Well we had a pretty good weekend.  I ate a couple bites of a turkey and tomato sandwich on Saturday.  Sunday I had some salad.  It’s not a steak but it’s a small start.

 

I will be resting up this week so I can spend as much time as possible with everybody on Saturday.

 

I want to thank everybody before hand for their help and participation with this golf tournament.  There are so many people behind the scene that have worked non-stop for weeks now.  You know who you are and we love you and want to thank you with all my heart.

Went to Duke today and got fluids.  I was home by 4pm after leaving at 7am.  This includes a visit from Dr. Ready and getting blood work done.  A lot shorter day than our last fuild day at CVMC.

 

Blood work came back good along with blood pressure 117/76 . 

 

We are changing my pain meds and trying to get rid of the nausia.

 

Just trying to get through the week and get better.

 

Clayton

Sunday evening and trying to end this week up.  I feel OK I just can’t shake this nausia.  That leaves me not eating enough.  It’s a catch 22, I hope this week gets better.

 

The Golf Tournament is coming up and is full with a waiting list.  Thanks to the 120 golfers and everyone else supporting the Believe For A Cure Golf Tournament.

 

They say there are tons of things to be raffled off and a silent auction.  Everything from Nascar stuff, gold jewerly, furniture, and more…   Make plans to come by the golf course I think it starts at noon and will end up around 6 pm.

 

Thanks for everything

Clayton

Hey everyone,

Just an update after a long week.  Last week was very hard on me.  I had to go to the local hospital for fluids.  We got our fluids and made it home but only after over 9 hours of being at the hospital.  The people were very nice but when you get use to being at Duke it’s hard to measure up. 

The fluids made a huge difference in how I felt.  But I still had the problem of my throat.  My throat was and is still killing me.  I’m using a 100% aloe juice for my throat.  Rinsing and gargling with the juice has helped a lot.  Thanks to Tim for the jewel.  The other thing this juice does is it helps me clean my mouth from all the build-up from over night real easily.  Cleaning my throat in the morning hurts like mad and the aloe makes it 90% easier.

If anyone out there has problems with their mouth ( sores or blisters ) or throat this might be the help you are looking for.

Well, we made it through the weekend and I haven’t lost any more weight, thank goodness.

Paege and I go to Duke Wednesday morning (7/30) at 8 AM with Dr. Ready and then at 11:45 AM with Dr. Brizel and I’ll do my LAST MRI for the clinical trial.

Thanks for all your support and prayers, unbelievable!

Clayton

PS.  Oh ya –  The Golf Tournament preparations are going great.  Not only are all the spots almost full (24 left) The people have got some great I mean GREAT prizes for the giveaways. Then, they are selling tickets for a drawing for some more great things. They also have some wonderfull items for Auction - I’m talking Nascar to High-End Furniture.

So come to the Believe for a Cure Golf Outing for some good food and hang out.  You don’t have to play to come and visit.

I talked with Clayton for a while last night and he is very glad to be finished with the treatment schedule and to be at home.

However, this week he is facing possibly some of the most challenging side effects he has had to deal with so far… Throat pain and nausea are at their peak as the effects of the final round of treatments continue.

Please pray specifically for Clayton to be free of nausea and to have reduced throat pain so he can maintain his required daily intake.  Even when he can get a Carnation drink down he is having trouble keeping it down and that further increases the throat pain and creates a cycle that isn’t favorable…

Hey all

 

I hope this update fines everyone doing well.

 

We finished up my treatments on Thursday afternoon.

 

Paege and I met with Dr. Brizel on Wednesday.  Our check up went very well, still no tumors on the surface.  They did a CT scan on me Tuesday.  These results came back clear also.  Now this scan isn’t as precise as a PET scan, so no back flips just yet but Dr. Brizel was real excited about the scan. 

 

I have two weeks of rest.  Dr said these two-weeks can be as rough as my last two week.  So no visitors, over doing it, and most of all eat.

 

Dr said it will be another 5 weeks of so before I’ll be able to eat and talk normal.

 

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and the grace of God for us to get to this point of my battle. 

 

Thanks 

 

 

Clayton Abernathy

Paege and I did R/T @7:15 and then went and got some fluids from lab.  Then went to meet with Dr. Brizel around 10 am.  We had a good meeting and he is real happy with the way everything is going.  I lost a lot of weight this past weekend so that was the main topic.  I ate well last night and I’m eating well today.  He thinks the more I can eat, the more I’ll feel like eating, then I will start healing and feeling better faster (catch 22). 

