To Radiation and beyond!

Let's hope I can wrap up this story tonight huh! We were really happy that Lewis was finished with chemo.
This picture was taken at my mom's house. It was a few days after we got the news that he was cancer free.

This was Lewis and I at the drive in with our friends Jason and Nicole.

Lew's dad took him to Alaska for some salmon fishing. Lewis really deserved some time away from the hospital. He caught this fish, but he had to have a little help from his dad since he was not strong enough to do it on his own.

In this picture and the one above you can see that Lewis's hair was growing back in gray. It was very soft and fine.

Lewis had a swollen lymph node in his left arm pit. It was not getting any smaller. It was also very painful to Lewis. Dr. Glenn had decided that he needed to have radiation now. We met with Dr. Lynn Smith. She was a very good doctor. The area that would receive radiation was his armpit, upper chest, neck and the back of his head.

To get radiation they have to make sure that the lasers are lined up correctly every time. In order to get it right the patients get tattoos. Lewis has four little dots on his neck and chest. That is sometimes fun because we can say that Lewis has four tatts. Lewis was getting radiation treatments every day, five days a week, for four weeks.

For Lewis, radiation was a lot easier to handle. It still had some side effects. His skin would get so burnt. I would rub aloe vera on his skin everyday to help with the burn. It also drained his energy. He was very, very tired. He would go in to the hospital early, get his treatment, and then work a full day at his job.

If you have really toasted skin, the last thing you want is to be in the sun. So when we were outside he had to cover up his skin. His grandpa sent him a cowboy hat to wear. That helped a lot. Too bad sombrero's and handkerchiefs were not in style.

Our wedding was scheduled for August, Friday the 13th. Really, weren't we testing our luck enough? Two days before our wedding, Salt Lake was hit with the tornado. As a wedding gift, Dr. Smith let Lewis skip his last radiation treatment. It was going to be on our wedding day. Yahoo. Everything went perfect for our wedding day. I think we were so happy to have made it that far, that nothing could have ruined it.

This picture was at Lewis's parents house. We were opening presents after the Open House. Lewis's hair is extra dark. We had to dye it because it was still gray. Look at the left side of his head. The hair is missing because of the radiation. He was also missing hair in his armpit. That part is not too bad. The sweat glands were killed, so his deodorant bill was cut in half! He doesn't stink on one side!

This was fishing at Strawberry. It was during his radiation treatments.

After the four weeks of getting zapped, Lewis has had no more chemo or radiation. He cannot have chemo again. The chemo he received was so strong that his body could not handle it again. He had to go back to his doctor every month, then every three months, then every six months and then once a year. We have had a few scares that it was back. He has had many more scans to check that everything is alright. Anytime he gets sick, it usually takes longer for him to heal. Lewis's immune system is just not as strong as it should be. I know that both of us think of it every day. It is always a constant worry. We have been so very lucky though. Every family has been effected by cancer, or will be. We have been very fortunate. People have asked Lewis what got him through this endeavor. He attributes his success to the love and support of his family including his in-laws.

For Lewis's five year anniversary we were able to mark it in a special way with his family. He has 6 brothers and sisters. Lewis's parents had decided that we would not be given any Christmas gifts that year. All of the money that would be spent for Christmas would be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. We went up there as a family and gave the money to the hospital. Lewis got his 5 minutes of fame and was interviewed on the news. HA!

We met a nice lady named Linda Aaguard that works up at Huntsman. She had Lewis, Ruby and I pose for a picture that was going on their brochures. Then in the following January we helped in a fundraiser for Huntsman Cancer Institute. KBull 93 has a radio thing where people tell their cancer stories. We got to tell our sob story and cry on the radio. Lewis has a quote that always runs through his mind which is given from one of Lance Armstrong's books. It says-"You might not know yet, but we are the lucky ones. I will always carry the lesson of cancer with me. I believe I have an obligation to make something better out of my life than before. Anyone that has heard the words, you have cancer and thought, I'm going to die, is a member of the cancer community. If you've ever belonged, you never leave."

Well, that's the story. I'm glad that I'm done telling this story. It has been a little depressing thinking about cancer this much. Cassi and I have had two of our friends husbands pass away this year. It is so heart breaking. I'm so very blessed to have Lewis with me today. He is amazing. Lewis is always moving. He is always busy and working so hard. I love him so much. I hope that our kids realize someday how wonderful he is and how he fought so hard to be here. I love you my sweetheart.