Day by Day

9:20 am.  Thursday, May 26th

Josh, Sophie, and Sam are all at school.  

Ben is in Southern Utah exploring caves and hiking with friends.  

My mom is on an airplane flying home to SLC with two empty seats beside her meant for Sam and Kevin.

Kevin is asleep with a book on his chest and his Ray Ban glasses on.

I am sitting at the computer overwhelmed with how I can report all that has happened the past four days.  

Then it came to me.  I will report what has happened just like how we survive our situation - day by day, one day at a time.

Saturday, May 21st

Kevin’s younger brother, Andrew, surprised us with a 2-day visit.  Andy’s “to do” list on Saturday morning looked like this:  1. Run in Ogden Marathon.  Place 18th overall.  2. Get on plane to spend a chemo day with Kevin.  (Kevin is not the only Hegewald who can achieve Herculean feats.) It was one of the best surprises yet!

Sunday, May 22nd

After church in the morning and a big Sunday dinner, Kevin went to work that night.  You have all heard stories where someone says, “one minute I was _ _ _, and the next minute, bam!”  Kevin has one of those stories.  One minute he was at work, feeling pretty strong, and the next minute his eyes couldn’t focus across the room.  Twelve hours later the fuzziness had  become double vision.  He told me I still look beautiful . .even if I do have three eyes.

Monday, May 23rd

My mom flew in for Kevin’s chemo days to help keep my kids and home functioning.  She does laundry, helps with homework, packs sandwiches, pulls weeds, plants flowers, shuttles kids from school and to lessons, and most importantly, cheers us on.  Kevin, Andrew, and I drove up to LA for Kev’s round 4 chemo appointment.  Honestly, chemo days are always long and a little emotional.  It was fun to have Andy along for the ride; off he flew that night.

Tuesday, May 24th

Our good friend Myron Wacholder gets the perseverance award of the day.  Myron drove Kevin up to LA to turn in the pump, and then stuck with him the entire day - which took quite a turn!  Dr. Chawla ordered a brain MRI to investigate the double vision.  Unfortunately, a tumor was found in the clivus, the bone at the base of the skull.  An infected piece of the bone is pressing on the nerve that controls the left eye.  Kevin was miraculously able to meet with Dr. Steve Damore, the radiation oncologist at Saddleback Memorial, who felt like the tumor would be a perfect candidate for cyberknife (remember that cool name - it’s the same radiation technique  Kevin got on his spine in March).  Dr. Damore started the process to get the necessary approval, with the hopes that Kevin can receive his first treatment on Friday.  Sadly, this meant Kevin would have to unpack his bag for his weekend getaway.  Kevin has been so excited to take Ben and Sam to the BYU Fathers and Sons Basketball Camp. (Yes, I thought it was a little ambitious from the get go, but I have witnessed that chemo does not slow him down!) Ben’s granddad volunteered to be Ben’s partner and has been practicing dribbling a basketball.  Thanks to Morgan & Ken, Ben was included in the drive and all the “precamp” activities. At the end of a long day, I, for the first time in my life, went to bed with a pirate. hee hee  Kevin was sporting a pirate patch I found in our Halloween dress up.  Surprisingly, I had three different styles to choose from.  

Wednesday, May 25th

Kevin and I left early Wednesday morning to meet with Dr. Paul Song, an oncologist at St. John’s Medical Center. We spent an hour learning about an exciting new treatment for cancer patients. (Clearly, Yondalis, the chemotherapy drug, is not working on Kevin.)  Dr. Song’s drug is in a phase 1, clinical trial.  The drug is actually the vitamin, CoQ10.  CoQ10 works on the mitochondria of cells.  It increases energy in healthy, normal cells, but has the opposite effect on cancer, or out of control, cells.  Kevin got very excited for several reasons.  He likes the idea that it supports the good cells, while stopping the out of control ones. (not typical chemo that kills the good along with the bad) He likes that it is completely nontoxic; patients actually start to feel better on the treatment.  Also, his dream of having an excuse to drive every day to Tijuana was about to be fulfilled.  (Only when he heard that he would have to STAY in the hospital in Tijuana from Mon- Fri, did he accept the alternate site of LA)  We spent the next hour visiting with Bob, a patient with pancreatic cancer, who is a living testimony that this new treatment is working.  Next stop, Beachside Optometry.  Kevin traded in the pirate patch for a very stylish looking pair of Ray Bans.  With a little clear tape covering the inside of the left lens, Kevin not only achieved better sight through his right eye, but felt a little more like a “normal person.” (kind of an understatement; we didn’t see one other person wearing a patch today) The end of our day was spent at Orange Coast Memorial getting another brain MRI and scan in preparation for the cyberknife.  It was absolutely nothing short of a miracle that our insurance preauthorized the procedure in record time (according to them).  In a little bit of a terse conversation, Kevin said, “Your idea of ‘urgent’ and my idea of ‘urgent,’ must be two different things.  I work in the Emergency Room and when we say ‘urgent’ it happens within the hour . .not three days later.”  Dr. Rob Jackson, neurosurgeon, and Dr. Damore, radiation oncologist, met late this night to do the planning and mapping of Kevin’s cyberknife - planned for Friday afternoon.  

Today

I find it absolutely impossible to read the events of the past four days and not recognize the Lord’s hand in our lives.  We are so grateful to the dedicated doctors who have helped Kevin this week.  We are so glad that the insurance company redefined their definition of “urgent.”  We have been blessed to have met Dr. Song and Bob.  I am so grateful for the flowers and the special package from the dearest of friends that arrived at the right moments.  Those special deliveries include both Andrew and my mom.  I have a confession: I have fallen asleep more than once this week while saying my prayers.  I start out by saying all that I am thankful for, and because I’m so dang tired and the list is so long, I’ve fallen asleep before getting to the part of asking Kevin to be healed.  I am grateful to know that all of you are helping me with that - you’ve got my back. (and I’ll do better) I’m hoping that the Lord will know how very grateful we are, and will continue to shower us with his blessings.  Day by day, one day at a time.