Rough Day

I got done with my chemo Sunday Morning at 4 30 am and Jim and I were out of the hospital by 5 and home by 5 45 I slept until about 9 am. After being there since Wednesday I was sooo glad to get home. I had not slept more than 2 hours straight the entire time I was in the hospital. You don't get much sleep in hospitals so when I got home I was in zombie mode but not feeling too nausea. I spent most of Sunday just being with my family as both my sisters were home for the first time in awhile. I also had the Lee family stop by and I got a surprise as my cousin Hunter shaved his head. I then got to see the Byrne Family from Spokane for a little while. Going into the afternoon I was feeling nausea. After my sisters both left for Redmond and Bellingham I started getting a temperature and I got sick. I then started to have throat pain which are all side affects. I went to bed early as I had probably 24 hours of sleep total since Wednesday. I did not get much sleep though as I had to be woken up every 30 min to check my temperature because I was running a fever. I was also trying to get down fluids and medicine I did not really sleep all night and I spent all day yesterday at the hospital where I was really nausea and tired. The doctor said I have bad mouth sores which are very common and I got medicine for that and also medicine for nausea. I slept for about 13 hours last night and I feel a lot better this morning as the medicine is helping my sores and the nausea is gone. My goal for today is to rest, do homework, eat, and stay away from the hospital:). I would also like to thank all the Moms who have been making me dinner. The food you have made has been amazing and if I did not have that food I would be in trouble for sure because I usually loose weight while im in the hospital but I gain it right back when I get a nice home cooked meal:). Thanks MOMS!!! Its been a tough week and even tougher last 48 hours or so but I'm so happy I am home and can see people and actually eat and sleep. As hard as it may be at times I feel lucky to have so much in my life with friends, family, God, and a home to go home. Also a mom that is more than amazing. Being at the hospital it kills me looking around and seeing so many people suffer so much more then I am. I think we all need to try are hardest to think about the good things we have in our life's instead of thinking about the things that are keeping you down.

Love you all and come visit me

Garrett

Another Supporter!!!

The five day stay

Day 1-

Check-in 8:00AM March 24th and began chemo regiment began right away. It was a pretty rough day, over drugged on Benadryl, slept most of the day, did not want to eat.

Day 2-

Chemo began at 6:30AM, ate a little, and completed math algebra with Kathie (hospital teacher). Later that day I was joined by a third roommate, a Husky grad to watch the game. To bad they lost. Overall it was a good day:)

Day 3-

2:30AM Friday morning I began Chemo. Friday was an overall good day. Meet with the Katie again for a little math. Aunt Joanie came and stayed with me while Mom went out to lunch with some friends. Later that day Megan came and we played foozeball and cards. Garrett of course beat Megan in Fooze. Kyle Kearney came to visit later that night and brought us some pizza. We ate pizza and watched Basketball. I then started Chemo again at 10:00PM and it went though the night. The Chemo went good.

Day 4- Just woke up and really glad it is my last day here! Jim is coming to spend the day with me and I will be starting my last round of Chemo later on this evening. I am really excited to come home tomorrow!

Some side notes:

*I am begging to feel like I am on a leash when I am plugged into my IV. They are nice enough to unplug me each day for a short amount of time so I can take a shower.

*I am beginning to look like a leopard on my head as I start to loose my hair.

*The food is pretty gross here.

Good Weekend

As a guy I am not big on the whole blog thing and I thought my sisters would be doing most of it but I guess people want to hear from me and have me blog more often then I do and I guess I can't blame them.

Friday morning I was at children's getting my blood taken where my counts were the lowest they have been but it is very normal for my treatment. I also met with the teacher up at the hospital and got some help in math and will be working with her next week while I'm in the hospital. I came home and spent the rest of the day with my sister Lindsy where we played video games, watched basketball, and of course my favorite thing to do with my sister we watched a chick flick. She then left for her Mission Trip to Brooklyn, New York through her church at Western so please pray for her and the other students who will be spending the next week serving people over there.

