A Great Time Had By All!

So an update on what was to be our 10th Anniv. Staycation...Jeanah came home and told me she had packed my bags and we were to go to Seaside for a 3-day weekend...

We had a great time!

At many places of business in Seaside, there are old-time photos of Seaside's past. We ran across one that looked familiar. I think it's of some old-time gamblers...before there were Indian Casinos on the coast...

Happy Anniversary!!!!

It was one year ago we found out I get to do this battle with cancer. Oh what fun that was! We're hoping for many many more years!!

On that note, tomorrow is our 10th anniversary of marriage!!!! Can you believe it!!?? We're going to celebrate this anniversary all weekend with a "staycation".

We are still lining things up to start a Vitamin C IV drip with Dr. Dramov...hoping this will help assure no more cancer cells grow either "down there" or anywhere else. It's interesting how the intensive Vitamin C makes Hydrogen Peroxide around cancer hot spots and helps the healing process...we hope that's what happens anyway...

Merry Christmas everybody!

No Spread!!!

I just spoke with Dr. Dramov, my Naturopathic doctor, about some other happenings, and the potential ability to get back on the Vitamin C I.V. at little to no cost to me. That would be great if that's what we decide is best.

In any case, I asked him if he had the results of my PET scan from Tuesday, and he did although he had not looked through it yet. He examined it and said that according to the summary there is no sign of any metastatic disease and the tumor is about in the same state it was in two months ago, although the SUV was slightly higher.

He encouraged me to discuss this with Dr. Chang as well (which obviously is the plan for next Tuesday).

Anyway, thought I'd pass along what is seemingly good news!

Right Place, Wrong Time

I got the day mixed up somehow for my PET scan and went on Tuesday Nov 17 rather than Wednesday Nov 18. This was not good because I couldn't have done the test on Wednesday due to work schedule and the fact I already made special arrangements to be off on Nov 17... Well, they were able to schedule me to do the PET scan at 9:30 which meant waiting for 2 hours, but I survived and will take better note of my appointments from now on. I should learn the results of this PET scan next Tuesday at 3:30 when I meet with Dr. Chang.

HCG Test Results

Just got the test results from the HCG test (Philippines). It is at encouraging that the measurment is the same as the test in June. We are going to try to do this test every 8 weeks or so to monitor it "serially" as the doctor suggests below.

Your latest HCG test result on 11-6-09 is: Index +/- 4,(52.2 Int. Units) This is within the positive range. It shows no change as compared to the last result on 6-9-09(52.2 IU). Results can reach as much as 10,000 int. units or more especially in testicular cancer, some uterine cancers(H mole and choriocarcinoma) and germ cell tumor. However, most other cancers have result from 50 to 80 or 90 int. units. The test cannot stage the cancer but when done on a serial basis, say once a month or once every two months, the progress of the condition can be monitored.

INTERPRETATION of READINGS
of Chorionic Gonadotrophin Urinalyses

Index Int. Units Reading Interpretation
0 zero (-) Negative
1-3 1-49 (+/-) Doubtful
4 50-400 (+) Faintly Positive
5 401-999 (++) Definitely Positive
6 1000-3000 (+++) Moderately Positive
7 3001-5000 (++++) Markedly Positive
8 5001-10,000 (+++++) Very Markedly Positive
9 over 10,000 (++++++) Excessively Positive

Round 3

Just so ya'll know what's up...November 17 I'm getting another PET/CT scan to see what the status of the cell mass is. We should know the results by about Nov 24. We're hoping to see shrinkage in the cell mass and a lower activity level than the PET/CT in September. That would be encouraging. We're also really hoping to see no spread and no other potential "hot spots".

Also, we have sent in the HCG urine test to the Philippines. We're expecting the results for this to be in this week sometime.

Will post again when this comes in. Until then...be safe (but have fun)!

Watching and Waiting

Just a quick entry here...

I'm sending an HCG test to the Philippines today (see earlier posts for description). Should get the results back (via email) in about 2 weeks. Last 2 tests were in the low 50's...40's means "cancer free".

I'm also scheduled for another PET/CT scan on Nov. 17. We'll know the result of that the next week when I go to the Oncologist on Nov 24.

Praying for the continued shrinkage of size and activity of the tumor!

How's your habitus?

I'm just going to start by typing exactly the "findings" section from the most recent PET/CT scan...

