Life Changers!... Our Story!

Chapter One: (Pregnancy)

If life isn’t already crazy enough, let’s throw pregnancy into the mix, right? That’s what we did! Young and very green to the world of parenthood, we jumped right in: Doctors Appointments, ultrasounds, and Chef Boyardee Ravioli. Anything that had to do with having a baby, we knew “Nothing”! And little did we know when Kai was 29 weeks that we would cross another bridge that pregnancy guides never mentioned. Preeclampsia! Ugh! (I’m sure they mentioned Preeclampsia, but don’t know if we read that far, lol) That was 3 weeks of madness. Kai got admitted to Tacoma General (TG) Hospital and was forced to stay there until she gave birth. Dustin on the other hand was free to come and go but chose to be an amazing boyfriend and father. He commuted everyday and stayed almost every night in the dreaded daddy chair. His back will forever be kinked =). Kai was 32 weeks when the baby’s heart rate started dropping and before Dustin could run down to the gift shop to buy the blue bubble gum cigars, the nurses were handing him blue scrubs for the cesarean. Dustin now knows that kinks are a small price to pay for a 2lb 10oz bundle of JOY. On April 8^th 2010 at 8:48 p.m., Knox Wesley Doughty was brought into this world. We were so ecstatic!!! (and still are)

Chapter Two: (Back to Reality)

Having a baby in such dramatic circumstances took a toll on us. We commuted back and forth for 31 days to TG until we finally got to bring Knox home on Mother’s Day. He was exactly 4lbs and was able to come home because he could eat on his own, maintain his body temperature, and gain weight all at the same time. As new parents we’ve been committed to making our life about Knox and each other but not necessarily about ourselves as individuals.

Which brings us to the next Chapter!...

Chapter Three: (Doctors Appointments… and More Doctors Appointments)

Dustin is an amazing person, father, and friend. He never puts himself above anyone else and doesn’t ask to be the center of attention (it just happened). We had been suspicious for awhile that something just wasn’t right but everything just happened in a whirlwind: getting pregnant, getting admitted to the Hospital, having a preemie son, adjusting to being parents, and then after all that we wanted to make sure Dustin had insurance before we went to the doctor. We weren’t sure what we were about to find out and wanted to make sure he didn’t have any preexisting conditions. Dustin was pretty hesitant to go to the doctor; he made so many excuses (mainly he didn’t want to take time off work). Kai found Tumwater Family Practice that stays open till 7pm on weekdays. Kai called and made Dustin’s apt for him and there the road was started for this journey we are now on.

September 22, 2010- Dustin went in for his 6pm appointment to get a regular check-up. Dustin showed Dr. Surrette the lump and moments later he said that he thought it was just a cist on his testicle. He said it was something that either Dustin could live with “or” get removed if wanted. Dr. Surrette did want a second opinion so he scheduled an ultrasound of the testicle to make sure. (GOOD THING)

Later that week… Dustin went in for the ultrasound and was advised days later by Dr. Surrette that it wasn’t a cist but rather a tumor. Dr. Surrette wasn’t sure what kind of tumor based solely on the ultrasound and referred him to an Urologist, Dr. Simon Zadina.

Dr. Zadina’s Office got Dustin right in for a consultation based on his ultrasound. He said that after looking at the ultrasound and doing a physical examination of Dustin. He would like Dustin to go in for an X-ray, CAT scan, and blood work. The doctor’s office got him schedule for those appointments that next week.

End of October 2010- The results came in: POSITIVE for cancer!!! Dr. Zadina told us the only way to get rid of the cancer was to remove the large tumor by surgery. He would have to be knocked out and be under for a couple hours. After hearing the news Dustin was in shock (we all were), but he never wavered or worried, Dustin just wanted to get it over with.
 
…..The one thing that was able to keep Dustin’s mind off the surgery was Halloween. Dustin had been growing out his mustache for over a month for his costume… Grandpa Ron… (For those who don’t know Grandpa Ron, only Dustin could pull something like this off)  He grew out his mustache and spray painted his hair black and wore the best outfit ever! Grandpa Ron never saw it coming! It’s family time that means the world to Dustin so it was nice to host our first holiday function at our home!!

Chapter Four: (Surgery… No Fun)

November 5, 2010-South Sound Surgery here we come…. Dustin maintained a great and positive attitude throughout the whole procedure. The nurses let us wait with Dustin while they prepped him for surgery. He had his fan club there waiting for him in the waiting room and when it was time to go back to the recovery room he wasn’t in that great of shape. He was very sick from the pain killers. It was awfully hard to watch him be so miserable. After 2 (almost 3 hours) in recovery he was able to get up and stand. The nurse wheeled him out to the car and we were off for home. Everyone played a major part in nursing him back to health. Both set of parents were there to encourage him, brought us food (galore), and helped with Knox. And special thanks to Ryan and Julie for the much needed ice packs!

Dustin being the resilient soul he is, he was not going to let this surgery stop him from attending a life-long friend’s wedding the next day. He even danced at Shane and Carrie’s wedding! Watch out people… Dustin will be just fine! =)

Dr. Zadina required Dustin to do routine blood work and a PET scan. The results came back that something did appear to be unusual in his right iliac bone (hip bone). Dr. Zadina decided to send Dustin to an oncologist named Dr. Harris about the findings from his PET scan.