 

I wanted to thank Mom and Jennifer for coming down it was good to see you both, and what a NICE surprise to see Stacey Everret drop by last night.

 

I want to thank everyone for your never-ending support and prayers; it truly gets us through the day.

 

Clayton and Paege

Hello all,

Here’s a time line of last week

 

Clayton had a great day on Monday. He was almost back to his old self again and Tues was even better. In fact, he actually ate real food for the first time in weeks. I was so exited I almost danced on the table in the dinning hall.

 

He started back on his chemo on Tues along with another dose of the avastin.

We met with Dr. Brizzel on Wed morning and he looked at us after the scope procedure and said “what tumors?” It was really hard to hold back the tears of joy. All the doctors and nurses that were in there were so compassionate, I think they were holding them back too. He commended Clayton on how well he has followed instruction and contributes his commitment to following the rules and said that he was the best model for the case study because he was the only one who had not had to be hospitalized for fluids and a feeding tube.

 

He told us that he saw Clayton’s blog and loved it!! He praised all the hard work that our friends have put into it. We then went to day 2 of chemo. Clayton’s parents and Jessica came to visit. It was good for her to see where he is living and the clinics. We were even able to take her back with him to watch him receiving his radiation therapy.

 

He ate a little more solid foods that day too, but by Thursday morning he was feeling pretty nauseated. It’s been a really tough road since then. We came home on Thursday evening since they closed the clinic on the 4th. This, by the way, is also changing the last date of his treatment to Thurs 17th instead of Wed.

 

Each day from Wed on he struggled more and more to drink his only lifeline, the Carnation drinks. Friday, Sat, and Sun were quite a blur. He was only able to drink 2 of them on Friday and Sat too. By Sun. they were history. We decided to go back a little early in case we decided to take him to get some fluids. The doctor on call suggested for us to go to the ER but Clayton didn’t want to. He was so afraid that they would put him in the hospital. He toughed it out another night and we went in an hour early on Mon. to start the process of hydration. He had lost almost 15 pounds over the 3 day break. Although he was already on 3 different meds for nausea, nothing was working at all. They gave him 2 bags of fluids and he looked a little better but was still very sick.

 

We have to go on Tues and Wed for fluids again and if the nausea isn’t any better than they will give him some through the veins at the same time. We are to meet back with Jennifer on Thurs morning to recheck his progress.

 

Sorry it took so long to get caught up. My main focus has been taking care of him.

Thanks a lot.

Paege

 

OK on Monday we met with Dr. Ready. Went back over all med’s again, blood work, and labs.

Tuesday morning (7 am) started back R/T. Then we started our second round of Chemo. We started @ 9 am and got out after 4 pm, a long day. Then at the end of my last treatment I had a reaction and had to get a Benadril shot. Bam 10 minutes later every thing was back to normal and I was fine. It got a little scary there for a minute, Paege said I turned a couple different shades of red, white, and pale.

We meet with Dr. Brizel on Wed. and should have a good idea of what’s going the rest of the way.

We’re all doing fine and taking this one day at a time Thanks for all your support

Thanks Clayton

 

 

Hello everyone, Clayton wanted me to update everyone on his day. He had his two R/T at 7:00and 2:40. After his last treatment we met with Dr. Brizel and received some really good news.

1. He has not lost any weight since his last check up. He is really working hard to get his nutritional drinks down even though it is painful. Last night when I arrived and at lunch today, Clayton was trying to eat some canned peaches! He did not have a lot of success, but the fact he was trying was truly amazing.
2. When Dr. Brizel felt around Clayton’s neck to check his tumors, he could not feel anything!
3. Dr. Brizel put a scope down Clayton’s nose to check his tumors internally. Doc said it was pretty raw in his throat from the R/T but was very happy with the progress of the treatment. His tumors have shrunk significantly.
4. Dr. Brizel was also happy with Clayton’s alertness given the fact he is on a great deal of pain meds. The adjustment Dr. Ready did this week to his pain meds have made a big difference.

Dr. Brizel said that unlike many patients, Clayton really gets it. He knows what he needs to do and he is staying on top of it. I know to all of us that know Clayton, this comes as no surprise.

Clayton is one of the toughest, strongest willed individuals I know. He has made up his mind he is not only getting past this, but he is going to decisively defeat it . I truly believe what drives him is knowing so many of you are praying for him and encouraging him. Clayton’s family, friends and faith are the cornerstones of his strength. So let’s all keep doing our part and Clayton will keep doing his and we will all celebrate this victory together very soon.

Thanks,

Donavon