Matthew (Gift of God)

Test

2012-02-20T09:15:00.000-06:00

Matt saw the urologist on Friday about some of his swelling. The doctor wants him to have an ultrasound done on Monday. We will not get the results back until Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully they will find out that the doctor might be able to help him to reduce some of the swelling.

Matt's swelling continues. Matt did get rid of the thrush he had in his mouth. That was very
hard for him. It hurt to eat just about anything. Matt got some medication for it and and it
finally seems to be going away and Matt is starting to eat again. He is trying to drink as much
as he can also. Matt has continued pain in his pelvic region, lower back and some times in
his shoulder. He says it is hard to get out of bed but once he is out he feels better.

Thank you to everyone for all your prayers!! I will keep you updated on the test results.

Happy Valentin's Day!

2012-02-14T09:14:00.000-06:00

Matt would like to thank all his friends and family for all their thoughts and Prayers!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Matt still has a little bit of a cough. He saw Dr. Eastman yesterday and they gave him some ideas of what he could do to get rid of it. Matt's swelling continues to get a little worse each day. He tries to
stay off his feet when he can. You know Matt there is to much to do and he has to go, go and go to get
it all done.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Matt keeps on going!

2012-02-07T09:13:00.001-06:00

I just can't believe what a strong young man Matt is. Every morning he has the drive to get up and keep going. He keeps saying there is so much to do!

Matt's legs continue to swell. He is weighing about 122 pounds. Probably lots of it is water weight. Lately he has been only able to wear boots or his flip flops. His shoes are a little tight. Matt is eating very good. He has a pop tart or two every morning. He eats a good meal at lunch. His portion size isn't like it used to be but he still eats a generous portion. Then he has a good supper! Matt has been coughing a lot more. Possible could be due to the tumors in his lungs are growing and taking up some of the space or a possible cold due to his nose is stuffed. When he gets up to fast from sitting, sometimes everything goes white for a few seconds. Then he has to stopped and wait for everything to focus and then he goes. Matt just needs to slow down. Matt is trying to do to much and pushing himself to hard.

Matt is furiously working on his coupons. Anyone knows of a good site on the computer for Matt to print coupons let us know!! Matt gets upset when he goes to the store and the "dumb" computer, doesn't give him his sale price then he has to spend his time at the front desk to get his money back. We have learned to really watch when the cashier is ringing up the groceries. The sale price doesn't always pop up on his receipt and he doesn't get his sale price.

Matt still continues on. He still has things he wants to get done and is working towards them.

"Jesus has you in his hands and holds you with a grip of grace that will not slip and with an arm of strength that will not fail. Jesus spake unto them, saying,("Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid")".
(Matthew 14:27)

Busy, Busy

2012-02-01T21:36:00.001-06:00

Matt has been busy trying to get organized. He is catching up on a lot of things he had wanted to do but was to busy to do it. Matt has been organizing his garage, closet and his kitchen. We have been making food and freezing some so Matt & Casey have some meals to eat on their busy days. Matt has been keeping me very busy!

Matt has been wearing his pressure stockings a few times. He says they are to tight. I explained how they work and are supposed to be tight. Matt does have a few sores on his feet that make the stocking hurt. Due to his feet swelling he knows the stocks are a good thing. There are days that Matt's feet up to his knees are swelled. When they are so swelled it hurts him to walk. Matt does some things and then he tries to keep his feet up and rest. He is not to go about behaving!

This past weekend he had a Christmas party and baptism. This kept him very busy this weekend. Matt is trying to save money by clipping coupons. He has been going through the papers and ads looking for great coupons. Today it was double coupons at Pick N Save. I have been learning a lot
from Matt and his coupons and why we should keep lists!!

"Some things just aren't in our hands. It's tempting to try taking charge and try making things right, but we know they're best left to God!"

Thank you to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers.

Things are going

2012-01-24T21:38:00.000-06:00

They last few weeks we have been working at trying to fatten Matt up. He has gained 5 pounds!! Matt is working hard at trying to eat better foods!!

This last week we visited Dr. Eastman about the swelling in his legs. His feet up to his knees get swollen. Matt tries to keep his feet up when he is sitting. That seems to be helping some. Dr. Eastman said he should get the pressure stockings to help with the swelling and the pain when Matt walks. The socks seem to help some too.

We thought things have been going good with his Nephrostomy tube. Last night it seemed clogged so Matt tried to flush it himself. He thought things were working but this morning the bag was not full like it normally is. When this happens Matt gets pain in his abdomen from the back up of urine. I tried to flush it but nothing was working so we called Maria from Rainbow Hospice. Of course while she was en route to Matt's house I figured out the extension that I need to use to help flush was not working. It was a faulty piece of equipment. I change that piece of equipment and tried the flushing again and it worked!! So when Maria got there she changed the dressing on Matt's back. That had not been changed for awhile. Matt and I were getting a little nervous when we could not get the Nephrostomy tube flowing! Luckily it started working and we went on with our day.

Matt is busily making lists. He is getting everything off his mind and down on paper. We are accomplishing a lot of things he wants to get done. I need to take note myself. The making a list looks a great idea. I need to start one myself!

I believe in mind over matter.. I believe in the human spirit to prevail... I believe in miracles and blessings, both great and small...I believe in possibilities...I believe that hurdles in life are meant to be jumped over, not as something to stop us...I believe in God.... I believe in Matt!!!

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers!

Great Weekend

2012-01-18T00:09:00.001-06:00

Friday night Matt's Uncle Andy got together a family poker party. They started out with 12 players at two different tables. When the first two were out they combined to one table. One by one they started dropping out until they got down to the last three.

The last three that made it into the championship round with Matt, Nate and Cousin Eric. They played many rounds and it finally ended up; Matt, 3rd place, Eric, 2nd place and Nate, 1st place!

Here are a few pictures.

This table was: Brian, Chad, Eric, Nate, Mike (Jenny's), Mike (Becky's)

Uncle Chris, Uncle Mike, Uncle Jeff, Uncle Andy, Matt and Grandpa Tony

Matt got 3rd place, Cousin Eric got 2nd place, and Nate got 1st place.

Everyone had a great time playing poker! Lots of good talk and lots of food. Cousin Eric slept over and Matt, Nate and cousin Eric stayed up talking. It was a good night.

On Sunday Matt and the family went to Cousin Emily's baptism. Again way to much food but had a great time!

Matt has been feeling okay. He has had fluid built up in his legs and abdomen. Matt said that if he keeps his legs up the swelling seems to go down. Yesterday we went to Johnson Creek to see Dr. Eastman. Matt explained about the swelling in his legs and abdomen. It seems like it comes and goes.

The doctor said that Matt could try pressure socks. This might help with the swelling his legs. When his legs are swell it hurts to walk. The doctor thought these socks might help. Matt's bag continues to have problems once in awhile. Maria showed me how to clean Matt's tube and bag. When it gets clogged up it take it apart and flush his bag and tube. After I do that it seems to start working again.

Today Matt had a visitor from a friend from Watertown High School. She was the person in charge of Peer helpers when Matt was in school. She found some pictures and wanted to show them to Matt and reminisces about the past. Matt, Nate and Tammy had a good visit.

Thank you to everyone for ALL your continued thoughts and prayers for Matt and Casey and his family!

Matt smilng at his beautiful camaro

2012-01-12T09:40:00.001-06:00

Matt was pacing Monday morning. He couldn't wait to pick up his camaro. They called in the afternoon to let Matt know the car was ready. Matt, Casey, Keith, Ryan, Jen, Nate and I went up to West Bend to pick up Matt's camaro. Matt was so excited Monday and nervous at the same time. They had a surprise for him and he had no clue what that could be. We headed up to West Bend around 3:40. We got up there a few minutes after 5:00. All the guys that worked on Matt's car were hanging around to see Matt.

Matt walked in and couldn't believe how nice his car looked. The had cleaned it from the inside out!
It looked absolutely beautiful.

Matt's shinning new Camaro!

Matt saw his car and couldn't believe how nice it looked. They opened the hood and Matt saw all

the new parts he had purchased inside of his car! Matt had Wegner Cnc porrted 243 head, cop cam, push rods, sip ail pump and timing chain, Spec clutch, poly motor mounts and Pace Setter long tubes with off road y pipe. Then Brad from West Bend Dyno called Casey Wegner from Wegner Motorsports a call and Casey gave Dyno a great deal on a set of personalized custom cnc'd billet valve covers.

These covers say, Krueger Z camaro.

Matt couldn't believe his eyes. They had took his engine out cleaned it up, added all his new parts and they took a lot of pictures. Brad from West Bend Dyno helped Matt a few years back with his truck and when he came back in this year asking if he could install the parts he had purchased for his Camaro Brad was shocked on how skinny and yellow Matt looked. He said he had a hard time to keep tears back. He was happy to install these parts for Matt. He also knew someone who writes for a magazine. They found out about Matt's story and wanted to put him in their magazine. Matt's story will be in Camaro Performance Magazine in two months. It is a quarterly magazine.

Here are a few more pictures of Matt's car.

Under Matt's camaro hood. These means alot to all guys but to most Mom's it is just an engine.

Here is Matt, Brad, Brian and Mac from West Bend Dyno some of the guys that worked on Matt.s car.

Here is Matt getting into his Camaro for the first time! He had such a huge smile on his face!

Here are some of us that went up with Matt, Uncle Keith, Casey, Matt, Nate, Myself (Kitty) and Ryan.

Here is what that new customize cover in Matt's car looks like.

http://youtu.be/mrsWHs3rwBA

This is a link to a youtube the guys took of Matt's car while they were working on it.

Matt was on cloud nine! Matt drove the car as far as Slinger on the way home with Uncle Keith in the car. We stopped for a bite to eat and then Matt let Ryan drive with Matt in the driver seat. Matt had a

destination at a gas station to stop again. This time Uncle Keith and Matt drove the rest of the way home and around Watertown that night. Matt had a couple of friends that came over to see his car.

The next morning Matt tried to sleep in some. We got up and had lunch with Lyle from J & L tire. Matt wanted to show off his car. After lunch we stopped in at Johnson Creek Cancer Center. Matt parked in the way back. He pulled up to the back doors of the building and reved it up! The nurses and even Dr. Eastman was wondering what that noise was. They all came out into the hallway and could see Matt in his car, SMILING! Matt came in and explained all the new parts he had gotten installed on his car. After that we went to Rob's Honda so he could show a friend his car. Then we had to go to Bumper to Bumper in Watertown to show off Matt's car again. By this time Matt was getting tired. We headed home.

Matt tried to sleep but did not have a good night. Matt noticed his tube to his bag that is on his right kidney was not filling up. Then earlier in the morning Matt developed abdominal pains. When I got

there in the morning Matt told me how he was feeling and about his bag. He had gotten up a number times in the middle of the night to go to the rest room and there was nothing in his bag to empty. I called Maria from Rainbow Hospice and she came right over. Matt was not feeling well and couldn't get out of bed. Maria flushed his bag and then tried to flush the tube entering Matt's back. It was definitely blocked. Maria worked at it for awhile and seemed to get it draining again.

Maria left at 10:00 and Matt felt better by lunch. Matt got up and ate some lunch. He lounge around for awhile. Matt again told me his bag was not filling up. Maria happened to call just as we were talking about it. This was at 4:00. Matt told Maria there was nothing draining in his bag again. Matt asked Maria to come out at 6:00. At this time Matt was feeling okay. Maria came at 6:00 and flushed his bag again. Then she worked at trying to flush the tube in Matt's back. It took a little while but all of a sudden it started to drain again. Matt was on pins and needles all day watching his bag. He regularly empties his bag every two to three hours. He went from 10:00 to 6:00 without having to empty his bag and this made all of us very nervous.

I went home and Matt and Casey could enjoy the rest of the night. This morning Matt and his brother Nate are still sleeping. I have a feeling they stayed up to late last night. I found a list of things Matt had written down that he would like help doing today.

Thank you to everyone for all your continued prayers!

New Parts for the Car

2012-01-05T19:44:00.000-06:00

Matt called Mel and they took Matt's camero's up to West Bend Dino. Brad the owner is going
to install the car parts that Matt purchased in his car. Brad called and said he was going to do something to Matt's car and surprise him! Matt can't wait to see what the surprise is! Brad asked Casey and Matt
to write an article about Matt's story. Brad is adding to the article and it will be printed in a Camero Magazine. As soon as we find out which magazine we will let you know.

Matt has been feeling good the last few days. He is trying hard to eat food so he feels better and he gains some weight.

Matt with his God Daughter, Sophia

Jerry, Casey, Jen, Colby, Ryan, Linda and Matt

Matt & Casey with new Cousin, Emily

Mel loading up Matt's car

Matt's car at the Dino shop

Thank you to everyone for all your continued thoughts and prayers!

Christmas parties went well

2011-12-29T20:12:00.000-06:00

Matt and Casey went to the Hepp's on Christmas eve and had a great time. Matt continues to be yellow and losing weight and not as much energy. He still pushes himself to get up and keep going! On Christmas day Matt and Casey made it to my side of the family Christmas at my sister Shelly's house. Matt had munched on snacks and ate some Christmas dinner. We opened some gifts and enjoyed watching and playing with the children.

Tomorrow Matt is going to Watertown Hospital to have his Nephrostomy tube checked. They may possibly change the tube but they will change the hardware
on his back. It is a simple procedure. He will go into day surgery but come home the same day. I pray all goes well with the procedure.

Matt went to West Bend today with his Dad to see a man about putting some new parts on his camaro! He is going to take his car there on Monday and will get it back by the end of the week. Matt is so excited to see his car with all the new parts he got!

Thank you to everyone for all their continue thoughts and prayers! Also please everyone be careful on the roads this winter with the snow and ice! Tomorrow morning is not going to be a good morning so be careful!!

Doing okay

2011-12-22T23:51:00.001-06:00

Matt hasn't been feeling the best the last few days. He tries to eat but it doesn't seem to stick at all. Matt's skin and eyes are getting yellow. Matt gets tired real easy. He tries to do things around the house or come stay at our house but he gets tired easily.

