Joey Pyfferoen is home

Welcome home little cyclone! Matt and Betsy brought home Joey this week. Isn't he a cutie!! Yes, I did give him that hat and he wore it proudly in the Iowa University Hospital!

Go Irish!

A fe weeks ago (yes, I've been bad about updating this blog lately), all the "boys" went to SouthBend for a little Irish fun. They watched the Notre Dame vs Navy Game. They had a great time even though the Irish lost it in triple overtime.

News about Joe

Here's the latest we know about Joe. He had a CT scan on Tuesday to check the blockage in the colon. They found that his colon is herniated causing a blockage. The normal way to treat this is surgically. The bad news is that the scan revealed cancer activity in his liver. We do not know at this time what the next steps will be. We will meet with the Oncologist on Friday to discuss what we can expect at this point. Joe has been off chemo treatments now for about 6 weeks so it is most likely he has increased activity in the stomach as well. Please pray for Joe.

Scigliano Babies

Here's a fun pic of Betsy and Jill at Betsy's Baby Shower. Josephine Ana Marie Scigliano was born yesterday at 7:21 am weighing 6lbs 12oz. We are waiting a few more weeks (Oct 26) to see her new cousin....

Update Sept 18

About a week ago Joe had both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy scheduled with the plan to take biopsies of the colon and stomach. Since the PET scans have come back mostly clear the Dr wanted to verify what was going on inside the tissue. They were unsuccessful with the colonoscopy due to some kind of blockage. The Dr said this could be from a complication of chemo where the colon can depress or get twisted. The biopsy from the stomach showed that the cancer cells are very minimal (at a microscopic level). Joe has another colonoscopy scheduled this AM and the Dr will be using a smaller scope to try to access the colon. If the biopsy comes back clear, Dr Sandre indicated that there may be a possibility for discussing surgery. This is definitely considering outside the normal for a Stage IV diagnosis 9 months ago to be considering surgery that is usually conducted in Stage 1 treatment. Please say some prayers for Joe that the biopsy has good results and to guide him in decisions he may need to make in his treatment in the next few weeks.

Joe Test Results Aug 14

Joe had a PET scan last Friday and got results back today. The Dr said that this PET scan is the best so far. There is little indication of any type of activity. Because of this she would like to schedule a colonoscopy and an endocopy and take some biopsies of the colon and stomach to see for sure if there is anything still going on. She said that it is posible there could still be some activity even though the tests are clear, however it could also just contain scar tissue from healing. These test will be scheduled soon (within the next week or so) and we'll go from there.

Back from Chicago

We spent the last 10 days on a whirlwind trip. We spent last weekend in Cedar Rapids for Noah's soccer tournament. Even though they played hard, they did not come home with a Championship. We then left Sunday afternoon for Chicago and got back last night. We had a great time and saw a lot of sites.

I've also been very busy painting some murals in Luca's room since I am updated the decor in his room to Thomas the Tank Engine. Below are some pictures of the completed walls, which face each other. I still have a border that I need to put up as well.

Soccer and My New Teeth

For those that have seen me in the last 6 months, I am no longer wearing braces. I've had them on my upper teeth since December. They came off today!

Here are some pics from Noah's soccer games last weekend. One of the team and one with his friend Jordan. They have played together since they were 3.

Kick it 3 on 3 Tournament

This weekend Noah played in the Kick 3 on 3 Tournament here in Des Moines. His team placed 3rd in his division. The top 5 teams can advance to the Regional Tournament in Cedar Rapids, so Noah will be playing there this weekend (Aug4,5). He will be playing at the Tuma Soccer Complex in Cedar Rapids. We believe his first game will be at 9:00am on Saturday but I will confirm it later this week incase anyone in the Cedar Rapids area would like to see him play.

Update on Joe

Joe had an endocopy earlier this week. He hasn't had one of these since his original tests back in December. At that time they could barley get the scope down the stomach because the tissue was so inflamed from the cancer. This time they were able to get it down and look around and the stomach is much improved. They could still see one smaller spot in the stomach, but overall it has gotten much smaller. We could not be happier! Joe and Audry are off on vacation this week.

Sam Leto Update

For those of you that also know Sam Leto, you know that he had surgery last week to remove a mass in his groin that the Drs determined was cancer. It was also attached through a vein. The surgery was successful, but he had some complications on Sunday. After a scary episode of Sam passing out and rupturing his sutures, he was taken back into surgery. Mark and I visited him yesterday and he is doing much better. They were hoping to have him moved out of ICU later in the day. Sam also indicated that they may do radiation to be sure they have removed all the cancer cells. We are all thinking about the Leto family and send them our love and prayers. We know what you are going through!

Joe is heading back to work full time next week. He will be taking sick days off for his chemo which he will continue. He continues to feel well. Baseball is starting to wind down for us. Little League is finished. Nico's team came in second place. He had a great year and made a lot of improvements. He is at CYC camp this week so we are missing him a lot. Especially Buddy who has had to find other people in the house to sleep with. We have a tournament this weekend and then one more in 2 weeks. Then maybe we can finally go on vacation.

My job is going well and Jill Scigliano has accepted a job at my company (I referred her). I am looking forward to having a friend at work to go to lunch with.

Luca will be turning 2 next week....I can't believe it. Hope everyone is doing well.

Update on Joe

Joe received the results from his PET Scans today that he had performed last Friday. The news is very good! There are no signs of any activity in the liver, colon or in the cavity. The activity in the stomach and attachment between the colon and stomach has been reduced as well. The Dr has approved that Joe can go back to work full time. He will continue the chemo treatments. The Dr is currently considered a consult with a Dr in Houston to determine if there is any opportunity for surgery. At first she had said that there would not be a surgery option, but based on his results with the chemo she is reconsidering a consult. Even though it is possible at some point that the cancer cells could learn to become immune to the chemo, this is most excellent news. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support.

Summer Fun

This is our first official week of summer with the boys out of school. They are having tons of fun with their nanny Sarah! Here's a few pics of Luca this week. One with him trying on Nana's glasses and the other with him licking the brownie bowl...double fisting it with spoons. Everything is going well in the Skig house. I like my job so far (into week 3).

