Casa Huppert 2.0

On February 1st, 2020 the world lost the best man I've ever known. Brent was the kind of man others should strive to be like. He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. The best papa and husband any of us could have ever asked for. This man was absolutely everything to us and our family will never be the same again. Brent left the best parts of him with our kids. In the end his body could not overcome what his mind thought he could. I believe God has plans for Brent we can not even fathom. I'm sure he will move mountains up there. Heaven must be the most magical place any of us could ever imagine. It has to be because it gained Brent. What gets me through is knowing Brent is at peace. He would want me to do everything possible to make sure our kids are okay. I will do that by ensuring our boys never forget how amazing their papa was. Brent lives on, in our hearts and minds. He is our angel in the sky that will keep guiding our paths in this world. GoFundMe Li...

It's excruciatingly hard to follow your heart and instincts versus letting doctors and statistics guide your path when facing the hardships of disease. I am by no means an expert, I just know what I see. Brent is so frail. I would be surprised if he weighs 130 pounds soaking wet. He no longer has the energy to stand or even pull himself up in bed. His mind just goes in circles most of the time. The pneumonia is in both his lungs. His body is septic, so treatment is no longer an option. We truly need a miracle for Brent to get past this. My husband is absolutely amazing and will never ever give up! His faith and positivity never waivers. We all believe God is in the miracle business. I have let go and understand that God has been and will continue to illuminate our path. Brent, the boys and I are so insanely lucky. We have the most phenomenal support system any four people could ever hope or ask for. We love you all so very much ❤ I believe all our prayers and positivity are m...

After we found out Brent couldn't do chemo last week, he started getting a bit of momentum on the nutritional front. We started introducing more foods and liquids to get him more calories. There were unfortunately no improvements in his strength. Starting yesterday he had zero energy and was barely eating again. Long story short we are back at SkyRidge. Brent has pneumonia. This mama is tired, frustrated and having a hard time. Unfortunately, the boys and I are not feeling our best. Cristian has strep, I have a sore  throat and Nico was okay, but now feeling the crud after his soccer practice. I tested negative, but will get confirmation tomorrow regarding my backup test for strep. We will also take Nico to get tested tomorrow. I pray that all of us get some healing the next few days. We have no idea what the next steps will be for Brent. Please send positive vibes and prayers to give us all the strength we need. Your kind gestures and messages continue to give us the motivation ...

The past few weeks I've been laser focused on Brent's nutrition. There have been good days and bad. Today was not a good day. We received the news that Brent's blood counts are too low for him to receive chemo tomorrow. His treatment is delayed until January 30th. It's so ridiculously hard to stay positive, but it's what I have to do. I leave this in God's hands. Thank you family for lifting me up in prayer when I am weak. I push forward knowing Brent will never give up. I choose to see all the good around us. My work family is absolutely amazing! Our entire village is simply the best. Your continued acts of kindness energize us and remind us how much good there is in this world. Thank you all again and again! Helping Casa Huppert Kick Cancer

January has unfortunately been more eventful than I hoped. We have been back in the ER three times. On a positive note we are moving and shaking on the home front. An in home care team came to visit us. The doctor and nurse helped us set up Brent's medications, and will access his port, so I can give him fluids at home. They will provide ongoing support once a week until we can get him back on track. Among other things we also have a physical therapist coming to the house once a week to get him stronger. He's lost so much weight that he's become very weak. Yesterday I made the decision to take time off of work and concentrate on Brent's nutrition. I believe it's the best decision for our family. It's going to be extremely hard to get him past this portion of his journey, but I believe it will happen.  None of the above would have been possible without both our immediate families. Barb (Brent's mom) and I have become a united front. I thank my lucky s...

Brent was discharged from Sky Ridge yesterday. We are all so happy to have him home. He seems to be in better spirits already. His blood counts have stabilized and he is back to his fight. Monday is round two of his new chemo regimen. Our biggest challenge at the moment is his nutrition. We want him to be as strong as possible for Monday. I believe he will be back on track in no time. While Brent's stubbornness stresses me out, I know it's why he is so resilient. He keeps taking it all in stride. He is my hero. This holiday break was nothing like we anticipated, but it showed me in more ways how phenomenal our village is. We love each and every one of you. I know we could never do this without you. Please pray or send out positive vibes that this round of chemo goes as smoothly as possible. I will be praying that this new regimen provides healing and showers us with even more hope and belief. We can never thank you enough for your kind gestures and messages of l...

Sitting here reflecting on the past year, there are so many emotions. While 2019 broke our hearts, we were also introduced to Europe. We had the time of our lives in London and Barcelona. We got to see Suarez and Messi score goals at a Barcelona match, our favorite moment of 2019. Brent had such success during his first clinical trail. I know we will get back to that. Brent's blood counts stabilized and doctors ascertained that he is bleeding from his stomach. Yesterday they performed an endoscopy which determined the bleeding is coming from the cancer itself. He still has a lot of clotting in his leg, also caused by the cancer. In order to prevent large clots getting to his lungs, they placed an IVC filter in his main artery. They need to ensure there isn't any more damage to his heart. In addition, they also placed a catheter in his belly so he can drain the ascites fluid buildup himself. There is risk of bleeding and infection every time he gets a paracentesis. The hope is...