Matt is schedules for labs tomorrow. He is going to have his Nephrostomey changed on December 30. He has to be at Watertown Hospital at 7:00 am and his procedure is at 9:00 am. They are going to lightly sedate him. They are going to check is the tube is still in the same place and change to some new tubing.

Matt visited his newest cousin this week and tonight went out and had pizza with his uncles.

Matt with newest cousin, Emily Jean

Brian, Nate, Keith, Matt and Neil

enjoying a night of pizza

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers for Matt.

O God of heavenly powers, by the might of your command you drive away from our bodies all sickness and all infirmity: Be present in your goodness with your servant Matt, that his weakness may be banished and his strength restored; and that, his health being renewed, he may bless your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Not feeling the best

2011-12-17T12:45:00.000-06:00

Matt has good days and bad days. It seems lately he is tired and not feeling well. He has no appetite but tries to continue eating. Matt has a yellow tinge to his skin.

However Matt is not taking as many pain pills because he said the radiation has helped
to take some of the pain away from his pelvic region. He continues to limp due to some continued pain but not as bad.

Matt and Casey are getting their Christmas shopping done. Matt gets up every day and tries to get some things done. Home hospice continues to come when Matt calls them
to change the dressing on his back and make sure there is no infection at the site of his
nephrostomey tube.

Thank you to everyone for all your continued prayers...

Calm the spirit and feed the soul. Allow yourself to know you are not alone,
and have the strength to take action when it's needed.

Lord Jesus Christ, by your patience in suffering you hallowed earthly pain and gave us the example of obedience to your Father's will: Be near me in my time of weakness and pain; sustain me by your grace, that my strength and courage may not fail; heal me according to your will; and help me always to believe that what happens to me here is of little account if you hold me in eternal life, my Lord and my God. Amen.

Doing okay

2011-12-13T10:58:00.001-06:00

Matt has today and tomorrow left for his radiation treatments. Dr. Anderson said that he should hopefully be feeling relief in a week or two. Matt continues to have pain in his pelvic region and down his left leg.

Matt has lost some weight again. He doesn't have much of an appetite. The pain medication he takes away his appetite. Matt is trying to eat as much as
he can.

Matt's cousin Becky just had a baby girl yesterday. Matt & Casey are planning on visiting little Emily Jean tonight.

Becky and Mike and little Emily Jean Shields

Thank you to everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers! God is listening!

Matt is an Uncle

2011-12-06T21:12:00.001-06:00

Matt and Casey just became a new Uncle and Aunt. Casey's brother had a baby boy, Colby Lawrence. Here is Matt and Casey visiting their new nephew.

Matt and Casey enjoyed their visit with Colby, 7# 11oz and 21" long. Colby is doing well.

Matt has had 4 radiation treatments. Hopefully soon he will feel better and not so
much pain in his pelvic region. Matt is working hard on trying to gain weight.

Today was a sad day for Matt. We had to put down Matt's buddy, Griffey, his cat.
Griff was 16 years old and starting to have old age problems. Matt and I took him to the vet and he went peacefully.

Matt spending time with Griffey.

Thank you to everyone for all their continued prayers.

Starting Radiation

2011-12-04T20:29:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday Matt met with Dr. Anderson. She had previously done radiation on Matt's pelvis region. Last time it had seemed to help.

Matt decided to try radiation again. Matt has had pain in his pelvic region and some in his back. He is going to have 10 radiation treatment on his pelvic region to shrink the tumor there that is pressing on his pelvic bone and causing him pain. Dr. Anderson said
that hopefully by the end of next week he should feel some relief. Matt has had two treatments so far and will continue Monday.

I pray that this radiation works and some of that pain in his pelvic region goes away!
Thank you to all your prayers for Matt.

Great Weekend!

2011-11-28T10:25:00.000-06:00

What a great weekend! We left Friday morning for Indianapolis, Indiana. The ride went well. We didn't run into to very much traffic. We found our hotel and wow it was gorious! Each room had it's own refrigerator, stove top, sink and dishwasher and TV and couch that turned into a bed. The other room had two queen beds and a TV and desk. Our second suite was across the hall.

Friday night we went out to eat after we got settled in. Downtown Indianapolis had a party that night. Christmas tree lights. There was some kind of lighting ceremony put on where a lot, lot of people came. It was the night they turn on the large Christmas tree and we were there to see the lights go on!!

Matt, Casey, Christine and Becky sitting on the bed at the hotel.

We saw the Christmas tree lights go on.

Went out to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe Friday night.

Then we went home and went swimming for a little while. We stayed up talking and finally we went to bed.

Chad, Nate, Mike and Gavin swimming

On Saturday we got up and walked to the middle of downtown to see the Christmas tree in the day light and to see all the other sights.

We took an elevator up twenty four floor of the monument and this is what we saw. You could do the steps, all 331 of them or for $2 take the elevtor. We did find out that there were still 3 flights of very narrow stairs to do when we got to the top. That kind of tired Matt out.

Group shot in front of the War Museum, where the lighted Christmas tree is decorated around.

Matt, Casey, Gavin, Nate Becky, Mike, Jenny, Colton, Chad, Christine and Kitty and Brian.

Then we went shopping at the Mall downtown and ate a late lunch at.......

We had a good lunch!

Casey and Matt enjoying a meal at Hooters!

Then Matt went back to get a quick nap before we had to go to the Jeff Dunham show. We had to get to the show early to pick up our passes to be

able to meet Jeff after the show.

A friend from my work was able to contact Jeff's Dunham's manager and he said he normally doesn't do meet and greets but he would do it for

Matt. We got to the show and got our passes so we can meet Jeff Dunham after the show. We found our seats. Our seats were on the floor, second row!

They were great seats!! Jeff Dunham put on a really good show. We were

laughing so hard our cheeks were hurting. When the show was over we

waited to meet Jeff. Here are some pictures.

Here is Mike, Matt and Nate standing in front of the stage.

Myself (Kitty), Nate, Jeff Dunham, Matt and Casey

Jeff Dunham and Matt

The show started at 8:00 and it finished close to 10:30. Then we went and met Jeff so we didn't get back to our hotel until 11:00. Our hotel was one block away from the field house so we were able walk to the show.

It was a great weekend!! The ride home was long and it rain all the way home.

I am so thankful that the weather was in the 60's the whole weekend so we were able to walk every where we went. It was a great week seeing all the family for thanksgiving and then spending time with the family in Indiana!!

Thank you, thank you to everyone for all your continued thoughts and prayers for Matthew!

Doctor Appointment & Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T07:11:00.000-06:00

Matt saw Dr. Holen yesterday for a check up. He said that Matt's site where his nephrostomy tube is looks good. The tube is doing it's job for Matt. He still continues to get up at night every few hours to go to the bathroom. They took Matt's vitals and they were good. Matt still has a little higher blood pressure compared to normal. Matt still struggles with trying to gain weight. He would like to get in the 120 range.

Matt continues to have pain in his pelvic region. Dr. Holen is going to check with Dr. Anderson. Matt might be able to have radiation in that area somewhere. He can not have the radiation in the same spot he had last time but they might be able to radiate a near spot to help with the pain.

Matt spent this last weekend with his brother Nate and his Uncle Keith. They went out
to eat Friday and then went and saw a movie. Then the three went back to Matt's house and watch another movie and fell asleep. On Saturday they got up and decided to split wood for Matt's Grandma and Grandpa and for his in-laws. Matt likes going to Jerry and Linda's and sitting by the fire place to keep warm!!

This Holiday weekend Matt and his family are taking a road trip. We are going to Indianapolis Indiana. We have a hotel for Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday
night we are going to a show. We are going to see the "Jeff Dunham" the Ventriloquist.
He is a great comedian. His puppet "Walter, Peanut and Achmed the Dead Terrorist" are our favorites!! We can't wait to see the show. Matt, Casey and Nate are lucky enough to be able to meet Jeff Dunham after the show!! Can't wait to go!! I pray
that we have good traveling weather! Our goal is to leave Friday morning around nine and return home Sunday around supper time! This was a good weekend because Casey, Christine, Nate are all out of school for the weekend. Brian, Mike, Becky, Chad and I were able to get off of work Friday to be able to make it!!

Thursday we are having my whole side of the family to our house for Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for! We are so thankful to have Matt for another year and pray to have him for another year!!

Thank you to everyone for all their cards and prayers for Matt!

Check up on his Nephrostomey tube

2011-11-15T16:38:00.000-06:00

Matt had an appointment yesterday to check his nephrostomey tube. The doctor said everything looked good. No signs of infection. The doctor changed the dressing and took x-rays.

Dr. McKabe and Dr. Holen had talked early in the day. They called the doctor that was doing Matt's check up on his tube and asked if he would do x-rays to see where the blockage was.

Matt's ureter is blocked right at the bottom where it meets the bladder. The tumor on his bladder is blocking the tube down there. We took that as a
good thing. We were thinking the ureter was completely block.

Matt still has leg pain that continues to bother him all the time. He is getting
used to having the tube in his back. It is very important that the incision site
get check regularly to make sure there is no infection starting.

Matt has been doing some cleaning and cooking at his home to keep busy.
Hospice still comes in a few times a week to check Matt's tube and to check his blood pressure. Matt's blood pressure is slowly getting back to normal. Matt's brother-in-law has also barrowed him a recliner to sit in. Matt finds it more comfortable sitting and taking a nap. This way it feels better on his back and the tube hangs better and is more comfortable.

Thank you to everyone for all you support and prayers!

Matt is feeling better

2011-11-14T09:53:00.000-06:00

Matt is feeling better since his procedure. Hospice came on Saturday and helped cover Matt's bandages so he could take a shower to go out that evening.

Friday after the procedure was a hard time with pain. Saturday the pain was more tolerable and Matt felt like cleaning. He cleaned the upstairs of their home. Then he thought he should rest up. Hospice came in and helped Matt cover his bandages so he could shower and then when he was done they changed his dressings. He even took a nap so he would be rested up for the Marine Ball Banquet.

On Sunday he slept in and got up and cleaned his garage. He did mention
that he had more blood in his bag than urine. I told him he needs to slow
down and let his wound heal. He promised he would.

Today Matt has a Doctor appointment. They are going to do an ultrasound to make sure the tube is in the right place and everything is healing good.

Thank you to everyones prayers. Matt is feeling better and I pray that continues for a long time.

Procedure Went Well

2011-11-11T21:15:00.000-06:00

Matt's procedure went well today. It only took an hour. The doctor said Matt did real good during the procedure. Matt now has a tube coming out of his back and attached to a bag he wears strapped to his leg. Matt is in a lot of pain right now. He is taking his current pain medications to help control the pain.

Tomorrow Rainbow Hospice will come. They are going to have to change the dressing around Matt's tube and check the incision to make sure there is no infection. Matt is still trying to figure out how to sit and lay with his new tube.

Rainbow Hospice will come every day to check Matt's tube. They are going to teach Matt and Casey and myself how to clean his wound and how to clean his bag.

We are planning a family trip at Thanksgiving time so it is a good idea for Casey and myself to know how to care for Matt's Nephrostomy tube.

Matt has a Dr appointment Monday. He will have an Ultrasound to make sure the tube is placed properly and everything is healing the way it is supposed to.

Dr. Lesniak is going to talk with Dr. McKabe next week. Dr. Lesniak believes he can go through Matt's new tube and stint his ureter. If he is able to get through cancer and get a stint in his ureter and Matt's body is able to handle a stint then Matt would not
have to have the bag. The doctor would like to try and cap the tube for a week or so to make sure Matt's body handles the stint then he would be able to take the tube out. This would be a great out come it would reduce the possibility of infection.

I pray that Matt's pain goes away and his blood pressure continues to go down.
People ask what they can do. I truly believe in the power of pray. Please Pray for
Matt is feel better and for his body to handle this new tube. Also to pray for a miracle would be great!! Thank you to all our family and friends for all their support!!

Another Procedure Tomorrow

2011-11-10T21:52:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow Matt is having another procedure at Watertown Hospital. Dr. Robert Lesniak will be performing a procedure called, Paercutaneous nephrostomy. He will
putting a tube into Matt's back into Matt's right kidney. He is going to drain the kidney.
They will test the urine to see if it is infected. The tube will stay in Matt's kidney. The doctor will attach a bag to it. The kidney will be able to drain into the baf.

Matt's right kidney will drain into the bag for several weeks. They will have to watch
that around the tube doesn't get infected. Matt's left kidney will continue to function as normal while the right kidney will use the bag.

This bag can be temporary or permanent. Dr. Lesniak think he could go through the tube and put a stint in Matt's ureter. He has done this before with cancer patients that have their ureter filled with cancer. Matt has had bad experiences with stints and not
sure he wants to try this procedure. If he decides he doesn't want to try puttting the stint in then the bag for his right kidney will become permanent.

The procedure tomorrow with take a hour and half. They will numb Matt's back around the area they will put the tube in. Matt will come home the same day.

I pray that the tube goes in and that Matt's body will accept this tube. I hope this helps to take away some of the pain Matt is experiencing. Also that this helps to lower
Matt's blood pressure. His blood pressure has been running a little high.

Thank you for all your continued prayers.

Not the Out come we were looking for.

2011-11-09T20:35:00.000-06:00

Matt and Gavin while Matt was checking into Fort Hospital

Matt went to Fort Atkinson Hospital for a procedure to put some dye up through the ureter into Matt's right kidney. Dr. McKabe was unable to see through the ureter. She said his ureter was completely blocked with cancer. She was unable to even think about a stint. Matt's Diagnosis is Hematuria: Hydronephrosis of right kidney. He has
lots of urine blocked in his right kidney. Matt's blood pressure is high. They said due to the kidney problem it will make his blood pressure go up.