Joe gets tests ran this Friday and we should know results the following Tuesday.

Summer Baseball

Last weekend Nico played in his second AAU Baseball Tournament. The first tournament a few weeks before they placed 3rd overall. This last weekend on Memorial Day they played in the Championship game but lost. They placed second overall and Nico got a nice trophey. The first 2 pictures are of a nice steal Nico had from first base to second. The last picture shows Luca's favorite thing to do at the ball games...eat ring pops. Noah will be starting up tournament ball later this month.

Today was the last day of school and both boys were awarded with the Academic Achievement award for their class. This makes us very proud.

Joe got back from his fishing trip on Monday and had a good time. They caught a lot of fish that I haven't gotten to eat yet! He started his chemo on Wednesday finishing up yesterday. He will have his big test on a week from Friday. This is a double pet scan that will show us activity in both the stomach and the rest of his body.

May Update

I started my new job with American Enterprise today. Nothing too exciting yet since most of the day was spent in orientation. I'm sure I will be digging in during the next few weeks.

Nico and Noah were invited tonight to go to the WWE event at Wells Fargo Arena tomorrow night with some friends and are extremely excited. They have just recently gotten into wrestling. I'll have to see if they can get some pictures. We also had some excitement over the weekend as we had a sport court installed on our basketball court. Many of you will be proud to know that it is in Dowling colors. I'll have to post up a picture this week when I get a chance.

We are lucky to have Sarah Kies, Mark's cousin, as our nanny for the summer and we are looking forward to having her with us in a few weeks. The boys are very happy about this since this means they get to sleep in during the summer!

Joe left for his yearly trip to Minnesota for a week's fishing and fun trip. He left on Sunday after celebrating Noah's birthday (he's 7!) . Joe looked really great this weekend. He ate more at the party than I had seen him eat in a long time. His weight is real steady and he even hooped it up with the "old" guys (Mark, Uncle Rick and another friend of Mark's) against the kids Sat night. I'm not sure who won but the kids were not sweating near as much!!!

What's new

Well, I accepted a new position at American Enterprise (American Republic Insurance) as a Project Manager - same thing I was doing at Principal but different company. I now have a week off before I start on the 21st so I am looking forward to having some time to get things done around here.

Nico played in his first AAU baseball tournament this weekend and they took third place. He has a rough game yesterday. He was catching and took a pitch in the bicep and then he got up to bat and took a shot to the ribs. He's a bit sore today and has a nice baseball tattoo on his arm in a shade of black and blue.

Joe is still feeling well and made it to all 4 baseball games this weekend and Noah's soccer game. It was a beautiful weekend! After his next round of chemo he will be having a round of all the scans to check progress.

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

Changes in the Air...

I've definitely got some changes in the works. I gave my 2 weeks notice today at work. Pretty crazy considering I don't have another lined up eh? Actually I have several options "in the works" and hoping to have a job within the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll have some good news soon. I've needed a change as I haven't been very happy with my job the last year at Principal. I do have some good prospects going on my freelance business though and have had some steady work. It is what I consider to be my "fun" work :-)

Joe and Audry got home today and had a wonderful time in Virginia. I have to say this is the best I've seen Joe since he became ill. He looks great. He feels great as well. He's been eating really well and says he has no pain. We thank God for allowing him to have a great trip and vacation with Tony, Theresa and Geofferey (whom they can't stop talking about!) We missed them but are glad they got to enjoy some relaxation time.

What's New...

Seems like it's summer already with it being close to 90 degrees. We are already full force into soccer and baseball as well so it seems like summer is here! Mark is coaching 4 (yes 4!) baseball teams. Both Nico and Noah have little league teams and are playing AAU tournament ball. Noah is also playing soccer, so we are busy pretty much every night of the week.

Joe and Audry are still in Virginia Beach having a good time. All reports have been that Joe is doing well. He is attempting to go the week without his TPN so hopefully he is eating well! I'm sure Geoffery is getting very spoiled and won't want them to leave.

Hope everyone is staying cool :0)

Update 4/20

Sorry it's been a while since I've sent an update! We've had quite a bit going on. First Luca got sick with Strep (again). He was out for several days until we found the right antibiotic. When he had it a month ago we found out on his last dose that he is allergic to Penicillin so we had to find the right one to work this time. About the day Luca got better and was ready to go to daycare, we needed to attend our friend Frank's funeral in Kansas City (last Wed), then Nico came home sick on Thursday. We took him in on Saturday and had him tested for Strep and it was negative. We figured it was the flu since he'd had just a fever. By Tuesday he was still not any better (sleeping all the time and still a high fever). This time the Dr did a blood test and confirmed that he has a bacterial infection and mono. He's been home all week. He tried going back to school today but came home later this morning because he is just too tired. He may be fighting this for some time to come.

Joe started chemo on Tues/Wed and is doing as good as he usually does. He's been attending baseball games. Noah had a game last night and had a great inning of pitching. He came in to start the last inning and struck out the 1st batter, hit the 2ND batter and struck out the next two batters to end the game. Unfortunately they still lost the game. Nico has had to miss his last 2 games.

I have finally started to feel better after about 4 weeks on my thyroid medicine. It's actually pretty amazing how much better I feel. We just need to keep everyone healthy! Hope everyone else is doing well.

God bless!

Luca the pianist

Normally this is what we see Noah doing every evening since he is taking piano lessons. Noah loves it and now uses the head phones so we don't have to tell him to "turn it down!".

Luca decided the other day that while Noah was out that he wanted to do what Noah does. He insisted I plug in the head phones and even put out some music. I guess that we are going to have 2 pianists in the family!!

April 10 Update

Joe came home from the hospital on Saturday. Unfortunately Luca has gotten sick and was not able to spend Easter with Joe and Audry. Luca has been running high temps since Sunday night. We've determined he has strep throat and is on a second antibiotic. When he had strep a month ago (when we all had it) we found out he's allergic to Penicillin so we've had to try a few different meds this time. Right now he doesn't have a fever so we are hoping it will do the trick! He's had to stay away from Joe all week!