Saturday I slept in and woke up to sunshine and knew I could not spend it at home inside. I spent the rest of the morning watching basketball then my mom, Jim, and I headed South to Steilacoom to visit the Barnums for the day. On are way there we stopped by Chambers Bay golf course to look at it. Just watching people play, being out in the sun, and seeing that amazing golf course it was the best 30 minutes I have had in awhile. At the Barnums we ate a lot of great food, got to be outside, and watched some basketball and it was great just being out of the house and visiting with family.

Today was another great day as I slept in then did some homework and read a little bit. I then of course watched basketball (college basketball is my favorite sport to watch). My friend Steve then came over and we played video games and got to visit about school and things like that.

As you can see I have felt pretty good all weekend which has been pretty nice. I'm glad I got to get out a little bit instead of always being inside. I'm not looking forward to this week as I go to the hospital both monday and tuesday morning then I'm back in the hospital for more chemo until Sunday. But I'm just taking it day by day.

Take care,

Garrett

Shaving Heads!!!

Game Plan!!!!

Yesterday was the best I have felt since I have started my chemo. It was a great day as I spent the school day doing homework and Erin Wickstrom came over and visited for awhile which was great. Then Kylee came over and I went to the store with her and got myself some Cheetos that for some reason I was craving. I then got to hang with Brendan, Kyle, Cory, and Austin as we watched Family Feud and found out that the possession of smarties for kids leads to smoking. I was feeling great with no side affects and off all medicine. Then this morning I woke up feeling horrible. I had a really bad stomach ache and bad pain. I have felt better as the day went on and now Im feeling pretty good.

So I spent today at the Hospital getting tests all day and meeting with my team of doctors. I got a lot of information that was good for me. As people know I love the game of golf and it is my favorite sport as I worked at the golf course before this all happened and play varsity for the high school golf team where I am the up coming team Co-Captain. With the cancer I was not sure if I would be able to play golf the next 8 months. I had not really talked to the doctors about it much yet because I obviously had other things on my mind. My doctor told me today that playing golf is up to me. With golf being an outside sport I do not have to worry about getting infections or getting sick or anything that would be bad for me. I should not play when my blood counts are low though. So I can play and practice when I am feeling up to it and not sick or tired, but it will be hard to play a whole round because of my energy level at time. Also I wont be able to play and practice full time my senior golf season. But that was great news to hear that when not feeling sick from chemo or recovery from surgery I can golf and go fishing too.

I also talked to doctor Conrad who does all the surgery and is the best there is about the surgery I will be having to remove the tumor. The plan is if everything goes as planned is I will have my surgery on June 1st. Depending on how much the chemo shrinks my tumor until then will tell what type of replacement I will get. I will either have a Tibia replacement with a bone graph or a Tibia and a knee joint replacement (which involves a metal rod). It is pretty confusing stuff and I'm still confused on how everything happens but either surgery the recovery will be 3 months(all summer) without walking and on crutches and according to the doctors I will be able to fully recover from the replacement and be able to do the same things I could do before.

I feel good about how things are going so far and am finding new strength through the Lord everyday. I go back in on Friday to see how my blood counts are and hoping and praying that there might be a chance I can stop by The Round Up Friday night for Younglife. The chances are probably not but I would really love to go for a little bit.

I hope everyone is doing well and I miss and love you all,

Garrett

Relaxing weekend at home

Garrett is currently sitting in his Grandpa's favorite chair watching the NCAA Men's basketball selection show (some of you may know Grandpa's famous brown chair). This is Lindsy blogging (garrett's other sister). I am finally done with finals and home from WWU for a night and spending some quality time with Garrett. Last night we had a popcorn and movie night (we watched Glory Road... one of Garrett's favorite movies). Today Garrett challenged me to the video game NBA 2k10 and as usual... beat me pretty badly. I guess this chemo isn't keeping his video game skills down. Garrett has had a few side effects from the chemo: a little nausea, headaches and body aches. He has a great appetite and doesn't even have to be asked often to drink his water! Once the basketball show comes to an end Garrett will spend some time doing homework today while he is feeling pretty good. I know that it's been said a lot... but thank you ALL again for so much support.

