Progress And Update On Cancer Fight

Hello everyone, I wanted to give an update on my cancer and treatment. Most importantly, I want to thank everyone for their support. I remain amazed and humbled, and despite the up and down nature of fighting cancer, leaning on my family and friends help me get through each day.

At the moment I'm finishing up my firth round of chemo, with an additional treatment next week. After that, we will do what is called a PET CT scan which looks throughout my body to see if the cancer has spread, and if the tumor has shrunk. Basically we want to see if the chemo treatments are working.

The next steps after the scan are two more rounds of intravenous chemo, then a long stint of direct tumor radiation therapy and oral chemo.

All of this is dependent on my blood. Chemo kills blood cells, and because of that the blood is unable to produce things like blood platelets. Several times during treatment I've had low white blood cells and low platelets, both of which prevent chemo treatment, and puts off my schedule.

We're fighting hard. My faith is strong, my attitude is still positive, and I'm dedicated to doing what ever it takes to stay on track and win this fight. Again I want to thank everyone for their continued support, thoughts and prayers. These gifts don't go unnoticed and touch me deeply.

And one final thought, if you wonder what I do all day, here is a small look. Most of the time I spend staying up to date with what's happening in the tech field, I want to stay fresh and sharp so when I go back to work I can give the same amount of help as I have in the past. I also spend time helping my family get to places they need to go, usually watching a grand child, which of course is a joy. I've also been doing some genealogy, and if I could get Scott Olsen to give me some direction, I'd be taking way more photos than I have been.

I also exercise when possible, read (my kindle is over flowing), and listen to music. I've burnt through Netflix and am always looking for more shows to watch. I've played Xbox thanks to my team supplying the best game on the planet, NASCAR, which I've gotten some good play time with.

Gina and I try to spend as much time together as possible. It's important for us to remain connected, true with each other, and supportive. Going through this isn't easy. I want to be able to share what is really going on with me, how I feel, every little pain and stress. And I also want to know what is going on with her, how she feels, and give her the support she needs as she faces this battle with me. She has been so supportive, my rock. My kids, my extended family, have all been there to support me. I love them all.

I also want to thank Bob, John and Clint for checking in on me nearly every day, and for coming over, it's nice to see your faces. If any of you want to come visit, just let me know, I'd love the company.

I guess all in all I just try to stay busy. Keep my mind sharp, brain educated, and soul nourished. Keep sending good thoughts my way, I can feel it, believe me.

Signing off for now.

Picture provided by James Wheeler

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The Tumor Killing Juice

I'm not sure I will ever get used to this recipe.

http://youtu.be/uc5MW25CdhA

Disclaimer: this really isn't a tumor killing juice, although the book we got the recipe from said it was a tumor killer. Tabasco sauce makes all the difference.

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More Juicing - Better

Two new smoothie and juices. Much better this time.

http://youtu.be/_OpaDg5nYK8

http://youtu.be/kVx90kS9GVU

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First Attempt At Juicing

http://youtu.be/2mZXDNqFCIQ

Trying to make a juicing recipe, didn't go so well. Stoic picture before I actually try the juice.

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Chemotherapy One

I'm feeling well enough today to chat about my first chemo treatment. The overall report is it was like sitting in a chair with an IV in your arm, for five hours. Boring. My beautiful supportive wife spent the entire time with me (a must if you are sitting immobile for that amount of time.) And my daughter Ashley dropped in to say hi and take a quick photo.

The only real after effect for me was feeling very tired and run down. Doc said to expect that. Even today, the next day, I'm not feeling that bad, although I've had a headache since yesterday, not sure if it's related.

That's it for this report. Again, I appreciate all the love and support from everyone. Keep fighting.

#cancersucks #keepfighting

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The Future Is What You Make It

I've spent days trying to come up with a title for this post. And this is what I came up with. The future really is what you make it.

This post is an update on where I am and what the future holds. In my lat post, I mentioned I was waiting for all the tests to come back (even a few after the last post update, two separate biopsies), and to discuss options. The tests came back. We had the discussions. The risks of surgery are just too great, and we decided that won't be an option. It was a difficult decision because it would have had the greatest chance of long term success. My liver just isn't healthy enough to sustain my life on what would be left.

After all is said and done, I'll be starting chemo and radiation treatment in the next few days. I have no idea what to expect (except the lost of the last few hair follicles I have left.) I'm going into this with the support of my family and friends. I'm still laughing (thank you John Middleton), getting out of the house a bit (spent some time at Comic Con, thanks Cody for the great picture), and spending time with my grandchildren, who I love dearly.

