It has been one year since Chad began his fight with cancer and on top of that major back surgery. It has been a year of learning, loving and finding ourselves. We have learned to rely on others and most important rely on our Father in Heaven. How easily we forget that he is always there. We have had more miracles and positive experiences than most people do in a lifetime. Looking “back” we wouldn’t change a thing. We are better and stronger people than we were just one year ago. We...well I should speak for myself...I am truly thankful for my trials. Heavenly Father knows our breaking point and how much we can handle. Sometimes he pushes those limits to humble us, but he always makes us strong enough to stand up and keep fighting. He also knows just when to send people into our lives to pick us up. We are in good hands...we have nothing to fear.
I am going to give a Buckner year in review. I think this is more a form of therapy for me so bare with me.
01/23/09 As a stone mason back injury and pain is just part of the job. Chad has had back problems on and off throughout the years but on this day He was lifting some heavy cap stones and he knew something serious had happened.
01/30/09 He went to the doctor and had his back looked at because he was numb from his chest down and was walking like an 80 year old man. The doc said he just strained some muscles but to follow up with his regular doctor.
02/03/09 Went to a follow up with the family doctor. As soon as the doc saw Chad walking he knew something was very wrong. After an MRI the doctor sent him immediately to the hospital to meet with a neurosurgeon. The Neurosurgeon told Chad he would not be going home until his back was stabilized. Any bump or fall could paralyze him. The diagnosis was a tumor that crushed his T2 vertebrae with was pinching his spinal cord and causing all the pain and numbness.
At this point we begin to worry. Chad would be out of work for at least 3 months after back surgery and then would have to find a new line of work. How do you pay the mortgage, medical bills, take care of kids, run back and for the from the hospital, how will Chad handle the surgery, what are the risks and long term effects and then after all that cancer treatment. This is when we fell to our knees and Heavenly Father scooped us right up in his arms and listened to our cries.
We filed a case with workman’s comp and it was excepted which some would say we were really lucky because of the cancer but no one can prove which came first. Did the tumor cause the vertebrae to crush or was the back injury already there and created the perfect environment for the cancer to grow. Therefore, one of our many questions and prayers was answered. Workman’s comp would be paying for everything that had to do with the back and our health insurance would pick up with the cancer.
02/04/09 Biopsy of Tumor was taken. Later came back normal. Which we later found out was a typical characteristic of a leiomyosarcoma.
02/05/09 Thanks to the help of many doctors and insurance people we got permission to go to The Huntsman Cancer Institute and The University Hospital for treatment and surgery. Chad was fitted for his back brace and sent by ambulance to the Huntsman.
02/06/09 We were told Chad would be having his Surgery the next day. Way earlier than we anticipated. We were scared. Later that day a minor procedure was done to prep him for his major surgery. They went in and blocked off the main blood flow to the tumor.
02/07/09 Surgery day...prep for surgery from 7am-10am. Surgery from 10am -5pm. They removed his t2 vertebrae and 95% of the tumor. Finally got to see him at 6:45. He had lost 5 liters of blood during the surgery but all seemed to go well. They woke him up, made him move and then knocked him out again.
02/08/09 Chad has a 10 in. incision down his neck and back, 8 screw, 2 rods, 2 cages and about 37 stitches. Sat up for the first time and looked like he was going to pass out. Complained of lots of pressure.
02/09/09 Got up standing and took a few shuffle steps to the right. Found fluid in lungs and had to start breathing in machine 10 times per hour. Got off the pain med drip.
02/10/09 Sat up in a chair.
02/11/09 Spent 45 minutes in a wheelchair and then threw up. Couldn’t move in any direction due to surgery and back brace so ended up throwing up in his own face and choking a bit. Later walked 2 laps on parallel bars.
02-12-09 through 02-16/09 Learning to walk again through lots of physical therapy, managing medications and retraining his body to go to the bathroom. Preparing to go home. Must wear brace for minimum 6 weeks.
02/17/09 Appointment with Dr. Schmidt. Chad’s surgeon. Stitches removed. He said he was very surprised to not find more tumors. They usually come in pairs. Very rare tumor, most doctors never see this type in their lifetime. 5% of tumor is left and couldn’t be removed due to location. The risk was too high. Chemotherapy was to start 6 weeks after surgery if healing is going well. Chemotherapy will slow down healing therefore all must be going really well to start chemo. Before Chemo he must get a bone scan, MRI, Echocardiogram, and Ct scan.
