It's About Sixes

I finished my sixth round of chemo this week. I go in for tests on the Dec 31st and another board meeting on Jan 5th. No idea if it's really working yet. Hopefully the board will decide to grant me a surgery then I'm going to sell the tumor on E-bay to the highest bidding Macrophage. Sorry, just a little cancer humor.

Some lady in my parents ward came over and told me I should drink a cup of Green tea every hour. She said her husband did that for two years and it reversed his cancer. I told her I had a magic feather that I kept in my back pocket.

I got a blood test last week. A normal person's white blood cell count should be around 4 to 9 thousand. Mine was at 60 thousand. When my cousin was diagnosed, his was at 32 thousand and they put him on treatment for Leukemia immediately. My nurse said she's never even heard of a number that high in all her career. Luckily a couple days later I was back down to normal.

This week I got an early Christmas present...eye brows. Thanks Santa! Merry Christmas!

Bad Thing Comin'

You're probably saying to yourself, Drew, what does this video have to do with anything? I don't know other than I enjoy watching myself get shot over and over.

My tumors have shrunk a tiny bit. My doctor is recommending a new chemo cocktail to try. It's a bit experimental (which I'm all for) but there is a chance I could go deaf which scares me a bit so I'm listening to all my favorite music this week. I go Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for 4 hours each day. The good thing is that I don't have to stay at the hospital over night.

I got back to work this week and felt pretty normal for a while. Thanks again to everyone for the laptop, it's really allowing me to do great things with my job. I was an inspired gift and I thank you all so much. Happy holidays and enjoy watching me get shot repeatedly.

You Sunk My Battleship

A whirlwind highlight video from my recent runaway blockbuster tour to chemo land. Your travel agent won't offer this 5 night stay.

ROUND 3

So today I met with my doctor. She is a funny little Chinese lady...short...broken English....poor eyesight. She walked right in and said "your tumors are not shrinking...however they are not growing either." She gave me the option of changing the chemo recipe to a less proven cocktail. She told me the formula I am on is the most potent and has the best success rate. We decided to stick it out for another two rounds and then do another scan. If nothing changes after another two rounds, then they may stop and try to perform surgery on the big tumor which is blocking the blood flow from my legs. As far as the lung tumors go, well.....we hope they have stopped growing because they are dead.
After meeting with my doctor at 9 a.m I tried to get a room so I could start my treatment, but all the beds were full. I hung out in Salt Lake with my parents for the day killing time and waiting for a room to open up. We went to lunch at the Red Iguana. The Tacos Don Ramone were the prefect last supper. We came back to the hospital to see if a room had opened up. Still nothing. We camped out in the lobby for three more hours until finally one of the nurses came out and told me a room was available. The bad new, is that it was too late to order any chemo so now I won't be home until Monday.
My new room (4522) has no cell phone coverage so you have to call 587-4522 to get a hold of me.

A Defining Moment

Tuesday I will go in for a scan to see if my tumors are shrinking. As you may or may not know, I have one massive tumor in my inferior vena cava which causes my legs to grow tired easily and occasionally swell due to a lack of circulation. I also have six smaller tumors growing in my lungs. If they determine that the tumors are shrinking, then Wednesday, I will start my third round which would put me half way through the six I am scheduled for. However, If they determine that the tumors are not shrinking, or in fact growing, then they will try another chemo recipe, in which case i may have to repeat the first two cycles again, and the chances of succes are less great.

I have always felt, that I have business left unfinished on the earth and this bout of cancer is simply an opporunity to pause and align my priorities. One of the reasons I believe this is the uncanny timing of the whole thing. I was just settling into my dream job editing commercials and writing films. The crew I worked with was great and very accommodating to me. I was learning a lot and building a great resume of work. I also was dating and beginning to see myself as a married man.

I watched a documentary about a women with cancer who after quitting her job and moving home realized her life was changing by leaps and bounds. She then realized that cancer was not killing her life, it was driving her life. She then began dating and eventually married the director of the documentary. She ended up with a life far different from her old life. I would like to believe that my cancer is doing a similar thing to my life. In a way it's exciting and in another way it's daunting to try and own up to the changes I feel. However if any of this is to gain any momentum, it will start with Tuesday's scan.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me and made donations. I have been deeply humbled by your generosity and I hope I can return the favor in some small way.

Click N Greet

I AM DREWS BEST FRIEND

Kelly Cuell sent this message and I think that anyone that knows Drew can relate:

I feel that I am Drews best friend and I am confident in saying that if you asked any of Drews other friends that they would make the same statement. You see Drew has a way of making you feel that you are a very important person in his life and it forces you to try and do the same.

When I was growing up I had a group of guys that I associated with and that I considered my friends as I got older I found that I didn't like the way that they treated each other and surely didn't like the way they treated me. I made a pinnacle choice in my life and decided to find new friends. The first of these was named Drew. When I was 16 I began working at a restaurant and Drew was working with me the first night and helped to train me in my new job. We quickly became friends and began doing things outside of work and hanging out at school. It is said that to have a good friend you need to be a good friend and this was the key to our relationship. I felt that Drew was such a good friend to me that it made me want to be a better friend to him. So it began, soon we had a group of friends surrounding us that had the same ideals and although we never articulated it, it was understood. At the core of this group is Drew, he is the very glue that holds the group together.

The most important choice you will make is your choice of friends. I am fortunate Drew chose me to be his.

Laptop Delivery

This is Drew (some of you called him Andy back in the day) with the new laptop all of you gave him. It made him smile.

This is Drew and J. Kirk Richards who donated lots of money from his online store to help buy this computer.

This is Bob and Austin and Drew and Kelly.

I forgot to get a picture of me and Lindy (some of you called her Melinda back in the day) with Drew.

