I can't believe it's been over a month since my last update. I'm so sorry! It has been a month .... and not a pretty one. 

Our nieces (Presley and Hattie) treated Nick like a KING when we celebrated Thanksgiving with them. They made a sign - "Nick Ironman Cancer Fighter " and rolled out a red carpet (literally!!!! they put red curtains on the floor) for him when he walked in the door. They all had on their Ironman Nick shirts too! It was awesome. 

Over Thanksgiving Nick caught a cold or something and lost his voice for 2 weeks. He was in a lot of pain - specifically in his chest. He had a pretty nasty cough, ZERO energy, and was incredibly weak. He lost 10 pounds within 2 weeks. He was sleeping all the time, severely dehydrated, and just over all crummy. It was a very scary time. Luckily, we have the best friends in the WORLD and they came over daily to check on him and help me with him. Nick couldn't get out of the chair by himself he was so weak and in so much pain. Nick's brain was the foggiest it has ever been. He was "not here" if that makes any sense. When he did whisper, we couldn't really understand what he was talking about ... he was truly out of it.  We saw his primary care doctor on Tuesday, November 29th I believe. Nothing was found on the chest xray, and he wasn't anemic so they just gave him a liter of fluids to help with dehydration. 

After the fluids he perked up a bit, but still wasn't right. He was scheduled for chemo on Wednesday, December 7th but the Dr. Vyas did not feel comfortable treating him as he was not feeling well and "not all  here". Dr. Vyas ran an additional lab (ammonia level) as that can contribute to the brain fogginess. They gave him fluids in place of chemo that day and ordered a CT scan of his chest to check for pneumonia and blood clots.  He also started Nick on antibiotics to kick whatever infection he had going on in his lungs. 

Nick had the CT scan done Thursday night and we got those results back on Friday. Nothing major to report other than no pneumonia which was a great thing. We'll get a more detailed scan done this week Thursday for cancer staging/response. 

After a few days of antibiotics, the fluids, and some meds to help with Nick's ammonia levels he's feeling MUCH better. I was almost in tears one morning when he woke up and was able to talk and even joke around with me. It was a VERY SCARY couple of weeks. I hate seeing him like that. I didn't know what to even report because we weren't sure what was going on. 

During all of this, we also lost my step-father, Mark Stacey. It was a shocking, heartbreaking, unexpected, and over all traumatic ordeal. It's been a lot to process, but my family has a lot of support. 

Seriously, HUGE shoutout to the friends and family that came by to help with Nick. We both needed it. 

As of this morning, the pain in his chest is gone; but now he's having pain in his right hip. I'm not sure if that is cancer related, or if it's because of how he sleeps (he chooses to sleep in the recliner or on the couch).  He's pretty tired today but still much better than he was last week. 

Now, lets talk numbers... 

• Aug 24th:  3704
• Sept 13th:  2175
• Sept 28th:  1407
• Oct 12th:  876
• Oct 26th:  629
• Nov 3rd:  425 (MD Anderson result)
• Nov 9th:  560
• Nov 23rd:  532
• Dec 7th:  628

This is obviously not what we hoped to see ... As of today, Nick's numbers have increased to 628. Now, we won't know exactly what this means until we receive the results of the CT Chest, Abdomen, and Pelvis scan. Nick is scheduled for that scan at MD Anderson this Thursday, December 15th. We'll review the results with MD Anderson Dr. Lee on Friday, December 16th.

WE NEED PRAYERS, and we need them badly. 

Please pray that Nick is still responding to treatment. Pray that the doctors have a plan no matter what the scans show. Pray that the chemo is working. Pray for Nick's health (mental, physical, and emotional). 

Feel free to call or text us, or come by. 

Love you all, Brandi