We Love Drew

Drew's Obiturary

2010-05-25T13:20:00.001-06:00

We will always love you Drew ...

Daily Herald

Smooth Sailing

2009-12-05T15:53:00.002-07:00

I just want to say thank you to those who have donated and continue to donate. It has been such a big blessing to have that financial support while managing this treatment. I just finished getting my first blood test drawn which will be sent to a lab in California. It may take a couple weeks before I hear back on that. I will also be getting a CT scan which may reveal even more than the blood test does. I'm taking it day by day and I've had a string of great days in November and now on into December. This has allowed me to get some work done and go on some dates so I have been able to keep my mind off things. Your donations have played a key part in this temporary relief so even if the treatment does not work, know that my quality of life has been great these past few months. Merry Christmas to every one. Love Drew

Drew's Divas at the Turkey Triathlon

2009-11-17T13:44:00.004-07:00

11 girls calling themselves Drew's Divas competed in the Turkey Triathlon on November 7, 2009. For most of them, it was their first triathlon. Along the way they gathered sponsors and raised money to benefit my cancer treatment. I am grateful to them for the efforts they made and continue to make, and for the inspiring dedication they showed toward training and competing. I mostly thank them for becoming my close friends. My love and thanks goes out to each of them. Many thanks to those who supported and sponsored this event. I have felt love and support from all of you as well. Here is a sample of the days events.

Houston...we have a problem

2009-10-23T13:45:00.000-06:00

Hello to everyone that peeks in on this blog. Thank you for all your prayers, they are starting to manifest in small and great miracles. I have returned home from Houston to try and continue my treatments from Provo. I had a great time meeting the staff and working with the team down there. My ex-stripper nurse was especially entertaining and I want to give a shout-out to her for all her help. My job is to figure out how to try and continue the same treatment here in Utah. I sat down with a doctor to ask him if he would be willing to write prescriptions and administer the IV portion of my treatment. (It is illegal for my doctor in Houston to write prescriptions to be filled out-of-state). I was rejected on the grounds that it was unethical to deliver a drug designed to fight colon cancer to a patient who has sarcoma cancer. The only way he would do it was if he could find some data to show that it could be effective. I called my doctor in Houston to relay the problem. He said he would begin searching for said data but I was skeptical since no one has the type of cancer I have. I ran into two more dead-ends in the following three days. Then I got a call from doctor number one, who said his assistant did find some evidence to suggest that the drug could yield effective with my cancer. He even set up an appointment for the next day to have it infused into me. Then he said that his other assistant found a way to get the drug directly from the manufacturer entirely for free. So that's one expensive drug down and three to go. The second most expensive drug is made by the same company. That company called me today to verify some things so I know they are working on it.

A special thanks to Drew's Divas who are working hard to be tri-athletes. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to help this treatment move along. Thanks very much to my boss and my buddies at work who have allowed me to keep working and help pay for this as well.

Doc B on Larry King

2009-10-13T08:03:00.009-06:00

If anyone is interested, Stanislaw R. Burzynski, my doctor, will be on Larry King Live Thursday Oct. 15th. He will be on there with Ted Kennedy's doctor, Johnny Chochran's doctor, and Farrah Faucet's Doctor. You can't miss him, he's the one with the hypnotically-big nose...(which I'm told is where he keeps all his secrets).

I am on a medication that requires 6 pills, 4 times a day. It's designed to help you get rid of the ammonia levels in your blood. Too much ammonia in your blood is toxic and attacks the nervous system. Ammonia also makes you sleepy. Today I start an infusion that is supposed to attack the gene responsible for building blood vessels to feed tumors.
For a list of media clips, click here. Here's a blog from another patient I found.

Sam Houston Smile On Your Brother

2009-10-10T10:31:00.001-06:00

How should I put this....my tumors are growing and the cancer is spreading. I have resorted to Houston, Tx. home of the Burzynski Cancer Clinic. Burzynski discovered in the seventies that pregnant women are missing certain peptides in their blood and urine. These peptides would tell the body to destroy the baby. He reasoned that cancer victims would also be without these peptides because their bodies were not destroying their tumors. He became famous for this breakthrough, despite being thrown in jail by the FDA. His patients and supporters rallied around him and raised money to free him. My dad followed this story and even contributed money to his cause.