Joe has been doing better this week. He's not running a fever and I believe as long as he has no fevers and finishes his antiobiotics for both the Pneumonia and blood infection he will be able to restart his chemo treatment next week. He was able to attend part of Nico's opening game last night which they won 10-8.

Mark and I got some bad news over the weekend that a friend of ours that Mark met a few years ago when he worked at Wellmark passed away from Leukemia. He found out he had it after we first got to know him & his family and he has been fighting it ever since. He is young (in his lower 40's) and leaves a wife and young son (I think he is about 3 now). Mark and I will be attending his wake and funeral in Kansas City this week. Please keep Frank and his family in your prayers.

On another note, we are looking for a summer nanny to watch the three boys during the day this summer. If anyone knows a responsible person that would be looking for a super summer job (I like to think so anyway) please let us know!

God bless!

Update on Joe

The Dr determined today that Joe has pneumonia. Luckily it was caught at the beginning stages and is treatable. He is on antibiotics and his fever has come back down today. He spent the day resting and will be in the hospital for at least the week. He was to start another round of chemo today but that has been postponed until the pneumonia is taken care of.

Joe in Hospital

Joe was admitted to the hospital tonight with a fever of 102. He has had a cold this week and his fever spiked late this afternoon. He was also having very bad chills with the fever. They are administering antiobiotics now, but that is all I know for now. Please keep him in your prayers.

Spring Break

We are currently in the Las Vegas Airport getting ready to come home from our Spring Break Trip. We had a very good time! We started out in Las Vegas, went to Phoenix for a day (and took in a Phoenix Suns game), drove to the Grand Canyon and then went back to Vegas. We took a hike down the Grand Canyon (2000 ft down) and then back up. It was a total of a 6 mile hike. It was beautiful but we found that the hike up is a lot worse than the hike down. Somehow though we made it down in 2 hours and up in 1:40. Noah was leading us up...maybe that's why we went faster? He was anxious to get back to the pool! We also went to Hoover Dam on the way to Phoenix. We had a good time on the "dam" tour. In Las Vegas the boys had a lot of fun at the ESPN Zone in New York New York and we visited a lot of the hotels, spending a few afternoons soaking in the sun. We heard though that the weather in Des Moines was just as nice as it was here! We got a lot of rain while we were in Phoenix (and I thought it never rained there!). We'll get some pictures out once we get home. Joe is doing good this week but may be tired since they've had Luca all week!

It's Good News!!!!

We got the results of the PET Scans and it is good news :-)

The spots in the liver have been greatly reduced to little activity. The spot in the colon that was there originally and had been biopsied is gone. This spot had been reduced the last time they tested. The tumor in the stomach is still there but the Dr said the activity has been diminished, and there are no new spots. In addition, she said that he looked very good clinically - he's eating better, gaining weight and we will try to get him to reduce his TPN treatments to every other day or two days on and one day off. Everyone that sees Joe needs to ask him if he's drinking his "Boost" though because she said this is very important to his nutrition. He's refused to drink it so more peer pressure the better!!! We are so excited to hear this news!

March madness

So I guess that March madness has officially begun. It's not like ESPN isn't on my house at all times of the day, but it invades Thursday night television too. That's ok, though, I actually enjoy watching it. Joe came over and helped Mark laying laminate flooring in our basement (my to-be studio). The floor is almost done, so we can tackle the trim over the weekend.

I also was at the Dr's office today and found out that I have an underactive thyroid (Hypothyroidism) and will be starting to take medication for it tomorrow. This is a very treatable condition and both the Dr and Pharmacist convinced me I would be feeling "much" better in the next week or two. Mostly I've been very tired and had trouble concentrating. It also might explain why I couldn't find my car in the parking lot yesterday....in my defense I parked in an area I usually don't park in, but memory loss IS a symptom of hypothryoidism. And I thought I was losing it...

Update

Sorry I haven't had an update in a while but I've been really busy and there hasn't been much to report on! Baseball season is upon us so we will begin to have no free time. We also had 2 really beautiful days that we spent a lot of time outside.

Joe has had what has become a "normal" week for him. This round has been more of the same - tired and weak. He's still taking antiobiotics for his infection, but he hasn't felt any worse. He will be going in on Friday afternoon for his PET/CT scan. We will not find out any results though until the following Tuesday morning. We are leaving for Spring Break Vacation Tuesday night and won't be back until the following Tuesday. I'll try to get an update out before we leave.

Chemo Update

Joe received his chemo yesterday and they determined from his blood test before that he has an infection some where in his body. They will be administering an antibiotic through his port for 2 weeks. He is experiencing the same side effects this time as last...tired, weak and cold. We went to The Sharper image the other night and the boys got him a foot warmer/massager. Hopefully this will warm him up a little. Joe's Mom Josephine turned 90 yesterday. We had a nice brunch for her birthday on Sunday. Joe and Audry are making plans to go visit Tony, Theresa and Geofferey in Virginia at the end of April. We are going on Spring Break to Las Vegas the week after next. Can't wait to get somewhere warm!!

New Round of Chemo

Joe will start a new round of chemo tomorrow (Wed). On next Friday he will receive 2 tests a PET Scan and CT scan. They will be looking to see if the cancer has progressed, remained constant or gotten smaller. At this point, based on the results we will determine the next step of action...to either continue treatments or not.

Snowman

Here is a picture of the snowman that Nico, Noah and I built yesterday while we were trying to shovel the driveway. We found some good "boulders" as Nico called them to make a body and head.

My parents are still without power - no idea when this is going to get fixed. At least they got power back at my brother's house so they have somewhere warm to stay.

I am a new Aunt today. My brother Randy and his girlfriend Chantelle had their baby boy around midnight. He weighed 8 Lbs and 9 oz and is named Owen Joshua. Can't wait to meet him. We really can't seem to get any girls in our family!