Dr. McKabe got out some debris but was not able to help Matt. Dr. McKabe
scheduled Matt to have a procedure in Watertown on Friday. The Radiologist
is going to fill Matt in on the possibility of rerouting the right kidney or giving Matt a
urine bag. Matt will decide tomorrow exactly what he wants to do when he finds out his options.

Please God help Matt to understand all his options and to decide the best option to help him feel better.

Thank you for all your continued prayers for Matt!

Ultrasound Results

2011-11-08T20:35:00.000-06:00

Matt met with Dr. McKabe today. It was decided that he definitely has blockage in his
right kidney. Tomorrow Matt is going to Fort Atkinson Hospital for a day surgery at noon. Dr. McKabe is going to shoot dye down into his right kidney to see if she can find the blockage. She said it could be a kidney stone, or some kind of debris blocking so his urine can not come out like it should. If it is not that it could be a tumor on the outside of the kidney pressing on his ureter so then Dr. McKabe said she would put in a stint.

Hoefully all goes well tomorrow and Dr. McKabe can fix Matt's kidney so he can feel
better.

Please pray for Matt to come through the surgery with a right kidney working better!
the maybe Matt will feel better!!

Thank you for all your continued prayers!

Last week.

2011-11-07T10:26:00.003-06:00

Matt and his niece, Sophia and nephew Luke at the Zoo

Matt has been trying to keep busy. Last week he went to work Tuesday for a few hours to sweep up and put things away. The next day, Wednesday he was really tired. You know Matt! He wants to keep busy and help. So he went to work on Thursday and drove to pick up some parts and he was a little tired on Friday. So he rested Friday and Matt and Casey came to Ixonia to have fish with me and the family to celebrate Casey's and my birthday.

Then Matt went home to try and get some sleep. It seems no matter how tired he is he wakes up every few hours from pain or to go to the bathroom. Saturday we had our niece's baby shower so Matt came along and went to the Milwaukee zoo with Uncle Mike, Luke and Sophia. Matt was really tired on Sunday but he did get up and met with Grandma Aud and Grandpa Boy and family to go to the snowmobile breakfast. Then Matt went home to rest for a while.

Today we are following up with Dr. McKabe to see if she read Matt's Ultrasound results. I hope to talk with his Dr. McKabe sometime this weeks.

I pray that Matt gains some weight so he doesn't have pain in his pelvic region and his back! Thank you to everyone for your continued support and prayers!

Happy Anniversary Matt & Casey!!!

2011-10-31T11:11:00.000-05:00

Matt and Casey had their first Anniversary yesterday! They went to Olympia Resort Friday night to celebrate! They got to use the private hot tub and have a very nice dinner at the resorts restaurant!
Matt surprised Casey at school on Thursday last week with her Anniversary gift, a bracelet he had special made. It says "Believe" on one side and their anniversary date on the other side.

Matt is feeling good. Still trying to eat a lot of little meals to gain weight.
Still waiting to hear on his Ultrasound.

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers! Matt is so very blessed with such caring family and friends!

Had Ultrasound done

2011-10-26T07:06:00.000-05:00

Matt and his Nephew, Gavin in Dr. Holen's office last week.

While Matt was in the UW-Hospital the urology team had said that Matt's right kidney was swollen. Dr. Holen felt Matt was stable enough to investigate why his kidney is swollen. Matt went to Watertown Hospital and had a ultrasound done on both kidneys and his bowl.

The results are being sent to Dr. Holen and to UW-Hospital Urology Doctors. We will wait to see what the results are.

Matt has been keeping himself busy every day. He gets up and does some house hold chores and then he visits family or friends for a while and then home again. Matt gets
tired if he does to much. He keeps trying to eat a lot of little meals. He gains a few
pounds and loses a few pounds but he keeps trying to eat as much as he can handle.

October 30th is right around the corner! Matt and Casey's first Anniversary! How time flies!

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers!

Lab Results

2011-10-19T11:29:00.000-05:00

Matt got his lab results and he does not have any infection. Yeah!!! Matt had labs on Thursday last week at Johnson Creek. He had a temperature on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They said his white count was high and he was fighting off some kind of infection.

Matt did not have a temperature after Thursday. He is feeling okay with minimal pelvic pain. He takes his pain pill every day and is able to do just about anything he wants to do. He is working really hard on trying to gain weight!!

Thank you for all your prayers! They are working!! Matt was afraid the blood infection was back and he would end up in the hospital again! He was so happy to find out he does not have an infection!!!

Fever

2011-10-14T13:05:00.000-05:00

Matt has developed a fever again. He had the first fever Tuesday night, Wednesday morning and Wednesday night. He called Dr. Holen and went to see him on Thursday.

They took some blood and will find out later today or tomorrow if that blood infection is back or what exactly is happening. His white count was really high so his body is
trying to fight off something.

Matt is trying to eat and gain weight. A little bit is sticking but not to much. Matt feels okay and he doesn't have pain just that darn fever!!!

Matt has been keeping himself busy. He did a grease and oil change on his Dad's car with a little help. He helped his Uncle with paperwork for his trucking business or just keeping him company. He went shopping with me on Monday. He is trying to get up and do things around the house and get out when he can.

Please help me pray the whatever infection is there that it goes away, ASAP!!!
Thank you for all your continued prayers!

Picc line is out!

2011-10-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

Matt spent last week gettin infused with his medication to fight the infection that he had.
Rainbow Hospice came every day around 2:00 to hook up Matt's IV to flow for the next 24 hours.

Matt stay home and towards the end of the week he spent time with some friends, family, going on errands etc... He was trying to keep busy. Matt is still very thin.
He is trying hard to eat and try to gain weight. Some of the medication did not give
him an appetite. He has lost a lot of weight.

On Sunday, 10/9/11 the hospice nurse came and took the picc line out. Matt is done with all his antibotics. He told Rainbow Hospice that he did not want to stay with them anymore. When Matt finds the need to use Rainbow Hospice he will give them a call
and resign up.

Matt & Casey decided that Matt is going to eat, keep busy and eat again! As soon as he gains some weight he wants to go back to work. He is feeling much better since he
had his picc line out. Now he can roll over and not worry about pulling the line out.

Matt is keeping busy with cleaning, cooking and running errands. He is helping out family and spending time with family!

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers.

ER Visit

2011-10-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

Last night Matt started experiencing swelling in his tongue. He said it felt like he swallowed it. Casey took him to the emergency room. By then he couldn't talk he could only mumble. His kept looking up to the sky and his mouth muscles were not in control. They gave him benadryl through his IV. In ten minutes he
could talk again. His throat still did not feel right so they gave a second dose of benadryl. He felt better after that and he walk out of the emergency room and went home. They sent home some benadryl so he can take it every 6 hours for the next 24 hours to make sure this doesn't happen again. They also sent home some zofran to help with the nausous feeling he has.

They determined it was the nauseous medication that Matt had at home that he took is what caused this allegric reaction. The doctor says that Matt is now allegeric to Compazine. No more Compazine for Matt!!

Matt has been feeling okay for now. He is hooked up to the IV pump getting his medication to continue to make sure that blood infection is gone! October 9th can't come soon enough. Then Matt can get unhooked from the pump and done with all the other drugs. Hopefully then he can start eating again and start feeling better.

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers.

Matt is home!

2011-09-30T19:24:00.000-05:00

Matt got home at 11:30 today. He went right to their living room couch. Matt ate some lunch and started to nap when the RN's from Rainbow Hospice came to introduce themselves. Matt had a hard time staying awake to talk to the Nurse's. He didn't get very much sleep at the hospital.

Matt's IV Medications were delivered to his house at 4:00. The hospice nurse's came back and started Matt's IV in his Picc Line. He is on a pump and getting his medication at a slow drip for 24 hours. The nurse will come every day at 2:00 to hook up the new bag. This will go on until October 9. Then the medications for this blood infection will be done and hopefully we will not have to worry about that infection anymore!!

Then he should get the picc line out. After this we pray that he will be able to eat and gain some weight. He is down to 118. They were going to weigh him before we left and never got a chance.

Tonight he is going to stay home with his wife, Casey and relax and sleep!!

Thank you for all your continue thoughts and prayers!

Shower

2011-09-30T10:10:00.000-05:00

Matt is showering, changing his clothes because he is going home!!!

Rainbow Hospice will meet with Matt this afternoon to give him his next rounds of
medications.

Matt is so excited to be finally going home!!

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!!

Going Home!

2011-09-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

Matt is going home today!! Just waiting to see if he has to have his 2:00 antibiotic. If he doesn't we are heading home this morning. If he needs his antibiotics then we won't be leaving until 3:00.

Matt has it set up with Rainbow hospice to help out for awhile. Matt has a picc line in to continue his antibiotic at home.

Just waiting for the doctor to come in and discharge him.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Picc Line

2011-09-29T11:15:00.000-05:00

Matt is getting his picc line put in right now. His goal to get his antibiotic asap so he can get out of here. The Infectious disease doctor said tomorrow but Matt may be able to twist his arm depending on the lab results.

Matt got two bags of blood the other night and that has helped to make him feel better.
Matt needs to get home and get some sleep and eat. Matt's weight is down to 119.7. This new medication took away his appetite and taste.

Matt needs to get home and sleep and eat and be with Casey! This is all he wants!!

Thank you for all your continue thoughts and prayers!!

Possible Home Thursday or Friday

2011-09-28T15:30:00.000-05:00

Dr. Striker came in and said things were looking good. As long as thngs keeep going well Matt will get a pic line in tomorrow. Dr. Striker said he will have to infuse his antiboitic twice a day at home for about 2 weeks. Some of the antiboitic Matt is taking is Colistin, Fosto, Cefepine and Fostomycin. One or all of these seemed to have done the trick and helped Matt.

So Matt is so looking forward to getting out of here! Sitting around and not being able to get comfortable is hard for him.

He is looking forward to going home and getting hooked up and watching movie at home or going to the movie house to watch some of the new movies!!

Thank you for all your prayers!! They are working!!

Doctors Rounds

2011-09-28T10:37:00.000-05:00

The regular doctors were in and did Matt's assessment. They were happy to see that Matt has not had a fever for 24 hours! Yeah!!! They said if the Blood Cultures they took on the 24th of September are still negative by Thursday and still no fever by Thursday then they will put in a pic line and send Matt home!! He will have to continue antiobics at home for awhile to make sure to get rid of that darn infection in his blood!!

Matt and a computer friend got Matt's new game working on his computer. Matt is happy to finally get to play his game. Of coarse he is constantly intereuped every 15 to 30 minutes by DR's, RN's, CNA, cleaning people, laundry people and kitchen help! and so on and so on!!! He can't wait to get home and be comfortable!!!

Matt's tempeture was 98.9 this am. I pray he temp stays down and the cultures stay negative so Matt can get his pic line and go home!!

Thank you for all your prayers! They are working.

CT-Scan

2011-09-27T19:45:00.001-05:00

Matt's CT-Scan results are in. They did not find any blockages that would be causing
the bloating in Matt's abdomen. They said one stint was working good and the other one was working okay. They said that as long as one stint is working good that is all you need. The only bad news was they found two more cancer nodules in Matt's lung that was pea size or smaller. These are new from the scan on September 12.

They were very happy that they didn't find anything else that would cause a fever. Matt had a tad of a fever at 9:50 this morning. It was 100.5. He has had 2 more temperatures taken and they were all normal at 98.7 and 98.9. Hopefully this will continue and he will not have any more temperatures! Then he can blow this popcorn stand!" He still has to stay this week because we are waiting for the infection that is sitting in the petri dish to still show negative. They said even after 48 hours it might turn positive. They said usually after 96 hours it probably won't change anymore. So it is a waiting game.

They also said that Matt's white count was low and needed some blood. So today he got a pint of blood.

Hard waiting game for Matt. He just wants to get home and be comfortable.

Thank You to everyone for your calls and well wishes!

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers!

Labs

2011-09-27T14:40:00.000-05:00

Dr. Striker the infectious control Doctor was just in and said the petri dishes of Matt's infection still shows negative!! Although he is not ready to say that he thinks it is gone yet. He still thinks we need to wait a few days to see how Matt is doing and he wants to see the CT-Scan results are before he changes his medication or drop them all together!

So Matt continues to sit and eat, watch TV and play video games on his computer.
They did weigh Matt and he has gain 7 pounds so far! He now weighs 127.3 yesterday.
He does have a swollen abdomen so hopefully it is all the food he ate. He is having a little trouble moving his bowel. We are working on getting that under control so he can
do it daily and not have to push so hard to get his bowel out.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers! They are working! Please keep them coming!!

Sept 27

2011-09-27T08:02:00.000-05:00

Matt did have a little bit of a fever last night at 9:35 it was 101.6. We were hoping with this new antibiotic he would not have anymore fevers. Matt had a hard time sleeping so at 2:00 am they gave him something to help him sleep.

This afternoon Matt will have a CT-Scan. We will see what that has to bring. Matt infectious control Doctor will be in about 10:00 today to talk with Matt.

Thank you so much for all your continued prayers for Matt!

New Antibiotic

2011-09-26T12:50:00.000-05:00

Dr. Stricker was concerned because Matt spiked a couple temperatures yesterday. He explained to Matt what he thought was going on. He feels that the one antibiotic he was holding off on Matt he should now take . He said it is hard to figure out timing on some of these antibiotics. Hopefully this one will help.

It is hard waiting. All these blood tests take 3,4 and 5 days someti mes for the answers. It is a hard waiting game. Bret brought Matt a new computer game, Command & Conquer "The First Decade". Matt is hoping this will keep him busy while he waits for these antibiotic to work. He has had some swelling in his abodmen.
Tomorrow they are planning on a CT=Scan tomorrow.

Here is Matt playing his computer game.

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers.

Big Scare!

2011-09-25T17:52:00.000-05:00

Matt & Casey were scared this morning with some scary news. The nurse came in and told him he had Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and there is nothing they can do. She really scared Matt & Casey! Then Dr.. Robert Striker came in and really explained what was going on.

