Darrin’s Day.com

I met with my Oncologist last week, and we had a long and through discussion on my test results and options.  We have chosen a path that has not been tried before, at least as far as any of us know.  My Oncologist suggested a cocktail of chemo drugs, with an additional medication that is not used for chemo, but has been used in the past with interesting results.  It was determined that if I do not try some sort of therapy, my life would end in May 2008.  I refuse to accept that date, so after a discussion with my family, we have decided to start the following therapy.

Hello All, I am recovering well from my last surgery.  They removed a nodule of my cancer from my right lung, and sent this live sample to Texas for testing.  The sample they removed was larger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball.  I am still having some problems from the surgery, as the bottom lobe on my right lung has not yet fully inflated.  I am using a breathing machine and plenty of oxygen to assist with this.  They have told me that with time the lung will fully inflate on it’s own.  I met with my pain management Doctor last week, and he changed my medications so that I am having much less pain than before.  However, I am a bit groggy from all the medications, but they assure me I will get used to it.

For those of you not aware, Darrin is on unpaid time off!  Having exhausted his vacation time, sick time, admin time and Sick Bank time (30 days of additional Sick Bank time is available to Darrin AFTER January 23rd, 2008), Darrin has exhausted all of his time off and was forced to take an unpaid leave of abscence to recover after his surgery last week.

 Please take the time to write to Darrin, AND donate as much as you can to help him out.  We are planning another fundraiser, in conjunction with our Senior Center’s spaghetti dinner in January.

 Thank you!

Amazingly, I got to see Darrin this past Thursday, when he showed up at our Org. Services luncheon at Augustine Grill in Castle Rock.  If you recall from the previous post, Darrin just had surgery on his other lung, to obtain a sample of his aggressive cancer, so that they could begin testing experimental chemo on it to see which concoction might work best at treating it.

This is, of course, a long shot, but one that Darrin was willing to take, in order to try and find some other chance at a successful treatment.  He has been fighting this all the way. 

I was also honored to have been asked by my boss Kevin Capp, to read Darrin’s speech at our Town’s Manager Meeting on Thursday.  Darrin and Kevin had prepared speeches that they delivered at the Colorado Information Management Association’s award ceremony, when our team was presented with IT Team of the Year in Colorado.  Kevin asked if I would read Darrin’s speech for him, since he was recovering at home from surgery.  Darrin’s speech received a standing ovation and while it was a little awkward for me to read his personal comments, it was an honor to be able to speak for him, when he wasn’t able to be there.

Darrin did make it to the luncheon however, and it was good to see him.  His lung capacity is decreased, and so his blood oxygen content is running in the 70s to low 80s.  He is truly an example of someone who has NEVER given up throughout this entire ordeal.  He has consistently fought the cancer and its effects every step of the way.

Please pray for Darrin and his family this Christmas and New Years!

Bill

Quick note – Last Friday Darrin had surgery to obtain a live sample of his cancer to be sent down to a cancer center in Dallas to be tested for new chemo treatments.  They were going to operate at the end of the year, or even this week, but the surgeon wanted to do this as soon as possible so last Friday was the day.

This is completely experimental, but is the only option Darrin has left to find out if there is some drug combination that would shrink his tumors.  The bad news is that the doctors here at Swedish hospital could not obtain a sample from his lung already operated on, so they had to go in and cut a piece out of his whole lung.  His whole lung has cancer in it, but had not been cut into previously.

Darrin made it through the surgery okay, and is now at home recovering.  His blood oxygen level has been in the 70s and 80s, so recovery is slow.  During these upcoming holidays, please pray for Darrin and his family! 

 Bill D.

The Doctor visit last night did not go well.  Basically, my lungs are getting full of cancer, and this has reduced my ability to intake oxegen to a level that is getting severe.  I have elected to do a surgery to remove a 22cm cancer from my left lung.  This will be kept alive, and tested in a facility in Texas to see if they can find a drug that would stop the growth, or even shrink the cancer.  The chances of this working are small, but the only option we have left.  If I do nothing, they suggest that I have less than 6 months to live.  We as a family are trying to decide today when to do the surgery.  They want to do it right away, but we could wait till after Christmas.  Either way, I will be 2-3 weeks in recovery from this lung surgery.  It will take a couple of weeks after the surgery to get the results on the cancer testing.  Then we need to determine if we want to take the chemo cocktail, what benefits it will provide, and how sick I will become from it.  They also want me to quickly stop working, and rest my body in anticipation of all this work.  It sure feels like we are entering the last stage of this fight.  They (my Doctors) are no longer trying to cure my cancer, only slow the progression.  My family and I are trying to decide how much further treatment we can take, versus the quality of life for these last few months.  It is tough, as my family want to spend time with me while I am feeling okay, but if we wait, the chances of extending my life are reduced.  I sure feels like we are loosing at this time.  Please pray for us.