Today he is pioneering what is called targeted gene therapy. As I understand it he prescribes drugs according to the genetic activity level in your cells. There are 4 known genes that tend to be overactive during cancer growth. His aim is to target the ones that are overactive and shut it down at a DNA level. He found two on me that his treatment could target.

I'm taking four drugs. Two are pills and two are given as infusion. The infusions are twice a month and last 90 minutes. Once they are done with me here in Houston, then I continue with a doctor in Utah, if I can find one willing to do it. The drugs are outrageously expensive. They are FDA approved but not for my type of cancer so they are being used "off label". One drug is 18 grand alone and I have to have it twice a month. The solution is to apply for free drugs from the company directly. If I can't get that, then I apply for a pill version of the drug which doesn't work as fast as the infusion does and is less expensive. I should qualify for free or discounted drugs since I work for myself and don't have insurance. The drugs are non-toxic and the side effects are promised to be minimal.

I started pill 1 today and I start pill 2 tomorrow. Next week I'll have two infusion and then I should be cleared to go home and continue from there. If all goes well I'll keep on this medication for a couple months and then receive a checkup scan to monitor progress. If it is working I will continue indefinitely until the cancer is gone. They have never treated anyone with my type of cancer but their therapy is not focused on the type of cancer you have but rather the type of gene activity you have.

A bit anti-climatic

2009-05-11T21:15:00.000-06:00

Two days before my surgery was supposed to take place, my doctor decided to do some scans. He found that despite my feeling worse in the tumor area, it actually has not grown at all. In fact it has not grown ever since scan one in August of last year. Also my entire Vena Cava down to my legs is full of blood clot so it won't do any good to replace a part of it. He says my kidneys are draining well and my circulation is okay. Although it feels like there is a baseball in my chest, I guess I'm done with doctors and hospitals for a while. So as Perecles said to the Athenians....."maybe your not so bad off having a dormant tumor on your vena cava".

Awaiting Surgery

2009-05-06T19:51:00.000-06:00

The latest in treatment for colon cancer....very small, highly trained, kids seek and destroy anything suspicious.

My surgery has been delayed for a bit while I meet with some doctors about the procedure. They want to preform some tests on me before they operate. My doctor has called in some additional help from a thoracic surgeon and he wants to meet with me and do some scans. In the meantime there is a doctor in Germany who is meeting with some investors from San Fran Cisco to raise some money to pay for my post surgical treatment there. The doctor in Germany also said that he met a patient who wanted treatment for a tumor inside his inferior vena cava, same as me, and this German doctor told him to have it surgically removed first and then his treatment would clean up the remaining cancer cells. The patient did not have it cut out and it broke apart and went into his heart and killed him. Long story short, he told me I am doing exactly the right thing. Some friends of my parents are in Germany right now getting treatment for liver cancer from this doctor. They are giving a play by play of the treatment. It seems to have good results. Thanks for everyone's prayers and thoughts. I love you all and I can't wait to party in Kauai when it's all over.

Tumor Removal

2009-04-07T19:23:00.000-06:00

I met with a new doctor who told me that chemo is not a solution for the kind of cancer I have. He said with sarcomas you have to cut them out. I told him that no one wanted to do the surgery because it was so complex and it wouldn't help my mobility issues because I would lose my vena cava and a kidney. He recommended an end all surgeon.
I met with the surgeon today. To my amazement he thought he could remove my tumor, patch my vena cava (with a crygenically frozen one from a cadaver), and save my kidney by attaching it to a lower point down in my gut somewhere. All the things that the doctors at Huntsman said were impossible. In fact on my way to the appointment Huntsman called and said they would like to try radiation to see if they could shrink the tumor before surgery. I asked this doctor about it and he said we used to do that 20 years ago. That's a disproven method. Huntsman is not where you should be. He said we've done more complex surgeries here than Huntsman ever dreamed of. I begin a new series of tests at St. Marks.