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa is an infection in the blood. The normal antibiotics are unable to get rid of the infection. The Doctor has the infectious control people working on coming up with an antibiotic that will hopefully work on Matt. They are putting some of Matt's blood in a petri dish and trying different kinds antibiotics to see what will work! There is an antibiotic that they doctor can try but it doesn't have good side effects. So the Doctor does not want to try that until we have exhausted all other possibilities. One of the new medication he is trying is Monurol. Hopefully that will help. Matt is also having some constipation due to the medications he is taking. They gave him some Milk of Magnesiaa and stool softener to help him with that!

Matt did go down and they did another procedure and took out Matt's power port.
They feel that the the infection hangs on forgein bodies and his power port is a place to hide for infections. They took the port out. Matt's left shoulder and arm are a little sore.

They just took his temperature and it is up again. 103.2. They gave him some Tylenol to help with the temperature. If they can figure out what antibiotic will work to get rid of this infection in his blood then they said they can put in a pic line and Matt can take his drugs at home and get out of the hospital!

Thank you for all your continue thoughts and prayers! Please pray that Matt's body is strong enough to get rid of this nasty infection in his blood so he can get better and go home!!

Infection

2011-09-24T17:08:00.000-05:00

The Doctor told Matt & Casey that he defintely a bacterial infection and he needs to stay in the hospital until they get rid of it. They are giving him antibotics. He is feeling pretty good. He is up walking all over the hospital and eating anything he wants.

His white count is up really high, 29,000. They just gave Matt a blood transfusion. Hopefully this will all help Matt feel well and get rid of the infection. They told Matt he would for sure be at the hospital until Monday sometime. It takes a good 48 hours for them to know the antibotics are working. They are still checking to see if it was from the stint or from his power port.

Matt is still a little grouchy because he is in the hospital. He can't wait to get home. He is so tired of hospitals.
Thank you for all your continued prayers!

Recovery

2011-09-24T08:15:00.000-05:00

Dr.Burkard came in last night and explained that Matt has a bacterial infection in his blood. The test results came back from Johnson Creek and the lab results from UW-Madison ER that he has a bacterial infection in his blood. The Doctor thinks it is possibly from the plastic stint not working properly or it is from his power port. They are going to watch him closely and see if he continues to spike a temperature. If he does continue to spike a temp then he is thinking it is his power port and that brings new problems for Matt.

Hopefully Matt is feeling better and he hasn't had any temperature. Then it means his 2 new metal stints are working and it isn't his power port. Last night before I left he had a 98.1 temperature and a 99.2 temperature. I hope it doesn't fluctuate anymore than that!!
It he doesn't have a temperature than it might be possible to come home later today. If he continues to have a temp he will be in the hospital all weekend.

I pray to the Lord that he takes care of Matt and his new stints are working so Matt gets to go home and feel better!! Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Out of the Procedure!

2011-09-23T17:45:00.000-05:00

Dr. Gopal was just in here and said Matt did real well. He said that the tumor on his liver was pressing against the plastic stint and squeezing it so nothing could get through. He had to put two metal stints in but he said the fluid was flowing really good when he was done. He said all Matt's numbers from his liver and kidney should come down and his biliruben should come down. He did say however Matt will be in more pain that the procedure he did last week.

The doctor said they will have to increase his pain medication for 48 hours and he should feel better after that. Matt is in recovery sleeping. In about an hour we will go
up to his room. He made me promise to have apple juice, applesauce waiting for him.
He wants to wake up and be on a liquid diet right away!!! Oh Matt!!!

I promised to see what I could do. I am guessing he will go home tomorrow hopefully. He does not want to spend his weekend in the hospital. He already missed seeing Casey's performance with the alumni at the half time of Watertown homecoming game with her dance routine.

Thank you for your prayers and helping Matt get through this difficult time. God Bless all of our dear friends and family!!

ER Visit

2011-09-23T15:04:00.000-05:00

Matt wasn't feeling well and call Johnson Creek Cancer Center. They told him to go directly to Watertown ER. Dr. Holen called ahead and told the ER Doctor what was up. When we got there we learned they were unable to do the ERCP procedure here.
Matt decided not to stay at Watertown and head right to UW-Madison Hospital.

UW Hospital put the temporary stint in and Dr. Holen felt Matt needs a permanent stint.
Dr. Holen feel that the plastic one might not be doing the job it needs to do. The permanent one is made of metal. Matt spiked a temperature of 103.8. They feel he has
an infection going on in side of him and his body is not liking the plastic stint.

Matt than had to wait in UW's ER for a while. They didn't have a room for him on the floor. Then he was told he wasn't going to have the procedure until Friday. He told the ER doctor then that he wants to eat. He was very hungry by now after not eating all day. Matt got up to his room and ordered a grill ham and cheese sandwich, french fries, strawberries, apple pie, chocolate cake, apple juice, milk and chocolate chip cookie. Matt eat half of what he ordered. So Casey and I had to help. They have very good chocolate cake here!! Later that night Matt also some fruit and a chocolate shake.
He said the shake was really good.

Today Matt was informed that he would have his procedure at 12:15. If he feels good afterwards they might think about letting him go home. Well, we have been down in the surgery waiting area and it is 3:00 and Matt is still waiting to have his permenant stint put in. They had an Emergency ahead of him. Matt is not very happy. He would really
like to get home tonight! Matt would be alright if he really had to wait till morning. He does NOT want to spend the whole weekend in the hospital!!

So please help me pray that they are able to put the metal stint in and that it does the job and Matt starts to feel better. Matt's beliruben was up and his other counts on his liver and kidneys were all up. I hope this stint is the answer!

Thank you for all your prayers!

Doctor Appt at Johnson Creek

2011-09-21T22:01:00.000-05:00

Matt saw Dr. Holen today. They decided right now we have to get Matt's liver working at 100%. Next week Matt will have another procedure done to put in a permanent stint. Then he will wait a week and see Dr. Holen again and hopefully the stint will give Matt
no problems. Matt's skin is still yellow some but getting better.

Matt also had labs done today and we will see what his bilirubin number is tomorrow. Hopefully it has continued to go down. The steroid Matt is taking is helping him to have an appetite. The bad side of taking the steroid is it keeps you awake at nights.
Dr. Holen said to continue to take the steroid in the morning and not to take the night
one so he can sleep better. Hopefully this will help Matt to sleep!!

A week after Matt's procedure we will meet with Dr. Holen and make decisions on what the next steps will be. Matt needs to put on weight so he can feel better! Today Matt was feeling pretty good and not having any pain!

Thank you for ALL your continued prayers. I believe God is listening!

Matt feeling a little better

2011-09-20T15:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Matt said he had a morning nap that was the best sleep he has had in a long time. Today he is feeling a little better. He is not ready for work yet but decided to
clean the house and surprise Casey. He is trying to eat a lot of little meals to gain back
some weight and get strong again.

Tomorrow we have an afternoon appointment with Dr. Holen.

Here is a really nice prayer I received from a friend:

"Dear Lord Jesus, Lamb of god, Holy Might One, in our heartfelt prayer we place
our dear one Mathew Krueger, in the same way as in Your Gospel, as one who once was lowered through the roof by determined friends, and we place him before you with our faith and beg you to restore him fully recovered and to at once walk, love, dance and continue most energetically in Your service here on Earth and may he return to you as man of many years. Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus ...Make our hearts like unto thine. Amen and Thank you."

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prays for Matt.

Not Feeling the best yet!

2011-09-17T23:21:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Friday and today Matt has not felt real good yet. He wakes up and doesn't feel good and as the day goes on he feels a little bit better but not good enough to
get out.

Hopefully tomorrow he will feel a little better and able to get out and get some fresh air.

Matt is having some pain in his back and pelvic. He is eating pudding, applesauce and ice cream. He has put on a few pounds this week. We have to try and get him to eat
more so he gains weight and feels better.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Home Again!

2011-09-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

Matt came home yeserday. They said that Matt was handling the liquid diet good so he should continue the diet when he gets home. Matt got home about supper time. He curled up on the
couch and rested.

He wasn't very good at listening to stay on his diet. He had a peanut butter sandwhich and noodles.

Here is Matt when he got home from the Hospital.

Today he is not feeling real well. I brought him to my house and he is having applesauce, ice cream and lots of juice. He took a nice warm bath and now he is napping. Hopefully he feel better tomorrow.
Hopefully he listens to the Doctor and doesn't over do it with food.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for Matt!

New Day

2011-09-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

The Doctor came in last night and told us about Matt's CT-Scan. Matt's cancer continues
to grow. The cancerous nodules in his lungs, on his liver, on his pelvic bone and on his kidney are all
a little bigger. The CT-Scan shows that Matt's left kidney is swollen. They not sure exactly what has caused his left kidney to swell. The GI Doctor is coming in to talk with Matt today. The Doctor
also said that Matt can no longer be in the clinical trail. Matt's CEA tumor marker score has gone up to 54. Right before the trail started on Aug 3 it had gone down to 41. Matt will have to come back in a few weeks to get a premenate stint in his bile duct. They thought the temporary plastic one seems to be working so he will need the stainless steel one put in some time in the near future.

Matt and Casey have lots to think about. They are going to decide if Matt wants to check into
another clinical trail or not. First thing is Matt needs to get strong again. Matt needs to eat and put on
some weight.

The PA came in this morning and explained that Matt' numbers are all way down. The feel that
the Pancreatitis is almost gone. The PA explained that Matt's bilirubin is down to 4. She said as long
as his pain is gone and he can tolerate food she thought he might be able to go home this afternoon.

So the PA gave Matt the go ahead for a clear liquid diet. So Matt ordered breakfast. He doesn't like oatmeal so he found out he can have Chocolate pudding , yogurt, ice cream. So Matt ate his chocolate
ice cream and some of his pudding. He is resting so he can finish his pudding in a little while.
and chocolate ice cream. Matt took it slow and ate his ice cream and some of his pudding. He is
resting and then going to finish his pudding. If Matt handle this food they are talking he might go
home this afternoon.

God has a journey all decided for Matt and I understand that. It might not be what we want but God must need a really good Angel. Please help us and continue to pray that Matt can go home and get stronger and put on some weight and be pain free! I believe in Our Savior to be there for Matt and Casey and the family.

New Developement

2011-09-13T11:18:00.000-05:00

Matt was so excited thinking he was going home today. Matt has developed Pancreatitis.
He woke up this morning with a real bad pain in his stomach. They believe that because of
the ERCP procedure that Matt had done yesterday it inflamed his pancreas. This could be
life threatening if not taken care of. After the CT Scan Matt can only have liquids and pain
medication. Hopefully by tomorrow the Pancreas is feeling better and might let Matt eat
more solid food.

Please God I pray that Matt's CT_Scan does not show anything bad. That it is the nodule on
his liver pushing on the bile duct. I also pray that his pancreas feels better tomorrow!

Doctor Appointment

2011-09-13T00:32:00.000-05:00

This morning Matt and Casey and I (Kitty) went to UW-Madison Hospital where Matt has been doing his clinical trial. Matt had labs done first and then doctor appointment.

As soon as Clinical RN Rosemary saw Matt she new something was wrong. Since Matt stop taking the two chemo pills has felt worse. The whites in Matt's eye have gotten yellow and even his skin on his face has gotten yellow. Matt has been very tired and has been sick to his stomach since last Tuesday. Casey had taken Matt to their friend who is a PA and said something is going on with Matt's liver. She thought it would be okay for him to wait another day to see his doctor on Monday.

The labs show that a normal Biliruben test was high. A normal number is 1.4 and Matt's biliruben was 9.3. It also showed his ALT and other tests were all high. They wanted to put Matt in the hospital.
Of coarse Matt has been trying to avoid any hospital but Casey put her foot down and told him he had to
stay and get better!

Matt's weight has gone steadily down. He has no desire to eat. He still tries to push himself to eat something. His weight has gone done to 121.9.

His CEA tumor marker test had gone down the last time to 41.0 Today his CEA tumor marker test was 53.1. This number can flucate due to the liver problem he is having. Hopefully when we get his liver back in check his tumor marker number will go down again.

Matt was put into the hospital and at 4:15 today he had a ERCP test done, This is a procedure where they had to put Matt out and put a scope down his throat into his liver to see what could be blocking things. The bile duct to his liver is being pressed on and making it very small for fluids to flow through. The doctor put in a temporary stint to hold it open. Hopefully in a day or two Matt's liver will function normal and his yellow will go away. Tomorrow Matt will have a CT-Scan and hopefully it will show what is going on with Matt's liver. What they suspect is the small nodule of Cancer that is on his liver might have grown and be the culprit pressing on his bile duct and causing all the problems. If this is the case then in two weeks Matt will come back to UW-Hospital and they will put in a permanent stint.

Matt has gotten some sleep earlier today and I hope he gets a good night sleep tonight. He is up two to three times a night to go to the bathroom or he just can't sleep. Sleep will help Matt a lot if he can get some.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers. Please say a prayer that the nodule is the problem and nothing else. I pray that when this gets cleared up Matt will be able to start phase 2 of the clinical trial. He was supposed to start that today but due to the liver problem that is put on hold. They said it usually take at least two phases to see that it is shrinking the cancerous tumors.

Matt doing okay

2011-09-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

Matt has been taking both of his chemo pills. He has been getting very tired easily. Matt does not let that get him down. He is still going to work most days. He had a
wedding one weekend and he has been to 2 Brewers games. Matt has also been
keeping busy trying to help Casey get ready for her kindergarten classroom.

Matt still has pelvic pain which he takes around the clock pain medication. If it gets real bad he has a quick 4 hour pain medication he can take on top of the 12 hour pain medication he takes already.

Matt has a doctor appointment with Dr. Le Conte on Sept 12 with labs first and appointment second. This will be day 28 of the clinical trail. We will find out
how things are progressing. If the new drugs are shrinking the cancer in Matt or
not.

