David Rodger Kasteler: Dec. 28, 1966-Nov. 18, 2011

David R. Kasteler, age 44, born December 28, 1966, died of cancer at his home on November 18, 2011. Son of Rodger David and Emma Lou Swinyard Kasteler, husband of Lisa Scharffs Kasteler, father of Lauren, Maegan, and Spencer David Kasteler, brother of Lee (Lucé) Kasteler, Lynda (Christian) Jensen, Jeffrey (Jodie) Kasteler, and Michael “Mika” Kasteler, he was preceded in death by his sister, Jennifer Kasteler, and his grandparents.

Dave attended Olympus High School and graduated from Skyline High School. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Alabama, Birmingham, where he met his future wife and fellow missionary, Lisa. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple in August, 1999. Dave graduated from BYU in Construction Management and supervised commercial construction projects in Northern California, Utah, and throughout the Intermountain West.

He was an avid scouter for over 20 years and received many awards for his service including the Silver Beaver. Over 40 boys received their Eagle under his direction. He was on the board for the Great Salt Lake Council and served on numerous committees and projects.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 21, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at the Lone Peak Stake Center, 11570 South Wasatch Blvd (3600 East). A viewing will be held on Sunday, November 20, from 6-8 p.m. at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 East, 10600 South, in Sandy, Utah, also from 9:30-10:30 prior to services at the church. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Alta High School Fundraiser benefiting Huntsman Cancer Foundation at www.huntsmancancerfoundation.org/altahigh.

Summer Update

Here comes a major update.....very summarized of course.

Things were going great. Dave was going in for chemo every other Monday. Then, summer came. Of course he had a million things to do so he decided to take 5 weeks off of chemo so he didn't have to deal with those side affects. The first thing was vacation with the family. A cruise to Alaska in the middle of June. It was incredible. We had perfect weather and we ate crazy amounts of food. We saw glaciers, went on a hike, went whale watching, saw a lumberjack show, rode a train up to Canada, walked across a huge suspension bridge, went shopping, and went to the Buchart Gardens. It was amazing to get away and have some family time. Dave felt alright most of the time. The back pain was bad a couple days, but he went on all the excursions.

The next week was fairly uneventful. He had some pain but was well enough to work. Then, on Saturday, July 2, Dave went up to Wood Badge camp. Tuesday night was a bad night. He woke up in incredible amounts of pain and waited until morning to get someone to help him. He was in more pain than the day they originally found the cancer. They took him home and then my mom took him up to the emergency room at the University Hospital. After many tests including CT scans and x-rays the found that the tumors in his spine had grown considerably. They also needed a way to dull the pain he was in. They admitted him to the Huntsman Cancer Institute hospital and he was there until Thursday afternoon. They found that his L2 vertebrae collapsed and tumors cover his spine. They decided that he would go in for Radiation Therapy Monday, July 11 through Friday, July 15. Also, they would perform a vertebralplasty surgery on his L2 vertebrae. They did this surgery Friday, July 15 along with a Radiation dose. Pretty much what they do in the surgery is insert a balloon in his spine and fill it with medical cement to fill the space where the vertebrae should be. This should release pressure and hopefully lessen his pain.

The week of radiation was a bad week. He was in a lot of pain so he stayed home the whole week and mostly slept and rested. The surgery has helped his pain quite a bit. He still gets exhausted very easily and sometimes the pain is very intense.

They can't do chemotherapy until one week after radiation so you know what that means.....Chemo on Monday! They are changing the "cocktail" of drugs for his chemotherapy regimen to hopefully shrink the tumors in his spine.

I am very sorry that it has been so long since this thing has been updated. I had to take matters into my own hand and update it myself.

Thank you for all your support, thoughts, and prayers. They are much appreciated and definitely felt. We are so grateful for all that everyone does for us. We are so lucky to have so many incredible people in our lives.

A Day at the Bar

So as all of you know it has been a very long time since I have updated the Blog. I am sorry about that and I have heard from a lot of people that would like me to do an update so here we go.

We have been going along with Chemo every other week and trying to make life as normal as it can be. We continue to be amazed at the great people that are out there who continue to inquire about my health and welfare. The chemo is a very frustrating process especially for someone who suffers from OCD like I do. I guess my OCD does not cause me the suffering it does for my family. The aggravating thing is that every chemo treatment seems to bring side effects that are different and come at different times. This variation is a royal pain for a person who wants things to be the same all the time.

So I had the privilege of having another CT scan on Friday March 25^th. As you may remember this comes with the opportunity to have another (Berry Smoothie) as we have written in the past this name should be outlawed due to the fact that there is nothing smooth about this. Well this was for the most part good news. As far as the tumors (wow that is a bad word) those in the Liver and Lymph Nodes have shrunk. The Tumors in the Colon and the Spine have stayed the same. So at least nothing has increased in size. So from this news Dr Weis my doctor has decided that I need to continue doing what we are doing as far as the Chemo is concerned. So Lisa and I talked about it and we have decided to listen to the doctor for now and to continue with the chemo. So we have scheduled another 12 rounds. At the end of those 12 rounds we will be almost a year into this (at this point you should really be feeling sorry for the chemo nurses).

So I am sitting here having my 12^th treatment and wondering how we got here (it was in Lisa’s car). Life certainly has changed. Today Maegan is spending her day off school with me at the infusion center (I bet the rest of you wish you could have this kind of fun). It is great to have her here with me but unfortunately for her I am wide awake and so she has to sit and listen to me. She is working on an art project (when I am not talking her ear off). The art project is a bird sitting on Barbed wire. I have named the bird LeRoy. The bird looks healthy even though it was created during chemo. Maegan seems to have skills that she has been able to develop even with me as her father.

On a personal note I had one of the greatest experiences of my life on Saturday March 19^th. On that night Troop 1293 held an Eagle Court of Honor for 15 boys that had achieved the rank of Eagle (see Photo). What an amazing experience to be involved in the lives of these boys. These boys and all the others that have come through Troop 1293 have changed my life and in ways I could have never imagined have helped to make my life wonderful. What an amazing privilege it has been to associate with these boys.

Well I will stop for now with a promise to do better at updating the Blog. Thank you again for all the love and support. We continue to be amazed at the great people that are in our lives.

Hi y’all! It’s Maegan signing on to wish you all well. LeRoy, the bird, says hello! Having the day off of school I have been fortunate enough to spend the day with my father and the wonderful nurses. I am constantly amazed at my dad’s humorous attitude. Right now we are comparing the infusion room to a bar. We have the bar maids Keen and Syd who are both exceptional. I think it is more like a plane. We are flying first class baby! The snack cart is making its rounds but has gotten stuck a few stations down. I’m telling you this place has been marvelous and everyone here is so kind and sociable. I am trying to convince my father to draw a large smiley face on his “large and protruding belly” next time he comes. He claims that his stomach escapes his shirt at an astounding rate. I am excited to be here and am really enjoying spending the time with my dad.