We did get the results of the PET scan.  It also showed significant growth of the cancers in both lungs.  It did identify a new cancer growing very rapidly on the side of my left lung.  The current line of thinking is to have a surgery to remove a portion of that new cancer, and send it to a lab in Texas.  They are doing some cutting edge testing on cancers in the test tube, and perhaps they can find a chemo cocktail that would slow down my progression.  They have warned us not to get our hopes up, as this is really new technology and the chances of it working are low.  The results also gave us in indication of how long I have to live, given things continue to respond the same way.  They have estimated my life expectancy at 6-8 more months.  They also identified a new growth in the left side of my “rear” that appears to be cancer spreading.  I am meeting with  a surgeon later today to discuss all my options.  However, as much as I appreciate my Doctors, I simply cannot agree with all they are saying.  I feel pretty good right now, just very tired, so it is hard to believe the diagnosis.  Katee continues to do well, and has shown so much strength and humor in all this.  She will end her chemo in February 08.  We will post new information on the site as we get it.  Please let me again thank you all that have stood with us both emotionally and financially.  Thank You!

Katee’s PET scan came back yesterday, and the results indicate no presence of cancer!  We are pretty excited about this.  Katee is just over halfway through her chemo treatments.  She would like to quit (as anyone who has had chemo can attest to) but these good results should encourage her to finish up the series. 

I have recovered from my pneumonia, and had blood-work yesterday to ensure this was true.  If the results come back and show that I really have fully recovered, then I will have a PET scan next week.  This one will help determine how much time the doctors believe I have left.  They have been wrong so many times, I will not put much faith in the results of the PET scan.

With all the test I have gone through lately in my fight with Pneumonia, I was required to have a series of CAT scans.  These scans showed that my cancer is not responding to the chemotherapy.  In fact, it showed significant growth in all cancers and many new ones.   This is obviously very disappointing.  Given these results and after much discussion with my doctors and family, we have elected to stop any further chemotherapy.  There does not seem to be any treatment available at this time that would help.  I will continue to take IV antibiotics for a week, and that should stop the Pneumonia.  After that, I will be simply recovering from the chemo.  Once my lungs have fully recovered from the pneumonia, I will have a PET scan that will help my oncologist to determine about how much time I have left.  Please keep us in your prayers.  We will have many big decisions to make once we have an estimate of how long I have to live.

The Town of Castle Rock’s IT Team has been awarded 2007’s Best IT Team of the Year in Colorado by the Colorado Information Management Association (CIMA).

We would like to thank each and every one of you that take the time to leave a comment for us on the web site.  We are so encouraged by your thoughts and kind words.  I must admit that I don’t know how to respond to the comments (and I mean I technically don’t know!) but we do read them and post them for others to read.  This is the only way I know how to respond to you all.  Thank you so much.  Back to chemo tomorrow, so I will not be on the site for a few days while I recover.

 Darrin

I was admitted very early Sunday morning to SkyRidge Hospital, as I was unable to stop throwing up blood.  This is not an uncommon occurrence for people on chemo, but this one was a bit more than we have experienced in the past.  Anyway, it is Tuesday afternoon, and I am so glad to be home.  I am feeling much better, and a change in some medications should help from this happening again.  Katee is back in chemo this week.  She has completed her Iron infusions, so she only needs to go to the infusion center for chemo every two weeks.  We are still hopeful that Katee can stop all further treatment and have a clean bill of health near the beginning of March 2008.  I know she is ready to get back to her life and school! 

