Hello everyone,

I go into the hospital tomorrow Tues Aug 11. They will start my 6 days of chemo on Wed. Then a day of rest. On the 8th day they give me back my bone morrow. Then wait for the bone marrow to graft into my body and start rebuilding my immune system. The entire process takes 3-4 weeks on average.

Those of you that live close to me, please call or stop by my house and check on Suzi and the kids. I just want to be sure they are doing good and the house is still standing. Thank you very much :)

I can have visitors in the hospital. I will be at the University Hospital on 5th fl in the Bone Marrow Unit.

My gall bladder surgery went well. I'm feeling much better.

I can't express my graditude for all your love and support for my family and me. We pray for the Lord's choicest blessings be upon you and your families.

Stew

Hi everyone,

Well, my tumor shrunk to 8 cm, that is the smallest its ever been the tumor is also dead YEAAAAA!. So my dr says its time for Bone Marrow Transplant. I'll be going in either next week or the week after. I should find out tomorrow when I go in. My dr also says that my body can't take any more chemo.

Also, we found out that I have gall stones. I've been having really bad stomach aches and now we know that I was passing gall stones, they hurt really bad to pass. I need my gall bladder out, its a question of timing, do we do it now or wait til after transplant. The only danger is if one of the stones doesn't pass, then it can cause very bad infections. In people that are health and stone blockages cause major problems, it mean it could be fatal. So, I'll get an ultrasound on Monday to see if there are any big stones in there. The fun never ends. Why take the easy road?

I had platelets today, my counts are slowly coming back up. I'm feeling tired today.
I stopped by work yesterday, it was great to see some of you. It lifted my spirits.

Thanks for your prayers, thoughts, and friendship. It does work and it does help. I'll keep in touch.
Some have asked it I can visitors when I'm in the hospital, yes I can as long as the person isn't sick.

I have friend who has MS, he is a lot tuffer then me. I look to my Father in Heaven and people like him to get strength to endure.

Thanks again for all you do.

Stew

Hello everyone,

I've had 6 units of blood and 2 units of platelets over the past week, I'm feeling pretty good today.

I've had 4 chemo treatments. I get a PET Scan on Wed to see if the tumor is dead, then I'll meet with my Dr to find out the results of the scan and to see if she thinks I need more chemo or we go to bone marrow transplant.

The infection on my leg is healing, its all closed up now. My family is doing good, my two oldest girls are at girls camp this week. We had a fun 4th of July, we had a neighborhood BBQ and fireworks.

I hope all is well with you and your families. Family is very important, make sure you tell and show your family that you love them.

I'm always overwhelmed by all the love and support my family and I receive. Even though you may think your not doing much, every little word, e-mail, prayer is helpful and very much appreciated. Just knowing others care and are willing to help makes a big difference. Make sure to thank your Father in Heaven today for your health, that your able to work and move around. I miss that. Taking it easy is nice for the first week, then it gets old after that. I feel for those that are bed riding or limited by their bodies being afflicted in some manner.

Keep smiling, hold your head up high, things could be worse, things could be better. Let's keep our eyes and hearts on the Savior and things will work out fine.

I'll let you know what the Dr says on Thurs.

Thanks again.

Stew

Hello friends,

I am done collecting my stem cells. The past two weeks, I've had to go to the Huntsman every day for lab work and shots, the shots are for getting my bone marrow to start producing stem cells for collection (high volume of cells).

Since chemo is hard on my body, I can't create very many cells very fast, so after the first week (Of getting 3 shots a day, these where in my arms) you move to what is called "Hard to Mobilize".

Then they double the amount of the drug they give you (I cant' spell it correctly, neupragin) so that means, 2 shots in the morning (be there at 7:00 am), then back to the hospital by 8:00 pm for 6 shots, all 8 in my stomach, I have some very nice, big bruises.
I had a great Fathers day present, when they called said I had collected enough and didn't have to have any more shots.

The collection process is very interesting. They hook me up to a machine (with tubes going all over the place)that pulls out my blood and mixes it with an anti-coagulate. Then it spins by blood, the blood separtes into stems cells, red cells, etc. The machine is then able to pull off (collect) my stem cells and put them in a bag. Then the machine heats my blood back up to body temp and gives me back to me. The machine runs for about 4 1/2 hours, it goes through 30 liters of blood, that means my entire blood stream went through the machine about 7 times each day.
They then take the stem cells, and they freeze them slow down to about minus 200 F. Where they can hold them forever if necessary. They will unfreeze them when its time for my transplant, another month or so.

Now, we wait for all my platelets, white and red cell counts to come up, and then I can have my 4th round of chemo. If my tumor keeps shrinking, my dr. wants to do 1 or 2 more treatmes (chemo) then the 4 she orginally planned on.