I believe in the power of prayer!! Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Third Hospital Stay & CEA tumor marker score

2011-08-17T14:43:00.001-05:00

Matt is in the hospital for his third and last hospital stay. This is day 15th of the trail. Matt has developed a rash on his face, back shoulders and chest. They told us about a moisturizer that will help with it that we will need to get. If the rash worsens they want Matt to call the RN in charge of the clinical trial. Matt has also developed some nausea but not bad enough for him to take medication for it. Matt has a touch of the diarrhea. They are going to give him a prescription to help him with that. If any of these symptoms worsen he is to call the Nurse of the clinical trial.

Now for the trail Matt has to see Dr. LaConte once a month for a physcial and he will go to Johnson Creek monthly for labs. Every other month they will have Matt have a CT Scan at Watertown Hospital. As long as Matt is tolerating the medication and the medication is working he can stay on the trial. If he is not feeling well and wants to get off the trail he can. God willing the new drugs are shrinking the cancer that is inside o f
Matt.

The nurse came in and told us Matt's new CEA tumor marker score. His last marker was done on 4/15/11 and the score was 56.2. They did labs right before Matt started his clinical trial for a base line and it was 41.8!!! Yeah!!!!!! Hopefully it continues to go down!!!!

Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers. I pray to God that these new drugs work on Matt's cancer!

Second trip to Hospital for Clinical Trail

2011-08-11T13:07:00.001-05:00

Matt and Gavin playing basketball while waiting for his next blood draw.

Matt, Casey and Gavin went wandering and checked out the UW Children's Hospital.

Gaving learned how to make Uncle Matt's bed go up and down,

Matt has done real good for the first week of his trail. Matt has been able to continue to work all week. He felt nauseous just a few times for a very short period. Otherwise Matt has been a little tired but he doesn't let that stop him! Today he started taking Lapatinib. It is a very big pill for Matt to take. He is not fond of large
pills. He has to take 4 pills of Lapatinib once a day every day. He will have to take MK-2206 every other day. For both pills he has to fast two hour before and two hours after. Matt has started a routine of eating supper then waiting two hours and taking his pills, watch a movie then go to bed a little while later. They said all his labs came back good.

Today Matt's nephew, Gavin came to keep him company for a while at the hospital. Matt got his Lapatinib at 8:58 this morning. They have to take blood draws at 8:58,9:28, 10:58, 12:58, 2;58, 4:58 and 8:58pm. Then he has the evening and night and they take the last blood draw at 8:58 Friday morning. Of coarse during the night they check on him and take his vital signs and make sure he is doing well with the Lapatinib.
Then Matt will do this for a week and then he has his last hospital stay on be August 17. They want to check how he is doing with both drugs. They will ask a lot of questions to see if anything change with Matt. They will ask how is he eating, if anything has changed with his bowls, if he had any pain and anything else that might be different than usual. They will keep him on the same regiment of taking his pills and doing all the blood draws with a few extra draws and they will do an EKG to make sure his heart is still working at the baseline EKG he took two weeks ago before he started the clinical trial. If Matt continues to do good he can continue to take these drugs and hopefully they will shrink his cancer that is in his body.

Thank you for your continue prayers for Matthew. He continues to be strong and smiling a lot!

Clincial Trail

2011-08-03T17:14:00.000-05:00

Matt is doing really well. He arrived at UW-Hospital at 8 in the morning. They checked him in right away. He had a team of doctors that asked a lot of questions. At 10:30 he got his first dose of the MK-2206 medication. He will take this medication at home on the 5th, 7th and 9th of August. Then on August 11 he will go back to UW-Hospital and stay over night again. This time they add on the second trail drug...Lapatinib. On the 11th, 13th, and15th he will take both drugs. On the 12th,14th and 16th of August he will only take the Lapatinib. Then he is back at UW-Hospital on August 17. At these hospital stays the make sure Matt is tolerating the drugs. They also take blood draws 8 times while he is there on the first day. He stays over night and has more blood draws before they will release him at about Noon. He is back in the hospital on August 17th. He will only take the Lapatinib on the 18th, 20th. On 17th, 19th, 21st he will take both drugs. He will continue this pattern as long as things are working for Matt.

So far Matt feels good since he took the drug. He is not feeling nausea or tingling or itching. He has been eating well, walking around and catching up on his sleep.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Clincial Trial starting tomorrrow!

2011-08-02T20:43:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow Matt has to be at the UW Hospital at 8:00 in the morning. They said he is going to start with the two new drugs. They want to see how Matt's body reacts to the new medications. They will be doing tests on him and they said they will let him go on Thursday at noon. During the first 4 weeks of this trail Matt will
have to go into the hospital again on the 11th and 17 of August.

I praise to our Lord that this trail will help shrink the tumors in Matt's body and go away!! I will let you know how the trial is going.

Thank you for all your prayers!!

Getting ready for the Clincial Trail = MK2206

2011-07-28T19:48:00.000-05:00

Matt has been working hard and then going home and working on his yard and patio. Matt did time off to go see the Brewers play and to see the puppies. Matt's Aunt Tereseee's golden retriever that is sister to Matt's family golden retriever had 9 puppies on Monday. Matt and Casey also helped with the Marine picnic this past weekend.

Matt and Casey and Cousin Becky at the Marine Park Picnic

While keeping busy Matt has also been getting ready for his Clinical Trail = MK2206. Matt went to Johnson Creek Cancer center for labs. Tomorrow at 7:00 in the morning he has a CT Scan of the pelvic region and chest. He also has a Cusechopan after his CT-Scan. Then starting August 3rd the first day of the trail Matt has to be at the hospital at 8 in the morning and stay in the hospital until 8 in the morning August 4th. They want to make sure Matt doesn't have any reaction to the chemotherapy medications. They also want to run tests for the trail. Then he will go home and continue to take the chemo medication and will have to go back to the hospital on August 11 and do the test for the clinical trail again. They want to see how the new medication is working. Then after 24 hours in the hospital he goes home again to take the medication at home until August 17 when he will have to do the routine again at stay ing in the hospital. Dr. LeConte said as long as the drug is working he can stay in the trail. If Matt starts not to feel good and wants to pull out of the trail he can do that at any time. This MK2206 is supposed to help shrink the tumors in Matt. I pray that it helps. This might help with the pain Matt is experiencing in his pelvic region.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers! I pray that this clinical trail will help Matt.

Change of Plans

2011-07-22T09:26:00.000-05:00

Matt got a call from Dr. LeConte office stating that they found a spot for Matt for the clincial trial. If all goes well Matt would start his trial on August 3 in Madison. Monday July 25 he will have to go and get a lot of blood test and Ct scan... whatever they need
for the trial.

Matt says he is ready and wants to get this started!!!

Thank you for all your continued prayers for Matt!

Dr. Appointment

2011-07-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

Matt saw Dr. Holen yesterday. Matt has been experiencing pain in his pelvic region. He has a swollen lymph node a little off to the side where he was experiencing pain before. Dr. Holen said he could get radition on it but Matt is waiting for a clinical trail so he decided no radition. Matt decided to wait and get stronger pain medication and see how that works so he can do the clinical trail when they call.

Dr. Holen's office realized that Matt's port has not been used for several months. The nurse tried to access it and it was not working properly. Matt stayed and the put a medication down his port. Matt had to wait for 45 minutes and she tried his port again and it was working well.

Matt is going to have a tumor marker test done in a few weeks. Until then he continues to work hard even in this "extreme" heat!!! It was 100* yesterday in Watertown!! Way to hot for Wisconsin!!!

Thank you to everyone for continued prayers for Matt!!

Working Hard!

2011-07-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

Matt has been going to work every day and working hard then going home and working hard. Matt and Casey are working on trying to get the outside of their home finished. They built their retaining walls around the house. They poured the cement for the patio and sidewalks. They put the last finishing black top soil all over. Now they are working on seeding the ground and building the patio wall.

Matt has been feeling okay. He still has continue pelvic pain. He takes pain pills at night to help the pain and help him sleep. Otherwise Matt feels good.

Side of the house where the side walk starts and goes all the way around the house.

Start of their patio wall where you will be able to sit on. Lets Party!!!

The curtain fairy hanging up the curtains she sewed for Matt and Casey.

Other curtain she made for the living room.

Matt and Casey in the parade the second time around playing the music for the tiny blue revue girls.

Matt and Casey went up north with Bret and his family. They went swimming and jet skiing! They had a lot of fun!! Glad to see them get away for a day and night. When they got home they were surprise the curtain fairy came and hung up the living room curtain. They were very happy to get their curtains up so the sun can't shine in on the TV anymore. They were also in the 4th of July Parade. Casey went through with her girls while Matt drove the truck with the music.

Thank you to everyone one for all your continued prayers!

Feeling Good!

2011-06-22T19:51:00.000-05:00

Matt has been working every day and feeling pretty good. Matt and Casey has also been working on thier
retaining walls and they got their patio cemented. Next week they are hoping to get their lawn in!! Matt can't wait to mow his own lawn!!

Matt has decide not to do the new clinical trail they found for him. Matt decided he is feeling so good he
wants to continue to work at his job and to try and get all his work done around his house. He is hoping that they will offer the clinical trail in July and then he would try it!!

More good news!!! Casey got a teaching job! Casey is the new kindengarten teacher at Shurs school in Watertown, Wisconsin!! Yeah, we are so happy for Casey. I knew Casey and Matt are relieved that
she was able to get a job so quickly!!! It just goes to show they snap up the good teachers first!!!

Thank you for your continued prayers for Matt!

Clinical Trial Update

2011-06-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Dr. Noelle Le Conte called. She found another Clinical trial that is more suited for Matt. It is design for his type of cancer. The drug that will be used is Linifinib. This trail should start possibly next week. It is taking one pill daily. The first 12 days the doctor will want to see him several times. After the first 12 days she will only want to see him monthly.

The Nurse from the clinical trial will be calling for Matt to come in and they want
to explain the trial to him and have him sign the papers. This trial is completely covered through the trial. It will be no expense to Matt.

Thank you for all your prayers! God is listening!!

Clincial Trail

2011-06-08T19:30:00.000-05:00

Matt got a call from Jennifer from UW-Madison Hospital. She said that the lady on the list ahead of Matt was having some concerns and Matt was getting pushed back to end of July before he can start on his trial.
Although Matt has been feeling pretty good, except for another pain in his pelvic region this clinical trail should help shrink his tumors. I called Dr. Holen to let him know what is going on and he said he would call
UW-Madison and find out exactly what was happening. In the mean time Dr. Holen wanted Matt to have an office visit to check on the pain he is having.

Matt saw Dr. Bethany Anderson today. She said that it might be residual pain from having the radiation. It is not a constant pain and it is not every day. She said the pain should go away. This was good news. Hopefully the pain will go away ASAP!!!

This afternoon Dr. Holen called back. He said that he talk to Dr. Noelle LeConte at UW-Hosptial. She said the lady they are waiting on took a blood test. The test should be back in two days. If the blood test is not any better, then this Lady will be dropped from the clinical trail and Matt can start next week. What a conundrum. I do not want to wish ill will on anyone! I wish she can stay on the clinical trail and Matt can start it too!!! I leave it in God's hands. He has a plan for Matt and this lady. I pray for the best for her.

We will find out in a few days as to the answer if Matt will start the trail next week.

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God nows best what is good for us. by: Socrates

Thank you to everyone for all your prayers! Matt and his family could not have made it this far without them!!

Still Waiting

2011-05-27T11:50:00.000-05:00

Matt is working every day (weather permitting) but still waiting for the radiation to kick in!! He has pain medication but does not like to take it during the day. He takes the medication at night to help with the pain and to help him sleep.

Matt had a check up with Dr. McCabe. She was the doctor who got the kidney stone out. Matt had a good check up. Everything looks good.

Matt and Casey have been working on their home. They started on their retaining walls around the house. They hope to cement side walk next. Matt is hoping to get his lawn in soon.

Thank you for your continue thoughts and prayers!!!!

Last day of Radiation

2011-05-17T23:14:00.000-05:00

Today was Matt's last day of radiation. Matt continues to have pain in his hip and radiates down his leg. They said it still might take a week before Matt feels the benefit of the radiation.

Matt is working every day and busy nights getting things done. He wants to get his lawn in real soon!
Now Matt is waiting for the pain in his leg to go away and waiting for the call from Madison on the
clinical trial as to when it is going to start. Until then Matt continues to work hard and tries to get done the
list of items he has.

I thank God every day that Matt is feeling good and can work and do all things he loves to do!
Thank you to everyone so much for all your prayers!

Radiation is starting

2011-05-10T15:31:00.000-05:00

Dr. Bethany Anderson at Johnson Creek Cancer center has it worked out with Matt's Insurance to do radiation on his leg. Matt still continues to have pain in his left leg. The pain is not all day long but when he moves it from a sitting position or standing position it gets a sharp pain. Also some days it just hurts to walk.

Matt will have five appointments of radiation. He will start tomorrow (5/11) and continue Thursday (5/12), Friday (5/13), Monday (5/16) and Tuesday (5/17). This should help Matt with the pain. Hopefully he will no longer have any pain with getting this radiation. This will work out with his clinical trial. Matt cannot be on radiation or chemo for four weeks prior to the start of the clinical trial.

Matt is scheduled to start on the clinical trial mid June or end of June.

Matt has been working some almost every day. He is very happy to be working again!!

Thank you to everyone for all your continued thoughts and prayers!!

Doctor Appointment

2011-05-05T06:06:00.000-05:00

Matt had a doctor appointment in Johnson Creek yesterday. We talked about our Trip to Mayo Clinic and we talked about radiation to Matt's left hip. Matt has been having continued pain in his hip. He takes pain pills when needed but the pain has been getting worse. The doctors at Mayo clinic opinion was for him to get radiation also.

Matt also met with Dr. Bethany Anderson about radiation. She explained how it will help Matt and how to get started. Matt had to get fitted for a "mattress". He will lay on this each time he get radiation. Today
he has a ct-scan on his pelvic to find the spot that he will have to get radiated. Robin from Johnson Creek Cancer Center will meet Matt at Watertown Hospital for this CT-Scan.