Joe remains about the same...no news from him except that he's getting real bored.If anyone has ideas on something he could do sitting down, let us know - he's getting tired of watching TV!

What a Storm!

What a storm we have had! I'm very thankful that we have not been without power. My parents have been without power since last Friday. They have been staying at my brother Ryan's house but last night they lost power there as well. They are getting very frustrated (and bored). I am at home today with the kids since they do not have school, but of course I am still working since Principal does not cancel. I was told by several people who have been there 20 plus years that Principal has only closed work once during those years due to weather. Note even during the flood!

Joe is feeling better today. When he went in to get his shot yesterday they retested him and his counts were back up so he did not have to get the shot. We are keeping 2 families in our prayers right now, The Steve Sarcone family and John Balducci family who have both had losses this week - Steve's Dad and John's Mother - we are thinking about you!

Blood Counts Low

Joe got a call from the Dr yesterday that his blood counts are down. He went in yesterday and today to get shots to increase white blood counts and will also get a red blood shot on Thursday or Friday. This is common with the chemo but means he is at a higher risk for catching any viruses or sickness until the counts come back up. He has been much more tired with this round than the last. He came over for dinner tonight (takeout from Bennigans - yes it was Mark's turn to cook). He ate a little, but not too much. He continues to get his TPN feedings every night. He has not felt nauseous this time around as has in the past. He hasn't had to take any of the new nausea medicine he receive yet. But, had felt much more tired and weak. They did not change the regiment this time, so we are not sure why he is reacting differently this time. It's hard for us to know much right now until we can see some test results. I think both Joe and Audry will be pushing to get tests ran soon rather than wait 3-4 weeks as the Dr had planned.

The Big Snow

Did everyone survive the big snow? We got about 5 inches of snow here in Des Moines. Mark spent much the weekend with the snow blower and shovel. Nico spent most of it sledding and poor Noah wasn't feeling good and got to hang out indoors with me and Luca. Joe has continued to be very tired and did a lot of sleeping over the weekend. We haven't seen much energy return during these last rounds and he continues to stay on his TPN feedings since he hasn't been eating too much. He doesn't go back to the Dr until next week and we are hoping we can get another PET scan earlier than later to if anything is happening inside. Please continue to keep the prayers coming.

A new round for Joe

Joe started his next round of treatment on Wed. It hit him yesterday and he was not feeling well. He spent the day at home resting. I haven't had too mnay updates to give as his health has remained pretty much the same in the last few weeks. He had some fun playing with the grandboys this week though since they were out of school for a few days because of parent teacher conferences. Mark and I are starting to work some on the basement, starting with my art studio. I'm excited to get going on this so I can start working on some art and also maybe start teaching some art lessons. Hope everyone has a safe weekend - the weather doesn't look so great!

Chemo starts again tomorrow

Joe starts his next round chemo tomorrow. They are also going to give him a new drug for his nausea which is called Marinol. This is a derivative of a specific narcotic that sounds a lot like the name....but doesn't have quite the effect that the real stuff does! We all found this a bit amusing as my Dad has told Joe he should be taking the real stuff for his pain a month or so ago. We all know Joe can be loopy enough at times without that kind of help! They will not be doing any testing until after another round so we are looking at a month before we can see what kind of results we are getting from this new medication.

The Gang's All Here...

Tony and Theresa made it into Des Moines on Thursday evening after being delayed several days from the weather on the East Coast. We had a nice weekend with everyone together and even took some family photos, thanks to Gina. I've attached a few shots here (unaltered). Joe has continued to be very worn down and his stomach has not been allowing him to eat much. I believe he has lost another 5 pounds. He is scheduled to start another round of chemo on Wednesday.

Happy Valentine's Day

We spent a nice night at Joe and Audry's eating homemade pizza for Valentine's Day. Joe and Audry got some nice gifts for the kids. Joe felt well enough to go out to Target and pick them out some cute T-shirts and of course some candy. He also spent a little time yesterday working on the driveway (about 1/2 hour). This is something he really enjoys. He has continued to be very tired especially at night. Next Wed. Joe will start his third round of chemo. Tony and Theresa have been delayed from getting in due to weather. We are hoping they will make it in tomorrow. Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day!

Mon Feb 12th

Joe spent most of the day resting. He continues to be very cold (having a fire has helped to keep him warm-thanks to those who have brought over fire wood, I think he could use some more as it's been burning pretty quickly). His stomch has been upset so he hasn't been eating as much. Tony, Theresa and Geofferey are flying in tomorrow and will be here through the following Tuesday, which should brighten our week. We are still trying to get Nico well. He has been out of school all last week and today. He's been on several antiobiotics but keeps getting a recurring fever. He had blood work done today to mak sure he does not have mono and it was negative. His white blood counts were down so Dr believes that it is viral. He's done a lot of sleeping so we know he is not feeling good. Hopefully we will have a fever free day tomorrow. Luca has also not been well either and fighting off and on again fevers. I hope none of you catch this bug!

A few bad days for Joe

Joe has had a couple of rough days. He was feeling pretty ill yesterday, very cold, tired with an upset stomach. He hasn't eaten real well the last few days either. He did make it to church this morning and ran some errands, but he was very worn out this evening. We think that the new drug he is taking has had this effect. But overall he is still doing pretty well. Please keep him in your prayers through these next few rounds - and we can see how it has taken effect. Our household continues to get better. We really got pounded by the strep/flu bug this year!

Happy Birthday Buddy and James!

Today is Buddy's 5th birthday, which officially makes him the oldest in our house (in dog years that is). Nico and I just took him to his annual trip to the 3 Dog Bakery in Valley Junction for his brithday treat and present. (Yes, our dog is spoiled). He also picked up a few treats for his best "bud" Louie. For those of you that don't know who that is, it is Matt and Betsy's Great Dane. We are heading over to Dan and Jill's shortly for James' first birthday party. He turned one on the 8th. Joe has been doing real well this week, without much complications. The word is that he's getting a little bored though. He's been trying to talk his way into going into work, but none of us are hearing anything of it. If anyone has ideas on how to keep him busy, let us know!!

