Health Update 2

Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement from my update. We really appreciate your support, friendship and prayers.

Today has been a difficult day along this journey. We met with both my oncologist and surgeon to hear the results of my latest scan. Our hope was that the tumor would have responded to the chemotherapy enough to expedite surgery. The results were not what we were hoping for. The scan showed that the tumor has actually grown slightly, rather than retract. It is possible that the tumor grew in the space of time between my first scan and my first chemo treatment, and that the chemo actually worked to keep the tumor from growing more. Regardless, we are not in the place we had hoped to be at after chemotherapy.

Our meeting with the doctors was helpful, and we were able to ask every question that we could think to ask. They have suggested that the next step should be 4-5 treatments of both radiation and oral chemotherapy. We are grateful for the doctor's wisdom and willingness to fight with us.

We remain hopeful, and prayerful. Thank you for joining us in prayer. Our desire is that this next course of treatment will cause the tumor to retract and move us closer to surgery.

Health Update

Let me start by saying that I’m very sorry that it has been some time since I have written anything on this blog! I have been trying to finish writing the second part of my cancer journey, and I hope to have it edited and posted soon. So, until I can get that completed, here is an update on what has been going on with my health.

I started my chemotherapy on Wednesday, December 13. I usually arrive at the infusion lab at the hospital around 9:00am and they hook me up to the first of four bags of liquid poison. Six hours later I leave the hospital and head home with a slow drip pump that continues to dose me around the clock with the chemo. That gets unhooked on Fridays.

My response to the chemo has mainly been severe fatigue, nausea, lack of appetite, metalic taste in my mouth, and some digestive problems. These issues usually show up a couple days after the slow drip pump is finished, which is typically on Sunday. Then begins a really hard week of feeling pretty terrible. I have had periods where I wasn’t able to get out of the bed for three days, couldn’t eat, and had to be isolated because of the risk of getting sick. Even though it has been wretched at times, God’s strength and grace have been sufficient. I have experienced the comfort of many prayers, and have been encouraged by simple gestures of friendship and care. Plus, even though I have lost a lot of weight, I haven’t lost any of my hair!

The initial plan was to have chemotherapy every other week, which means I should have completed this part of my treatment the end of January. But, because of my weight loss and other side effects, I had to delay some treatments by a week or so just to be able to build up my strength for another round.  That first round was the hardest thing I have ever had to endure physically in my life, and Jennifer and I were doubtful that I would be able to make it to the final round. Thankfully, I finished my 4th treatment on February 7.

Step two in the plan is to have a CT Scan to see if the chemo had shrunk the tumor. That happened today, February 20. Tomorrow, February 21, I have a meeting with my oncologist to get the results of the scan. Our hope is that the chemo has affected the tumor enough that we can schedule surgery. We also have a meeting with the surgeon to begin that conversation. There is a possibility that I will have to have four more chemotherapy treatments if the tumor hasn’t responded in a way that makes surgery possible in the next few weeks.

Well, that’s the latest update. Here are some things you can be praying for as we walk into the unknown over the next couple of days:

[1] Clarity to know what course to take when the scan results are revealed.

[2] Wisdom for the doctors to know how to treat my cancer in a way that brings healing to my body.

[3] Physical strength to endure chemotherapy if that needs to continue.

[4] Emotional strength to handle the discouragement and moments of depression that come with this fight.

[5] Peace and contentment for my family as we walk this unknown path.

[6] Normalcy in our daily life and routines as a family as this disease seeks to turn everything upside down.

[7] Healing mercy from the Father, and for us to be patient and content with His grace as He works in us.