Then Dr. Anderson will review the scan the have to tattoo Matt's leg where they will do the radiation. Dr.
Anderson said the soonest they can radiated Matt's leg is next Thursday. She is working on a plan with the
insurance company. Matt has to have radiation and it has to be done four weeks before he can start the
clinical trial. So everyone is working on the timing for everything to work out right.

Thank you to everyone one for all the continued prayers and positive thoughts!

Done at Mayo

2011-05-02T22:01:00.000-05:00

Matt sitting infront of the Mayo, Gonda Building.

Shows' how big all the Mayo buildings are. Same Gonda Building that Matt had his test and Doctor appointment.

Matt waiting a a very large waiting room waiting to get his blood test.

We had a bad night sleep. Matt didn't take his pain pill or his sleeping pill due to the test he had in the

morning. He had a hard time sleeping due to the noise and his pain in his leg. I made the mistake of getting a hotel without a pool. Matt and I talked about it and decided to check out this morning and get a hotel with a pool for tonight. We hurried up and packed the car and checked out. I got a room with a pool. We left our car in the the parking lot of the first hotel and started to walk to the Mayo clinic. As we crossed the street we found out the hotel I booked is just across the street. We laughed about it and continued our walk to the Gonda building. We checked in and they sent us up to the ninth floor. So we went to the ninth floor and checked in there also. We gave them all Matt's paperwork we brought from home and all the copies ot the CT-Scans and Pet scan. They told Matt he has a blood test at 8:30 and a Doctor appointment at 9:30.

We went back downstairs for the blood test. We were amazed at how many people were down there for a blood test. Then we went back upstairs for the Doctor appointment. We waited for over a hour and fifteen minutes. We got in to see Dr. Kevin McKian. He had already gone through the paperwork we had brought and his CT-Scans. He asked Matt some questions and we asked him some questions.

Dr. McKian said that our Doctors back home, Dr. Holen and Dr. Eastman has been right on track doing everything possible they could do for Matt. They said the test they took showed that Matt's organ's are

healthy and pass their test for him to be eligible for three clincial trials at Mayo Clinc. Dr. McKian thought

it gives Matt three more options. He called and got Matt's name on their waiting list. This way Matt can say no if he does not want to do them or if he is still waiting for the UW-Madison clincial trail then he could decide to do one at the Mayo clinic.

Then Dr. McKian brought Dr. McKayla Banck in to see Matt.. She reasured us that our Doctors were doing a great job.

They did mention a test, K-Rass Or EGFR test done on Matt's sample of tumors they took out the very first surgery from October, 2008. This test would show if Matt would be able to handle a different type of chemo treatment. They don't want to do the chemo if the test shows it will not help him. We are waiting to

see if the insurance will pay for this very expensive test.

Both Dr. McKian and Dr Banck said the cancer in Matt's pelvic bone is what is causing him all his pain. They said Matt should go home and get 7 days of radition on his pelvic bone. This would stop the spreading and the pain in his leg. We told them we had talked about it before we left home.

Matt has a Dr. appointment with Dr. Holen on Wednesday and will talk about what happened at Mayo Clinic and abou doing radition. So by the time we were done talking with both Doctors it was 11:30 and

they told us no more tests and we could go home.

Matt and I were excited. We cancelled the hotel for the night and happily headed for home. We got

to Madison at 3:30. We stopped to shop for a bit and get something to eat. Matt had not eaten since

the night before. He had to fast for his blood test. When we got in the car to head home we eat some

snack food to hold us over until we could stop. We got to Madison and we were hungry!!

We surprised our families that we were home! It was really good to hear our Doctors have been doing a

great job for Matt.! We got Matt's name on three lists for different clinical trials. It gives Matt more options.

We also got a second opinion on doing radition on Matt's pelvic bone.

We are very thankful to God for the safe trip to Minnesota and back. We are very thankful for the two Doctors that gaves us their opinion. Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers.

Mayo Clinic Arrival

2011-05-01T20:07:00.000-05:00

Matt and I left today at for Rochester, Minnesota. We left at 12:40 and arrive at our hotel at 4:40. We stopped once for gas and a pottie break. We hit one bad construction that slowed us up for awhile. It was bumper to bumper for a long time. We had no problems at all. We went to eat a sandwich and now we are just sitting around watching TV.

Someone very special sent me this quote:

"Children with cancer are like candles in the wind who accept the possibility that they are in danger of being extinguished by a gust of wind from nowhere and yet, they flicker and dance to remain alive, their brilliance challenges the darkness and dazzles those of us who watch their light"

This reminds me of Matt! He has such strenght and is always smiling!

Matt's appointment is at 8:00 but they want him there by 7:45 to register. Plan on getting sleep and getting up early.

Thank you for all your special prayers and positive outlook!

Clinical Trail

2011-04-27T15:20:00.000-05:00

Matt has decided to try the Mk2206 clinical trail. It is to start at the end of May. The first 5 weeks he will take a chemo pill every day and a pill 3 times a week. They want
Matt to go to Madison Hospital 3 times during the 5 weeks to test how the drugs are
doing. Possible side effects would be tiredness and break out with pimple in his eyebrow area. He can continue to have his labs done in Johnson Creek cancer center and his CT-scans down at Watertown Hospital. After 5 weeks he will have to only go to Madison once a month as long as the drugs are working. The drugs are supposed to shrink the tumors. At any time if Matt wants to op out he can. If the Doctors don't think the drugs are working they would ask Matt to step out of the clinical trial.
Matt thought it is worth a try. Hopefully this will help shrink everything.

Matt is still getting ready to go to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion. Dr Holen from Johnson Creek would like another Doctor to look at Matt and go through
all his paperwork and see if there is anything that the Doctor at Mayo clinic might think of that he has not thought of. Matt leave on Sunday, May 1 to go to Rochester, MN to Mayo clinic. His appointment is at 8:00 in the morning. Matt was informed that testing could take up to three days. Mayo has requested all the paperwork from the day Matt
was diagnosed from Watertown hospital, Washington Hospital, Johnson Creek Cancer Center and glass slides. We are working and getting everything sent to Mayo Clinic.

Matt has been working when it hasn't been raining.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and positive thoughts!!

Happy Birthday & Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T10:12:00.001-05:00

Matt has been feeling pretty good. He has been fighting sinus problems and his voice has been rough. He also has been feeling a little hip pain. Matt has decided to due the clinical trial from Madison from Doctor LoConte. He has reserve a spot and it will not start until the end of May. Matt is still going to Mayo Clinic on May 2 to get a second opinion.

Matt celebrated his 22nd birthday with his family. We had lots of fun eating great food and playing cards and visiting. Then Matt celebrated Easter with Casey and her family Easter Morning. Matt was happy he
wasn't the last one to find his Easter Basket. Then Matt and Casey went to Matt's side of the family and visit with family and celebrate his birthday again!!

Matt and Casey had fun visiting with family and spending time with their cousins.

Matt at his house celebrating his 22nd Birthday!!

Everyone playing cards at Matt's house.

Singing Happy Birthday to Matt at Aunt Shelly's house.

Thank you to God for Matt celebrating another birthday! Thank you to everyone for you thoughts and prayers.

Clinical Trail News

2011-04-20T23:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry, my internet was not working for a week. I am back on line. Thanks for waiting.

Matt talked to Dr. Noelle LoConte on Tuesday. She explained the MK2206 Clinical trail. Dr. LoConte did a physical exam on Matt. She asked him a lot of questions. Dr. LoConte said Matt meets all the criteria for the clinical trial. She explained how this trail works. If Matt consents to trying this clinical trail it would start at the end of May. Matt would take a chemo pill every day and this Mk2206 drug which comes in Pill form three times a week. The first session would last 5 weeks of taking the pills. In that five weeks Matt would have to go to UW-Health Hospital in Madison and spend the night three different times. They would do a few tests on Matt to see how things are going. After the 5 weeks he would have to go to Madison once a month for them to check on how he is doing. She explained at any time Matt wants to drop out he can. All he has to say is he wants to stop. If they feel that the drug is not working they will ask Matt to drop out so there would be room for another person to get in the trial.

All labs and CT-scans can be done as usual in Johnson Creek and Watertown Hospital. They explained to
us that 99% of the time Matt's insurance should pick up the cost of the scans and labs because they would
have to do that anyway. The overnight stays and other tests they might perform would all be at the cost of the clinical trail. There should hardly any expense to Matt.

They explained that Matt has one or two days to make the decision. Then he has to contact the Doctor and let her know which way Matt decided.

Matt has been feeling pretty good. He has a sore throat so talking is alittle hard for him. He has been working some this week again with a big smile on his face. Matt wants to get his lawn in and finish the
basement!

Thank you for you continued support and prayers. Matt is a special young man with a strong faith. Matt is such an inspiration! I wish I was as strong as he is!

Tumor Marker score

2011-04-18T08:46:00.000-05:00

Matt had his labs on Thursday and we found out Friday afternoon Matt's tumor marker score. It had previously went down to 28 and it went up to 56.2. Matt is going to continue to not eat sugar and watch the other foods he eats.

Matt is feeling well. He has been working. He worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He was very happy to be working some. He took Friday to a day to relax. He might have over did by working a few long days. He has a bit of a sore throat. He says it is his sinuses. So he is taking something for it.

Tuesday Matt has an appointment in Madison with Dr. Noel LoConte. She is going over clinical trials that are available for Matt.

People are always asking what they can do to help Matt. I truly believe in the power of pray and the power of thinking. Please pray for Matt's health to get better and to think and believe he is going to live long and have children with Casey and raise them together and grow old together. The power of the mind is a wonderful thing!

Thank you to God for letting Matt feel well and not have the diarrhea. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers and positive thinking.

Work, work, and Work

2011-04-13T21:08:00.000-05:00

Matt is back to work and loving it!! He worked yesterday and a long day today! He loves his job and he couldn't wait to get back to work. Matt is feeling better. Matt has labs tomorrow, a tumor marker test and
we should fine out his number on Friday,

On April 19th Matt has an appointment in Madison to check out the possible clinical trails. On May 2
Matt has an appointment in Rochester, MN at Mayo clinic for a second opinion.

We thank God for Matt feeling better and able to go back to work! Thank you for all your prayers!
They are working! This is a special Easter! Matt's birthday falls on Easter this year for the first time ever!

Doctor appointment today

2011-04-07T06:50:00.000-05:00

Matt, Casey and I saw Dr. Holen today. He told us that Matt's tumor marker score went from 47.7 to 28.7. Dr. Holen was questioning what Matt had changed!! The only thing he did was change his diet some. He is trying to not eat sugar. He is not drinking soda and sweets which he really misses! ( Not that he doesn't snitch once in a while a little sip of this or a little bit of that). He also started taking
Vitamin D, 10,000 IU. He started eating organic foods and gluten free foods. In the hospital he was able to do that as much but he did watch some of what he ate in the hospital.

Dr. Holen has not been able to talk to Dr. Sugarbaker yet. He is waiting for Dr. Sugarbaker to call him back otherwise he is going to call him at the end of the week.

Dr. Holen found 2 clinical trials that Matt meets the requirements. One of the clinical trial through UW Madison is taking the drug that made Matt break out with the rash all over his face. This clinical trial is called A2D. Matt was not thrilled with that idea. This drug mixed with other drugs are only given IV way. This means more trips to Madison if he were to do it.

The second clinical trial he found was MK2206. This is a combination of 2 clinical trials that seemed to work in the past now put together and making a new trial. AKT is a drug that is used to shrink cancer tumors and Patine was the other drug to block bad cancer cells. Now they are combining them to make one trial that is taking 2 pills and being watched. Matt is going to talk to Dr. Noel LoConte in Madison on April 19 to talk about these trials and make his decision if he wants to do one of them or none of them.

Dr. Holen is also getting a Dr. appointment at Mayo clinic first week of May for a second opinion.

Matt also took a bllod test for Adrenal insufficiency. Dr Holen thought his face is swelled, he is still tired, diarrhea continues all signs of adrenal insufficiency. He tested Matt for this and if he has it Matt would have
to take a pill and he will feel much better!!

Thank you for your continued prayers they are working!!

Matt is Home

2011-04-04T07:27:00.000-05:00

Matt went home Sunday afternoon. Matt still has continued diarrhea. The diarrhea seems to be not near as often. Matt decided with the drugs they are giving him, he can take them at home just as easy. Matt did have a good night. The doctor had given something to help Matt sleep. He said for the first time he got to sleep more than an hour. He said he got a well rested night.

Dr. Fullerton said the test results showed no infections. Although Matt still has a yeast infection in his stool.
Matt's abdomen is still swollen. He has some pain in his abdomen. He mentioned Matt's white count is up a little and his protein level is down a little. He told Matt he needed to go home and eat some protein. Matt didn't give him a chance to change his mind and asked him to write up the discharge papers. The doctor gave him a prescription to help him sleep and for pain. He can take his prescriptions as he needs them.

Casey took Matt home and he snuggled up on his couch and watched some movies and relaxed at home.

Her is Matt and his Nephew, Gavin

Thank you to everyone for their prayers for Matt and his family!

Some Test Results

2011-04-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

Matt had an okay night. He didn't get much sleep. He continues with the diarrhea often. He received 2 pints of blood. I was hoping that was going to give him a little more pep! He is very tired due to the diarrhea and yeast infection that he has in his bowel. Matt has also had a temperature off and on since he was here. It has gone from 102 to 99 at various times.

Dr. McGrory was in and said not all his test results are back yet. He did say that his blood count went from 8 to 10.3. The Doctor thought it might have been higher but he is getting a lot of fluids that might have made it gone down a little. The Doctor did say that his urine test was negative so no infection in there. He also said
his chest x-ray was good.

We are still waiting for some of the test results. Matt decided he is not feeling good yet and said he would stay in the hospital until the rest of the test results come in on Sunday. Hopefully Sunday will bring a better day and Matt will feel better. Matt's blood pressure and Oxygen level have all been prefect.

