And so we carry on ...

An update as promised. I met with Dr. Huh yesterday. My weight is fine, blood counts look good as well as all other vitals. The scan showed no change, which was good news. Anytime I find that the treatments have stopped working I wonder if the cancer has had enough time to grow. This time we cought it in time to keep it from growing and I can actually take a week off before I start the next regimen.

Throughout my 2 years of treatment I have either been on a regimen that stops the cancer from growing or one that shrinks the cancer. Starting Monday (5/5) I will start a regimen that incorporates both concepts. The first treatment will be Erbitux (a target medicine that shrinks the tumors) and Avastin (a target medicine that keeps tumors from growning) and Xeloda (a chemotherapy that aids both). Xeloda is a chemo pill that I administer myself at home. The week after that I will only do the Erbitux and Xeloda and it will rotate like that throughout the regimen. I've never been on this regimen before so I don't know what it will do to me. I've been on each of these medicines at one time or another, but never all at the same time. It will be interesting.

I am back to work now. The MetLife disability insurance informed us (after 7 weeks of paper work and no income) that we don't qualify for the program because I have a pre-existing condition that is more than 3 months old. If it had only been 3 months that my cancer had existed then I could qualify. I guess disability is not necessary if you've been sick for a long time. Only in America! The longer you are sick the less chance you have of getting help. Not only did we get denied disability but my office manager told me that our insurance was going to cancel us affective May 1. The good news is that social security cleared us to start recieving benefits to subsidize our income ... in September. So, when you get sick you risk losing your income without any disability and the insurance wants to cancel you as well and of course the government is always a day late and a dollar short. Well, God is the great equalizer of all that kind of nonsense. Just pray that we can go back to normal insurance coverage without any hassels.

I'm thankful that I do feel well enough to start work again. Dr. Huh is skeptical, but he is willing to let me give it a try. Pray that God gives me the strength to prove him wrong. It has been good to be back at the clinic for more than just my own treatments. I have enjoyed seeing some of the patients again, but I have found that the list of patients is just as new as our new facility. Wow, I have a lot of work to do just to learn all of the new faces. Keep it all in your prayers.

Thanks for all your prayers and support,

Warren and family

Here we go again!

The last time I blogged I told you about my marker going up and that it could possibly be an indication of the treatments losing their effectiveness. Well, it seems that is what has happened. The doc had one of the nurses call me today to set up a C/T scan for this week. I asked "did doc get a red flag from my tumor marker?" She said "yes it has gone up". It was 42.6 then it went up to 46 and stayed there for a month and then it went to 55. So clearly it has stopped working and we need to scan, see where the cancer is problematic and react accordingly.

I don't feel any pain in my side where the liver is, but I have struggled to breath and my coughing is worse again. I'm guessing the lungs want to take off again, but I can't say for sure. The scan will tell the story. With that in mind remember to be praying for me on Thursday (4/24) at 11:15. I'll be scanned at that time. Monday I'm scheduled to meet with the doc and discuss the results and where we go from here.

I'm begining to get the impression that I'm facing a very stubborn cancer. Has anyone else out there thought the same thing? Am I alone in this theory?

I appreciate all of you who are praying and those of you who are so faithful to share with your church or prayer group and friends the request to pray for me. Remember, scan on Thursday (4/24) at 11:15 and results Monday (4/28) with what we will be doing next. Pray for Dr. Huh to be given the wisdom of God in regard to my treatments. Pray for us as a family. It is hard to get this kind of news and it is even harder to wait for results and consultation.

Thank you all and God bless,
Warren and family

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Warren!!!! I hope you don't mind us cracking into your blog to wish you a very special Birthday! We love you so much. Mom and Dad said, "To our favorite Son-in-Law Alex, Uhhh, We meant, Warren, We Love You!!! Your card and check are in the mail.
YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!
HAPPY B-DAY UNCLE WARREN!!!
Love you!!
Dad, Mom, Jim, Dana, Tyler, Will, Alex, Jana, and Ella