Update on the Skigs

We are slowly returning to normal around our house. Noah was able to go back to school and Luca to Daycare. Nico and I remained home today though. Nico has averaged around 102-103 temp but it finally came down today. We hope he can make it back to school just in time to take Basic Skills tests tomorrow!!!

Joe is still at the hospital getting his treaments. he went in at 2:00 and is getting ready to come home now with his takehome chemo meds. So far so good...

Strep throat X 4

Sorry for the delay in postings, but we have Strep throat in our house. Nico, Noah, Luca and myself all have it. We kindly passed it over to Danny's house as well and Marguerite and James both have it.

Joe had an appointment today and will start his next treatment tomorrow. He will go to the hosiptal for a few hours and receive a dose, then take one home and go back for another one Thursday. He will be started on another treatment that has been shown to help stop the tumor from spreading. His white counts were good, but both his red blood cell count and nutritional counts were down. This means that he will get a shot on Friday and he will continue receiving his TPN feedings daily. We'll see how this different treatment will combine with his current treatment. The Dr did feel though that he tolerated this last round very well. He will get 2 rounds of the new drug, then they will test to see if we are getting any results.

Sunday, Feb 4th

Joe had his blood test on Friday and his counts were good. He will start a new round of chemo plus another medicine on Tuesday. No word yet on when he will have another test. Not much other news right now. I have 2 sick kids, so need to get them to bed!

Thanks to everyone

Just wanted to give a big thank you to all of you out in cyberspace that have been reading this blog, bringing food, sending cards, etc. Joe and Audry most definitely have a great network of friends (and so do we). We couldn't get through this time without you. I had a message from Jill last night that for those of you that have brought food to Audry, she has a basket full of tupperware/dishware. She is not sure who it all belongs to...so if she has something of yours, please feel free to drop by and pick it up. Joe and Audry had a nice day today. They went out to breakfast with a friend and had some family visit today. Joe has remained pretty constant this week, tired, but relatively well. Mark and I have both had a long week with work and Audry was able to help out a few days this week picking up the kids. St Anthony's had an early out this week so the grandkids spent the afternoon. I could tell it wore Joe out though - probably all the commotion. (I don't blame him!) Joe will get his blood count tested tomorrow so I'll let everyone know if it's safe to visit over the weekend. It might be best to stay in though with as cold as it's going to be! Stay warm!

The tooth fairy goes for broke!

2 teeth in one week...boy the tooth fairy is losing money this week! This time the cuplrit was Aunt JuJu's yummy cookies. He was biting into one of those when his tooth came out. It's not that the cookie was hard (because believe me they are yummy) - I think it just goes to show how loose his tooth was.

Joe felt well enough yesterday to visit went work for a little while yesterday. He was tired today and a little worn out so he stayed home and rested. He goes in on Friday to get a blood test to see how his counts are. Next week the Dr wants to add another treament to his regiment that will target the metastasis in his liver. He will be receiving new chemo treatments every two weeks now. I'm not sure when they will retest - if they'll continue to do it between treatments or wait for awhile. His eating has remained steady. He's still eating solids in small portions. He continues to have some nausea but his meds are able to control it.

A visit from the tooth fairy?

Noah lost one of his front teeth tonight. Both front teeth have been loose and ready to come out. I have to mention though that of course it didn't just "fall out". Noah and I were working on it all weekend and it wasn't until tonight when

he was wrestling with Nico that it got knocked out. Leave it to his brother to do that favor.

Joe spent the day relaxing at home. He was very tired today, as he tends to be on Mondays with lots of visitors and things going on over the weekend. He has started to be very cold. This chemo treatment has side effects of cold hands and feet, and I think he's been cold all over. His stomach has been feeling ok though. Hopefully he can get some good rest and hide under the covers this week. If anyone has any spare firewood laying around let us know. Joe and Audry do have a fireplace that Joe could sit in front of to keep warm. Take care...that's it for today!

Fighting for Joe

Our good friend Matt Shafer was over tonight taking pictures of a website they are creating in honor of his father Steve Shafer who is currently fighting Lung Cancer. I took a few shots too - so here's our tribute to "Fighting for Joe". Noah and I were out at Jordan Creek Mall this afternoon shopping at The Sharper Image. The salesman was a nice older man. As we were checking out Noah noticed he had on a Livestrong bracelet like all of us are wearing for Joe. Noah said "Hey, you have a bracelet like me". The man said "Yes, I have beat cancer 4 times. I found out I had Hodgkins Lymphoma 18 years ago when my son was in Kindergarten." Since then he's beaten it four times. He wished us well in Joe's fight against Cancer. It's funny how one day you can seem unaffected by Cancer and in a few months it seems to affect everyone around you.

Joe was feeling better today. He went to Church and the pasta dinner at St Anthony's. His brother Frank flew back to San Diego today as well. He was in very good spirits today, not as weak, but still pretty tired. He is determined to fight this cancer and we are all fighting with him :-)

Joe is home again

The hospital released Joe yesterday late in the afternoon when they finished administering the chemo treatment. He was feeling very well. Last night he started to get a little weak and has been very weak and tired today. He made it out to Grazianos for a short trip today and perked up a bit, but he was very weak again tonight. He has also once again had some nausea. He's definitely not as feeling as bad as he was last time, but he's slowly feeling the effects of this round too. We are glad to have him home though. He is now getting his TPN feedings every day (he was down to every other day before), as he was not able to get any while in the hospital and had lost some weight. Keep the prayers coming.

Day 2

Today has continued to be a good day for Joe. He was feeling well and Audry reported he's been making laps around the halls. Joe's brother Frank flew in last night and will be here until Sunday. Let's hope that his day 3 will be better than it was last time, as this was the day where he got very sick. Keep your fingers crossed!