To night Matt is going to take something to help him sleep. It has been months since Matt has gotten more than an hour or two of sleep in a row.

Thank you to everyone for their continued prayers.

In the Hospital

2011-04-02T00:27:00.011-05:00

Matt went to Johnson Creek Friday morning to get some more fluids. They gave him 3 more bags of fluids and Matt felt a little better. Dr. Eastman said he thought Matt should go into the hospital to get more fluids, some blood and some help with the diarrhea. The diarrhea has been bothering Matt since last Saturday. Matt weighed in at 126 and Dr. Fullerton wants him to eat and gain a few pounds. After some fluids tonight Matt was hungry and had a Turkey and potatoe chip sandwich, green beans and mashed potatoes. The first thing he asked for when he got to the hospital was applesauce. We told Heleyna to make sure they have enough applesauce on the floor!!!

Depending on how Matt feels today (Saturday) after getting 2 pints of blood and if the diarrhea is under control he will be able to go home. If things are not any better he might have to spend a few more days in the hospital.

Please continue to prayer for Matt's body to start healing, Please give Matt the strenght to start feeling better. Thank you Lord!

Dr. Galvez

2011-03-31T08:23:00.010-05:00

Dr. Galvez was really nice and he knew his stuff. We only told him the type of cancer Matt had and through his testing he said the other places that Matt had some cancer spots and we confirmed he was right. He gave Matt 5 different oils that he wants Matt to use and then he has to go back in three weeks for a check up. Dr. Galvez gave Matt a T-Cell rebuilder, Viscum Album, Body Mend, Causticum and Carconosin oil. He has to put 5 drops of each in a shot glass and drink that three times a day. He also told Matt the same thing we heard on Saturday. Matt has to become a Vegetarian and have no sugar. Matt needs to eat organic food, nothing in a box and no dairy products. He is not real excited but he wants to try and see if this helps to reduce the mucous sac that are filling up his abdomen.

Matt has a Doctor appointment on April 6th with Dr. Holen in Johnson Creek. He has found 2 clinical trails that Matt meets the requirements that he wants to talk about. We are also going to talk about an appointment at Mayo clinic with Dr. Charles Erlichman for a second opinion. Matt has decided to hold off on any more chemo and try doing the diet and taking his oils for a little while.

Matt stopped his chemo pills on Monday because he has had the diarrhea since Saturday. He hasn't eaten very much and just not feeling well. On Tuesday he went to see Dr. Eastman and got 1 1/2 bags of fluid. Matt was feeling better after that. Diana from Johnson Creek called and said that Matt does have yeast in his stool. They gave him a prescription to take to help with this.

Thank you for all your continued prayers. Praying that his new diet and oils will help his body mend.

Trying different Alternatives

2011-03-28T06:23:00.006-05:00

Today Matt has a Doctor appointment with Dr. Tim Galvez in Madison. He is a homopatic Doctor that specialize in Oncology. A good friend, Steve went to him with a continue problem he has and this Doctor was able to get rid of his problem where other doctors couldn't.

Matt also met with a cancer patient that lives in Watertown that is following Dr. Johanna Budwig. She has helped many, many cancer patients with a life style/diet change. Her concept starts everyday with Flaxseed Oil & cottage cheese. Some patients blend the cottage cheese and flaxseed oil with organic strawberries or arganic blueberry to help the test. Then he has to change his eating habits. Matt can't eat anything out of a box, no sugar and no processed foods and not dairy. So basically he has to have lots of vegetables and some fruit. The major thing is to have the cottage cheese and Flaxseed oil and 10,000 IU of Vitiman D per day. Matt said he wants to try this diet also. Bill Henderson who wrote the 3 books on this has a number to call him direct. We hope when Matt is feeling good this week to call him.

We also heard about NASA with the red light trials that are supposed to also help the mucinous types of cancers. I am going to try and call them this afternoon.

God has a plan for Matthew. Thank you for all your support and prayers! We also heard this

Took a Turn

2011-03-24T06:16:00.002-05:00

Matt started Chemo again on Tuesday. They did a tumor marker test in the morning. We were concerned about the 34 number we had gotten a week earlier. Matt tolerated the chemo well on Tuesday. In the afternoon we got his tumor marker number. It went up to 46.6. We were shocked! Very shocked!! Our prayers were for the number to go down. There were so many variables when we had taken the tumor marker test last week when it was 34. He was not feeling well the two days before the test. The test was not at our regular lab were we do it. All these can effect the out come of his number.

Dr. Holen called us on Tuesday night. He said that Matt's abdomen was filling up with cancer. This is the highest the number has ever been. When Matt went to have his first surgery in Washington D.C. Dr. Sugarbaker said his tumor marker number was off the chart and it was 26.6 back in 2009. Dr. Sugarbaker will not do surgery. He said if the chemo would shrink the
tumors he would of considerate. Dr. Holen has been keeping in touch with Dr. Sugarbaker. He
said with Matt filling up it and the tumours have not shrunk it would not consider a surgery.
Dr. Holen said it was time for Matt to decide if he wants to continue with Chemo, if he wants to do a clinical trail, if he wants to totally change his diet and try totally different way of life according to "Bill Henderson" book. We have heard people right here in Watertown who had colon cancer and by changing her diet and taking vitamins her cancer is gone.

Dr. Holen has found a Dr. in Minnesota that would be in Matt's Insurance for a second opinion. Along with the second opinion this Doctor can also be looking for a clinical trial that might help Matt. The last few days have been a lot to handle.

Please keep Matthew in your prayers to guide him to the best decision for him and Casey.
Please if you can continue to pray for a miracle for Matt!!
Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers.

Test Results / Mixed message

2011-03-18T11:22:00.005-05:00

We got Matt's tests results back on Wednesday. Matt's tumor marker score went from 15.1 to 34. Dr. Holen said it could have been thrown off due to Matt had blood in his stool over the weekend could have effected it. He said when his body is trying to fight off infection like
that his numbers will fluxate. He also said that it could be due to how Matt is feeling. So we are retaking the test on Tuesday right before Matt starts chemo.

Dr. Holen said the all the spots where Matt has cancer show no signficant growth. Matt's head
scan showed that there was no cancer. We were all very happy to hear that! So our prayers were answered that the cancer was not growing just holding it own. So he said the chemo is working
not letting the cancer grow in those areas we are watching.

We are praying that Tuesday's test will show that number smaller. Matt is feeling well this week. He is working on his sister's moped. He is trying to get it working so he can drive it
around. He stopped at the shop a few times to see if there was anything he might be able to
help with. On Matt's off week he is up and wanting to work and do things to keep him busy. His off week he is tired alot. He sleeps off and on alot.

Dr. Holen thought for now that we should continue with on a week of chemo and off a week of chemo. He felt that changing to week on two weeks off was not a good idea. He is afraid it will
give the cancer to much time to grow. He also thought that surgery right now is not the answer
either. He thought we are going on a good rode and to continue to go down it as long as Matt
is tolerating the chemo.

People ask what they can do. The best is all your prayers. Please if you can continue to keep Matt in your prayers it would be great. I truly believe in the power of prayer. Pray has keep the tumors from growing. So THANK YOU to everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers!

Test Results Tomorrow

2011-03-15T18:23:00.002-05:00

Matt is feeling better. He took the last of his chemo pills this morning. He has the next week off and has plans to get losts of things done!

Tomorrow morning we have a doctor appointment in Johnsoncreek with Dr. Holen to find out the results of Matt's CT Scans from Monday. They scaned Matt's abdomen, chest and head. We will also find out Matt's tumor marker test results.

I Pray that Matt's tumor marker number will have gone down and that the Cancer is not spreading. Please keep Matt in your prayers for a good doctor appointment.

Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers. May God Bless everyone!

Seems to be tolerating Chemo

2011-03-08T19:17:00.002-06:00

Matt started chemo again today. He had been getting sick towards the end of his chemo in the past. Today when they were going to disconnect him he felt a little nausous so they gave him something for it. Matt stayed hooked up until he felt better. We headed home and he was watching a movie with Casey and Bret when I left. He seemed to be doing good. He said he finally got a night sleep the other day. He got to sleep more than a few hours at a time and not have to get up to go to the restroom.

Matt got to watch his brother Nate again this last week play basketball at Whitewater College. This weekend he went out to eat with Linda his mother-in-law for her Birthday and had a good
time. On Sunday he went to Ixonia Fire Department Pancake breakfast. On Matt's off week he
felt much better this last week. He has been "Sassy" as Casey put it! It was good to see Matt
feling better.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers. They are working! Matt has been feeling better. Please pray for March 14 when Matt goes for his CT-Scan and tumor marker test.
Psalm 91:11. He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Feeling Better

2011-03-05T07:20:00.002-06:00

Matt continues to do chemo every other week. His week on chemo he is very tired and sleeps most of the days. Last week when Casey and I took him to Whitewater to watch Nate play intramural basketball he doesn't remember a lot of it. He slept in Nate's dorm room and missed the entire second game because he was so tired. The day he is done taking the chemo pills he is a totally different person. He is ready to go and get things done. He still gets tired but not until later in the day. Then he lays down for a nap and get more energy.

Matt eats lots of little meals throughout the day. He is weighing in the low 130's. March 14 Matt is having CT scan and tumor marker test done. We will learn the results on March 16 when he has a doctor appointment with Dr. Holen.

Thank you for all the prayers for Matthew. He is truly blessed with so many friends, family and caring people!!!!

Chemo starting

2011-02-22T11:09:00.002-06:00

Matt had a good doctor appointment this morning. We went through the different medications he is taking. Matt started a vitamin with iron to help his blood count. He weighed in this morning at 134 pounds with his clothes and shoes on. Before we got to Jefferson Cancer clinic I had to stop at McDonalds to get Matt a chocolate shake and 2 apple pies. After today it will be a week before he can have gold foods again.

Hopefully he continues to have a good day. I am praying that he doesn't get sick from the chemo.

Last week he did well with chemo.

Thank you to everyone for their continued thoughts and prayers.

Stint out

2011-02-21T20:25:00.005-06:00

Matt saw Dr. McCabe on Friday to get his stint out. This time we thought we were ready for the procedure. Matt took his pain pill and his nauseous pill and hour before his procedure. They told Matt last time there would be some pain and nauseous feeling.

Dr. McCabe went in through Matt's penis and into his bladder and what we saw was nothing like the last time. Last time every thing looked so pink and healthy. This time every thing was swollen and irritated. Dr. McCabe said that this was to be expected. The stint irritated his bladder. She said that 12 hours after taking the stint out Matt would feel 50% better.

We left Dr. McCabe's office and went home to Ixonia to pick up a few things. Matt got in the house and went to the restroom right away. He then went to sit in my car and wait until I get the things I needed. Matt came back into the house almost in tears in pain. His back on the left side was really hurting him. We tried to massage it and it felt a little better. He said his pain was 10+. We put an ice pack on his sore spot and and that helped Matt's back feel a little better.

By this time it was almost 6:30pm. It was time for Matt to take another pain pill. It took Matt a little time but he sat up and took a pain pill. About 15 minutes later Matt's pain was down to a 4 and he was ready to go home to Casey.

The rest of the night Matt kept the ice pack on his back. He woke up at 3:30am and took another pain pill. Saturday morning Matt felt like a new man! He back was almost all gone and he felt great!! Dr. McCabe did give Matt a pill so he wouldn't get an infection. That seemed to give him diarrhea again. That only lasted a few days and Matt feel good. Now if he could get more than 2 to 3 hours of sleep at at time would be great!!

Tomorrow Matt starts another round of chemo. I pray that all goes well. Matt has enjoyed all this snow! He really likes his plowing people out!!

Thank you t5o every one for their continued prayers for Matt. People continue to ask what they can do for Matt. Prayers are the biggest and best way to help! I believe God will hear all our prayers. The second would maybe be a home cooked meal to fatten Matt up!!! LOL

Seeing Dr. Holen

2011-02-16T20:47:00.003-06:00

This morning Matt had labs and we saw Dr. Holen. He said that Matt's labs were good. Matt weighed in at 138 pounds. If you take off his shoes which we weighed last week, that was 3 pounds Matt weighs about 135. He has been eating real well. He eats about 8 little meals a day. He said that Matt's sodium was low and that he was dehydrated and is probably why his mouth gets dry.

He said that Matt should get some liquids. So he keep Matt today and gave him 2 bags of liquid by IV. Dr. Holen also said that Matt's blood count was 9.7. He said they would rather not see it get below 9. He said in probably a few weeks he might have to give him a few pints of blood.

He said Matt could take a vitamin with iron to help his blood. Matt needs to rest and get his strength back. We all know Matt and he wants to work so he can help pay bills and it will keep him busy!! He is trying to save up to fix the rust on his truck, tires for his truck and so on and so forth!!! But his Dad and I really appreciate his truck. We would have been snowed this winter. Luckily Matt and his truck got us out!

This is Matt's off week starting today. Hopefully he will start get energy. On Friday Matt goes to Fort Atkinson to get his stint out. We are hoping that the blood in his urine and the small clots that are coming out will stop. Dr. McCabe said with Matt being so active that urinating clots is normal. As soon as the stint is out this should all stop. Hopefully the pain in Matt's back will also stop.

God is a loving God and he has a plan for all of us. I pray that for Matt it will start getting better and continue to get better. I pray for Anderson Butzine for his pain to go away and feel better.

Thank you to all for all your prayers for Matt! I believe it has been helping Matt physically and mentally knowing all the love that is out there for him. I thank you dearly!!

Over doing it!

2011-02-15T22:16:00.004-06:00

Matt is feeling good. He lost a few pounds again. He weighs 136 on his scale. On Friday he wanted to cut down some trees for fire wood. He over did. He was very tired after that.

He still has bleeding in his urine and having a few blood clots coming out. Dr. McCabe said with Matt being so active it is normal for him to have the blood and clots in his urine. He is still having some back pain but feels it is due to the stint. He is getting the stint out on Friday. Hopefully the back pain will stop.

