Numbers are better...

If anyone needs to get a hold of us, you can reach us on my cell at 602-570-0920, Don...

So Jordon had a Dr. appointment today. His HCG tumor markers are down to >1 from 18 when we started the first round.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG): HCG (also known as beta-HCG) blood levels are elevated in patients with some types of testicular (germ cell tumors). Levels of HCG can be used to help diagnose these conditions and can be followed over time to monitor how well treatment is working. They can also be used to look for cancer recurrence once treatment has ended.

They were at 5 before the second round!! His platelets counts are up to 150,000!!! Yeah, great news... So hopefully we will only have to endure three rounds of chemo vs. six.

His feeling fairly well except for the headaches and nausea. He will possibly have some long term effects from the chemo drugs, such as: sterility, permanent hearing loss, and they say he will not be able to scuba dive??

He is exhausted all the time and likes to sleep, which is probably the best way to go through this ordeal...

This news was a breathe of fresh air and makes Jordon, as well as all of us smile a little and breath a little sigh of relieve :)

Again, thanks for the prayers and support from all.

Don & Brooke

Mesquite HS Soccer Team fundraiser

To All involved-

Wow... You all are awesome!

I am so pleased to share with you that on Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th, the Boys HS Soccer team, as well as Margaret Rodriquez and Lynn Foy (parents of two of the players), did an amazing job of selling almost 200 wristbands at the HS during the two lunch hours. Plus the team purchased an additional 39 bracelets for themselves and family members.

It is very touching and Jordon was absolutely blown away with your efforts. The support is very much appreciated. :) We never thought this type of support would be out there!

We can't thank you enough for all you have done!!

***Also, We would like to thank Ms. Kathleen Lopez, a math teacher, and her students for the contribution they all did as well. Outstanding and much appreciated.

Thanks again,

Don, Brooke, Jordon Perry

Going home...done with round two!

Jordon is coming home today and feeling pretty tired and worn down as usual. His hair has officially fallen out now.

He finished his last dose of chemo with this round on Friday night. He seemed to feel nauseas and tired until early evening with each dose. We are still waiting on results from his tumor markers but we will keep everyone updated. Hopefully, it responds as well as it did with the first round.

Thank you all for your continued support.

You need to check them also...

If your a male 15 years and older, you need to be checking em. Check out the link to www.checkemlads.com

Thx

Don

Round two of chemotherapy

Jordon was admitted yesterday around 4:30 for prehydration. He is in room 216A. They started his chemotherapy around 10pm. He seems to be taking it harder this time around. He is of course very nauseas and tired. His appetite is not nearly as good as it was the first time around. Please keep him in your prayers and thank you all for the continued support.

To everyone....

Hey, this is Jordon-

I just want to say that I am SO thankful for all of the people who are looking out for me and supporting me in this. I cannot express how much I love you all. Without all of you, I honestly do not think I could get through this. Although chemo does suck very badly, I know it is what is needed to get healthy.

I read this blog and see all the words of motivation and it makes my heart smile and I feel undescribable. Again, I can't say thank you enough, or even express in words how truly grateful I am for everyone who is behind me in this, but know that I am forever thankful.

-Jordon
(sorry if some things are spelled wrong or if the grammar is incorrect... I'm a little drugged up at the moment. Hehe! )

Going home...

Jordon finished his third round of chemo for this set on Monday around noon. He then went in for a bone scan to make sure it has not spread to his bones and a CT scan to check the size of the existing tumor. The bone scan came up clear and the CT showed a swelling of surrounding lymph nodes which is to be expected. The oncologist said that basically the tumors get pissed off when they are messed with and react by initially swelling.

One of his tumor markers is Hcg. His Hcg upon admission was 18 and that level is now 5 after only one round of chemo! Yeah! The oncologist said that was better than he expected to see.

Overall, he did really well. He is extremely tired and completely drained. It was not easy for him by any means but he was a trooper. He felt nauseated 99% of the time but the meds seemed to help considerably with that. However, in return he would get a headache. His appetite was fairly good and other times we had to make him eat.

He came off his fluids early this morning and he was discharged around noon. He went to the clinic for a shot he'll get after every round called Neupogen. It helps to replenish his neutrophils. When that count gets real low, which will happen in about a week or so, he cannot be around anyone other than those he lives with. He can't go to school and can't leave the house. He will feel really exhausted at that time but it should only last a couple days.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support and all who have helped with kids, school, expenses, and dinners. Thank you to all who came by to show Jordon your support. Even though he may have not been too coherant he appreciated your love and support.