Here's to the next few months. I'll continue to update as usual, now that the waiting is over. Thank you for taking the time to read, leave encouragement, and just being there.

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Smelling The Roses

Over the past month and a half I feel like I've been on the worlds largest roller coaster, with no end in sight. Long downward drops, steep uphill climbs, fast corners that rip your head back and to the side, all the while trying to remain calm and optimistic.

I've spoken to many of you personally, through email, and text message. Keeping in contact with my friends and family are important to me. I don't want to be unplugged, unreachable, or locked away. I've received hundreds of prayers, well wishes, letters of encouragement, and tokens of support and friendship. You will never know or understand how much this helps me get through each day.

Connecting with each of you is just as therapeutic for me as I assume it is for you. I could not imagine trying to fight this fight without all of you at my side. I want everyone who is interested to know what's happening and stay connected (I assume that's the case if you are reading this.) And while I will continue to share updates and what is happening next, the level of detail is not important, in fact it causes me stress because I'm not able to answer everyone's questions, you guys are a smart bunch of cookies.

As I had mentioned a few days ago, we had a very important and critical meeting with a doctor to discuss the mountain of test data and talk about surgical options. We had the meeting. We talked about each option and each possibility. The bottom line after the meeting was it's a tough call. I don't want this to come across as a negative why me, why me, discussion. The plain truth is, this is a tough cancer, in a tough spot, combined with other health issues I have, makes surgery an even tougher and more risky proposition than we had hoped. And of course chemo and radiation are on the table as well. Neither is fun, and neither are the ultimate answer, because there just isn't one. It's picking the lesser of two evils so I can continue to fight a good fight.

One thing I've tried to remember is no one is to blame for this cancer, except possible choices I've made with my health. I'm not questioning my faith in God, not blaming God or anyone else for that matter.  I don't have time, patience, or energy to blame. As most of my friends and family will attest, I'm someone who wants to move fast. I'm ready, have been ready, for several weeks, to get a treatment plan underway.

Please understand things like stage, phase, life expectancy, percentage, time frame, aren't important for our discussions. That's personal and private, and only cause me and my family stress having to discuss them over and over again. My sweet wife is dealing with something far beyond what either of us could have imagined at this time in our life. I'm heartbroken the worry, stress, and uncertainty this brings her, and the tough decisions we need to make. I'm heartbroken my children have to experience worry, stress and uncertainty about this as well.

I'm smelling the roses while I still can. Everyday grows more precious. I'm not worrying about the coulda, shoulda, wouldas. Doing the things we keep putting off for another day. That day is here.

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Still Waiting Part Deux

I'm still here, waiting. I've been reminded on numerous occasions that waiting is probably the best thing right now, because we want all the doctors to have the information they need to come up with the best course of treatment. But that doesn't change the fact I'm getting extremely impatient.

I don't really have anything new to report. I'm meeting with a surgeon tomorrow who could potentially be performing a liver resection. I'm hoping the discussion is that she is ready to move on to the next phase which is actually doing the surgery.

Next week is Salt Lake Comic Con FanX, and I have a concert on the calendar for next week as well. Those are two things I've been looking forward to for some time, and purchased tickets well before my diagnosis. I'm going to be bummed if I can't attend either of these (I may need to sell my VIP Comic Con ticket.)

I will update again tomorrow after I've had a chance to meet with the surgeon. Again, thank you for all the support, love, and encouragement.

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Angiogram

Over the past couple of days my dad has had a few tests to determine if he would be a good candidate for a procedure that would allow the doctors to surgically remove the tumor on his liver. We still don't know the outcome of the Pet Scan from last week, but the Angiogram performed today seemed to have very positive results. The Angiogram test was to take a picture of how his blood vessels are laid out and how they supply blood to the liver and surrounding organs.

We're hoping the oncologist and surgeon find both tests positive so a surgical procedure can be performed that will help my dad fight the cancer quicker. More to follow.

 As always, we appreciate the love, thoughts and prayers from everyone.

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Wristbands

Hey everyone,

My dad wanted a wristband (the rubber kind) in his cancer color to wear, and a few family members have them to. If you would like one I can get you one for $3.50 a piece. Where I get them, they do not have child ones but you could always get those online (Amazon) or here and here.

Please contact me at ashlenalley@gmail if you would like me to get you one!

