6/2/13

Since my last post alot has happened. I was having alot of digestive problems so my GI doctor performed a sigmoidoscopy. He discovered a two ince tumor in my colon that was causing the blockage. I had to go off chemo treatments again in order for a colon surgeon to place a stent in the colon. The stent is supposed to keep the tumor from completely obstucting the colon while the chemo hopefully shrinks it. This week will be my second infusion since the surgery. I have been very uncomfortable since the surgery untill this week. I am feeling much better now and I am so thankful for everones prayers. I will update when I have scan results, I just don't know when that will be.

4/1/13

Wow it's been a long time. Sorry about that. Well back in November of 2011 I had a radioembolization of my liver. It was the very first time it was tried at a Wellstar Hospital although Emory has been doing them for many years. It was a great success. I went from having 20 tumors in my liver to only 3. I actually went for five months without having any treatment at all. Around about September of 2012 my tumor marker numbers increased and my oncologist put me on an oral medication called Afinitor. It was developed for transplant patients but was recently approved for cancer. I took that medication until March of this year when a PET scan revealed that three new tumors had formed in my liver. As of last week I am back to chemo infusion every other week. I will have another scan at the beginning of June to see if this treatment is working.

8/17/11

My last CT scan was great. The tumors have begun shrinking again. The radiologist saw what he thought was a gall stone and my oncologist suggested that I have it checked out before it became an emergency situation. His thought was that it could be dissolved with oral medication. I saw a GI doctor earlier this week after a weekend with abdominal pain and he performed an endoscopy this morning. Before he started he told me that he viewed the CT scan and what the radiologist saw was just a tiny spot of calcification,nothing to worry about. The endoscopy showed esophogitis, a type of acid reflux. I should get relief from acid reducing medication,no big deal at all. So, back to business as usual,chemo every other week and praising God that it is still working so well.

7/12/11

I saw my doctor and had chemo today. The doctor stated that my blood counts and liver function tests were perfect,and he will continue to monitor them closely now that I have added the Avastin back in. I will need one more dose of chemo the week after next and then have a CT performed to see what the liver tumors are doing. I asked him why the doctor he referred my to about the ovarian cyst called me the "amazing patient". He couldn't say for sure other than oncologists have a difficult time with patients like me that have out of the ordinary cancers. They have trouble knowing which direction to take if a treatmwnt is not working, and my treatment has been working wonderfully for a very long time. I quess most of us know what the power of prayer can do.

4/12/11

I saw my doctor today to get the latest CT results. Three of the four tumors measured appeared slightly bigger but he thought it was due to the technology of the CT slice. The radiologist even reported that there was no significant change. My doctor will follow up with a tumor marker test just to be sure. All in all it is business as usual.

2/16/11

I got my CT results yesterday and all was good again. The liver tumors shrank a little bit,my blood counts were good,tumor markers were down and kidney function is back to normal. The doc feels like I should add the Avastin back in. He spoke with the drug company and they felt I could go back on it without my kidney function deteriorating. I suggested I go another eight weeks without it and see what the next CT shows. Dr. Bordoni agreed with my decision and said if I eventually need to go back to the Avastin he would just monitor my kidney function more closely. God is good and I feel Him holding my hand through all of this. Thank you for your continued prayers.

1/20/11

I saw my oncologist yesterday and he stated that the temporary problem with my kidney function concerns him enough to take me off the Avastin permanently. If the tumors begin to grow there are many more therapies to try. I had a candid conversation with him stating that I was beginning year three since my diagnosis and what I should expect. My thoughts were that the tumors would eventually take over the liver and send me into liver failure. He shook his head and said even within the last few months there have been new drugs added that are just astounding. No I can't expect to be cured, but he foresees me having many more years than he first thought. He told me about a male patient about my age with the same sort of cancer as mine that tried a new oral chemotherapy that worked so well he was able to return to work full time. Get this, he does construction work!
Prayer is a powerful thing.