IT WORKED!!!!

We are happy to report that after meeting with Brad's doctor today, we received wonderful news.  After almost a year to the date Brad is 100% donor.   March 20th was when he had his bone marrow transplant and this date will now be his "new" birthday (which he also shares with our daughter, Emily.)  He is in complete remission (actually called molecular remission) with NO SIGN of cancer.  They could not detect any of his DNA and the nasty mutations that he had are gone!   Dr. Gregory told us that this is the best that it gets!!  Crazy to think that all his DNA is now his donors, which is his baby brother, Aaron.  We feel so blessed.  We are grinning from ear to ear and we started the celebration already tonight with pizza at Big Bill's with Aaron and his boys!  There are a few things that will need to take place in the next months in order to get Brad's immune system retrained.  It has to be rebooted for lack of a better word because the donor cells and Brad's cells have been battling it out with his liver.  His liver counts have been up and down all year long.  He's been on and off steroids and other drugs to try to help the cause.  Dr. Gregory has suggested another round of Rituxan, which is administered intravenously, once a week for 4 weeks and 6 hour shifts.  This is not chemotherapy but a treatment that attacks the bad cells.  Some of you might remember that it is extracted from rat DNA.  Brad was a bit reluctant and Dr. Gregory gave him a few weeks to think about it, but I am pretty confident he will do it and then she said he will be good as new.  He is suffering from GVH, Graph vs. Host,  and has a little rash and is terribly itchy, but these are small problems that will be fixed with Lidex and as time goes on will hopefully fade.  He has been quite dizzy for many weeks now and he thought it was either the cancer or the drugs.  We were happy to learn that it was simply fluid in his ears!  He just has a regular common head cold.  Netti-pot treatments at home should take care of that. He also has to get all new immunizations, which I think is cute.  Just like a little baby boy.  :)    
Brad is elated (as much as Brad can get elated, he's a pretty mellow guy).  We are all excited for the future.  We cannot go without mentioning our faith in our Heavenly Father.  He has heard our prayers and countless others and He has blessed Brad at this time.  Our son, Joe (Elder Acker) is serving a full-time church mission in Australia and we feel that his service to his Father in Heaven has blessed our family!!!  I emailed his Mission President today with the good news and they delivered the news promptly to him.  He was thrilled.  Thank you to all our friends, family and acquaintances that have extended their hands to help us and have gone to their knees in prayer on behalf of Brad and our family.  WE FELT YOUR PRAYERS!!!    
Now we move forward with strength, faith, courage, hope, love and all those things that encompass the trials of cancer.  We extend a prayer for others that we know and love right now that are battling cancer.  Heavenly Father is mindful of you.  This we know without a doubt.  
We love you- Ackers

email update with WONDERFUL News

Hi everyone!  For the last year I have sent out many updates on Brad and his difficult cancer battle and reports on his bone marrow transplant.  Those updates have slowed down quite a bit because there wasn't much to report other than he was improving slowly but surely.  I am happy to report the following news to you all today...month 7 after transplant...

His doctor is dropping down on several of his meds, which is always a good sign that his body is working on it's own.  

His bone marrow biopsy last week had this to report:  He is still at less than 5% of cellularity (cells and marrow) showing cancer.  This has not moved since the last biopsy, which is good!  We want it to stay where it is at or better yet, go down.  But what is really amazing is that Brad had a gene in his cancer cells that was nasty and it was called TP53.  That gene was detected many years ago when he was first diagnosed and doctors have said that Brad had the worst form of CLL because of this gene.  That gene, in this last report, was not detected!!!!  Aaron's marrow is working with Brad's and we are seeing some real miracles.  

Brad's doctor did say that this is a lifetime battle for Brad.  (We realized this the moment he was diagnosed.)  However, we will "roll with it" and make adjustments where needed, be as healthy as we can be as a family and support Brad in all that he does to STAY HEALTHY!!   I believe he will be with us for a very long time thanks to modern medicine, Aaron Acker, and most importantly the POWER OF PRAYER AND THE AMAZING MISSIONARIES WE HAVE IN OUR FAMILY SERVING THE LORD.  THEY ARE BLESSING US,  I HAVE NO DOUBT.   

We love you all and appreciate your prayers and love and support.  We could not of made it this far without you!!!!!!!!!

We continue to pray for blessings to pour out on our family and yours.

Chest catheter OUT!!!

Brad had his chest catheter removed last week and now he is only left with a hole.  They did it with minimal numbing and no sedation.  Brad said it was alot of tugging to get it out.  When Brad asked if he could keep the tube to show his kids, the doctor said they can't because it's a biohazard and has to be disposed of properly!  He had to sit up for 4 hours afterwards to avoid any clotting or bleeding complications.

BACK TO WORK on DAY 144!!

Brad started work on July 11th only going back on a part time schedule (doctor's orders).  What a accomplishment this was.  He made it in 144 days!  Amazing.  I was proud of him so I had to get a photo of him on his "first day back". 

  Later that week he had his 7th bone marrow biopsy and the results looked good!  LESS THAN 5% CLL!!!!  I believe Brad is on the road to a full recovery and we have so many to thank for all the prayers and outpouring of love.  

Flip over!!

 The numbing and the gigantic needle...

 Disclaimers and all that mumbo/jumbo...Sign HERE...

Lots of sedation administered today,  he was very talkative (as usual) then it was sleepy time. 