Findings: Tracer distribution in the head and neck appears normal. Tracer distribution in the chest is also normal. No tracer avid pulmonary nodules are seen. Prominent lymph nodes are present in the mediastinum which are not metabolically active. There is heterogeneous uptake of tracer in the liver. Some of this is due to limited resolution secondary to the patient's body habitus. No definite focal abnormalities are seen. Again noted is a mass in the leftward and posterior wall of the rectum. The mass demonstrates increased tracer activity with maximal standardized uptake value of 8.7. This is significantly decreased from the prior study in which the SUV was 21.5. The size has also decreased from approximately 2.9 x 5.3 cm to 1.8 x 3.4 cm. No definite lymphadenopathy is evident in the abdomen or pelvis.

That is to say, sometimes doctors say things in strange ways...c'mon doc, just tell me I'm fat, OK :)

So, since 1/2/09 (the last PET scan...I've had CT scans since, but not PET) the SUV value has gone to almost 1/3 and the size of the inflamatory mass has shrunk to about 1/3 the size. This doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet, though, because the Oncologist says he likes to see the SUV under 2.5 and not be able to see the mass at all, but of course it could just be mostly scar tissue... He still recommends we discuss surgery with the surgeon, but he does not recommend any Chemo at this time because there is no spread and the Chemo is not as effective on the radiated mass because the blood vessels are severely compromised around it due to the radiation.

So, the options are: A) Have surgery to remove the tumor (basically the same risks as before) B) Wait 2 months and have another PET scan to see what the state of the tumor is at that time.

We are not taking this lightly and are definitely considering the options. Whatever we do, I am continuing with the Budwig and suplements. We also plan to send in for another HGC test in the Philippines.

Please pray for us as we make decisions that we would have wisdom to make the right decisions for me and us and that we would have grace to accept the outcome of the decisions whatever that may be.

God is good!

As always, feel free to ask me questions if you have them.

Learning to be (a) patient

My visit Monday with my Oncologist was a lesson in being (a) patient! I got there at 1:50 for my 2:00 appointment, got my blood drawn (they do this every visit) at 2:10, then waited until 3:00 until they put me in the exam room. At 3:40 the doctor came in...next time maybe I should just show up at 3:30...

We talked about the last CaT scan and he said there is no visible sign of cancer. However, this doesn't mean there isn't microscopic cell growth somewhere in my body.

He said it is tough to tell what the next step should be because their studies don't follow the path we've chosen. People in my situation who are part of a study go for surgery. Since we didn't follow the "normal protocol" the statistical numbers are fuzzier.

He said had I gone for surgery, he would suggest doing a 4-month round of Chemo where I go for Chemo for 2 days every 2 weeks for 8 cycles. He said that usually gives a 30-40% better chance of non-recurrence.

He said he doesn't know how he would work with Dr. Dramov (my Naturopathic doctor) because there just aren't the studies available in that genre of medicine (because the FDA doesn't back it and neither does Big Pharma).

Anyway, we will schedule another PET/CT scan in the next few weeks and then see Dr. Chang again the end of Septemeber. We need to make a decision whether to go through more Chemo or just to monitor at this point. Basically, if I decide to do more Chemo, I need to start sometime in October.

We will be researching the effects of the particular Chemo he suggests using and see if it sounds like a good idea at this point. Right now, I'm kinda 50/50 because I know some of the potential effects from reading before, but I didn't have any besides fatigue and diarhea before.

Please pray for us that we will have wisdom in this tough decision.

No News is Good News

We don't have a lot of news on the Cancer front at this time. I am still following the Protocol and I have a meeting with my primary oncologist, Dr. Chang, on Aug 31.

The Barn is coming along, and everybody wants pics, but I don't have time to take or download, but maybe in the next few days...

For anybody who doesn't know yet...Jeanah is soon going to be re-employed at Integrated Services where she worked previously. She will again be the "best receptionist in the world" there. Although we will both be working there, we will not be carpooling as I will remain on the 4:30 am shift into the foreseable future (by my choice).

Please pray we would know what the "next step" is in the cancer treatment process and for wisdom for us and my doctors.

God Bless!

Yes, We're still here...

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. We're still here! I'm feeling quite well and we're building the barn in a frenzy. We have some help here this week and we're about ready to put up the roof trusses.

As far as the cancer goes, we're in a wait and see mode. I'm still doing the Budwig protocol and trying to eat as healthy as possible and taking supplements.

