The Struggle Has Ended

Greg Hewlett passed away on January 17th after nearly eight years of battling colon cancer. While we grieve his loss, we are comforted to know that he is with his Lord.

If you would like to leave your thoughts on Greg, please see this thread.

If you would like to make a charitable donation in Greg's honor, please see this thread.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Denver trip, continued infection, Christine progress

Denv_2009_Greg_Char.jpgDenv_2009_Jul_Nat.jpgDenv_2009_Mike_Char.jpg

I took an extra week off chemo, which I am allowed to do periodically, to visit my sister in Denver. That was back on the tenth of September. We had some good time together and it was great to see them. But soon after I arrived, I came down with a fever - something viral the doc thinks. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time in Denver in bed.

Quick story - I did manage to get out of bed to watch the famous Charles Burck play (very) little league soccer. To be fair to everyone, it was his turn to play defense and he dutifully stayed back and did everything he could to defend the goal. His team was down 2-0 at half. He raised his hand and halftime. "Yes, Charles." "Can I pleeeease play offense." The coach agreed. Charles scored three times in the second half as they won 3-2.

After returning to Dallas, I remained sick and I still have not completely escaped the fever - even through last night, when I still had a mild fever. During the worst stretch, I had significant fever almost every day for a stretch of about 10 days.

At first, my doctor put off chemo another week, saying that it would be too risky since chemo often drops white blood cells, which I need to get rid of the infection. But another week went by and this past week he decided to go ahead and give the chemo anyway. He didn't want to give the cancer any more break. Bottom line - I got the double hit of chemotherapy while already sick.

Bill_Ord.jpgSo I have been pretty miserable for some time now. If you've been wondering where I am or why I haven't returned emails or kept up with something - well, that's why. Today is the first day I actually feel a little better, and I'm really hoping and expecting to pull out of this hole eventually. I was able to get out of the house yesterday to enjoy attending my friend Bill's ordination as a pastor in the Presbyterian church.

Christine Update
Last week, Christine successfully completed a large set of tests at the Chiari Institute near NYC to test if the underlying cause for much of her continued pain and headache problems is something called Chiari Malformation. Today she goes back to meet with the doctor/surgeon to go over test results. Her parents are caring for her and they are all staying with her sister in NJ during the trip.