Hello Friends,
I've never believed in sugarcoating messages with adults, so I'm just going to post the very honest and upfront email my wife sent to our friends when we returned home from Norris last night:
Dear Friends,
We are back from almost a week at Norris Cancer Hospital at USC. Zach is very happy to be back in his familiar surroundings, Labs & kitties at his service, a bounty of fresh produce and eggs in his backyard. He had a fresh peach from our tree and a little cottage cheese for breakfast, his first "meal" in a week, and commented that if the food was like this in hospitals people might actually get better 
I will go into some detail here to answer what are probably the more common questions about what's going on.
Zach's cancer has returned in a very fast and very ugly way. He has metastasis in his intestines, lymph nodes and bones at this point. The small tumors in his intestines have caused peristalsis to be interrupted, which has caused a chain-reaction of trouble. The worst problem was the blockage of his kidneys and a raging blood infection.
He had a procedure called a "nephrostomy" which will help his kidneys eliminate urine. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephrostomy)
He is on a 2 week regimen of antibiotics. Once the course of antibiotics is done, we will start chemo, the intention / hope being that he will actually feel better by shrinking the tumors, particularly in the intestine. There is a chance the nephrostomy tubes can be removed if things go well.
The chemo is an in-patient regimen; 3 days in the hospital every 3 weeks and we will be able to do that locally / Cottage Hospital. He can do this as long as he feels there is benefit, and he can take a break when he feels like it. While the doctors are always reluctant to give timeframes, based on the pathology of his original tumor, and the timing of this recurrence, they think we are looking at roughly 6 months.
We plan to close the business. I will work on that in small doses so that I can be at home as much as possible. I'd like to encourage everyone to feel welcome to visit; my cell # is the best to call to make arrangements. Email works best for me for most communications; I will be checking it often as it's quite easy to do from home.
As always, we are grateful for love, support and prayers. All our love –
Heidi & Zach
Of course that six months is a guess, but if they're right, it will definitely cut into the upcoming season of 24, which I've been looking forward to. I've also been saying a book project I've been working on would be done in six months, and that was a year-and-a-half ago, so really, as they say, nobody really knows anything. If God created man in His image, then, at least with my God, He can be a procrastinator when it suits Him. Let's hope so.
If you're curious, the chemo regimen is called ITP (ifosfamide, paclitaxel, and cisplatin). I'm going to try it if my kidneys cooperate and if it makes me feel better. This is an odd situation to be in--my condition is such that they are actually using chemo to make me feel better.
That's all for now. More later when I get some strength back.
Zach