02/17/09 Brought Chad home. It was amazing how well he was walking and getting around. He really pushed himself.
02/19/09 Signs of the “OLD” Chad came out today. He fixed a hole in the wall that I had wanted done months ago.
02/24/09 Dr. Schmidt says healing is going very well. Chemo starts 03/30/09. They will do 4 rounds of Chemo every three weeks. 72 hour drip.
03/30/09 Hickman valve installed. Round 1 of Chemo. Handled Chemo extremely well. Biggest problem is fatigue.
04/20/09 Round 2 of Chemo. Still doing great. Very very tired. Lost all his hair.
05/11/09 Round 3 of Chemo. It doing so well doctor decided not to give the neulasta shot which boosts the white blood cells. However, Chads dropped drastically. Round 4 was delayed one week.
06/08/09 Round 4 of Chemo. Decided to go two more rounds just to make sure all is destroyed.
06/29/09 Round 5 of Chemo.
07/20/09 Round 6 of Chemo.
11/09/09 3 month follow up with Oncologist. Everything looks great!!! As you can see he has been in good hands.
02/06/10 Chad’s hair is back and looks fabulous he has no major side effects from chemo or surgery. His muscles are getting back into shape and physically all is great. He started a new job on the 2nd at Petzl america. He also has been trained as a home inspector ( thanks to WCF). Life is good. We live, we learn, we love.
Chad...Thank you for being so strong. You have exceeded my expectations through all of this. I love you so much and I know there is nothing stopping us from making it to eternity. We are a perfect match. XOXOXOXOXOXO!!!
I want to tell everyone THANKS from the bottom of my heart for all of the prayers, concern, phone calls, letters, money, food and service. We wouldn’t have made it without all the help and support. Thank you!!!
We went to the library to get a new load of fun books and to our surprise they were having an end of summer party. So the boys got to play with the parachute, water games, obstacle course, crafts, eat popsicles and they got a goody bag. The bag was full of fun things including these glasses. Ethan pretends he can't see without them. He told me he was like an old lady. I said wait I wear glasses am I an old lady. His reply..........YES! oh man!
July 10, 2010...Trouble brewin' as the Homer Family gathers for some fun in the sun. Ethan and Wade couldn't wait to get to "the beach". They had never been before. The night before Ethan asked me many questions about the beach like...Are there sharks, alligators, crabs, etc...As you can see in the pics there was a shark and Ethan loved him. We had tonz of fun playing in the sand and watching Ethan and Wade run around and go in and out of the water. After 6 hours of fun they still didn't want to leave. The day was perfect and sunny and we had a great turnout. It was awesome to be with out great HOMER family. We don't gather enough but when we do it's always great. After we pried the kids away from the beach we headed to Montpelier for the night. Ethan loved the hotel and can't wait to stay in another one. Wade loved it until it was bedtime and then he wanted to go home. I had to sing and rock him to sleep...however, Chad fell asleep to my singing before either of the boys. Yes my singing is that bad. Only my kids like it. Sunday morning we got to sleep in...until 6:00 am. Sad but for us that is sleeping in. There was a biker gang staying at the hotel and they let both boys get on the yellow motorcycle and Ethan even got to start it. Very cool! What a great weekend. We hope to get back to "THE BEACH" before summer is over.
I love playing dress up with my boys on Sunday. They look like a million bucks. Ethan gave his first talk in Primary. He has the gift of public speaking just like his Dad. He was fantastic and not shy at all. He loves the microphone.
This has been the best 4th of July ever. We had so much fun with the kids. They both loved the fireworks. As you will see in the video clip Ethan's favorite part of the sparklers was dropping them into the bucket and listening to them sizzle. We got to spend lots of time with family and just enjoy being Free. We are so blessed to live in such a great country. God Bless America.
We had a great time with the family at Grandma and Grandpa Buckners house. The grandkids discovered that the badminton rackets make for great guitars/drums. Amanda, Ethan, Kaitlyn and Wade put on a great show. The video says it all.