Jan 24 - Day 1 of Round 2

Joe started his second round of chemo today. As I mentioned yesterday, he will be admitted to the hospital during this time. He is using a different regiment that we hope will have less nausea and vomiting than the first round. The Dr said that he may have sensitivity to cold, meaning he can't have any cold food or liquids (no icecream). He may also have colder feet and hands during treatment. He will receive the chemo via iv for 3 days. So far he is doing well. He has not yet started his supplement treatment. Audry will be confirming with the oncologist that it is ok for him to take those and hopefully we'll get him started on those this week.

PET Scan results and plan for chemo

Joe had an appointment today with his oncologist. The PET scan showed that there are more spots in his liver than the last test he had in the hospital. The Dr. could not say if any of these new spots were there before, but she did say that she was surprised to see them. The spot that he had in his colon however is no longer there. She said that it is hard to tell from this type of scan the activity in his stomach, but the fact that he is eating better is good. She has suggested a different chemo treatment than the last one he had.

She said that the nausea Joe experienced was some of the worst she's seen, so she wants to try a treatment that has the same efficiency but lower symptoms of nausea. He will be admitted to the hospital tomorrow and begin chemo treatment.

Since we don't know how Joe will react to treatement and whether his counts will go down, please refrain from visits at the hospital until we can give an update or call Audry to check on how he is feeling first.

Update Jan 22

Today the family attended the funeral for Florence Mortale. This is Joe's Mom (Josephine's) Sister-in-Law. She passed away on Friday after she had a stroke a few weeks back. Florence had been in the hospital at the same time as Joe over the last few weeks. She had a short illness prior to the stroke and has been in hospice the last week. Our love goes out to the Mortale family and we will miss Aunt Florence very much.

Joe was up to attending both the wake last night and funeral today. Joe continues to feel well and is still eating well. I witnessed him eating a good sized portion of macaroni and cheese yesterday and Nico reports he ate very well today at the funeral dinner (a half of a sandwich, some chips, salad and cake!) He also ate some candy...it is good to see him eating solids and not needing to only have soup! He continues to get his TPN feedings every 2 days.

Joe's appt with the oncologist got postponed to tomorrow because of the funeral so we will know the results of the PET scan, etc late tomorrow.

A good weekend

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. I've had a head cold and have been resting much of the weekend. Joe, on the other hand has had a great weekend. At this point I guess it's a good thing to say that there's not a lot to report. He had a PET scan done on Friday, but doesn't see the Dr until tomorrow. We will find out how the tests look and what the plan is for the next round of chemo.

Jan 18 update

Joe had a "normal" day today. He was able to go into work today for a little while and see his coworkers. Audry drove him to make sure that he didn't stay long. They then went out to lunch. Tonight he went to "Bonkers" - the guy version of Bunko and had dinner with friends. It's great to see him feeling better. Hopefully he will continue to have a good weekend and the chemo won't be as tough this next round. Luca seems to like Joe's haircut. He stared at him awhile yesterday looking at his head, but then he kept rubbing it. The minute Joe picked him tonight he immediately rubbed his head affectionately.

On a side note, my Mom Linda fell today on a patch of ice and broke her arm. She has a very similar break that Noah had - she broke her left radius and chipped the ulna. She will get a cast on tomorrow. What a 2007 we have had!!!

Iowa City Appointment

We are heading back from our appointment with Dr. Nicly in Iowa City. She reviewed with us some options for Joe in Alternative Therapy. We found that there are a few roads we could follow in what she recommends for alternative treatment. One is nutritional and supplemental based where it consists of cleansing the body, juicing and eating foods rich in antioxidants. These methods have shown in studies to raise immune levels and possibly shrink tumor growth. However, since Joe is limited by what he can eat and digest, she didn't really feel that this was the best option until we would see some shrinkage in the tumor that would allow him to eat more.

There are options that we could pursue further in the arena of supplements but most of what she would recommend involve herbal approaches using St John Wart and Echinachea (spelling). The problem with these however is that it does not work while doing chemo.

Based on what Joe told her about his pain levels and how he is feeling now - that he has limited pain and is better than he was prior to the chemo treatment, her recommendation was to continue the chemo treatments and also use the following complementary approaches (until we feel that the chemo is not working or he cannot tolerate it). The approaches she recommends are drinking juices rich in antioxidants, and taking a combination of capsules of Fish Oil and Mushroom extract. She explained that both of these have shown, particularly in animal studies to reduce tumor shrinkage. She will be sending us further dosage instructions and information on these 2 supplements. In addition foods rich in selenium, Vitamins A,C,E, Indoles, etc., will be targeted through juicing (we are getting a juicer) and other foods. In particular some foods that are good for him include garlic, tomatoes, peppers, licorice extract, green vegetables, onions, strwberries, etc.

In addition she recommends a mind/body healing approach that includes accupuncture, massage therapy, and healing touch. She believes that these show lots of promise in cancer therapy and she is heading up several million dollar studies at UI on Healing Touch and Massage Therapy. This includes relaxation, guided therapy, exercise and meditation. She also mentioned that many patients have found it helpful to write journals and "tell their story". These mind/body approaches help you to feel better thus increasing your immune system to fight the cancer. Healing touch has shown to reduce pain, provide relaxation thus triggering the immune system. The idea of mind over body. She will be sending us referrals for these in the Des Moines area.

Joe has agreed to try these approaches (what can it hurt?). We'll learn more when we receive Dr Nicly's information and instructions in a few days which will be personalized for him. At the time that we feel the chemo is no longer effective or Joe cannot tolerate it, we will go back and visit her on the alternate approaches to Chemo.

In the meantime, Joe is scheduled for another PET scan on Friday night and will meet with the Oncologist on Monday to discuss his next treatment.

Check out these haircuts!!!

And here is Noah, Joe and Nico BEFORE and AFTER their dashing new haircuts!!!

Luca didn't get his cut tonight because he wasn't feeling well and went to bed early. Joe is in good spirits and glad to be home. He slept most of the day and the home nurse came by to show Danny and Audry how to hook up his food bag and meds.

Joe is home

Just a quick note that Joe did come home today. I have not talked with him, but assume he is doing well. We will be heading over a little later for a visit and some haircuts so I'll give another update later tonight! Keep praying that Joe continues to do well!

