to have Ken's chemo pump removed. No sooner did he get out of the truck, and he said "I'm gonna pass out." I said “Oh no you're not!”

I grabbed his belt, and motioned for the guy working the door to bring a wheelchair. We got him into an exam room where they took his blood pressure, which was 60/40. The doctor called for an ambulance, which appeared in seconds. They took Ken to the hospital where they ran tests, and determined that he was dehydrated. (Dehydration is common, during chemo treatment, due to all the throwing up, even though they had put him on an I.V. to keep him hydrated.) And, he had also taken one of his medications just before we left the house, and one of the side effects of this medication is that it can make the blood pressure drop.

So we're back on track, now, and Ken has the next two weeks to recover from this last week of chemo, before they hit him, again. He is trying very hard to eat and drink, as much as possible, and he has been a wonderful patient!

I hope I have better stories next time.

Until then...Inga

Hi everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the rain. I find it a very suitable back drop for the Harry Potter marathon weekend they're showing on cable. When I give Ken his nightly meds, I call it "my potions final". Some I have to dilute, some with water, some with bacteriostatic sodium chloride.(Certainly don't want to mix those two up)

Tomorrow we go in for chemo (#1 of six). We start at the hospital with an infusion that should last a couple of hours, then on to Springfield Clinic to have a pump hooked up that we will take home where it will run until Friday. They are talking like he will have one week of chemo then two weeks off. And, they will do that for six rounds with scans every third round.

His weight is holding steady at 155 lbs. and I am a little concerned about what this week will bring. He has really been trying hard to eat more, but some days food just doesn't work. He hasn't been throwing up very much in the past week, but as we decrease his morphine patch, I think he is having a bit of withdrawal side effects. He has been drinking a lot more water, because he is still trying to pass that kidney stone.

All in all, things are going pretty well, however slowly. Good days and bad. But the bad are fewer in number than I expected at this stage. But, now it's on to the next stage-Chemo. Serious Chemo. Those tumors are about to get a Serious butt-kicking.

Thank you all for checking in. I'll write more, soon.

Inga