The last CaT scan showed no cancer growth or spread. I'm feeling as well as I've felt in several years.

I'm going to try to blog on at least a weekly basis whether there is something new to report or not.

Love ya'll!

What...Do you live in a barn?

...Not yet...on an aside from the cancer topic, Jeanah and I are building a "barn" in our back yard and we may live in it later if we are able and rent out our house which is WAY bigger than we need. Things aren't selling right now, so we took our property off the market.

On the cancer topic: I talked with the 2nd opinion surgeon yesterday. There is even more risk to doing the surgery that we didn't know before, like the stoma, hernias, infections, etc., etc.,...which are all exacerbated by my size, of course, so we have decided not to do surgery. This was not an easy decision, but we both feel very comfortable that this is the decision that is right for us.

Now, we need to pray that little bugger will shrink, disappear, and be gone for good with the help of various methods we will be undertaking. These will/may include the following: change in diet/exercise routine, the Budwig protocol, dietary supplements, weekly vitamin C IV drips, chemotherapy, radiation. We will be working out between the naturopath and the oncologist (and our insurance company) what the best course of action is from this point forward.

Results: the most recent HCG test came back with a 52.2 level. The first one was a 53.0. While this is still in the positive range, it is encouraging to see that it went down after just 6 weeks of working on things. We will test again in about 2 months or so...probably every 3 months until it gets under 50. 50 is the "magic number" it seems for this test. After it's under 50, probably test every year.

The CT scan I had on June 2 showed no growth and no other "hot spots".

For both these results, we PRAISE THE LORD!

I'm feeling well, and am able to help out around the house and with the construction project. I probably only have about 80% of normal stamina, but it's getting better day by day.

If you know anybody who would like to rent a 3000sf 4bed/3bath home outside Canby, contact us, we would like to talk with them. We're shooting for an October time frame on the "barn".

Long Time, No Blog

I've been busy...sorry...I got a new computer at home and have been working on setting it up, etc...

So last Tuesday, 6/2, I had a CT scan. We won't know the results until Tuesday 6/9 or Friday 6/12 when I meet with my oncologists.

Here's the upcoming schedule:

Tue 6/9, Dr. Crocenzi, 2nd opinion oncologist, 12:00pm
Fri 6/12, Dr. Chang, primary oncologist, 2:00pm
Wed 6/17, Dr. Cavanaugh, 2nd opinion surgeon, 10:30am
???sometime, Dr. Dramov, Naturopath, Vitamin-C IV Drip

We haven't heard back on the HGC Urine test (the one we send to the Phillipines). Will let ya'll know when that comes back. We're hoping it's under 50!

On another front, we're probably taking our house off the market soon...pray that will work out...and Jeanah had a job interview today...should know more in a few days...???

A Rock and A Hard Place

Thank God it's my birthday!! I want 39 more of them!! (at least). I went to Dr. Hansen, Radiation Oncologist, today. I did not get exactly the news I had anticipated. He did his examination and said the tumor has definitely shrunk some even from last time (2 months ago) but that it's probably done shrinking (it will only usually shrink for 1-3 months after radiation). He said while he can do more radiation, he would recommend I go for surgery at this point. He also said he could completely shrink the tumor with radiation, but that would almost certainly cause anal incontinence and could cause impotence. These are exactly the symptoms we are afraid of with surgery. A rock and a hard place...

His opinion was that the surgery will put the non-recurrence rate at about 90% while doing a bit more radiation and then doing more chemotherapy would only give a 65% chance of non-recurrence. Also, if what is there is indeed cancerous, there is a 0% chance of non-recurrence.

He is going to put me in contact with another colorectal surgeon to get a 2nd opinion about the surgery. I'm also going to see Dr. Crocenzi (medical oncologist, Dani Arthur's boss) on June 9 to see what he says. I have a CT scan scheduled for June 2. This will show activity of cells. If we only see the one "hot spot" that's good, and would mean the cancer has most likely not spread, but if there are others, we would probably opt out of surgery, because generally that would mean the cancer has metastacized, and surgery won't control it.

There is more data to gather and more people to chime in on various topics.

Please pray we will have a clear cut answer (pun intended) by mid-June that we feel comfortable with.

ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER GOD GAVE US TO CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

We saw the Medical Oncologist yesterday for the first time in 6-weeks. He was a bit surprised that I hadn't had surgery yet, but after I explained to him how I wanted to give some alternative methods a chance, and that I'm not real hip on the potential side effects of the surgery, he indicated that possibly surgery is not the right choice in my case.