-Lindsy

Home from first Chemo Treatment

I'm glad to be home after spending the last 52 hours getting my first chemo treatment. It was a little different then I thought it would, but in a good way. I was expecting to get very sick and nauseas. Yes I did feel nauseas a lot but never got sick because all the drugs they gave me to keep me from getting sick. They said when giving kids chemo my age they just like to give you drugs to make you sleepy. That is exactly how I felt I was out of it pretty much the entire time i was there. I got up and walked around my room and the floor a little just to get out of bed, but wherever I went and walked around I would have to roll around my chemo that was hooked up to me. Probably the weirdest thing I felt when I was there was whenever I was out on my drugs I would hallucinate when sleeping it was pretty weird and I would talk and reach out my hand while Im sleeping. Having chemo in me changes a lot because I cant afford to be around anyone or anything that could get me sick.

I really miss everyone and hanging out with my friends!

Garrett

FOR TEACHERS

I guess some of you are having a hard time accessing Garrett's Blog at school so we have created an additional Blog where you can go to see updates. We will post on both this blog and the Caring Bridge Blog. Here is a link to the Caring Bridge Blog:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/garrettlight

Chemo Day 2

Garrett has been such a stud with starting Chemo treatment:). He started yesterday around 9:30 and is on his finally bag today! So far he has not gotten sick (knock on wood) and only had a little nausea. They have been giving him lots of anti-nausea meds which basically make him sleep, I guess thats what they do for teens that are going through treatment. Earlier this afternoon Garrett got up and we went for a short walk around the floor. He got to check out the family room, team room, and see what it looks like around this place:) We will continue to keep you all updated. Thanks again for all the support.

-Megan

Ready For Chemo

Tomorrow is the day that I officially start my Chemotherapy. I went in today and had a bunch of tests taken and blood taken to make sure everything looked ready to start my chemo and everything went well. I also got my PT scan results back and I officially have no cancer in any other parts of my bone and body and everything else besides my leg obviously looked great. That was great news to hear. The plan for this week if everything goes as planned is I go in tomorrow morning to the hospital and go right in and they start giving me my chemo through my port. The chemo will go for 2 days straight and depending on how I am doing I am planning on coming home Thursday night. The doctor said that the 1st round of chemo that I am getting tomorrow is going to be the toughest chemo I will get. So might as well get the worst out of the way first. I'm ready for tomorrow and to start chemo to get better and I'm expecting to be pretty sick and out of it. I love all the support and am feeling Gods strength more and more everyday.

Love Everyone

Garrett

Home and feeling the Love

I have bee home now since Wednesday night and I have been feeling better more and more everyday. I came home on crutches and was sooooo out of it Wednesday and all I wanted to do was get some sleep; something you don't get a lot of when your at the hospital. So Wednesday it felt great just to sleep and not get bugged. Thursday I was still taking my pain drugs and not able to walk without my crutches and help. By the end of the day though I was off all pain drugs. Come Friday I woke up and felt great. By the end of Friday I was getting around with with no crutches and no help and no pain medication. I still have a little pain this morning but Im feeling pretty darn good. This brings me to my main point on this post which is the support I have been getting. I am amazed over and over again at how much love people are showing. Ever since I have been home people have been visiting me, sending me cards, and there love and support. I also had the chance to go visit my school yesterday and now I am writing this blog on my new Mac which the school gave me. The Elementary school, Middle school and most of all Auburn Moutainview the high school I go to raised $1400 in 2 days by the teachers to get me this Mac. I thought that was amazing and felt such great support. My house also got decorated by a bunch of friends. Also Dawn Brown and one of my best friends Kylee are in the process of making bracelets to raise money. I have got several other things from family and friends but that would take me forever to list all of them. So as you can see the support is amazing. Last night when I was on my computer just relaxing and finally getting a chance to read all my messages and posts on facebook it just made me feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people. I can already tell that God is moving in everyones life that has been affected by this and it is sooo amazing to see his work and makes me even feel better about my Cancer because everyone plus me is growing and becoming closer to each other and God and that is exactly what he wants to happen. It was hard last night though to stay home because it is a Friday night and on Fridays im either hanging with my friends and leading Younglife which I believe is going to be super hard to get over. I love leading so much and have just started making great relationships with these kids and it just breaks my heart knowing I cant be there for them on those Friday nights to teach them about Christ and to just love them. I have also felt bad because I have missed two of my best friends birthdays while recovering, so I would like to take a moment to say Happy Birthday Steve and Maddy. But I know that God has other plans and like I was saying earlier I am already loving what I am seeing with the people around me and myself and how we are growing and loving God more and more each day. I am feeling great this morning as I'm writing this and this is a really long post and I wanted to make it that way because I need to make the best on writing on this blog because most of the posts will be from my sister. Im ready for the next week and to start chemo with the hardest part of chemo being next week I feel a lot better about it after feeling all the love I have felt this week.