Joe home tomorrow

It sounds like Joe will be home tomorrow. We thought he'd be coming home today, but he had one more med to get down, and they need to show us how to administer his TPN (food bag) at night and an antibiotic via IV. He will get these at night. His weight is up to 142, so he's gaining weight. He has been eating well and he has not had any stomach pain. Overall he is feeling better than he has in quite a while. We spent some time with him tonight and he looked very well, but is anxious to get home. He is losing his hair and has not had to shave in several days. When he gets home tomorrow we will cut his hair short so that he won't continue to "shed" so much. The boys are planning to get theirs cut too.

We heard from Matt Shafer that his Dad, Steve, has been told that he has Lung Cancer. He is feeling good though after his surgery and does not have any notable symptoms. They are playing the "waiting" game as we did a month ago,waiting for Drs to get test and make decisions. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Homecoming

We are very hopeful that Joe might be coming home on Monday. He looked great today and is esting more than he has ate since November. He had just a few meds today that he is still taking by iv. They hope to have him taking them orally by morning so that he can come home. In the last few days he has starting losing some hair. Mostly just thinning on his pillow. When he gets home, him and the grandboys are going to get buzz cuts. We'll let everyone know tomorrow if he makes it home, so check back. We'll get some pics of the haircuts too!

Jan 12th another good day :-)

Joe has had another good day. He's continuing to eat better. He got down a whole bowl of pastina and a cup of pudding tonight. Mark said that he was cracking jokes (getting back to the old Joe). His vomiting has been less as well, so hopefully he will be coming home soon.

I want to thank those of you that I heard from today. We have a volunteer to plow driveways...a big thanks to Mike Leto. Also thanks to the Flaherty's for offering to bring a meal on Sunday. I hope we won't have too much snow so Maxine can make it!

I know that all of the visitor's Joe has had has helped the days in the hospital go by, so thanks for that as well. I tease him that he's the most popular guy on the floor ;-)

Volunteers?

Audry and the rest of the family have recieved a lot of questions from everyone on how you can help out. Here are a few things that we've thought of that you can do to help:

1. Get the word out - forward this blog on to friends and family of the Sciglianos to keep them up to date on Joe's progress in order to help eliminate phone calls.
2. Meals - offering to bring a meal would be appreciated. Best drop off locations would be Mark/Shari's or Jill/Dan's. Call Shari or Jill to coordinate. (see phone number below). Enough food for 10 would be great.
3. Snow removal - as winter storms approach we could us help clearing driveways and sidewalks, particularly Joe/Audry's and Josephine's.
4. Babysitters - we could use a list of people to call if we need babysitters in order to make visits to the hospital.
5. Gift cards - Audry could use gift cards to Hy-Vee, Walgreen's, Kum & Go or Walmart instead of flowers/plants or other gifts. Joe should not receive flowers/plants as they can carry bacteria. GCs can help to allow others to run errands for groceries, prescriptions, etc.
6. Cards and Letters: Joe can receive mail at the hospital at the following address or send home:
Joe Scigliano/Room 374
Iowa Methodist Medical Center
1200 Pleasant Street
Des Moines, IA 50309-1453
7. Prayers, prayers and more prayers! Special intentions at mass.
8. If visiting or talking to Joe try to keep it positive and not ask a lot of questions about health status - this tires him out.
9. Email addresses - I could use a volunteer to help gather an email list of friends and family members so I can create one list to send special messages to, or coordinate activities for volunteers, etc. You can also email me at sscigliano@iowasolutions.com with your email addresses.
10. Errands - volunteers to run errands.

If there are any other ways you'd like to help, or you are willing to help with above items, call Shari at 779-4549 or Jill at 556-9770 and we'll put you on a list. Thanks so much :-)

Jan 11th - a good & bad day

Today was a good day. Joe ate a "hearty" breakfast today, almost half his cream of wheat and a 1/2 cup of coffee. Sounds like a little, but it's a lot more than usual. He is feeling good today, more perky. The new medicine helped him through the night with no vomiting, but he conveniently got sick when the doctor came in and asked how he was feeling. His blood pressure and temp remained steady and he's getting back some energy. He did keep his meds down today. No word yet though on when he may come home.

We got some bad news on another front though last night. For those of you who know the Shafer family, Steve Shafer found out some unfortunate news last night that he has a brain tumor. After several days of prolonged migraines, they determined he has a tumor in the cerebellum, near his spine. They did emergency surgery this afternoon and removed the tumor. Testing is being conducted now on the tumor. Our thoughts and prayers are with Steve and his family, who is like another family to us. Mark has been best friends with his son Matt since second grade, so this is rough news for us.

Jan 10 - it's a tap dance

I heard Joe explain how he's feeling to a friend today and it iterated what I was thinking...1 step forward, 2 steps back. I wouldn't say he has taken that many steps today, but it seems like a good day is followed by a bad day, etc. Today Joe continued to have nausea and dry heaves. On a positive note his pain has been reduced this week - no pain in the stomach or upper abdomen and he's slowly starting to eat a little more (we measure in bites). He ate about 7 bites of soup today for his meals instead of 1 0r 2. They are also now counting his calories daily. Joe has been getting up and walking around but is still very tired.

We got a chance to talk to the Dr. tonight and she is going to try a different med for the nausea than they've been using to see if it will have any effect. It's an anti-psychotic (Zyproxa), so we hope it won't make him feel too loopy. They'll start it in a low does and administer at night. If we see any strange reactions, we'll discontinue. They are also reducing his steroid intake. She did tell him we can bring in some food for him if he feels like something from home will boost his diet variety and make him want to eat. We are taking up some of Great Nana's pastina to see if that sounds good to him!

I will update some info tomorrow on how the family could use help. Everyone has been asking how they can help out Joe ot the family. I put together a list today but am to tired right now to post it, so look for that tomorrow. Again, thanks for all the support!