I'm feeling good. Things are progressing along. The Lord continues to bless my family and me.

I've meet some really tough people going through their own fight with cancer. I don't have any room to complain. Their courage and strength helps me keep moving on. I've been blessed with great nurses and dr who help me laugh and keep moving forward.
I'm very grateful for you and your support in helping me keep moving forward. With all these great people, it helps me stay positive.

I can never repay you. I can't say thanks enough.
Remember, keep smiling, people wonder what your up to.
If this doesn't make any sense, it’s because all my hair fell out and I can't think straight.

Stew

Hello all,

I had my 3rd round of chemo last week. I've felt better than before. Thanks for all the prayers and fasting, they are working.

I should be harvesting stem cells (bone marrow transplant) this week, starting on Thurs. This won't hurt, they take my blood through a "hickman" or "port" that is in my chest.
My Dr. said that if my cancer keeps responding to chemo (shrinking down) that she would like to do a few more rounds of chemo and get this as small as possible. We will keep watching and waiting.

We had a family reunion over Memorial day. I was very surprised to find out that 5 other family members have had cancer. They are all doing fine. That helped me, some more encouragement.

I've also realized, that I'm no different then anybody else. Everyone has, is going, and will go through trials, hard times. Some trials are big some are small. They all take a toll on us, they can bring us down, or help push us onward and upward. I have good friend with MS, he doesn't give up, he keeps moving forward. Another with arthritus, he has to take meds everyday, another lost a good paying job, another went through a tough divorce. We need to keep looking out for one another and help each other out. Sometimes, you don't know what the other person is going through.

My leg is healing nicely, I don't feel real sick, I feel pretty good for just going through chemo.
The church is true.
Take it one day at time, lean on the Lord, and let others help YOU out once in while.

Stew

Helllo everyone. Feel free to share this with others.

I'll get my 3 chemo round on Friday, then Sat and Sun (in patient at Huntsman). My cell counts have been low, that is why its been a few weeks since I've had chemo.

Then, the 2 week of June, they will start to harvest my bone marrow. They will take my stem cells and freeze them, they will also decide if they can use my stem cells or if things will work better if they use my brothers stem cells. He is a match.

Then, after my cell counts come up I'll get my 4th chemo.

After cell counts come back up, I'll go into the hospital (for a month) and then recieve chemo for 6 days straight. This is the one that will kill my bone marrow, white blood cells. Then I get 1 day of rest, then they will give me my stem cells back.
I have to be monitored for then next few weeks to make sure everything is going well. My body is creating white cells, bone marrow is growing.
During this time I'm at risk for infection, getting sick, and having my body reject the stem cells. Patients have died due to their body rejecting the stem cells during and after having a bone marrow transplant. This does make me nervous, they almost killing me, then saving my life.

We are all in the Lord's hands through our entire life so I shouldn't be scared. He is watching over all of us and blessing and helping us.This is getting my attention. I do have faith that everything will be fine. I'll also get a priesthood blessing before the 6 days of chemo. I just take things one day at a time.
I'm very grateful to all the support my family and I are recieving, we don't have room to recieve it.

Hopefully this is helpful info. I'm never sure what people want to know or how much they want to know.

Thanks for your support.

God does live. Jesus did suffer for our sins and pains. The church is true. We do have living prophet Pres. Thomas S. Monson. The Book of Mormon is true. The priesthood is real. And cancer sucks.

Stew

I'll try to keep this up to date.

I'll describe what its like so far with my treatments.

I had my second chemo treat about 10 days ago. My counts have dropped. This means that my white and red blood cells, and platelet counts have dropped very low. I had to have 2 units of blood giving to me yesterday to help bring the counts up. I do feel better today.
With my counts being so low, this means I can get sick very easily (fevers, infections) and if I cut myself I can bleed and have a hard time stopping the bleeding. I also, don't have much energy, I can walk down my street and back, then I need a rest.

With my counts being so low, this means that I'll probably have to wait until next week to get my 3 round of chemo. My chemo takes 3 days to give. They start on Thursday, I get 2 different bags, this takes 3-4 hours to give me through my port. I have a 3 prong port that was implanted on my right side. This makes taking lab work and giving meds so much nicer. I don't have to get stuck with a needle every time I need something. Then I go back on Friday and get checked in to the hospital from Friday to Saturday. The next 2 drugs take 24 hours to give me.

For the next 3-4 days I'm sick to my stomach, tired, and my body aches all over.

Don't ever take your health for granted. Its a blessing to be able to work and do things around your house. Its not fun sitting around all day and having to be very careful about not getting sick.