To Darrin & Katee:

I read your article regarding what it is like to have cancer from your perspective.  It touched my heart.  I wanted to tell you what it is like from my perspective.  As your Mother, my heart feels like it is broken and will never heal.  You are my firstborn and are irreplaceable.  There is not a day, hour or minute that goes by that I don’t think about you and Katee and it causes tremendous sadness in my soul.  At night I wake up thinking about you and praying for you.  Wondering where is God, why doesn’t He heal you.  Often I can sense in my spirit when you or Katee are having a bad day or night and I just have to call to hear your voices.  I want to hear all the details, good or bad.  When you or Katee are sad or sick, I am sad as well.   To me, cancer is a totally consuming disease for all of those involved in one way or another.  When I think that it could be possible that I would lose you, son, I am sad, tearful and angry.  I enjoy so much your personality, your great sense of humor and your extraordinary intelligence.  I am really not ready to let God have you to Himself!  I have watched you suffer so much with this cancer and I have grieved with you over all you have lost.  I have tried to be there for you during your surgeries, your chemo and also times when you feel a little better and we can laugh and forget for just a few minutes about cancer.  As a Mother, I want to be able to “fix” it, but I can’t and it is so frustrating for me.  Last month when I came to sit with Katee during her chemo time, it generated such mixed feelings.  I was proud of her for her courage, sorrowful for her for her pain and all she has had to deal with during her diagnosis.  I could tell she brought joy and encouragement to the others on the chemo unit and yet she herself was hurting.  I am glad for her friends who are a source of encouragement to her and for her sister Ami, who devotes all the time and love she can to Katee.  I have watched your family suffer with you, cry with you and laugh with you.  You have been especially blessed with a wonderful wife, Kim who has in spite of everything, held it all together for us.  For her I am extremely grateful.  How has cancer changed me?  I am not sure.  It has consumed my life and my thoughts.  It has definitely caused me to pray more, to be less concerned with little petty things in my life and to value each of my family members more.  We hug more, we tell each other we love them more, because we know the value of each day!

I love you son,

Mom

Katee and I get asked at least a couple times a week what it is like to have cancer.  While this is a private matter, I wanted to share my feelings about it.  Katee is a normal (I think better than normal) teenager, and as such it is difficult for her to share her feelings on the subject.  But as a Father and someone who has been dealing with a so called “terminal” situation, I am more inclined to share.  So here goes……

On Saturday, October 13th, Ami had to have surgery to remove a cyst from one of her ovaries.  The surgery went well and she is recovering quickly.  Katee is continuing her chemo and iron treatments, and while she certainly does not enjoy the chemo, she is tolerating it well.  I have moved my chemo days to Friday’s to fit better with my work schedule.  In mid-November, I will have another PET scan to see if the chemo is working or not.  All in all, our family is dong fine.  The extra stress of Ami’s surgery stumbled us a bit, but as she recovers, life is getting back to “normal” for us.  Thank you all again for your support.  We appreciate it!

Yesterday evening, Kathy Walsh, CBS 4 Denver Reporter and Anchor, Health Specialist reported on Darrin and Katee Clock and their battle with cancer (and chemotheraphy.)

Click here to read the article and watch the video!

Kathy Walsh of CBS Channel 4 Denver News has told us our feature will be on the air this Wednesday, Sept 27th at 10:00pm, during the news hour.  We were pleased with our time with Kathy, and are anxious to see the final result of her work.  Please tune in and see my beautiful daughter on TV!

Kathy Walsh of CBS News 4 (Denver) will be meeting with Katee and I at the Sky Ridge Medical Center on Monday.  Katee and I will both be doing an extended Chemotherapy on that day, and the News 4 team will be filming and discussing the unique position our family is in.  I will post later with the air time of the story.  It is our hope that this will lead to elevated attention given to cancer research, and the real daily impact cancer makes in ones life.  I know that Katee has had to deal with the fact that her college and “life” in general have been put on hold for her chemotherapy treatment.  This has been difficult for her, as she has needed to quit her job, drop out of college, give up her own apartment and of course she misses her friends.  I am somewhat selfish, as I really enjoy having Katee home again.  I wish the circumstances were different, but I do love being surrounded by my family again!

We have posted some new photos of Darrin, Katee and the family.  Check out all 3 albums on Darrin and Katee’s photo page!

Katee had her first 3 day chemo treatment this week.  The first two days went pretty well, but on the night of the second day she became ill.  Pretty much nausea and aches.  She was able to sleep with the portable chemo injector, but it did bug her a bit.  Today she is resting.