He said because of my size, and the fact that we're not 100% certain the cancer is contained inside the rectum and potential complications of surgery, he seems torn between doing surgery and not doing surgery in my case. Generally, he would always recommend surgery at this point, but since there are other circumstances at play, he "is OK with me not having surgery."

He said because I am having second thoughts about the surgery, he thinks we ought to consider the other option which is to do cleanup with radiation and chemo.

The way I understand the percentages of recurrence in his estimation are this:

1) If we just do diet change and general lifestyle modification at this point and nothing else, I probably have somewhere in the 80% chance range of not having a recurrence.

2) If I go for another "cleanup" round of radiation and chemo, my chances go up 5% or so. So we're probably around 85%. While this may have tough short-term side effects, there are not as many potential long-term side effects. There is some potential for regional nerve damage and other side effects similar to if you had a burn in the region.

3) If I go for surgery, the percentage of non-recurrence goes up to the 85-90% range, but would require a permanent colostomy, and would have around a 10-20% chance of permanent impotence and/or bladder control loss.

He said if we are going to do surgery, it should be done ASAP, or within the next 4 weeks because at this stage the longer we wait the more trouble there will be from scaring.

I am leaning heavily toward the first two options. Really the only downside to crossing off #3 would be if later on I have recurrence and regret that I did not have the surgery. However, on the flip side of that, I could have the surgery, they could remove the tumor (and my rectum and anus), do the pathology and not find any more cancer. That would really make me regret :)

In the weeks to come, I will be discussing these options with my 2nd opinion Medical Oncologist, my Radiation Oncologist, and my Naturopathic Doctor (my primary care physician). We are in a "data mining" operation right now and will not make a final decision until we have enough information to make a decision we can be comfortable with.

There is no black-and-white answer here. I just have to make a decision I feel most comfortable with and proceed from there.

As always, your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement are greatly appreciated.

Move More!

So, now that we've kinda got the eating thing down, and we are doing very well at it, it's time I get to the exercise thing!

I don't always have the energy to exercise, but when I do, I need to JUST DO IT!

We have a stationary bike, and we have lots of yard work :) (right, Jeanah)

We see Dr. Chang, the Medical Oncologist tomorrow for a follow up. Last we talked with him, we were still planning surgery (6 weeks ago). Should be interesting to see what he has to say about the path we've chosen to this point! I'll let ya'll know how it goes! We're hoping there is a non-invasive way he can test to compare how much cancer I have in my body...

No News is Good News (they say)

...whoever "they" are...I hope "they" are right. We have just been pluggin' along with our nutritional approach and the Budwig protocol these last few weeks. It's going pretty well. We've learned to eat more simply and are learning some new things that help us get the nutrition we need without the stuff that can cause inflamation.

A long with the nutrition and Budwig, I am also taking A LOT of suplemental pills. I just counted them and, well, just for the morning, it's 36 pills. That's a considerable amount to swallow!

I'm feeling pretty well these days. Getting my strength back and feeling better each day. The last 2 weeks I battled a cold, but I think that's over and done with. My immune system is supposedly getting stronger. Hopefully it's strong enough to ward off any additional cancer stuff and even to destroy the cancer that currently exists along with the Budwig destroying the tumor as well.


Love ya'll!

Sand, Surf, and Sunshine

We had a great time at the coast. Mostly we bummed around the condo and went to the beach and on a couple drives. It was a good, relaxing weekend....if only for that reason I'm glad I didn't have surgery last week because we wouldn't have gone to the beach then!

Still sticking to the protocol. Jeanah is getting real good at being creative with stuff and we're going to Bob's Red Mill this afternoon to see what types of baking mixes we can use rather than your traditional flours (barley, rye, oats, wheat, spelt) or even rice flour. These have complex carbs I'm not supposed to have very often.

Still feelin' good...just hoping the Swine Flu doesn't kill us all before I'm able to test my cancer again...

On Beach 53 in the Philippines

Jeanah and I have been talking about going to the Philippines next winter for vacation and spending some time on the beach...

Well, we're close to that this weekend.

1) We're going to Neskowin (on the Oregon Coast, just north of Lincoln City)
2) I just got the result of a cancer test that we sent away to the Philippines. This test is to see whether I have cancer and whether the cancer is growing, etc. It was developed by Dr. Navarro in the Philippines and very few people do the test in the USA because they are setup to do tests on blood serum rather than urine. There are many places that say the urine test (the one I just did) is more accurate, and indicates cancer sooner.