Keep the prayer wheels turning

I wanted to update everyone on how things are going. I was trying to hold off until I got the results from this week's blood work. But I can't seem to get the info I need from the lab. The nurses say they are waiting for the info themselves.
Here is what I do know. I have been feeling better. I got to go to the MBBC wrestling reunion in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago. We hooked up with Scott and Michelle Ice and drove over together. We had a great time. It was Easter weekend so we had time with family as well as all of the Easter festivities for the children. I slept much of Saturday and part of Sunday, but I did manage to show up for the highlights. Yes, I am feeling better.
This week I had my treatments again and I seem to be doing well again. I still have a few days before I'm out of the woods with sickness and so on. I have been requesting an extra dose of side affect medicine before they disconnect my I.V. and it has really helped. It mostly helps with the sickness, but does nothing for exhaustion and other discomforts. But it is the sickness that really causes a problem and contributes to something that Doc has been bothered by for the past few weeks.
Doc has been unhappy with my weight loss lately. When I'm sick it contributes to the weight loss. When I lose weight I become puny and less able to tolerate the treatments. So, pray that I can hold my weight and continue on. I still have about 10-15 pounds before it becomes critical. I don't think it will come to that but you never know.
The other thing he is watching is my tumor marker. Up until the last treatment we saw the marker plummet in big numbers each time the marker was tested. As of my treatment 2 weeks ago we saw it rise 3.4 points(from 42.6 to 46). The rise in the marker is not significant and we are thankful for that. However, when it goes from plummeting in big numbers to rising just a little we have to wonder if the treatments are beginning to lose effectiveness and we'll have to start again on something else. Remember, we are on a regimen to shrink the tumors and we want to get the full benefit of as many treatments as possible. I think Doc is hoping to get at least 4 more treatments (8 more weeks) before we move on to something else. So, the prayer is that we keep the tumor marker going down, even if it is in smaller intervals, and let the treatments last for as long as the Doc deems necessary.
If the marker goes up 2 more times he will probably stop the regimen and move on to something else.
So, yes I'm feeling better, but I do have some concerns to deal with. Keep us in your prayers and thanks for all of your support.

God bless,
Warren and company.

God has been good

Sorry to have kept you all waiting on this news, but I had treatments last week and it has taken a while to shake them off. I did get good news from the doc last week. I was talking with the office manager and doc came and handed me a report from the lab. He had circled the tumor marker most recently taken and it had dropped all the way down to 42.6. That is a little more than half of what it was when we started in January which was 89. So, as miserable as these treatments may be they are working. Continue to pray as these are the same treatments that worked so well last year and suddenly stopped. Before we knew what had happened the cancer had begun to grow again. Please continue to pray.

Another challenge is on the rise besides the cancer. Dr. Huh wanted to give me sick leave and continue to pay me my regular salary. Well the corporate office of our medical group found out and they told him that he couldn't do it that way and that he would have to process me through the corporate disability program. So we are processing all of the paper work for disability. As many of you may know disability only pays 60% of salary and it takes 30 days for it to take affect. So we are facing 30 days of no salary and only 60% of salary when we do get paid. Well, that looks pretty grim at first, but when I look back at how God has provided in the past I knew that He would do no less for us now. I went home and told Tana the deal, she began to worry, but I reminded her of what God has been doing for us for many years now and that we can continue to count on Him today. Well, He has already begun to move and we are assured of His hand of provision in these matters. We don't know how long this will last, but I'm praying for a very short term situation.

Dr. Huh and the office manager told me that they never intended for this to happen and that they feel just terrible about it. This was my opportunity to explain to them about how God has always cared for us and He will do no less through this. As long as we are faithful to do all that is asked and required of us He will do all that is needed to provide. I said "please do not spend time worrying about us. Let's spend our time finding ways to solve the problem and searching for the direction in which God is trying to lead us." That put us all at ease and they were able to see that we trust God in every aspect of our lives. I'm tempted to believe that God is not only showing Himself to us, but also to Dr. Huh and his staff.

We thank you all so much for your love and prayers. It is so good to read your responses on the blog. Keep the prayers coming. As you can see, this situation is bigger than we may ever know on this side of glory. God, I believe, has a plan for many through all of this. It's not just about the Brokerings. The next time you pray for us think of how great the picture may be and know that God is using you and your intercession to accomplish things of spiritually epic proportions. It also helps to think that I could be healed and live happily ever after.

I want to thank Scott and Michelle Ice for traveling over 2 hours to visit and take us to dinner last Saturday. It was so encouraging and we had a wonderful and refreshing time. God bless you for your sacrifice and love for us. We needed it.