We are enjoying the summer weather when it comes. The boys love playing with there new sprinkler toy that Grandma Hirschi gave them. Don't you just love their "twinner" swim suits. I got them both for $4. They look too cute with their little pot bellies hanging out. The Top right pic is after Wade told me he was done swimming so I striped him down to dry him off and away he went back to play. I figure he was done wearing clothes not playing. Top Right pic is poor Ethan with his allergy eyes. This is the first time he has had allergies. He was miserable. Thank goodness for Children's allergy medicine.
The things that are going wrong with Chad are starting to get humorous. I mean honestly how many random things can go wrong with one person. We went to the doctor yesterday to get Chad's stitches out. His scar is healing nicely. While we were there Chad asked about a rash on the side of his face...HE HAS SHINGLES! Add that to CRAZY list!
It was nice to bring Chad home because we got to spend Memorial day all together. The whole time Chad was in the hospital "The Buckner Boys" were at the Hirschi's being spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. In these pics you see Ethan eating a corndog like a banana.(top left)Who knew you could do that. Ice cream gotee (top right) Wade's first skinned knees of the summer. ( bottom left) Wade playing a little crocket. (bottom right)
Monday the 31st I was at my moms house with my kids getting ready to go to the hospital when Chad called. He told me they were releasing him that day. He was so excited and happy and I think I put a damper on things. I was in shock. I wasn't ready to bring him home. Once he leaves that hospital I become the care taker. I really didn't think he was ready. I got to the hospital and Chad started to show off so I wouldn't leave him another day in that hospital. The physical therapist came in and took Chad for a walk with his walker. She asked if he could walk without it and he said I don't know. I said I have to see you do it before I will take you home. Off went the walker. He was walking just fine. Balance...great!!! He even went up and down two flights of stairs with no help. I felt a lot better. We got his meds and off we went. We spent one night at my parents house then ventured home.
Saturday the 29th was the hardest day of them all. Chad doesn't handle narcotics very well. They make him really sick. This is good...I never have to worry about him becoming a drug addict. :) All day we spent trying to get the doctors to switch his meds. They kinda laughed at us at first because they though Chad needed the strong narcotics to keep the pain low. However, we have been through this process before and the same thing happened last time. As soon as we get him off of the heavy meds he does awesome. Finally they switched his meds and Chad was back to being himself. Positive and motivated. His poor body was pretty beat up. The human pin cushion is pretty bruised and his scar is quite battle wound.
This is Chad right after surgery. The drugs are pretty intense and he was loopy. Slurred speech, fat lips and eyes. He kept telling us he felt good. He gave his sister Ashley a sermon on prayer which was beautiful. He doesn't remember anything that went on that day. He sure made us laugh. I think Heavenly Father created the drugs that make people funny after major medical procedures to help all of us that have to see the aftermath of things. It keeps the mood light.
This is the morning of the surgery 05-27-10. We had many visits from the doctors including our main surgeon. Chad asked him if he had gotten a good night sleep and if he Eaten a good breakfast. Like he would tell us if he hadn't :0) IV's were then started and Chad was given a dose of "liquid courage" as the Anesthesiologist called it. The Doc said "you will feel it when it hits your brain". About 2 minutes later Chad said "I think it's here". They then wheeled him away. As he went threw the door he punched his fist in the air and yelled "let's do this".
I opened the door this morning to let Grandma Buckner in and this is what I found on my porch. I couldn't even open the door. The whole porch was covered with Yellow flowers. It had a sign that said "Chad & Amy we love you"
Chad and I want to thank all of you for your love, support and concern for our little family. We have been given so much already. Chad's brother Mike put together a surprise party for Chad on May 16th to boost his spirit and get him ready for the fight. It was just what the doctor ordered. Thanks Mike and all who helped. Also Cheryl made a fabulous book with letters and notes from friends and family that Chad can read anytime to give him that little extra push.
These moments are so precious I just want to share them with the world. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for my two fabulous boys. Some days they are the only reason I get up in the morning.
Buckner Home Inspections is Up and Running! We are excited for this new adventure in our lives and look forward to being business owners! We are really looking for new clients so please help us get this off the ground and let all your friends and family know. Keep checking in on the Buckner Home Inspections website/blog from time to time as new content will be added regularly. We have a March Promotion going too. Thanks for all the support.