Anyway, it's less expensive and easier to send the test to the Philippines than to someplace in the USA where it is done.

So, my number was (+4, 53) which means that with a confidence of +/- 4, my HCG count is 53. They say a Zero means no likelihood of cancer, 0-49 is doubtful/unlikely that there is cancer, and 50+ is indicative of active cancer. This test was done prior to starting on the Budwig protocol and dietary changes.

We will be sending another sample in about 6 weeks. It will be interesting to see what happens with that test.

Dr. Navarro warns that this test, although accurate, should be done in conjunction with CT scan and biopsy if possible. What we want as of about June 1st is: 1) An HCG indicator number of under 50 2) No CT indication of cancer 3) A biopsy that shows no cancer (this will be the most difficult to get, I think, because it will require another sigmoidoscopy. "they" may be hesitant to do this since we already have a cancer diagnosis...we'll see...)

Anyway, the 53 number is encouraging in that we're so close to the 0-49. The "Cancer Free" book author said he has seen people with numbers up to 1000 and they have become cancer free...

Love you all, and have a great weekend!

Got Milk? (NO)

In the past 10 days we have completely changed the way we eat. It has been kinda fun and really has made us think about the way Americans generally eat and how we were hurting our bodies before with too much animal protein and not enough fiber. I have been less hungry and have felt better in the past few days than I can remember ever feeling...

Before, when we would diet, if work was having pizza on Friday or something like that, I would get a real hunger pang and NEED to have some. Yesterday, they had pizza for a birthday party and I was easily able to bypass.

This is all to say that I really do believe my body is responding in some fashion to this new strategy. I haven't lost any weight, but it's only been 10 days. I can feel that I'm FEELING better though and that's a good start.

Please continue to pray that the protocol will shrink the tumor into oblivion. This is what we need to happen in the next 8 weeks so it will be a no-brainer whether to have surgery or not.

Love you all!

Course Diversion or Delay

After reading about the proposed surgery and discussing it with the surgeon (yesterday) we have discovered that there is a "9-22% chance" of some pretty unacceptable permanent collateral damage. These include potential loss of bladder control and impotence. Granted, these are better than death, but so is a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I wish they would have told me about this weeks and weeks ago so I would have known about it. I had to find out about it on the internet, and then confirm this with the surgeon.

This has caused us to really take a step back and consider what exactly we're doing here. We have done extensive research (Jeanah has been a reading machine...and if you know Jeanah, you know how fast she can read). I have read the summary portions of things she has read, including a great book called "Cancer Free" written by the husband of a lady who died of cancer in 1994. He was frustrated with the cancer treatment "machine" we have today.

Anyway, the gist of this is he did a LOT of research and came to the conclusion that the best treatment of cancer is the Johanna Budwig regimine. This is what I have started in the past week. Just google Dr. Johanna Budwig and you will find MANY sites to read about it.

I discussed delaying the surgery with Dr. Lee yesterday. He says it is "OK" to delay until mid-June or so. We are going to do this and give the Budwig protocol a chance to work and clear my cancer. If we can do this, and eliminate the need for surgery, great. If not, we can do surgery, but we are hoping and praying surgery will not be needed.

The Budwig protocol may sound kinda "pie-in-the-sky" but there is actually very good science behind it. Including some input by Linus Pauling, and being a good Oregon State fan and graduate, I of course know about the contributions he made to science and medicine.

Yes, I'm planning to meet with both my oncologists to discuss this. I will also meet with a naturopathic doctor who treats cancer to get their input. It's good to have options!

If you are the reading type, and would like to read the "Cancer Free" book, contact me and I can email you the PDF.

Wisdom and Comfort...PLEASE!!

After we left the surgeon's office last week, neither of us felt real comfortable, but we didn't know we both were feeling this way until Thursday. We are feeling a bit rushed by the surgery prospect on April 22. The entire appointment on Tuesday felt rushed, and just didn't feel...right.

We will be contacting Dr. Lee to discuss this next week and to discuss postponing surgery, maybe as much as 8-10 weeks...or maybe entirely.

In the mean time, we have been doing research online and in books to see what other alternatives there are at this point.

There are some options!! We have to do more research, but we feel like holding off on surgery for a bit to see what we can find out about these other methods of getting rid of cancer.