Love and thanks,
Warren and family

A mixed basket

Hey all! I just wanted to update you on the last two treatments/doctor visits. I got my first treatment of this regimen 3 weeks ago. It went well. Normal reactions and I tolerated it as ususal. Two weeks later I showed up for my second treatment and I was denied because my white blood cell count was too low. It should be 3.0 and I was only able to muster up a 2.0. So doc said come back next week and we'll check and maybe your count will go up and we can treat you. I did and the count had only gone up to 2.77. Not quite enough to treat me but we did it anyway. After a short line of questioning he decided that we had no choice. We had to resume treaments or we could be dealing with something worse than a low white blood count.
The questions he asked were: "how's your breathing?" it has become labored again; "how's your pain?" it is coming on again; "are you getting sick with the treatments?: not yet (praise God!): "are you having any other extreme reactions besides the skin?" no (praise God). He said "well, we have not choice. Let's do it" So we did, I feel terrible, but I'll be okay soon.
Pray for the white blood count to rise. It is the backbone of my immune system and if I get sick it could potpone my treatments thus affording the cancer a chance to grow. However, if it doesn't go up I'll have to skip more treatments in the future causing the same scenario just mentioned. Funny how one little glitch can cause so many problems. But God can fix a measley low white blood count. I just need your prayers.
Speaking of prayers, I called the office last week to ask a question. After discussing the situation the nurse said "hey, I have some good news" I said lay it on me sister. She informed me that my tumor marker had gone down from 89 to 55 since the last two treatments. Praise God! It was such good news. I'm sorry to not have informed you earlier. That is why this post is called a mixed basket. There was a little bad news to be concerned about, but also some good news. So we pray with praise on our lips and concern in our hearts.
I want to thank my friends, David P. Martens and Timmy Brahs for coming to visit this past weekend. What an encouragement to know that they would spend the money for the cost of the trip, leave their famiies for a weekend and miss out on some much needed rest only to return to the rigorous grind of their jobs on Monday to come here and lift my spirits. And that they did. I thank God for all of my friends who have stopped in to see me and pray with me. It just means the world to me and my family. When Dave and Tim were preparing to leave Maddie said "daddy, where are they going" I "they have to go home now" she said "but why? Can't they stay here?" They even encouraged my children during their stay here. Thanks guys, we love ya.
I Must rest, I have another treatment tomorrow. Pray for the blood count, pain, and labored breathing. Thank you all for your prayers and reponses. It means the world to us to hear from you and that you are praying.
God bless,
Warren and family

New treatment regimen

Thank you all for praying so much for us and for responding on our blog to assure us of your doing so. It is always an anxious time as we wait to see what the doc is going to do next. So many unanswered questions, so much wondering how the next regimen will alter our lives and how I will be feeling in the months to come. But now all of the waiting and unanswered questions are over and we now know what we face.
The doc has put together a regimen similar to what I went through last spring but with different ingredients. The chemotherapy is called Irenotecan (eye-rye-no-TEE-can-). The cancer "Targeted" medicine is called Vectibix (vek-te-biks-). It is not chemotherapy it is a medicine that specifically targets cancer cells and KILLS THEM! HA, HA, TAKE THAT YE DOGS OF DISEASE! Sorry, I get excited about killing cancer. It's a strange passion of mine.
There is another agent involved called 5-fu and it is a chemotherapy that blasts cancer cells when combined with another agent (I forget the name ... sorry, I have failed you) and helps the 5-fu to bind itself to the cancer cells. It is not cancer specific in that it kills other normal cells that resemble cancer cells.
Normal body cells such as hair, skin, mouth and stomach cells are like cancer cells in that they are all rapidly dividing cells. The difference is that normal body cells know when to stop dividing and die off and are replaced by other cells waiting to go through the same process.
Cancer cells, however, divide quickly and do not know when to stop and will continue to divide until they have formed a cancer tumor. From there the cells continue to divide and grow the tumor until it is stopped, removed or has taken over a bodily organ completely. Am I boring you yet? You can read and research what these agents will do to the cancer and my body at Chemocare.com.
Here is how it will be administered. I will go in on Tuesdays for about a 4 hour treatment and go home with a chemo pump that will shoot shots of chemo into by body in certain time intervals until I get back to the clinic on Wednesday. They will unhook the pump, give me another treatment, hook me up to the pump again for the evening and unhook me on Thursday which will complete the treatment. I will repeat this treatment every 2 weeks.
Doc said "we're really going to get after this cancer and try to put the hurt on it". I said "does this mean that these treatments are pretty aggressive?" and he said "yes, we have to stay on top of this while the tumors are stable and the marker is rising". I said "well, alright, let's get started". So, as usual we left the examination room with a laugh and "I'm praying for ya, Doc. We're both in God's hands. You are His instrument and I'm His project". He just chuckles and shakes his head ... AND SENDS ME TO THE TREATMENT ROOM!!! So not fair!
Well, that's all for now. Thank you so much for your love, responses (which brighten our days so much) and most of all your prayers that strengthen us for the many battles in the days to come. We are so blessed to have God and His people going before us every day and leveling the battle ground in our favor.
God bless you all,

Warren, Tana, and precious children.