Brent was finally moved out of the ICU yesterday. We are so thankful his pulmonary embolism was caught. However, understand it will take time for him to recover. Our biggest challenge at the moment are his blood counts. His hemoglobin counts have decreased from 12 to somewhere in the 9's. If his counts decrease to the 7's he will need a blood transfusion. There are so many moving parts, it's hard to keep track of everything. I try to focus on one thing at a time. As Brent told me, we will get past this. While it's incredibly hard to see any silver lining in all this, I have to. I am encouraged by how much Brent is eating and drinking. He's no longer on IV fluids and staying hydrated. I  have found that advocating for Brent and our kids gives me a sense of peace among all this chaos. All your acts of kindness continue to restore my faith in humanity. I can not thank you all enough. You keep putting smiles on all our faces each and every day. Today I ask for pra...

The past few weeks have been a blur. We haven't seen any improvements since our stint at Sky Ridge. Brent did start chemo, however that could take quite some time to kick in. We've seen a rapid decline in his health over a short period of time and can't stay on top of it all. Our main concern has been keeping him hydrated. He had several bags of fluid at the infusion center yesterday and was already dehydrated again today. His breathing has gotten significantly worse the past few weeks. I thought he might pass out walking out of the infusion center yesterday. Today our angels came in the form of Brent's mom and sister. They convinced us to have Brent admitted to Sky Ridge again. Praise the lord for them and my sister, who communicated with Brent's mom for them to come talk to us. Shortly after checking in the doctors found blood clots in his right leg and lung. He is en route to the ICU for a procedure to break up the clots. I'm happy with our decision, but ...

Tonight seems like the first time in a while I've actually been able to take a moment and gather my thoughts. Where do I begin? Brent was released from the hospital on Tuesday. At that point we were informed that there were no signs of bacteria in the fluid they extracted via paracentesis. The Sky Ridge doctors at that point believed that his malignant ascites was causing all his symptoms. Malignant ascites happens when cancer spreads to the abdominal lining, it can cause irritation and stimulate the lining to create extra fluid. Brent's oncologist however, was not so sure. He requested another paracentesis on Wednesday. Thursday Brent called my sister and they rushed to urgent care per Dr's orders. This time the fluids they extracted tested positive for bacteria. As of yesterday he has three different bacteria's growing in the fluids that were extracted on Wednesday. Brent and I continue to have full faith in his oncologist. I'm incredibly thankful he figured out ...

The good news is Brent was discharged today. The bad news is all those antibiotics he received will delay the trial two weeks from yesterday. I have to thank my friend Miriam for the reminder today. All in God's time.  I believe this is all a bump in his road to recovery. The boys are excited to have papa home and I'm positive Brent is enjoying his own bed. That's what I choose to focus on today. Our village keeps surprising me every day. Thank you again and again and again. All the kind messages and gestures truly make our days so much brighter. Please keep those prayers coming! I believe they will continue to help Brent get stronger and better every single day before the trial begins.

It has been quite an emotional roller coaster this weekend. I am sad to say we are still at the hospital. Brent is fighting an infection. Until they get it under control he can't start the trial. The good news is he can start as soon as this is under control. That can still happen by tomorrow, but for now we wait. He is still vomiting and not able to eat or drink much. Saturday night one of the drugs he was given knocked him out hard core. It scared the daylights out of me to see him drugged up yesterday. To top it all off my poor Nicolas was so emotional this morning. All I could say was 'I know buddy, this sucks!' Not the most eloquent words nor one of my finer moments. However, in that moment, those words felt so true. I just like to think these are reminders for me to breathe. I don't have to figure everything out today. All I can do is be an advocate for my husband and our kids. We have so many angels looking out for us. This weekend I was reminded how much goo...

This week we learned that Brent has malignant ascites. What that means in medical terms I can not tell you. Here is what I do know. His appetite is nonexistent. He is uncomfortable all the time and he has zero energy. He has lost at least 30 pounds over less than two months. Friday morning, after his second paracentesis, he became violently ill. So here we are at Sky Ridge Medical Center for what I hope and pray is his only night. I pray that nothing derails him from starting the next clinical trial on Tuesday. We have been presented with many things that could be going on. My hope is that he has some kind of bacteria that will dissipate once the antibiotics he is being treated with start working. Through all these bumps in the road I remind myself to cling to my faith. This path is not easy, but we were chosen to walk it for a reason. If my words or our story helps just one person in any way, that would truly be humbling. So I keep writing not only to inform our village, but also ...

Today sitting here thinking about the past year, I focus on the word believe. There were so many days right before Brent was diagnosed that I had a pit in my stomach. I couldn't eat or sleep and I felt like I was in a daze. During that time one of my coworkers told me about her mom's successful battle against cancer. She mentioned that her family had bracelets made with the word believe on them. What a powerful gift! Our families now wear believe bracelets and necklaces, which I love. Wearing my bracelet daily calms me down and reminds me to believe. Believe and understand that our faith and positivity will get us through all this. It also doesn't hurt to believe in miracles! The past month has been quite challenging. I mentioned that Brent is tired. He has also seen a decline in his appetite and has lost 10 plus pounds. This past week he had another endoscopy and scans. The good news is his esophagus is 100% clear of cancer. His scans are also showing no new growt...

Today as I decide to put pen to paper about the new version of my family, I find November has a new meaning for us. I suppose I should start at the beginning. In September of 2018 Brent started feeling uncomfortable after meals. Very shortly after that almost everytime he ate he was in pain. By December he lost 60 pounds. After a few doctors visits for what we thought was acid reflux, an endoscopy was requested. On January 2nd 2019, we received the news that it was cancer. I think about that day often. We very quickly went from sadness to reactive mode. Within minutes we discussed telling our boys. We instantly agreed we would tell them. From that moment on I knew we needed support. We informed our village and continue to feel their love and kindness on a daily basis ♥ Later in January Brent was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer.  We were informed that adenocarcinoma is a very aggressive form of cancer and considered inoperable at later stages of stomach cancer. They foun...