Jan 9th update

Joe hasn't had a great day today. He's been experiencing nausea and vomiting. Right now, he will be in the hospital until they are able to reduce his meds. He can't have the strength of meds he is taking in a pill form at this time and needs the meds to be intraveinously administered. Joe was originally set up to begin the second round of chemo treatment next Tuesday, but instead we are going to meet with the Dr in Iowa City on the 17th. We will hold off on the chemo treatnent until after this meeting and make decisions from there. On another note, Luca started daycare yesterday at an in-home daycare with a neighbor (and good friend) of ours. She is just 2 houses down from us. We are all surprised to get a report both yesterday and today that he had good days with no issues and is enjoying playing with his new friends. James is also going to an in-home daycare with one of Jill's good friends - so both boys are in good hands. They both miss Nana Audry, but this will allow her to focus her attention on Joe and be with him at the hospital.

Jan 8 Update

After the scare on Friday with finding the infection, the weekend turned out to be a good turn. Joe recovered nicely with the help of a couple antibiotics. He had a good weekend, got out of his room some and enjoyed the good company of friends and family. All of his counts look good. He is still having some nausea and since he needs to keep the antibiotics down, the Drs want to keep him in the hospital for a few more days. If all goes well, then he can be released and a home health care provider will come at night to adminster his "food", since he still cannot get much of anything down. His weight was steady on the weekend at about 138, but dropped today to 136, so he continues to lose weight. His oncologist is still planning on getting a referral appt set up for Dr Nicly in Iowa City, who specializes in alternative cancer treatments. As soon as he is up for travel we can meet with her and discuss some options for pain treatment as well as any supplements or other treatments available. Another CAT scan will be done before they release him to make sure everything looks ok. Joe has not yet decided whether or not he will continue chemo treatments. There are some options for different, less intense treatments he could try. Cross your finger (and toes) that Joe continues with this progress!

Jan 6 Update

Joe had a rough day and night yesterday. The Cat Scan revealed that he has an infection in his colon causing it to be expanded and inflammed. This is what is causing the pain. In addition they were able to see some spots of cancer on his liver. The Dr. said that these spots were most likely there a month ago when he had the PET scan, but were too small to be detected. They started him on antiobiotics last night and he is feeling better today. He's had a lot of visitors today from family which makes him feel good, Here's few pics from the hospital last night.

Jan 5 - A "down" day

I visited Joe over the lunch hour today and he's not having a good day. This is very disappointing for us because he had such a good day yesterday. The Dr. had said yesterday afternoon that his blood counts are back to normal so the kids could come up and visit. He got to see Luca and Noah for the first time this week Nico visited the night before). This morning he started out in pain and had continued nasuea. The Dr. decided later this morning to have him do a CAT scan to see what's going on with his lower abdominal tract that is causing the pain. This means that he has to drink the fluid to do the scan, which was very tough on him. He got about half of it down so they were wheeling him in for the scan when I left about a half hour ago. I'm not sure when we'll get the results (maybe by this evening?). I'll provide an update when I know more. They have given him more pain and anti-nausea drugs so he was very drowsy and has slept most of the morning.

Jan 4th Update

Joe is looking much better today. The cardiologist came to see him and his EKG came out fine. Blood work and blood pressure are also stable. They believe that he is not having any issues with his heart, that the pain may be contributed to Acid Reflux. This is good news!

His counts are coming up but I haven't gotten the numbers. Audry will get these from the nurses hoepfully soon so we can start comparing his counts. He was sitting up and very alert today and able to talk with visitors without getting too tired out.

Joe has been able to tease the nurses, which is a good sign - he was trying to convince one nurse that he was born in 1964 (and only 44 instead of 62). She wasn't quite buying it! He is still having trouble eating much, but is on his second "bag" of food, which is connected directly to his port. I'll stop by with the camera tomorrow and see if I can snap some pictures.

Dan and Jill's wedding

For those of you that couldn't attend, here's a few pics of Dan and Jill's wedding on Saturday. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Dan Scigliano :)

Another Day in the hospital

Joe remains in the hospital today. Mark and I visited over our lunch hour and Joe was having some chest pains. They gave him a shot of nitroglycerin and some aspirin and took some more blood to analyze. I haven't heard what his counts were today, but he received another of the immunization shots which we hope will help. They plan to give these daily while he is in the hospital. I did see him eat a little at lunch. We gave the Dr the information on Protocel which she took with her to determine if there would be any interations with the chemo or medicines that he is currently on. The Dr also indicated that she would get a referral to the Dr in Iowa City who specializes in alternative treatments. He will not be able to go until his counts stablize (hopefully next week). Joe was disappointed to hear the Oncologist recommend that the kids not visit since they have colds. Mark is taking Nico up tonight though (he showered and will most likely wear a mask). Nico is having a pretty hard time of it with Papa..so he really needs to see him. Likewise, Joe was very disappointed when the kids didn't come last night. That's about it for today. Here's a fun pic of Santa visiting the kids at Christmas.

Information on Alternative Cancer Treatments

Links for Protocel information:
http://www.altcancer.com/protocel_slide11.htm
http://www.outsmartyourcancer.com/ebooklet.asp
http://www.webnd.com/protocel.php
http://alternativecancer.us/protocel.htm

Link for information on Hospital Santa Monica
http://www.hospitalsantamonica.homestead.com/

The Long Battle

So it's been a while since I've made a blog. We've been so busy with the holiday season, but most inportantly with Joe's illness. Last night Joe was admitted to the hospital. He started chemo treatment a week ago and has had a rough time of it. Yesterday he did get out of the house for a little bit but ended up starting to vomit all of his fluids up last night. The Dr decided to admit him. He is down to 132 lbs, which means he's lost about 10 lbs in this last week. His white cell counts are down as well. I've been researching some alternative treatments to chemo including Protocel and HBO (Hydrobaric Oxygen) treatment. Mark is giving his Dr the info on Protocel today and hopefully we can get him started on that soon. We may also have an opportunity to get him to see a Dr in Iowa City that specializes in alternative medicine, if we can get him out of the hospital and well enough to travel. Keep the prayers coming.