The Lord is blessing my family and I. He is helping up through this. We sometimes think about why am I going through this, did I do something wrong, am I being punished.
I've learned, from people much wiser than I, that this what we signed up for when we agreed to come to earth. All these trials, experiences, good and bad, are for our experiences and learning. They benefit us and those around us. They can make us stronger if we let them. Having cancer has forced me to rely fully on the Lord. Our life is in his hands. He is in control and we will not leave our sides. We walks with us and even carries us at times. He is always there.

So, its up to us on how we will go through this life and our trials. Having a postive attitude and taking things one day at a time helps. Let others help you when you need it. Never give up, fight the good fight.

Sorry for the long e-mail.

Have a great day, keep smiling.

CHEMO #5

We are sitting here at Huntsman and Stew is just waiting for his last bag of meds to be done.. He had a CT scan yesterday of which shows the tumor is smaller but not a small as they thought it would be.. So after his 6th chemo currently schedualed for July 2nd he will have PET SCAN which should be around the 28th or 29th of July.. and as long as all the cancer cells show gone then we will start the test for his Bexar around the 31st of July and His radioactivity will be injected around the 6th of Aug.. it should be interesting..
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR ALL THE MANY PRAYERS ON OUR BEHALF WE ARE DEFINILTLY FEELING THEM..
the kids are out of school for the summer.

Shaved head

Sorry it has taken a while to post something. We painted our bed room and got new carpet. It feels like a new room. We have also been working on our food storage.

My next chemo treatment is Wed Apr 9th. I hope things smooth and that I don't get very tired. Having a shaved head feels pretty good. Easy to shower and dry off.

Charlie, Laci and Lexi are playing soccer and doing very well. They really enjoy it.

Suzi's parents are having some health struggles, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

My parents are going to New Zealand for a month, they are going to rent a motor home and drive all over. Sounds like fun.

I'm feeling really good, I feel strong, I get tired pretty easy. I'm not pushing it, I'm taking it easy. I've found out that some people at work have had cancer and they are doing well. That gives me hope.

I really enjoyed conference. I'm not sure whatelse to say. I'm looking into get more picture up. We took pictures of the kids shaving my head.

Thanks for you support.

The Olsen Family.

Our trip to San Fran.

Cancer Update

Here is a way for everyone to hear about what is going on with my cancer.



First of all I'd like to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!! to everyone for their kind words, thoughts, prayers. The Lord is hearing and answering those prayers, I could not do this alone.



I have had several priesthood blessing, we will get through this, all will be well. I've learned, long ago, that Heavenly Father does not leave you comfortless. He is always there, by your side, helping you get through whatever it is your going through. I ask for help and he helps me.



Here is how we found out about my Follicular, Non-Hodgkins, Lymphoma. Its about 6 lbs, and was growing around my small intestines and putting pressure on my stomach and intestines. It felt like I always had an upset stomach. I finally got tired of the pain and went to my doc. He thought it might be acid-reflux and/or ulcers. He put me on some meds, they didn't help. He said the next step is to have an endoscopy (tube down the throat), the doc said it would about a week to get it scheduled. I decided I couldn't wait that long, I was inspiried to call my friend (who is a dr, Brett Thorpe) I called him on a Tuesday he got me in on Friday. He didn't find any ulcers, so he said you ned a CT scan, he was able to get one scheduled that day @ 5:00 pm. Brett then got job to telling me that I have a Lymphoma. I'm glad I heard it from a good friend. Since it was Friday, Brett said I'm sending you up to Huntsman.



Suzi has a friend from jr. high and high school, Gary, that works up at Huntsman, we called him and got us an appoint with Dr. Gilbert for one week later (we are very greatful for Gary's help). Its very humbling, attention getting, to be told you have cancer. Suzi and I were just in shock. Telling our children was a scary thing as well. As we learn more, we are dealing with it better.



I have had a needle biopsy, they had to take a sample of the lymphoma to be able to get the diagnoses, the needle is about 14 inches long, they went in about 8-9 inches in my stomach. They do numb you up, but still isn't fun. Last week, I had to get a bone marrow biopsy, that doesn't feel to good either. I also had a PET Scan (this takes 5 min scans of each section of the body to get a good picture of whats going on.



I had my first chemo on Thurs March 20, I have 5 more, 3 weeks apart. My hair will fallout next week, so we will shave it off before then. There is no cancer in my bone marrow, and no cancer in anywhere else that they could see with the scans.

I feel tired, a step or 2 behind. I'm back to work and taking it 1 day at a time.



Thanks again for all your thoughts, prayers, fasting, talks. Thanks to my Doctors, nurses, everyone at Huntsman Cancer. Thanks to my Father in Heaven for all my wonder friends and family willing to be Christlike and offer your help and kindness. My family will take all the good will we can. We ask the Lord's choicest blessing upon you and your family. He is here to help each and everyone of us no matter how big or small our challenges are. Never Give Up!