Dr. Harris talked to us about what was appearing in the PET scan. The right hip bone has a small circle that was glowing, indicating something’s wrong but Dustin’s blood work came back ok. The blood work is supposed to be the “Markers” for cancer. If your numbers go back to normal then everything should be fine. So just to be safe Dr. Harris ordered a BONE scan. This BONE scan would give him the answers whether the spot we saw on the PET scan was really something to pursue or if it was just an old injury.

The BONE scan came back positive for something being wrong with right hip bone. It was so odd because his blood work was indicating that the cancer was gone. Dr. Harris wasn’t still 100% that the spot on the iliac bone was cancer. He ordered a CT Guided Biopsy to be certain of what the spot was and what the best options would be.

December 22, 2010- We woke up ready to face the day as Dustin would go in for his CT Guided biopsy. To us it was just another hospital bed, long day of magazines, and coffee drinking. The procedure itself only took about an hour “ish”, the time consuming part was waiting our turn. Dustin handled the procedure with no problem besides wooziness from the drugs and being super tired. Once again Dustin showed his resilience because that night he was up and ready to go for dinner at his parents house with Kai’s family there too. What a trooper! The downside of the whole procedure was the date of the appointment. It was a holiday weekend and we didn’t get the results until Tuesday after Christmas!

We didn’t let that stop us from having the best 1^st Christmas with Knox….

Chapter Five: (The Verdict)

Monday, December 27, 2010- Dustin woke up and the first thing he did was pick up the phone to call Dr. Harris’ office. Once he got a hold of the nurse, they informed him that Dr. Harris had requested we come in for an appointment to go over the results… SCARY! Why couldn’t we get the good news over the phone?...

Tuesday, December 28, 2010- Dr. Harris was direct and to the point that Dustin had cancer in his bone. He said it was most likely a kind of testicular cancer that doesn’t affect blood counts (I can’t remember the medical name). So the only way to track the progress of the cancer will be based solely on scans.  He said that Chemotherapy is a definite and should be started right away! Dr. Harris also said he would be ordering a 2^nd opinion about radiation to the spot on his hip…. “HOLD ON A MINUTE,” was the first thing I felt when Dr. Harris was telling us this awful news. “WAIT ONE SECOND,” Dustin can’t have cancer, it couldn’t of spread, and this is not supposed to be happening to us! That’s all that went through our heads! But once we took a couple deep, deep, deep breathes, we realized that God wouldn’t give us anything we couldn’t handle and somehow it made the stress go away… Chemo here we come!

Chapter Six: (Chemotherapy)

Monday, January 10^th, 2011- This was suppose to be the first day of Chemo but instead we had to attend a Pre-Chemo Class (good thing). We spent about 2 hours in a class with a nurse that explained everything that we were about to face. Dustin will lose his appetite, his hair, and his spunkiness once starting the rigorous treatment. She gave us great tips on how to make our life as normal as possible and was very helpful with all our extensive questions. In the meeting she had warned everyone that it’s easier to just shave your head then watch it fall out in large clumps. Right after the meeting Dustin called Dana (his cousin with clippers!!) and she did the honors of buzzing off his hair. I must say that Dustin is one good looking man with or without hair!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011- First Day! You know when you’re in grade school and you wake up all anxious and nervous about your first day…. Same feeling when you start Chemo. It’s like the unknown is about to happen but you have to go to school to graduate. Just like you have to go through Chemo to be free of this cancer! Dustin packed his bag full of fun stuff: magazines, ipod, and yes Grandpa Keith a cribbage board =) !! The first day of Chemo wasn’t that bad. Five hours of sitting in a chair being entertained by Art and Kai. Cindy, bless her heart, watched Knox for us so Kai could go back and forth from work and the treatment center. After he was released to go home, Dustin had a good night! He didn’t feel 100% but nothing to complain about.

Later that evening… Dustin received a text message!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011- (day 2)… Dustin was able to drive himself to the treatment center that day. Art was there to keep him company and Cindy was able to stop by at lunch and Kai came by for a quick game of cribbage. As the time passed in the treatment center Dustin was getting more weak and agile. It’s really hard to watch someone who is usually the cheerleader to be the quiet one. He did send a few pictures of his favorite nurse being a total slacker!

Later that evening…. Dustin received a text message!

Thursday, January 13, 2011- (day 3)… Dustin woke up feeling very sick and disoriented. Kai was able to drive him to the treatment center where Art was there to take care of him for the rest of the time. The treatment had really started to take a toll on his body and immune system. But yet Dustin was still positive as ever!

That afternoon…. Kai received a text message!

Friday, January 14, 2011- (day 4)… Art came and picked Dustin up for his appointment and off they went to the treatment center. Dustin slept almost the whole time. The Chemo is really affecting him physically, mentality, and emotionally. Despite Dustin being a strong individual that can handle just about anything, Chemo has exhausted him extremely.  He did have some great company though, thanks to Uncle Andy and Uncle Doug for the visit!


Saturday, January 15, 2011- (day 5, last day!)… We had to travel to the infusion center inside Saint Peter’s Hospital for his Chemo today. It was a really nice facility with really nice nurses. He got his own room with a bed and T.V. and don’t forget Saturday Football!! The bed was a much needed necessity on the last day of Chemo. Dustin was sleeping most of the time and ate very little. BUT he didn’t complain once! What an amazing soul! Also the family came to visit …

We would like to thank everyone and we mean everyone! Without the prayers, support, and words of encouragement we wouldn’t be so lively right now. Dustin has his second opinion on the 18^th at Virginia Mason about getting radiation to the specific spot on his hip bone…. We will keep you posted! Love you all!