Life is Good.

(Huntsman Cancer Institute - ground was broken for new wing on bottom left of photo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSpz1rFgPNs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmpDsSBESus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0KyzSEmzPE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oaEDKv3Jf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEnXhhJ5DCc&NR=1

Above is a link to an interview/special about a man whom we have never met, but who has figured prominently in our lives. His name is John Huntsman Sr., founder of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He is a very wealthy man who has given, as of the figure I heard this morning, half a BILLION of his own dollars towards this. We are the recipients of his generosity, and are in the process of watching a whole new section of the hospital being built into the side of the mountain HCH rests against. Please, if you have a problem with Glenn Beck, set it aside for us, and watch this for the story of the man who has funded the saving of many lives, including Blaines. It is broken up into five parts, thus the five links, but it is well worth the time.

Having said that, we must now report on our news. Blaine underwent restaging last week (bloodwork, PET scan, beloved bone marrow biopsy), and today we received the results. Are you ready? Completely clean. Completely. Can you believe it? The PET scan also showed evidence that his bone lesions were now healing. That is the GREAT news. However, since his cancer was so VERY aggressive, and there could still be cancerous cells hiding in his body that will mature over the next several months, he will undergo a rigorous Consolidation Chemo regimen until May to knock those out and prevent this thing from ever heating up again. He will receive the same protocol he received at Dartmouth before we brought him here, every six weeks until May. That will be four cycles of what's called VTD-PACE. One chemo light, one steroid, and five (yes 5) chemo heavy drugs. These will be delivered 24 hours a day over the space of four days. He will not be inpatient, however. He will be hooked up to a back-pack which will deliver the medicines through two IV lines. That starts tomorrow. Sleep will be interesting! But they've done this many, many times, and we are confident that they know EXACTLY what they are doing. There are side effects, but we've seen them before, and they are aware of how Blaine responds to the different drugs. And, he has recovered. We expect that he will do so again, with faith and prayer. We are so very blessed to have him here with us, and so very thankful to ALL of those who have made that possible. I think that calls for a very, very...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From all us Savages to all of you.

PS - Congrats, Nicki and Craig! When's the big day?