Drews News

2009-03-22T21:46:00.000-06:00

I'm done with conventional cancer therapy and I'm back to enjoying life. My doctors have told me there's nothing else they can do and that I should go enjoy the next two years of my life. I am currently seeking alternative treatments and practicing some self healing techniques. I am waiting to hear back from a doctor in Germany who recently cured a young girl with the same cancer and is looking to do more clinical trials. I have a cocktail of supplements that I am taking and I have been able to do a little hiking and walking each morning. I was recently prescribed a new blood thinner and the first thing my doctor said was that it is exactly the sam thing as rat poison. I am enjoying my free time now and am working on three screenplays and editing a short film. I have become a fan of BYU volleyball and look forward to attending the NCAA volleyball tournament at BYU. Thankyou to everyone for all your support and prayers. I will continue to get scanned every three months to monitor any tumor growth.

A step backwards

2009-02-21T17:35:00.001-07:00

Update-

My doctor is telling me that no surgeon will operate on me because it is too complicated. She is recommending that I do radiation to get rid of the nodes on my lungs. I really need the big tumor taken out and some kind of bypass to restore my circulation. I will be meeting with a surgeon soon to get his take on it....and the beat goes on...

Graduation Day

2009-02-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

This week I stayed in a condo in downtown Salt Lake while I finished my 8th round. I drove myself each morning to the infusion clinic, then hung out with friends and went to see a few movies. I remember saying to my mom after round 1 that I didn't think I could do it again. It has definitely gotten easier and easier especially since I moved to an outpatient schedule on round 5.

Today at the infusion clinic all the nurses sang a graduation song and gave me a diploma. I told them that since I didn't have my video camera that day, they would have to do it again.

Now my doctor is working to have me take part in a clinical trial. As long as I am eligible and it doesn't make me too sick, it should be even easier to manage. This will put off my surgery a few months which means I'll be on blood thinners for a while longer. I may also start meeting with a specialist to try and figure out exactly what my surgical outcome possibilities are. If they can't restore the circulation to my legs then there's no reason to push for moving up surgery.

2009-01-06T12:38:00.001-07:00

I went into the doctors office determined to tell them that I wouldn't be doing any more rounds of chemo and that I wanted to get surgery. 30 minutes later I came out having agreed to do two more rounds. So what did they show me. While the large tumor in my Vena Cava has not changed in size, there is some shrinkage in the six lung nodules. There is some belief that if the lung nodules get small enough, they can be removed with surgery as well, but since these have been determined inoperable at thier current size, they need to be treated with chemo. The large one can be removed although new evidence suggests they may have to remove my right kidney as well (my favorite one, I really like that little guy).

Also they said if I were to take a 6 month break for surgery and recovery right now, I could build an immunity to the chemo treatments that seem to be working somewhat. If the lung tumors were to then come back with a vengeance, I would be as they say in the business, "screwed". I'm not sure I agree with their assessment however. It feels to me as if I'm building an immunity to the drugs as I take them consecutively. I am taking the nastiest part of the chemo at home. I seriously considered secretly not taking it and then seeing if my tumors size goes way down. My philosophy is that dead tumors shrink because macrophages eat the dead cells away. Since macrophages are a product of your immune system, it stand to reason that a healthy immune system could shrink a dead tumor. Then I would tell them as they pat them selves on the back that I didn't even take the pills. But if I'm wrong then I've just wasted six weeks.

I am currently half way through the 7nth round now and it's going pretty well so I guess I'll just suck it up and hope they are right. Raise your hand if any of this makes sense.

It's About Sixes

2008-12-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

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'

2008-11-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-28T12:45:00.000-06:00

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

2008-10-01T18:58:00.001-06:00

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

2008-09-27T19:47:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-27T16:46:00.000-06:00

I AM DREWS BEST FRIEND

2008-09-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-15T22:31:00.001-06:00

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

2008-09-15T22:22:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-15T00:44:00.000-06:00

ESSENCE OF MAN (the Bob visit)

2008-09-15T00:10:00.000-06:00

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

Drew & Kelly

2008-09-12T23:27:00.001-06:00

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

2008-09-11T23:05:00.000-06:00

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...

2008-09-10T22:04:00.000-06:00

Check out this blog post here.

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

Drew at Bobs race

2008-09-10T20:32:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-09T06:38:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-06T23:13:00.000-06:00

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!