I Love You all very much,

Garrett

Home and Recovering

Garrett came home last night and his recovering from his Biopsy Procedure. He seems to be doing a little better each day:). He will be going back to Children's on Tuesday to begin Chemo. Please pray for pain relief in his hips and right leg. He is looking forward to visitors as soon as he is feeling a little better. Please call Garrett or the house if you want to come over to visit. Thanks to everyone for all the support and prayers:)
-Megan

The last 36 hours

Hey everyone this is Garrett some of my posts will be by me but others will be by my sisters as I go through this journey to be Cancer free. So I got to the hospital Monday morning and they gave me Bruno a beanie baby dog and i was told to keep him with me at all times:). This just shows that i was taken care of like I was a little kid. Also I was in the Whale hallway I guess thats why they call it Children's Hospital! Then I sat down with the doctor before surgery and we went over how the  surgery would go...If it ended up being Cancer they would put in a port in my chest that would allow IV's access.  Then at 9:30 I headed in for the surgery.  The surgery lasted a long 3 1/2 hours.  I was out so long it took me FOREVER to wake up from the drugs. When I finally work up I felt the port in my chest and knew I had cancer.  Then the doctor came in and talked to me and said while I was out they did the Biopsy, a bone marrow test in my hips, and put a port in my chest.  It took my a while to wake up still, but I had no pain, however, I was nauseous so they gave me some nausea medicine.  I spent the rest of the day resting and talking to A LOT of different doctors.  By about 8:00 I was feeling pretty good and eat some GREAT pudding (like the one Scott and Erin told me about).  I ended up falling asleep pretty easily with my mom still here.  Grandma and Aunt  Kim were here today to visit.  

I woke up in the middle of the night with feeling really sore on my leg and my hips where I had my surgery done.   I then spent the whole day having tests taking, getting drugs for my pain, talking to doctors, and sleeping.  This evening Aunt Martha and Aunt Sandy came to to visit. My plan is to have a PET scan and 6:00 am Wed. morning.  Depending on my pain I can hopefully go home afterwards.  I miss you all...I have gotten all or your messages, facebook posts, texts, etc. and feel great support from all of you.  I am sorry I haven't replied to any of you but I am feel very supported and loved.  Please feel free to text me if you want to come visit me at home the next couple days.  I will be starting Chemo on Monday!  I love you all very much:)

-Garrett 

P.S. All of my doctors here are great and I feel well taken care of...they know what they are doing!!!  They doctor that did my surgery reminds me of Dr. House from the tv show. 

Post Surgery Update

Here are the details from Garrett's Biopsy Surgery: 

The diagnosis of Garrett's tumor was a cancerous tumor called Ewing's Sarcoma.   After discovering the tumor was cancerous they drew some bone marrow from both hips to test for cancer in the bone marrow.  The doctor doesn't think that it has spread at this point because both his CT scan and MRI looked clear, he just wants to be 100% and preventative.  We will have these results tomorrow afternoon.  

He will be spending the night here at the Hospital and then headed home for a few days.  The plan will be for Garrett to begin Chemotherapy treatment this Friday.  From there it looks the treatment plan will include a 30 week treatment consisting of chemo, surgery, and then more chemo.

Garrett is still pretty out of it from being sedated, but in good spirits.  He would love for you to facebook him or leave messages on the blog.  I was reading him some facebook messages earlier and it brought a smile to his face:)

Bring it On!!!

Garrett Light...Is ready to climb this mountain with God by my side and the support of my family and friends behind me...Thank you for a great weekend!!!  We will keep you updated after the Surgery:)