Thanks.

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This Sunday

We are having a fast for my dad this coming Sunday the 30th of March for very positive results from tests he's taking over the next few days.

We continue to appreciate all of the prayers, words of encouragement and love from all of you. Thank you.

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THANK YOU!

I want to take a minute and thank everyone, my wife Gina, without her I would be completely lost. My wonderful children, Jake, Linsey, Ashley and Jessica, for all of their support, help and daily encouragement. The hundreds of family and friends who have reached out and helped, offered prayers, and more encouragement. You'll never know how grateful I am.

I must admit it's a little overwhelming to feel the amount of love and concern. There is nothing more valuable to me than the love of my God, my family, and my friends.

We'll have more to share over the next few days. Things are progressing, and I'll continue to need everyones positive vibes. I love all of you.

With a very sincere heart,

--Thom

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Chemotherapy Class

Utah Cancer Specialists offers a class on the chemotherapy process and what to expect in the clinic. Gina and I attended last night (not wasting any time to learn what I'm in for). The class was very informative and I learned a couple of things:

1. My therapy will last about 4.5 hours once a week. The clinic offers a great lounge type area, big chairs, and of course, wifi. All electronic devices are welcomed, so I'm good to go.

2. Quickly my immune system will be impaired and I'll be more susceptible to infection and illness. So, that means lots of hand sanitizer, clean surfaces, and unfortunately, can't be around anyone who is sick or have been exposed to someone who is sick. My white blood cells will be reduced because of the chemo making it extremely difficult to fight off normal sickness.

3. There are about 10 different side affects, none of which I want, but can assume I'll have several.

A couple of things need to be done before I can start chemo (getting my liver to function properly), then the long journey.

Peace.

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Meeting With the Oncologist

First of all, I cannot express how positive and hopeful my parents felt after leaving Dr. Nibley’s Office this morning. My dad is in good hands for sure! 

The first person they met with was Audrey, my dads patient advocate. She takes care of the insurance and financial stuff and also the supportive services like classes. All the classes are free. She gave a schedule of these classes to my mom and dad so they can sign up for them if they want to. There is a fishing trip on the schedule as well! Cool!

Next they met with Dr. Nibley’s P.A., Melissa. She was very kind and after going over my dads medical records and health history, she answered some of their initial questions and then checked my dads incisions and such to make sure everything was healing well and also took a blood sample to check his bilirubin levels. She said my dads cancer was somewhere between stages 2 and 3. Definitely not 4! YAY! There was some new information that Melissa gave them, that probably doesn’t matter at this point, but it was that my dads gallbladder had cancer in it. But that doesn’t change anything… even if the gallbladder was the “primary” source of cancer, the treatment for gallbladder cancer and liver cancer is pretty much the same.

Proposed Treatment

When Dr. Nibley came into the room, he pulled out a sheet of paper and drew pictures while he explained things and then proposed his suggestions for a moderately-aggressive treatment plan.  He was very positive and upbeat and mentioned several times about what an advantage it was that my dad is so young ;) He totally expects my dads body to respond well to the treatment. However, before the chemo/radiation can begin, Dr. Nibley wants to make sure that the liver is functioning properly because the chemo drugs will be processed through the liver and it needs to be as healthy as possible. 

Because there is a risk that the large tumor could shift and squeezes off the bile duct again, he would still like a bile drain to be surgically installed. He plans to consult with Dr. Bladder, the radiologist/surgeon who “unsuccessfully” attempted this last week, to see what may be done to accomplish this successfully this time. Dr. Nibley was always very patient and compassionate and offered much hope!

As soon as possible, after my dads liver is functioning properly, he will be given a round of chemo therapy and radiation therapy. Dr. Nibley said that a round is basically 3 weeks of chemo/radiation and 1 week rest. After each round of treatment, my dads tumors will be measured to see if they are shrinking which is the main goal at this point.  

Note:  In case any of you are wondering… surgically removing the large tumor is not advisable because of its position near many vital organs.  (We asked if the tumors shrank enough could surgically removing them eventually be a possibility, and he didn’t completely discount that idea…) We also asked Dr. Nibley if a liver transplant could be an option but he said in the case of cancer it is not typically approved due to the fact that small cancerous cells can still be lurking within the body. Liver transplants for cancer patients has not been highly successful.

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Update 1

Let's start from the beginning for those who are just tuning in.