If, after discussing with Dr. Lee next week, we still feel comfortable with postponing the surgery, we probably will do it.

Basically, we don't want to do the surgery unless it gives a better survival chance than any of the other alternatives. We are going to treat it as the last resort because of potential collateral damage that can happen, and the lifestyle change it would require.

More to come...

Artificial Anus? Who Knew!?

It has been confirmed that I will need surgery. The surgeon said the tumor has shrunken considerably, but there is no reason to wait any longer, so we have scheduled Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 9:00am for the surgery. It will be at Providence Hospital on 49th and Glisan, downtown Portland. I will also need to be off work on 4/21 as there is some "preparation" to do and I won't be able to drink the preparation fluid and work in the same day.

As far as I know at this point, I will be in the hospital for 5-7 days. I'm guessing it will take another week or so to recover so I'm guessing I may be out of commission until about May 11 or so. I then have an appointment on May 12 with my Oncologist to start another round of Chemotherapy just to make certain we get all of it!

The good news is that there is very high probability (around 90%) that what we are doing, including surgery, will cure the Cancer and I won't have to worry about it spreading to my Liver or Lungs which is how people die from Rectal Cancer.

The bad news is the tumor is still too close to the end of the track and I will need to have a colostomy performed. This is not the end of the world, and is what I've kind of expected as the predicted result, although it really isn't the news we wanted today.

I will be seeing a "stoma" nurse sometime in the next week to discuss what this will mean down the line.

Also, as an encouragement, there are real advances in the "artificial anus" technology field recently...who knew!? The surgeon said once I am confirmed "cancer free" (whatever that means) I would be a prime candidate for that type of procedure because of my age.

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers and caring words. They do wonders for my soul.

The Scoop on the Down Low

Today we saw Dr. Chang, the medical oncologist. We know a little more than we did before, but not much. The CaT scan last week doesn't indicate any metastatic indicators, but we are waiting on a comparison between the CaT scan last week at St. Vincent's with the CaT scan in December at Meridian Park. Dr. Chang is still concerned about some visible "hot spot" nodes in the Meridian Park CaT scan. He wants to see what has happened with these when they compare the two.

Here are some possible scenarios:

1) If the nodes are smaller or gone: We will assume these nodes also may be cancer and that they responded to the low dosage of Chemo I was on during radiation. We will do surgery on the local tumor in the rectum and remove it. Then will do aggressive Chemo treatment to make certain all possible peripheral cancer is taken care of.

2) If the nodes are the same (this sounds like the best): They may or may not be cancer, but hoping not. Still, will do surgery and Chemo, same as above just to be sure.

3) If the nodes are larger: We will assume they are cancerous. We will re-evaluate the wisdom of having surgery at this point because if there are other growing tumors we would need to weigh the risk of having surgery with the risk of leaving the local tumor there for a while and seeing how it responds to heavier dosage of Chemo along with the other tumors. In other words, if we were certain there were other growing cancers, we would not necessarily do surgery because once the genie is out of the bottle and growing, it may not make sense to go through the pain of surgery at this time.

It sounded like because the second CaT scan didn't indicate metastatic evidence, Dr. Chang was leaning toward option #1 or #2 above. Long term, these are better because they give a chance at cure rather than just treatment.

I have to reschedule the appointment with the surgeon, hopefully for later this week or next week. We want to have the CaT scan comparison in his hands so he can also help us make judgment.

At this point, it seems like a surgery would be possibly 4-6 weeks from now...so around mid-May (happy birthday to me :) We are still very uncertain exactly how involved the surgery will be and how long it will knock me down for.

I'm feeling pretty well now and have lost a little weight, so that's good. Trying to be more active and get stronger in the next 4-6 weeks will be important!

The side effects from radiation are about 90% healed I'd say, but the skin feels different from the old...it's smoother and, well, just different. Hopefully it continues to heal and get back to normal.

That's all for now...see ya!

Continued Shrinkage

Just got back from the radiation oncologist.

After examination, he said that the tumor has shrunken quite a bit and has receded up, away from the end of the canal, both of which are things we have been praying will happen...

This is very welcome news!

I have a CaT scan tomorrow morning at 6:45 which will tell us more when I visit the medical oncologist next Tuesday...

Appointments up the Wazzoo

So I have 4 doctor appointments in the next 7 days. Hopefully by the end of this we will have a better idea what the next step in the process will be.

Today, March 25, 10:00, Dr. Hanson...radiation oncologist...follow-up
Thurs, March 26, 6:45am, St. Vincent's...doing CaT scan to see if the tumor shrunk and if there are any other hot spots...
Tues, March 31, 3:15pm, Dr. Chang...medical oncologist...discuss and interpret CaT scan...follow up
TBD, TBD, Dr. Patrick Lee, colo-rectal surgeon...to discuss possible surgery

Will post more as I know more.

The Beavers play Stanford in hoops for the fourth time this year tonight...hoping for another exciting win!!

Feelin' Groovy

This week I have felt pretty well. I have decided to give-it-a-go and go into the office to work on Monday and see what that feels like. I suppose the only real difference there is being 150' from the bathroom rather than 15', but we shall see.

We had the first realtor show our house to a client on Saturday. That was exciting, and we are praying for an offer, but trying not to be over-anxious.

I have several Doctor appointments this week as well as a CaT scan, but I need to call on Monday to find out the specific times and days because in all the clean up around our house I have misplaced the appointment cards.

Thanks ya'll for you continued support and prayers!

It's Pure Madness

No, I'm not talking about March Madness, although that wondrous event is about to start.

I'm talking about so many people I know right now going through transitions, changes, difficult times, and saying the end of '08 wasn't one to remember.

We're nearing the end of the first 1/4 of '09 and it seems like a better year so far!!

I'm healing nicely...at least on the outside. I can't...um...really see on the inside...(thankfully I'm not that flexible). I'm feeling more energetic and more "normal" than I have in the last couple months. There's still some skin flaking, but there's not really any pain anymore (itching sometimes).

Visits to the little room becoming less urgent and less frequent...almost normal! Woo Hoo!

Will post again when there's more news...love ya'll

When Life Gives Lemons, Buy a Beetle

Life is short and there's nothing like a bit of the "butt cancer" to make ya realize that. Jeanah and I were talking about ways we can make sure we can live life to the fullest and make sure we do everything we want to do on this side of eternity.

I think Jeanah came up with a great idea...make sure we drive a "fun" car. We decided to buy a VW New Beetle this weekend and will be selling the "mom rocket" (Ford Windstar). We got the Diesel TDI that gets 49+ MPG because Jeanah is practical too.

The Bug is definitely a fun car (it's a manual tranny) to drive and just to look at. We had to go to Redmond, WA to get the right color (Batik Blue).

As for me...we found out that the gas stations in downtown Seattle don't have public restrooms...don't worry, we chose not to give them our fuel business either, but it was touch-n-go there for a while! Thank goodness all McDonald's do have public restrooms still.

I was a bit weary driving up Friday and back Saturday, but after sleeping in on Sunday, I'm feeling OK.

My Shoes Smell Like Gym Socks

Today I worked from 4:30 to 10:30, not the normal 4:30-1:00 because the realtors had to kick us out to do a realtors walk-through. They had 16 local realtors come through...they said that was about 1/2 of the realtors in Canby...a good turn out...

All the realtors gave good reviews and liked the house. The only negative was that one closet smells funny. Come to find out. a pair of my particularly well worn shoes is the culprit...thankfully we have a burn circle in our back yard.

Well, we hope some of those realtors have clients!! In case you know somebody interested in a house in Canby, or you just want to see our house...here's the link: Canby House

Now that the house is ready to go, Jeanah has started looking more thoroughly for a job in the Tigard area. She is the best receptionist in the world, so if you know of somebody looking for a receptionist or administrative assistant type, give her a yodel!

Now, as for my health...still struggling with having to visit the little room...which is a bit frustrating, but hoping this subsides soon! No new "sunburn" to report, still trying to take care of the old. Am trying to get rest and eat right, etc., which are two huge parts to the healing process. Haven't shaved in days...probably need to (?TMI?)

A couple OSU hoops wins in the SoCal area this weekend would do well for my spirits as well...

Work Days part Deux

We had a bunch more wonderful people out in the last 2 days to help out around our house. Got a bunch of painting done inside and out and the place really looks sharp. That was great because although Thursday and Friday I felt pretty well, Saturday and today I felt/feel pretty lousy. The "sunburn" continues even though I'm not currently getting radiation. Hoping that subsides soon... Also, still struggling with "going" fairly often and that can really sap you after a while!