Lab results leads to ultrasound, ultrasound leads to liver biopsy then a hospital stay

Brad reading over his labs at CBCI.  His liver is in trouble as the liver counts are double what they should be.  So an ultrasound was ordered so the radiologist could get a better look at his liver and what's going on.

 As we walk to ultrasound lab I am always amazed how Brad looks so normal amidst all the crap that is going on in his body. 

 This took about 45 minutes to get all the photos they needed. 

Next thing you know they are admitting Brad because his liver is inflamed and extremely irritated.  Nothing to mess with.  They also ordered a liver biopsy so Brad had to endure yet another procedure.  This time they went through his neck through a vein to the liver and scooped up a sample.  While in the hospital they hooked him up to saline which always makes him feel better and then they began administering a high dose of steroids which will hopefully calm down everything.

 Prepping for liver biopsy...

 This time I stayed at the hospital with Brad.  We had a sleepover together. 

 Here is a email that Brad sent out to everyone the day he was released:

The doctor just left and said that I have some CLL in my Liver which most likely caused Aaron's cells to attack the CLL there but also attacked my Liver while it was at it. So I'll be on a pretty strong dose of steroid for about a month to keep it all calm. I'll also have to increase my immuno suppresants for a while as well. My liver counts have come way down and in about a week should be back to normal. I just hope I can stay out of the hospital for a while. Not fun at all!!

I love you all!!! thanks for the prayers.

Once we got home it was time for Brad to reorganize his meds which can be very frustrating and tedious.

 Meeting with an in home nurse who teaches us how to administer his anti-fungal meds through a gravity pole drip.

This drip is once a day and should only be for another week or so. 

ultrasounds, biopsies and another hospital stay

    BRAD:
I am back in the hospital for hopefully only 24 hrs. Yesterday I came in for my normal appointment and all my numbers looked good but my liver counts were about 1100 points higher than they should have been. 5 days earlier they were in the normal range yesterday they jumped 1100 points. BIG concern. It's one of three things. CLL attacking my liver, which we don't think because my counts are good. infection which they are testing for and will get the results back tomorrow morning or what they are pretty confident it is is GVHD. Aaron's cells are recognizing my liver as being foreign and are attacking it. GVHD is a good thing to a certain point and they can treat it as long as it isn't too severe.  I am getting ready to go in for a liver biopsy around 1:30 where they will stick a camera and wire down a vein in my neck to my liver to cut out a chunk. They will sedate me. The docs will see me first thing in the morning to give me all the results and then I go home unless the results are bad. Which they won't be. They have me on some high powered steroids as well which can wreak havoc on my diabetes. So they really want to keep a close eye on that. Blood sugar gets too high and I am high risk for infection. But don't worry it will all work out. 

LISA: 
It has been a roller coaster ride as each day brings something new.  Last we checked his double bone marrow biopsy came back as showing only 5% CLL!   Wonderful news, yet Brad was still extremely fatigued.  Which is where we are at today with the news of his liver.  Docs say that it is functioning, but irritated and working really hard.  It's important for me to add that I love this man with all my heart.  The strength and courage he has shown through this journey has been amazing and I feel privileged to be a part of his life.  

A fever and a hospital stay

Fever...

 Check up...

Jun 2

First off I want to thank you all for fasting on my behalf yesterday. What a wonderful caring family I have. I've been truly blessed! I was also given an amazing blessing by Bishop Miller who will always be my Bishop. the girls and I talked after and Emily said "he is the BEST Bishop EVER" Sam and Lisa agreed whole heartedly. Rick performed the anointing. To have these men who have always been such a wonderful example to me and my family was such a blessing.

After everyone had left we had a sweet young couple come to pick up the trampoline we had sold them. Lisa apologized that I couldn't help because I was sick. They asked a lot of questions about me and my condition. after they finished taking apart the tramp and loading it they came to the front door and asked me if they could pray for me. I said I would be honored. They put their hands on my shoulders and gave me a beautiful prayer. it doesn't matter that they are not of our faith. They love our Savior and their fellow man.

we had some potential renters over the other day and and found out that the wife was a oncologist at Porter Hospital. so Lisa proceeds to tell them about me and my cancer. They were really sweet. Two days later they sent us an e-mail to tell us that they found a place closer to their mother in Highlands Ranch. But in the e-mail they asked if they could help in any way. staining and sealing the decks, fixing the fence, mowing the lawn.

My heart is full!! The selfless acts of kindness that I have seen is truly humbling. There are so many people out there with good hearts. I think I lost site of that earlier in my life. But I will never forget it. I love the journey I am on for reasons like this. I love each and everyone of you for who you are.

Brad was admitted to hospital last Wednesday for observation after having a fever for over 5 days. His fever finally broke on Wednesday but they wanted to keep him anyway...

Jun 5:

I'll make it short. My Doctor came in this morning and said the CAT scan came back normal (meaning nothing abnormally large) so, no lymph node biopsy for now. So she sent me home. She does want to keep a closer eye on me so we will be going back to three visits a week and next week they want to do another bone marrow biopsy which will be number FIVE. It seems like eventually they would run out of places to drill. Crazy!!

So I'm home and the Spurs are up by 5 at the half. Thanks for the continued prayers!!

Brad Acker

PHOTO TIME: 

This rash appeared on the side of Brad's stomach only for a day or two then went away...

 Hospital stay on oncology floor-same protocol,  minus the mask

 Not a happy camper

 Brad demonstrating the comforts of the guest bed.  3 layers.