Matt was feeling great he even worked a few hours today! Tomorrow Matt has labs and a Doctor appointment with Dr Holen. Dr. Holen wants to see how he is doing. Then Matt is going to work again for a short while.

Thank you to everyone for all their kind words and prayers for Matt.

Good Day

2011-02-08T21:13:00.003-06:00

Uncle Matt and Gavin taking an afternoon nap together!

Matt had a Doctor appointment today at 9:00 and 9:30 for chemo if Matt gained weight and if he was feeling better. Matt has been feeling really good for the last week. He says he is hungry all the time. Well ......it really showed at the doctor appointment. Matt weighed in at 136.6 pounds from 119 pounds two weeks ago. He was complaining about his belly was growing out and not the weight going to his arms muscles! LOL

Dr. Eastman checked Matt over well. They decided that Matt was feeling good and weight was good so he went in the other room to do chemo. They decided since Matt has a hard time taking so many pills to do some of them by IV instead. Matt really liked that idea. Matt felt good the whole day at Johnson Creek cancer center. Matt also enjoyed the company of his nephew, Gavin. He stayed with us the whole day to help keep Matt company. Gavin had a great time with Uncle Matt and all the other patients at the center.

Tonight Matt has been feeling a little nauseous. As long as he take his pills that helps him with it he should feel better.

Yesterday Matt and Casey and Bret and Chelsey went snowmobiling. They went from Ixonia to Watertown's Arby's by Walmart. It took them about an hour to get there get something to eat and use the restrooms and another hour to get home! Matt wanted to get snowmobiling that night because once he starts chemo he has a hard time handling the cold.

Thank you for all your prayers. We are thankful for one miracle at a time!

Doctor Appointment

2011-02-02T22:26:00.002-06:00

Matt had a doctor appointment on Tuesday. He weighed in at 119 pounds. Matt said that this was the first day he had more than applesauce to eat. Before he went to the doctor Matt had a bowel of cereal, half of a chicken sandwich and some chicken casserole. He said it felt good to have food again.

Dr. Eastman told us that Matt's numbers for his kidneys and liver were good. He said because of his surgery and the infections in his bladder, his bowel and in his mouth would throw off his number for us tumor marker test. Last time his number was 14.7 it went up to 15.1. We were happy with that number. Because of Matt's weight and that he is so weak Matt decide to put chemo off a week. Dr. Eastman is going to see him Tuesday morning then him and Matt will decide if he should have chemo that day.

Today Matt feel good enough to get up and plow out some people. There was so much snow that it was taking him twice as long to plow the long driveways he has to do. After a long day of plowing Matt went home watched a movie had something to eat and went to sleep.

Thank you to everyone for their prayers. The power of prayer is so unbelievable!! Thank you very much for all the continued prayer power for Matt !

Feeling Better

2011-02-01T11:01:00.002-06:00

Matt started feeling better last night. He even ate 2 cans of Spaghetti "O" yesterday! He was excited about the snow coming and he was hoping that he was feeling better so he can snow plow!!

This morning Matt and Casey were up early and they were out snowplowing!! They were able to get our driveways done so we could go to work!!

We changed Matt's doctor appointment to this afternoon instead of tomorrow with all the snow coming. Dr. Holen travels from a far distance to get to Johnson Creek cancer center. So this afternoon Matt will see Dr. Eastman. Matt had labs yesterday. We will see how his numbers are and what his tumor marker score is. I pray that Matt's tumor marker score stays down.

I pray that he continues for feel better every day and gains his strenght back.
Thank you for all your continued prayers.

Still Under the weather

2011-01-30T10:03:00.002-06:00

Matt is still feeling under the weather. He still has the diarrhea. The medication he has from surgery said he might get diarrhea for three days. It has been almost two weeks of diarrhea. Matt is so looking forward for that to stop and for him to start feeling better. Matt has sores in his mouth and on his tongue so eating certain foods or drinking certain drinks really hurt his mouth.

Little by little he says he is feeling better. Matt did venture out and went to his cousin's Ella's 8th birthday party. Matt had a lot of fun but it felt good to get home and try to get some sleep.

Thank you for all your continued prayers.

Surgery went good!

2011-01-27T21:31:00.003-06:00

Dr. McCabe in Fort Atkinson

Matt's kidney stone

The roads this morning were not very good. We left a little early so we would make it to Fort Atkinson Hospital on time. We were suppose to get Matt there by 10:00 and surgery was supposed to be at 11:00. We were there on time but they never came to get Matt until 12:30. They weighed Matt today at the hospital. He weighed in at 118 pounds. Yesterday at Dr. Turke's office with his clothes on he was 125 pounds. We need to fatten the boy up so he feels better! Casey and I went to get a bit to eat and then went to the waiting room. Soon after the nurse came looking for us. She told us the Doctor wanted to talk to us. They had Matt back in his room at 1:15. He was gone only 45 minutes.

The doctor said that on the left side in the urethra close to the bladder she found the kidney stone. She tried to get it out but it broke in half. After it broke the urine started to flow through. She said he was really backed up. She took the kidney stone out and put a stint in. Dr. McCabe said that the urethra was so inflamed and irritated, that she put a stint in so it would not close shut. Matt will get the stint out in 2 weeks. Matt said in recovery that he was generally feeling pretty good! Dr. McCabe said that he still might have a few of the symptoms for a few days but then he should feel much better. Hopefully he will not have back pain, blood in his urine and nauseous feeling.

Matt slept for awhile at the hospital. When he was feeling a little better we left at 4:00. We stopped at Shopko to get his prescriptions and took him home to rest on the couch!

We are so thankful that it was just a kidney stone and the Doctor was able to get it out.

Thank for all the continued thoughts and prayers.

Procedure done today

2011-01-26T22:46:00.002-06:00

Matt went to Fort Atkinson urologist today with Dr. Sandra McCabe. Dr. McCabe used a scope to got through Matt's penis and into his bladder. The doctor said his bladder was nice and pink and healthy. We could see where the tumor on his bladder was sitting and pushing his bladder in. The tumor has not penetrated into the bladder. We saw that the right kidney was sending yellow urine into the bladder. When we watched the left side nothing came out. The doctor decided that there was a blockage somewhere from the kidney down into the bladder on the left side. This would account for the left sided back pain and the blood in the urine. The doctor recommended surgery. It would be day surgery. They would sedate Matt and do another procedure, Cystoscopy bilateral Retrograde left pyelogram with possible left Ureteroscopy JJ stent.

Which means they are going to put a scope through Matt's penis and through the tube up to his left kidney. She is looking for a possible blockage. It could be a kidney stone blocking which she would blast and break into small pieces or it could be calcium build up and she would put a stint in.

Surgery should take about an hour and 15 minutes and time in recovery. Surgery is at 11:00 tomorrow.

I pray that it is a kidney stone and she can get rid of it and Matt can feel better. I called the nurses at Johnson Creek to let them know what was going on. They informed me that Matt has a bowel infection. Tomorrow we will pick up the medication to start taking for this. This morning Matt felt better. He took the medication for the thrust on his tongue. This morning his tongue look pink again.

We had to go to Matt primary doctor today for a History and physical for surgery tomorrow. We found out that with all the diarrhea Matt has lost a lot of weight. Matt is down to 125 pounds. Hopefully we can clear up the diarrhea and the bowel infection and he can start eating again.

Dear God please be with Matt and Dr. McCabe during surgery tomorrow. Please guide her hands and take care of Matt.

Thanks you everyone for all your continued prayers.

A few complications

2011-01-25T22:17:00.002-06:00

Matt has had diarrhea all week long. He hasn't been feeling good. On Monday Casey took him to Johnson Creek Cancer center. They gave him two bags of fluid. Matt was getting dehydrated. Dr. Eastman wanted to put him in the hospital and Matt wanted nothing to do with it.

They took a stool sample and it came back negative. They said all his test came back with real good numbers for his liver and kidneys. So they let Matt go home and to just have toast, bananas, rice and applesauce, They said if he continues to have the diarrhea to call them at 8:30 in the morning.

This morning they called and told them he is still having diarrhea and not feeling well. When Matt got there he also told them about his tongue. He tongue is all white with Thrust. He also said he was having bad pain in his lower left side of his back. They gave Matt a morphine shot for the pain. His back was still hurting so they gave him a little more morphine. Matt would only let them give him one bag of fluid. Then they sent him to Watertown hospital for x-rays.

The x-rays didn't show anything. The Doctor wanted to put him in the hospital but Matt didn't want to go. The Doctor wants him to up the procedure he has set for February 9. Matt was not to excited about it. The doctor he like is out until the middle of February and the other doctor is on vacation. There was one more doctor in the clinic. The doctor called back and said they would see Matt tomorrow at 11:30. They are going to take a scope through Matt's penis and up into his bladder. Hopefully they will be able to figure out why Matt has had blood in his urine this whole week.

Hopefully the medication they gave him for the white tongue will help. They also gave Matt some pain pills for his back. I pray that they figure out what is going on so we can fix it.

Thank you to everyone for all your prays. Thanks for helping pray for figuring out what is going on so the doctors can help fix what is going on.

Change of Plans

2011-01-20T06:29:00.003-06:00

Chemo was going well until a little after lunch Matt got up to go to the rest room. When he came out he let Diana, the nurse know he had blood in his urine again. It was decided to finish chemo and go to Fort Atkinson to have the procedure done by the Urologist. He wants to put a scope up Matt's penis into his colon to see what is going on and why does he have blood in his urine.

We were done with chemo and went to Fort Atkinson. Matt gave a urine sample. The Dr. came in and said that his urine was bloody and cloudy. He wanted Matt to go home take medication for the infection and come back a different day for the procedure. He felt the procedure would be to much for Matt. It would cause him pain and possibly more bleeding and more nauseousness. So Matt set a date to come back and get the procedure done.

I took Matt home and he crawled into bed. Explained to Casey what happen and gave her his pills for the infection. Casey said not to worry she would take care of Matt!

We would appreciate all the prayers for Matt that they do this procedure and find nothing just a irritated colon.

Busy Weekend

2011-01-19T12:05:00.003-06:00

Nate's 19th Birthday with Mike, Jenny, Chris, Matt, Casey and Gavin

Enjoying the packer game with Casey, Syd, Luke, Ella, Sophia and Matt

and Donna, Colleen, Annie(golden retriever and Copper (golden retriever)!

Matt and Ryan finishing the tile.

My new beautiful back splash that Matt and Ryan did a great job!!!

Matt was busy this last week! I am very fortunate that Matt and his brother-in-law, Ryan know how to tile. After they tiled Matt's bathrooms in his new house they came to my house and tiled a back splash in my kitchen. It looks absolutely gorgeous!! I love it!! Matt did the cutting and he did a great job! He still has all his fingers!! LOL Matt was tired after two days of tiling. He went home and caught up on his sleep for a few days.

On Saturday Matt and Casey came over and watched the great Packer game with some family and friends!! We had a great time especially for the packer win!!

Matt and Casey came over on Sunday for Nate's 19th birthday. We had a good meal and played games and then watch a movie. It was a nice birthday party. Almost his whole family was there!!

Matt also got to do a lot of snow plowing this weekend! Fortunately the extra drugs he gets during chemo to help with the cold is working. The cold still brothers him during the week of chemo but not near as bad.

Matt has been feeling pretty good. On his off weeks of doing chemo he feels good. The week of chemo his is tired and nauseous feeling a lot. Tuesday Casey and Matt got the virus that is going around. Matt and Casey spent Tuesday at home getting sick and sleeping a lot.

Today we are in Johnson Creek doing chemo. Matt has had the diarrhea from the virus. Dr. Holen came and talked with him on how he is feeling. They took his vitals and he did not have a temperature so Matt decided to go ahead with the chemo treatment. We added a new drug to help with the nauseous feeling and hopefully this time he will not get sick after chemo. The also up the amount of Zofran. He took the pill form of Zofran and immediately vomited. So the gave him his Zofran through IV. He is getting some sleep now which is good for him.

Thank you to everyone for all your continued thoughts and prayers! God has given Matt some miracles already. With all your prayers God is hearing them! God Blessings to everyone and be safe in all this snow!

Matt Keeps Going!

2011-01-13T07:02:00.002-06:00

Matt cutting tile

Start of tile on the wall.

Chemo has made Matt real tired for the first4 to 5 days. Chemo has made him nauseous at home too. He takes it easy for a few days then he gets antsy and wants to get something done. This week he is helping his parents.

Matt and Ryan are putting a tile back splash in our kitchen. They worked real hard yesterday getting the tile up and today they will be putting the grout in. It looks absolutely beautiful!!

Today is his last day of his chemo pills. By tomorrow he will feel lots better. Last night he left our house and was really tired. It was a long day putting up the tile!

Thank you to everyone for all their continued thoughts and prayers!! Gods Blessings to everyone!

Chemo

2011-01-06T22:42:00.002-06:00

Matt had chemo today. Everything was going well until it was almost time to go home. Just like last time Matt started to vomit. Dr Eastman prescribed some more zofran. The minute Matt swallowed his pill, 2 minutes later he started to vomit. Then Dr Eastman prescribe a stronger medicine by IV. Matt slept while he got the new medication. Matt felt better so I took him home. Matt crawled into bed to sleep for hopefully a long time.

Dr. Holen and Dr Eastman decided to change the medications for the next time Matt does chemo. Matt is going to get a new drug called Amend. He had this drug the last time he did Xeloda chemo treatments. Diana the nurse called the insurance company to see if it was covered. He has to take three pills one each day for the first three days of chemo. It cost $800 for three pills. We found out the insurance will pay and Matt's copay is only $45. Hopefully this will help Matt so he will stop vomiting after he does his treatment.

Matt will continue to due chemo every other week. On January 31 he will have another tumor marker test done. Each week Matt has lab work done. They check the levels of his liver and other levels to make sure his body is accepting the xeloda.

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers!