The nurses put in a new catheter today. It worked for a couple hours, but then Joe started losing a lot of blood. We called and ambulance. At the hospital he got 2 bags of blood & they did a CT scan. The scan showed the tumor has grown into the bladder & is bleeding.

They said there is nothing they can do to stop the tumor bleeding. She said he has a day or 2 left. We are getting an ambulance ride home, so he can die at home.

Jesus, I trust in You!!

 Joe is home now! The infectious disease dr said Joe responded so well to the antibiotics that he could now go home with oral antibiotics. Thanks be to God!

He will be on antibiotics for another 2 weeks or so. 

He is back on Home Hospice Care. 

Thank you again for all your prayers! 

Dear Family & Friends, 

Thank you for all prayers!!

Joe's surgery was successful!

Many have asked why Joe had this surgery? This surgery was not a "cure surgery" by removing the tumor; but more or less to try & buy Joe more time. 

Joe has had no bowel control for months. As a result he has been having to take 3-4 showers a day to keep the exposed tumor clean. All of this has been very taxing on him, as he is becoming weaker. This also is to help the fistula problem, so the fecal matter is not leaking into the bladder causing more infection. 

Joe's bloodwork came back showing he has infection in his blood. The Dr said it is not a serious infection, but because Joe has a power port they need to treat the infection more aggressively. He will be on Intravenous Antibiotics for 2-3 weeks. After that they will do another CT Scan to make sure the infection is gone. 

Joe was able to eat food today. If he tolerates that well, then they will let him go home as early as tomorrow!

Thank you again for all of your continued prayers! God reward you all! 

 Jesus, I trust in You! 

Sr Wilhelmina, pray for us!

Over the weekend Joe talked to a surgeon friend, who advised Joe to go to the hospital & see about the possibility of surgery. 

Monday morning we headed to Kansas City North Hospital. He had a CT scan showing constipation, a good amount of air in the bladder, & he has a bad UTI. They admitted him & started him on antibiotics. 

Tuesday they spent the day tracking down all his medical history to see if he is a candidate for surgery. 

Today they put him on a clear diet & started a bowel prep. He will have surgery tomorrow afternoon, to do a diversion colostomy & mucus fistula.

Joe will also be receiving the Apostolic Blessing & Anointing of the sick today. 

Once Joe is released from the hospital, he will return onto Home Hospice Care. 

Jesus, I trust in You! 

Sr. Wilhelmina, pray for us! 

Dear Family & Friends 

This last month has been rough on Joe. 

A few weeks ago, Joe's tumor erupted through the skin. It is roughly about the size of a lemon. This makes it impossible for him to sit. He rarely makes it out to his recliner now & spends most of his days in bed. He can still walk & make it into the bathroom.

They did have to increase to a stronger Fentanyl patch again & he is also up to 8 Sennes a day. Some days he is still battles constipation.

Joe has also recently developed a fistula.  The Hospice nurse is now coming 3 days per week to assist. 

Please continue to pray for us all to have complete resignation to God's Holy Will! 

Dear Family & Friends 

This last month has been rough on Joe. 

A few weeks ago, Joe's tumor erupted through the skin. It is roughly about the size of a lemon. This makes it impossible for him to sit. He rarely makes it out to his recliner now & spends most of his days in bed. He can still walk & make it into the bathroom.

They did have to increase to a stronger Fentanyl patch again & he is also up to 8 Sennes a day. Some days he is still battles constipation.

Joe has also recently developed a fistula.    

Please continue to pray for us all to have complete resignation to God's Holy Will! 

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster of ups & downs for Joe. Thanksgiving week he had to stop working & go on short-term disability. Between the pain, fatigue & other bowel problems, working became just too much. 

Joe did get on Hospice the week before Thanksgiving which has truly been a blessing! The nurses are wonderful! 

Since Joe was still having a problem urinating, the nurse ended up placing a catheter on November 22nd, which brought him some relief for a couple weeks. 

On Thanksgiving we were surprised by Patrick! He came home from Seminary, to spend a couple days with us. We had such a nice & "quiet" Thanksgiving with all of our children home!! ❤️❤️❤️

Since then we have enjoyed visits from different family & friends. We also had a priest friend come to visit & he did give Joe Last Rights. We are so Blessed to have so many religious friends around!!  

Then on Dec. 6th Joe's catheter stopped working. He ended up not urinated for about a day & a half. By Friday evening he was having extreme pain & pressure. The nurse was able to come& remove the catheter, giving him instant relief!  

He is still battling constant pain. The Dr. has him on a mix now, of steroids, fentanyl patch & hydrocodones. He also takes between 3-6 Sennes and day, which has been working great to keep everything moving. Most of his days are spent going from his recliner, the bathroom & then back to his bed.

Thanks be to God, this week Joe has been doing better. He had enough energy to go for a walk, was able to go to Mass & do a few little activities with the kids. 

We cannot thank you all enough for all the love, visits, calls & texts, prayers, sacrifices, financial support & meals!! May God reward you all.  

We pray you all have a very Merry Christmas & New Year!! 

Jesus, I trust in You!!

Sr. Wilhelmina, intercede for Joe!

Dear Family & Friends,

I know it has been awhile, so here is the latest update on Joe, as many people have been asking. 

At the end of October we were blessed to all (except for our 2nd oldest, who is in the Seminary) fly up to Idaho, to surprise Joe's dad for his birthday. We had a great time visiting family & friends. 

Both sides of our family, pitched and covered the entire cost of our trip!! Thank you all so much!! Joe's sister loaned us her house for the week & my brother flew back with us, to help navigate the airport with our 9 youngest, since our older kids flew home earlier than us. Wow, we have amazing family!! ❤️

Since being home, Joe has been declining. He found he had lost 10lb during our trip & his pain is constant. He has spent the last couple weekends in bed. He is still working, which he loves; but has to take a break after a couple hours & calls it a day much earlier than normal. 

On Friday, he hadn't had a bowel movement for 3 days, despite using laxatives & stool softeners; so I took him to the ER to check for a blockage. Thankfully, the scans came back good showing No blockage. Since then, has decided to stay on a liquid diet to resolve the constant battle of constipation, which has helped! 

The liquid diet in turn has its own challenges. Joe is also having problems urinating now. He cannot go on his own, without using heat. A hot bath or shower seems to be the only way that can make him urinate. 

He is considering going on Hospice. 

This last week has been especially challenging, as most of our kids have been sick as well. On Saturday night, I ended up back at the ER for the night, with our 8 year old, for labored breathing. Thankfully after steroids, antibiotics & multiple breathing treatments she is doing better.

We are so blessed to be part of a wonderful community, that has been bringing us meals to help ease our day. Thank you! 

We are eternally grateful for all the continued love, prayers, sacrifices, meals & financial support!! We feel truly blessed!!! You all are in our daily prayers as well.

Jesus, I trust in You!   

Dear Friends & Family

We got Joe's scans back last week. Unfortunately he had a couple new spots in the lungs & a spot in his liver. 

Today we talked to the Oncologist. The Oncologist said it was very concerning how quickly these spots popped up, especially after having already gone through so much chemo & intense radiation. He said, from his perspective, a cure is no longer on the table. He gave Joe the option to continue treatment, which would hopefully extend his life for a couple years.  

Considering the quality of life while going though chemo, especially without a cure in sight, Joe has declined treatment. The Oncologist thinks Joe's time will be significantly shorter than 6 months.

Thank you all for your continued prayers & support!!! You all are in our daily prayers as well. We know that God has a plan & that His plans are always perfect! 

Jesus, I trust in You! 

Sr Wilhelmina, pray for us!

Dear Family & Friends,

We received Joe's CT results. His Abdomen scan was great, nothing new. His lungs look good overall, with no new spots. His 1 cancerous nodule has shrunk from 10mm to 7mm. Joe was very disappointed to get this news. The Dr's had given us high hopes that the radiation would completely the nodule, which unfortunately did not happen. 

The MRI is showing the rectal tumor is still 2.1 cm. 

We will meet with the Oncologist on Monday, to discuss Joe's options. 

Jesus, I trust in You!

Sr. Wilhelmina, pray for us!

A quick overdue update.

This cycle of chemo has been difficult. Joe has taken some much needed time off work to get through this. He is in his last round of chemo now, getting his pump off tomorrow. Joe has CT scans on June 4th & his MRI on June 5th. They do have another possible round of chemo scheduled for the 10th, depending on how the scans look. This was a surprise since we thought he was done done.

Dear Friends of the Vogel Family,

Joe's biopsy results came back confirming that the cancer has indeed metastasized to his lung. Thankfully, there are no signs of cancer in the lung lymphnodes, only in the 1 new nodule.

The Oncologist is optimistic that Joe can still get ahead of this!! He is ordering a Signatera Blood Test to check the tumor markers, which he said will tell him a lot. He is prescribing 3 more months of heavy chemo, followed by just a couple of doses of radiation to the lung, to get control of it. More scans will be ordered in about 2 1/2 months to check on the progress.

Joe will be starting chemo again early next week.

Please continue praying for Joe & our family!!

Jesus, I trust in You!

~ Anna

Thank you for all of your continued prayers. Joe has been doing well & we are all enjoying little Wilhelmina Cecilia. She was born December 26th.

Yesterday, Joe had a couple CT scans & an MRI to see how well the treatment had been working.

Today we met with the surgeon. Joe's tumor has shrunk to 2.1cm, which is good.

Unfortunately, we also found out that there is a 1.0 cm new pulmonary nodule in the right lower lobe. This is concerning for metastatic disease. The other pulmonary nodules are unchanged with the largest in the right middle lobe measuring 1.0 cm. They will do a biopsy to confirm, before deciding the next step.

Joe has also developed a hernia. He was looking forward to that being fixed soon, but with the new news, surgery will be delayed.

Next week Joe will be getting a 2nd opinion at The University of Kansas Cancer Center.

We will give another update after Joe's biopsy & 2nd opinion. Please continue storming Heaven for Joe!

Sr. Wilhelmina, intercede for Joe.

Jesus, I trust in You!

~ Anna

Joe finished his last round of intravenous chemo this week. Originally, we were told that he would have a CT scan next week; but the oncologist explained that would not be the case. Joe's tumor markers are looking good (close to normal) & his body is responding well to the treatments. Since Joe's symptoms are improving the oncologist said he will not have a CT scan until after the next phase.  

Phase 2 of this regime is 5 weeks of chemradiation, which he will be starting in a couple weeks. This will be a pill form of chemo combined with radiation M-F. 

Thank you for all the continued prayers & support!! You are all in our daily prayers. God reward you all!

 Sr Wilhelmina, intercede for Joe!

Thank you, all, for your continued prayers & support!! Joe started his 3rd round of chemo yesterday. This round was a bit harder on him, due to quite a bit of nausea. It appears that some good progress is being made though, as his numbers look great & his pain is decreasing. The pressure in the area of the tumor has greatly decreased. We are continuing with some other integrative oncology with advice from friends and family that we are hopeful will mitigate any negative side effects of the chemo. While things are improving..we ask for the continued prayer, invoking Sister Wilhelmina's miraculous intercession for the complete cure of cancer.

Dear Family & Friends,

It has been a busy couple weeks. Joe has had multiple Dr appointments, extra scans, blood work & his port placement; along with a couple ER visits. Each ER visit included another CT scan, checking for a blockage & more blood work. Thankfully, the scans came back ok.

Next week will be another busy week of daily appointments, with driving again an hour to

1 1/2hr each way. His 1st chemo treatment will be Wednesday the 23rd.

Joe's pain has been increasing. He now has pain pills & sometimes has to alternate ibuprofen to keep the pain under control.

Thank you all for your generosity & continued prayers!! You are all in our daily prayers!

Sr. Wilhelmina, intercede for Joe!!

Jesus, I trust in You!

On Tuesday, we had Joe's long awaited appointment with a naturopath oncologist. Her recommendation for treatment is chemo & radiation. This was obviously a complete surprise coming from a naturopath. She is suggesting Vitamin C & any entire list of things to help boost Joe's immune system during treatment.

Joe called his oncologist right away to get the ball rolling. His port will be put in August 11th. We don't have an exact date for the start of chemo, yet.

Joe is continuing to lose weight & is having quite an increase of pain. The last couple weeks, he has difficulty sleeping through the night.

Sr. Wilhelmina, intercede for Joe!

Joe & I are beyond humbled for all the generosity shown towards our family! You all have lifted such a weight off our shoulders!! Thank you so much!! ❤️❤️ God reward you all!! We can only repay you with our prayers. All of our prayer warriors & financial benefactors will be remembered in our perpetual St Philomena Novena & Daily Rosary!! God Bless you all.

Joe is doing well. His pain is becoming a daily occurrence, but thankfully, Tylenol is still helping. We are looking forward to July 25th & the starting of treatments. We are learning that this cancer journey is a continual waiting game. Consultations, scans, results, etc... are always weeks out. God is helping us grow in patience!

Sr Wilhelmina, intercede for Joe's complete healing!