Day 2

Jordon's chemotherapy started at about 7am. He received three different drugs throughout the coarse of the morning. He will receive another round again tomorrow morning and again on Monday morning. He did not get much sleep last night because they had to monitor his vitals and urine pretty regularly. He slept most of this morning. He has had an almost constant headache and nausea. His anti-nausea meds work great but give him a headache in return.

His friends Dylan and Max came to visit today and took him in the wheelchair up to the teen room to check that out. His grammie, aunt Carolyn, Pa and Geniene came to lift his spirits too. Liz's dad, Pa, brought him a brand new laptop so he can pass his time the teenager way. Thanks Pa- he appreciates your generosity and love. Also, his little sister Madison and her neighborhood friends sat outside today to sell lemonade to raise money in support of her brother. They raised nearly $80. Good job Maddy!

All in all he had a good day today. We'll see how things go after another round tomorrow morning.

Day 1

Today was a long day for Jordon. We checked in at 9:30 and he received an IV (after 4 attempts- poor guy) and some lab work was done. Then....we waited, for hours.....and waited some more. Finally, at around 6pm they took him into surgery for his port placement. It took about an hour and then they took him up to his room.

He is at Phoenix Children's Hospital in Rm 219A. His first question was "when can I eat something." They will hydrate him tonight until his kidneys are diluting his urine well. Once that happens they will start his chemotherapy. It could be late tonight or early tomorrow morning. He will likely be in the hospital until Monday or Tuesday.

He met someone named Whitney today that has been going through this since June. She gave Jordon a lot of good insight and words of wisdom. She also put all of us a bit more at ease.

Well, he is one step closer to being in remission. His spirits are still great and he has been so incredibly strong. He is able to have visitors as long as you are not sick. We cannot tell you how much we appreciate all everyone has done for us. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family members.

Wells Fargo Donation account is up and receiving...

All-



We have a Donation Account set up thru Wells Fargo for Jorodn's Fight. You can go into any branch and give them the account number, please call to get.

If you go in and just give them my name or the name of Jordon's Fight, it will be harder for them to find, that 's why you will want the account number.

Thanks for the continued support and the prayers.

Dr. Kathy Jacobsen, tooth whitening discount & donation

Dr. Kathy Jacobsen, DMD , right here in Gilbert, AZ has graciously joined in "Jordon's Fight" to beat cancer.

To assist Jordon and his family, who are patients of my dental practice, we would like to donate all of our proceeds from tooth whitening while he is undergoing treatment. Call our Gilbert office for details at 480.507.1807. Our prayers and best wishes are with Jordon and his family.

On the road to remission...

We all had a long day of meeting with doctors and receiving loads of information.

Jordon will be checking in on Friday at 9:30. He will then go into surgery to have a port placed. This is a titanium port that sits under the skin that feeds into a main vein. He will have this port until he is completely done with treatment. This allows them access for chemotherapy, IV fluids and blood draws without always having to start IV's.

Then the process begins. He will start his chemotherapy that day and will stay at Phoenix Children's Hospital until Monday or Tuesday depending on how he is feeling. He won't be feeling well for a few days after the chemo but they seem to be really proactive with medications and monitoring in order to keep him feeling as well as possible and healthy throughout his treatment.

His chemo consists of three different drugs that he will get over the coarse of his stay each time he gets admitted. He has asked a hundred times, just be sure I guess but yes, he will lose his hair. Luckily its just in time for some colder weather and he has an excuse to wear beanies. He says he's not scared just anxious to get it started and beat this thing!

On a side note, we also met with the doctor for sperm banking today. Chemotherapy has a 50/50 chance of making him sterile so we are trying to do all we can to help ensure he has a back-up plan in the future if needed. We are selling the rubber cancer bracelets for a $5 dollar donation in order to try and help with those costs that will be incurred yearly for storage, hospital stays, etc... The bracelets say Jordon's Fight on them.

If you would like a bracelet or are able to make any donation please let one of us know.

We will let you all know how Friday goes and he seems to be in good spirits about it all, so please continue with all the awesome support and prayers- it is greatly appreciated.

We spoke with the oncologist today and we will be meeting with him on Tuesday to find out more information and go over all the questions we have. All we know now is that he anticipates Jordon will initially need three rounds of chemotherapy, but he also said that he may need six rounds. Everyone responds differently to the treatments. We don't know how soon he will start this step of the road to recovery/remission.

We originally thought he may be able to receive his chemo as an outpatient but it seems now that he will be inpatient. He will be hospitalized for three days, off for 18 and then back to the hospital again for another three and so on. We are all hanging in there and just have to put it all in perspective... Keep fighting on day by day until Jordon beats this!

