It's official

Met with our Doctor yesterday after my chemo and he said the only remaining issue in my chest is scar tissue. A good amount of it because the mass was so large. We will continue with 3 more chemo treatments as planned. After the last chemo...we will wait a few weeks to start radiation. Radiation will last anywhere from 4-6 weeks and that will be five days a week. So, not over yet but I am encouraged with the results. I never had a doubt that the Lord would not be faithful. We are not sure when we will start radiation but it will probably run early into the next year. Still a small road ahead of us but we will conquer it! Then I am going to hike the Grand Canyon.
I am gonna rest up now from round 9.
Keep the prayers coming.

The call

Just got "the call" from my chemo nurse. The unofficial results from the CT scan has showed no sign of cancer. God is good.
I don't know what this means for the remaining chemo/radiation plan. I will know shortly. But know that you are the first to know on the blog. Your prayers have worked. God is good.

PET scan

PET scan round 2 is finished. Lara and I traveled to Indianapolis this morning to have the scan. As soon as I arrived I asked the technician if he could tell me the results of the scan as soon as we were finished. I am very eager to know. He said he is not supposed to do that and I will have to wait to talk with my doctor. That wasn't good enough for me. I wanted to look at the computer screen myself after the scan although I probably wouldn't understand any of the images anyways. We will have to wait until my next chemo on Thursday to talk with the doctor about the results.
I have spend the last couple days relaxing and trying to gain strength back from the last round. As I get closer to my next chemo I treasure each day and each minute I feel "normal."
I receive comments every day regarding all the prayers coming our way. Thank you. It's pulling us through. 4 more to go.
I will blog about the PET scan once we get results and once I recover from the next chemo.
I am going for a motorcycle ride. It's too nice out.

8 down 4 to go

Lara and i made it back to Indiana on Wednesday night the day before chemo. It was a refreshing trip and we can't wait to return to the Grand Canyon again. We arrived back to Crawfordsville to encounter the toughest chemo yet. I would rather not go into detail but it was no fun and I really can't wait to hit the finish line now. If I said I cruised through this round I would be lying. 4 more remaining.
However, I am almost back to 100% and I finally ate a bunch of thai food today and I will be going for a long motorcycle ride with my Uncle Warren tomorrow. We are official Honda Goldwing riders. I may be the youngest Goldwing rider around. I challenge a younger rider to come forward.
I can't say how much the encouraging words on this blog help me out when I feel sick. It really feels as if I am running in a long marathon and you are all cheering me on from the sidelines. We are almost there.
Next Monday I have a PET scan to determine the progress of the treatment. I can almost guarantee that the mass is almost gone because I am working out like normal and running much more with better breath support than ever. I am also considering taking on bicycling as a sport. I have recently been inspired by Lance Armstrong. I have started to shop for a bicycle to take long rides on.
Once we get the results of the PET scan I will blog the info here.
After my Goldwing ride tomorrow Lara and I will be going camping for a couple days at a campground. We want to take in a little more nature before it gets too cold and winter arrives. Thanks again for the encouraging words.......8 down 4 to go! We are almost there!

Time to leave

It's 8am here at the Grand Canyon and it's now time to hit the road. We spent yesterday morning hiking on some trails a little and stopping alot to take in the different views. We drove to 5 different lookout spots along the south rim and hiked along one spot. We finished with watching the sunset at our favorite lookout spot called Yavapai.

Seeing the canyon makes me wonder what God was thinking when he carved it out with His hand. I can't wait to ask Him why he made the Grand Canyon. Although, I like what someone recently reminded me of on a response to my blog. It's kinda nice not knowing and trying to always figure out what His plans are. I know we just had a very tiny glimpse of heaven the past two days. I hope you enjoy these pictures we took from yesterday. But as everyone says....you have to be there to experience the real magnitude of the canyon.

I am probably not strong enough to hike the canyon now. However, Lara and I have decided that we are coming back after all the chemo and we will hike and camp out at the bottom of the canyon. It will be our victory tour. But for now, I am ready to knock out round 8 chemo. Bring it on!

Grand Canyon and Pictures

We have finally arrived at the Grand Canyon and we will be here until Thursday morning. We arrived just in time to enter the Canyon and watch the sunset. I can't even begin to describe what it was like and what it felt like to experience it. We took a few pictures that you can see here. I finally figured out how to attach pics so here are some random pictures Lara and I have taken since I started chemo. These pictures include some of the idol contestants at their recent Indianapolis concert. These pictures are of Carly, me, Michael Johns, Dave Cook and Chikeze Easy backstage before the concert. Also included are Lara and I at the Hoover dam on our way to the Grand Canyon as well as pictures from tonights viewing of the sun setting and our first sighting of the canyon. Now that I can include pics I will try to share them on here a little more often and maybe a few more as our trip across the country progresses. I am sure we will have several pictures tomorrow from the canyon so maybe we will share more with you then.

If you have never been to the canyon then you haven't experienced all of God's wonders yet. I learned two things today from seeing the Grand Canyon. The Lord is much more powerful than I am and he is in total control. That makes my life much easier.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

I can't believe all the support

We arrived safely last night back to L.A. and this is the first time Lara and I have been back here since being released from the hospital back in May.  I have survived round 7 of chemo and am feeling much better after the past few days.  The rounds are getting a little tougher each time but I am up for the fight and I only have 5 left.  The Lord is keeping me strong for sure.    

I can't believe the outpour of support I have received from all the Idol fans, friends and family since the "Mavid" dance on the Idol tour.  19 entertainment has even joined forces with Michael and David to help support us and it leaves me very humbled.  American Idol truly is about giving back and I am experiencing it right now.   I just want to say....I saw Michael Johns do a dance at 3am while we were on Idol in our hotel room and it was much funnier than the one I saw on the tour.   Sorry Michael for sharing that.  You know what I'm talking about.

I am excited to start our journey cross country today.  We will be leaving our friend Greg's house this afternoon from L.A. and we will drive 4 hours to Las Vegas.  Don't worry...no gambling will take place.  We are simply using it for a hotel stay city and a chance to see the lights for one night.  Tomorrow we will make our trip to the Grand Canyon where we will stay for two nights.  We ate a nice Sushi meal last night and we are going to sneak in one more Sushi lunch before we leave L.A.  I have eaten Sushi all across the country and in Hong Kong and there is no Sushi like the kind in L.A.  It's the best.   Niko Niko on Vermont Ave. in Los Feliz is hands down my favorite.  We will be eating there today before we leave.  

 Just want to let you all know how much your kind words really do encourage me through chemo and through my sick days.  I read every single comment that is posted on here and sometimes it leaves me in tears.  I hope to do a big concert for all of you someday and share the music that you have all inspired me to write.  

 Thanks for being in my corner. 

For now, I am going to forget about chemo....forget about cancer and take a trip across God's beautiful land.  We're off.