On March 5th my dad went into surgery to have his gall bladder removed. While in the surgery the surgeon found a large mass on his liver. They sent a piece of the tumor to pathology for biopsy.

 

A week later we still had no answers, and the results of the tests were all incongruent. He had a CT scan done to find out if there were more tumors and where the primary source of the cancer cells were coming from. The scan didn't show any other tumors but that the large mass was in fact, cancerous. Now we just needed to know where it had come from.

 

Dr. Ayers, who is a Doctor at Intermountain Medical Center, classified Thom’s type of cancer as “Cholangiocarcinoma” also known as “Bile Duct Cancer”. One bile duct on Thom’s liver is blocked with cancerous tumors and is being identified at this time as the primary source of cancer which has metastasized and formed a larger tumor that sits against the liver and is responsible for squeezing off a second bile duct (healthy) causing Thom’s jaundice condition.  Here’s the miracle….During Saturday’s endoscopy/surgery the surgeon discovered that Thomas’ large tumor somehow had (miraculously) shifted its position which in turn freed the healthy bile duct from being pinched off.  Nothing but a miracle!  Thank you for your prayers!  (This explains why Thomas’ condition began to improve suddenly last Thursday.) 

During the surgery on Saturday, the surgeon wasn't able to insert the stent into the smaller bile duct because of the tumors getting in the way so the plan is now to begin chemotherapy and shrink the tumors which will allow insertion of the stent at another time.

Yesterday, Dr. Ayers released Thomas from the hospital with the instructions to eat non-greasy and non-oily foods which is funny because right after the doctor stepped out of the hospital room, the staff brought in a meal for Thom consisting of  Roast with plenty of mashed potatoes and gravy…Not exactly non-greasy foods…..hahaha.  Crazy.   Needless to say, Gina is very relieved to have checked Thom out of that hospital and they are home at this time.

Going forward….

Thomas has an appointment Tuesday, March 25^th, with Dr. Nibley who was Chandy’s cancer doctor. She and Gary (Gina's brother) love him and his staff which is very comforting and encouraging. It is expected that plans will be made to begin chemo treatments very soon.

Please feel free to come visit Thom. We do not want anyone to feel that they are not invited to come visit and spend time with our family. We do ask that you please remember we are trying to focus on my dad and help him the best we can, as well as texts, phone calls, FB messages and emails. It is a bit overwhelming for us so we have decided to have Lisa and Jennifer be the advocate for extended family, friends and neighbors with questions in regards to my dad. We would really like to focus on my dad and this process.

We haven't had that much information ourselves, and we are not trying to exclude anyone else from the information we do have. We have decided this blog is the best for updates so please feel free to share with family and/or friends. We will update this blog with the latest as soon as we have it ourselves. We are hoping it will be a few times a week, if not daily and will not start until this Tuesday after meeting the oncologist.

We are so thankful for all of the love, support, prayers, dinners made, blessings, fasting, thoughts and words of encouragement and comfort. We are so blessed to know all of you.

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The Big "C" Has Invaded My Life

I'm fairly young, 46 as I write this, not in shape like my Marine days, but I can generally hold my own. But of all the things I thought would come my way this year health wise, the one thing that wasn't on my radar, even remotely, was cancer.

Saying cancer isn't as tough as I thought it would be. What's tougher are the emotions that come along with it. The what's next, the when's, the why's, the how longs, pissed my wife has to deal with this, pissed my kids have to deal with this, and grateful for all the love and support my family and friends have shown me.

I have a long road to walk. A lot of unknowns. A lot of time to think about my life, what I've done, and what I still want to do. I seriously don't know what this means for my life expectancy, but to tell you the truth, I'm more worried about fighting it, winning, and moving on. I could use your prayers, your thoughts, your good vibes, not just for me, but for my Family as well.

I like my blog, it's my personal space. Generally it's been about tech stuff, but now I will add this part of my life too.

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Help Me Support And Raise Awareness Of Mens Health Issues

This Movember I’ve decided to donate my face to raising awareness about cancers that affect men.  My commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.

I’m doing this because:

• 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime


• 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime

This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to support the great work of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.  To help, you can either:

1. Click this link: http://bit.ly/aQ3j1d and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account


2. Write a check payable to Movember, referencing my name or Registration Number 708368 and mailing it to: Movember, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726

The money raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others, through the world’s most promising prostate cancer research and LIVESTRONG’s programs that support young adults and their families battling and surviving cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit http://us.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs/.

Thank you.

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