We had a good time chatting and talking about Little House on the Prairie and how Mary went blind and then married a blind guy and then opened a school for the blind. Don't worry, we talked about other episodes too.



I really wish Eric and Marisa could have been there to deliver the laptop to Drew. This was their idea and they started the facebook group and blog for Drew.

Most of all, I wish all of you who donated could have been there - it really couldn't have happened without all of your generous donations. Thanks!

People are Good

Thank you so much for everybody that donated!!

And a special thank you to J. Kirk Richards for his donations from his store.

We were able to get a laptop and then some... Watch for the post coming soon. Without you this whole thing could not have happened. A week ago we were wondering what we could do for Drew to make his life a little more enjoyable and easier during this trial of fighting cancer. Eric kind of wondered aloud if we could get enough people together to donate money to get a laptop. Last Saturday night we threw together the Facebook group and this blog, talked to Katy and Kirk, and people just started donating. And donating. And donating. It was amazing to watch the different people that know Drew as well as those who don't know him donate to this cause. Every donation, small and large, was needed. In the end we had exactly enough money to get what we set out to get. Any more donations that come in we will give to Drew to help with his insurance premiums and any other medical bills. It is just awesome to see how good people are. Keep following this blog for updates and send us an email if you would like to add any pictures or stories. Thanks again for helping us show Drew how much he is loved!

Drews Visitors

ESSENCE OF MAN (the Bob visit)

We found a skeleton in bob's closet that we think his wife should know about.

Drew & Kelly

Kelly sent some pictures from his visit to Drew on Day 2 of this second round of chemo. He should be home on Sunday.

Craft Night Killer

Hi everyone- This is Marisa, Eric Bills' wife. This picture is Drew today hanging out in between doses of chemo. I thought it would be nice to share the latest picture of him and a story. If you have spent much time with Drew, you know he likes craft night. Loves it. Well, when Eric and I were dating, there were a few craft nights with the buddies. They made all sorts of crafts together. After awhile, craft night dwindled a bit and one evening we headed up to my parents' house with all of the guys for a planned craft night. It was a lot of fun, but I don't think much crafting was accomplished. Drew recently sent my mom, Sue, an email reminding her of the attempted revival of craft night and gave her the nickname of "Craft Night Killer." My mom loves Drew as her own son, so she headed up to Huntsman Cancer Institute today to visit Drew and on the way stopped by Barnes & Noble and picked up what is the perfect redeeming gift:

He loved it and it reminded him of a pig he had made out of a milk carton as a kid. She spent an hour or so visiting with Drew and his mom. Her update is that he got his first dose last evening and it took a few hours to kick in. The nights are the hardest to deal with. Crazy dreams and such. He has another dose scheduled for tonight. Keep him in your prayers! Here is a picture of Drew and the Craft Night Killer:

He is feeling the love of all of us on the Facebook group and the comments he reads here. I keep him posted on the emails that I receive. Keep sending them and making comments! He loves to hear from everyone. We are still working hard on getting donations. If you have any ideas to help raise more money, send them our way! We got the book that we ordered from J. Kirk Richards today and it is beautiful. It will always remind me of this time that we have worked together to help a friend. Thank you so much for all that you have done. Every little bit is helping.

Even people that don't know Drew want to help...

Check out this blog post here.

Keep donating! We'd like to buy the computer on Monday!

Drew at Bobs race

My friend Bob ran the Wasatch 100 mile race this weekend. (That's not a typo, it was really 100 miles) This is regarded as the third hardest ultramarathon in the United States. He suffered a fever a few days before the race but he came across the line like a champ with some of the nastiest blisters ever caught on film. Prep the kids for the squirt scene.

BYU Volleyball

This is Drew a couple of weeks ago at a BYU women's volleyball game. It was his first big outing after round #1 of chemotherapy.

If you knew me in high school you probably remember that I was a huge fan of girls volleyball. Can you imagine how happy I was last year to learn that Drew loves volleyball too. We had so much fun going to the BYU games.

When I learned about this fund raising project (to buy Drew a laptop), my first thought was that he would be able to track the games online from his bed or recliner.

We still need your donations if we are going to be able to reach our goal. I think that buying items from Kirk's store (see the post below) is a great way to donate to Drew's cause, support our friend Kirk, and end up with some beautiful products.

Here is some video footage from last year's volleyball season:

Katy B

J. Kirk Richards

Artist J. Kirk Richards has offered to donate any proceeds from the purchase of merchandise from his online store to Drew’s cause. If you buy ANYTHING from Kirk’s store THIS WEEK, (that includes fine art prints, children’s books, and music cds) he will donate ALL profits to Drew. Here’s the link:http://www.jkirkrichards.com/store/

Taking Donations

Hey old friends! As a fellow friend of Drew's, we have started this group to show our love and support to our friend and his family in a time of need.

Recently Drew was diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemo treatment. He will be in and out of the hospital for the next couple of months. He is limited in how long he can be sitting or standing and is spending most of his time in a Lazyboy or in bed. We want to create something that people can share their thoughts and memories of Drew that he can enjoy as he passes time at the hospital and between treatments.

Please send us any stories or pictures that you have about Drew and we'll get them on here. Email laptop4drew@gmail.com

All of us that know Drew know of his talents with cameras and computers. We are trying to gather friends together to raise money to buy a laptop computer that Drew can use while he is in his Lazyboy or at the hospital.

As of tonight, we have raised $380. Thanks to everyone that has donated so far! There is a button over on the right if you would like to go to the Paypal account. Hopefully Drew will feel our love through our efforts. If you are on Facebook, join the group Friends of Drew Brinley. If you would like to put a Donate to Drew button on your blog, let us know and we'll send it to you. Pass the word along to anyone you would like. Thanks!