We will continue to keep you updated....thanks for all the support! We will post more after meeting on Tuesday.

Already home...

All-

Thanks for all the prayers, love, support, kind words, and thoughts. Very much appreciated!

Jordon has already been discharged today and is at home. He looked very good and was in great spirits. He must be doing well, as his appetite was very strong already... go figure, he is a true Perry, led by his stomach!

So he will now rest a little and prepare for the next step in this battle, which will be the chemotherapy! We are not exactly sure of when that will start yet but we will meet with the oncologist Thursday or Friday.

Liz, Brooke, Dallas, Tom (Liz's Dad), Parker, Spencer, Madison, Judy (my Mom), Auntie Carolyn... A special Thank You for being at the hospital and for showing your support and strength for Jordon yesterday.

Dylan, Jadon, Lindsey, and Jordan... A big thank you for your love and support last night at the hospital! That really meant a lot to Jordon that you were able to come cheer him up and spend time with him.

He loves you all and is thankful for everything.

Always,

Don

Post Surgery

The laprascopic surgery was successful and they were able to obtain six needle samples. Unfortunately, the news is as we all expected-it is indeed a germ cell cancer tumor. He is doing well and is currently in recovery. He will be at Phoenix Children's Hospital until tomorrow around noon. We will keep you informed of any other news as soon as we know. We anticipate hearing from the oncologist sometime tomorrow or soon thereafter.

All your angels worked their magic in the operating room and we appreciate the prayers. Keep 'em coming.

Much love,
Don, Brooke, Liz and Dallas

How to Post a Comment to this Blog

At the bottom of each post there is a link for a comment next to a small box for an e-mail. To leave a comment click on the small word comment and you will be taken to a page to comment.

On the e-mail link you must have Jordon's e-mail address. Use jpizzle_08@yahoo.com or dp2232@hotmail. He will get the e-mail from one site or the other.

Thanks for all the love and support.

Well, today is the day of Jordons surgery... he is to check in at 11:00 this morning and the surgery should take approx. 1 hr if they can get the biopsy laproscopically. If they have to open him up it can be as long as 4 hours. But we have all called upon all our angels to be pressent during the surgery and guide that scope right where it needs to go! He will be staying overnight due to the risk of bleeding but should be released tomorrow. His recovery will be a few days if done laproscopically but 4-6 weeks if they have to open him up.

There is a chance of us having results by the end of the surgery but if the sample obtained is not large enough then we will know by Monday.

Send all your positive thoughts, prayers and angels to be with him at noon today- we will touch base this evening. Love to all...

October 6, 2008

Hello all...well this is our official blog. As you all know Jordon was diagnosed with testicular cancer October 31st of last year. He has been so strong through surgery, CT scans, many blood draws and doctor visits. Unfortunately, two weeks ago we received news that the cancer has reared its ugly head again. His cancer markers were elevated so they did a full body CT scan and it shows a 1/2 inch tumor in his lower back area. Its called a retroperitoneal germ cell tumor. Its located between his spine and his intestinal cavity.

We met with the surgeon today and he will be having a biopsy on Thursday the 9th. They will try to obtain a biopsy of the tumor via laproscopic surgery but if that is unsuccessful they will be opening up his abdomen to obtain the sample. After we get those results from pathology we will be meeting with the oncologist to determine his chemotherapy schedule.

This is obviously not news any of us wanted but he is strong and with the love and support of those around him he will get through it. Send your prayers his way and thank you all for your support and well wishes. We will keep you all posted...

All-

Just an early FYI-

Just an update to let you all know that Jordon met with his Oncologist on Sept. 10th and he delivered unwelcome news to us this week.

He said that Jordon's cancer was possibly coming back which means that it may have spread to his Lymph Nodes! His tumor markers show elevation and possible growth beyond the testicle. They have done many CT's of his chest, abdomen, and pelvis over the last year. The last CT scan of his chest came back showing a mass in his lower abdomen that is a half inch in diameter. They say this is a prime spot for it to come back.

He goes in the Oct. 6th for another consult and surgery on the 9th to do a biopsy of the mass. This is routine procedure to see if it cancerous. So as of right now, we don't know if chemo or radiation will be necessary. They will continue with CT's of all areas. If it is cancerous, then Chemo...

He had said previously that if it was going to show up again, it will be more than likely to occur in the first 2 years! He is doing okay, He is scared though... We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Our love to all of you and thanks for the support.


Don & Brooke