Jeanah has done a phenomenal job getting our house ready for Open House at 1:00 today. We are going over to my parents' house this afternoon and handing our house over to the realtors. Go, Sell, Sell, Sell!!!

An interesting experience we had this week was when we wanted Chinese food Thursday night, but we knew our standby Chinese restaurant in Canby (Hoi Tin) has recently closed down (we assume due to the poor economy). There are several other Chinese restaurants in town... There is one called "Wally's Chinese" which quite honestly looks like (inside and out) nobody has done maintenance on the building in 20 years and I've always been afraid to try it. Jeanah looked it up online and it has very good reviews. We braved the building and went. It is now our new standby. In fact, we probably enjoyed it better than Hoi Tin. Just goes to show you that outward appearances aren't everything they're cracked up to be!

No Right Answer

We met with Dr. Lee, the colorectal surgeon yesterday afternoon. (I'm getting to meet so many nice people these days). Dr. Lee says new conventional wisdom is to wait at least 8-10 weeks after radiation prior to doing surgery. This allows for maximum healing. He also said there are several surgery options and there is no one option that is the "right answer", but we must discuss the options and come up with what is best in my situation.

I'm fine with this added time because it will allow for us to get more definitive answers and get all the options out on the table. This is a bit scary, but he said that currently, the tumor is still close enough to the end of the line that he is concerned whether he would be able to remove the remaining cancer tissue and save...well, my ass...but it is possible that it will continue shrinking in the weeks to come.

We are praying for even more great healing in the weeks/months to come for that area. We will be getting a CAT scan in about 3-4 weeks and I will see the surgeon again in 4-5 weeks.

I have been prepared that I will probably be experiencing symptoms from the radiation for several weeks to come. Praying I am able to heal, get some rest, and be pretty well "back to normal" by the time we need to decide about the next round whether that be more chemo (with or without radiation?) and/or surgery...or who knows...last night President Obama promised to find a cure for cancer in our lifetime.

More later...

Graduation Day!

Tomorrow is "Graduation Day" from the Radiation Therapy. I met with Dr. Hansen today and he said everything looks great. He manually checked the size of the tumor and said whereas it used to be convex (protrude into the rectum) it now is concave and it just seems like some minor scar tissue there. This is excellent news to say the least!!

Dr. Hansen is also much more enthusiastic about me having surgery in the next 4-6 weeks than Dr. Chang is. Dr. Hansen has looked at the same scans as Dr. Chang and he doesn't think there is any reason not to have surgery.

Well, I meet with the surgeon, Dr. Lee, today at 2:45, so I'll see what he thinks. I'm sure, being a surgeon, he will want to do surgery...

This is all to say, we need prayer for wisdom in the decision making process in the weeks and months to come.

Dr. Hansen says the effects of the radiation will be "percolating" in me for the next 3-4 weeks and the "sunburn", fatigue, diarrhea, etc., will probably get slightly worse before it gets better. At least I will have the Chemo bag disconnected tomorrow and won't have to worry about that for a while!

Pray for SUNSHINE on Saturday!! We have another work crew coming and some of what we need to do is outdoor painting.

Slight Plan Shift

So I have two more days of Radiation and then I get to let my body heal for a while! Yippee!

Today Dr. Chang said he would like to have another CAT scan in 4 weeks after I heal some and see what kind of damage we did to the tumor and make certain it has not metastacized. He says that he would hate to put me through the surgery to remove what's left if we found out shortly that it has indeed spread so we're just going to play it cautious in that way.

It's tough to wait on that decision, but we will trust it to God and see what happens in the weeks to come. So, it may be surgery in 4-6 weeks, or maybe another round of Chemo (higher dosage, no radiation) starting in about 4 weeks.

In any case, my job is to 1) Heal 2) Lose some weight. We are going to make a concerted effort to eat better, and less, and to move more. As that has been a lifelong struggle for me, I appreciate your prayers!

Wonderful Wonderful People

We had a bunch of people from ISI (where I've worked 16 years and Jeanah worked for almost 8) come out to our house and do a BUNCH of work today in preparation for selling the house. More are coming next Saturday. Incredible!

We plan to put it officially on the market on Thursday and have an Open House next Sunday. So, if anybody wants to buy it at a discount before Thursday, let us know! :)

It's always a shame to have your house looking its best an know that you're doing it to sell it rather than some other fun reason. But, we believe it's for the best for us to have a bit of a living space lifestyle change.

I have 3 more radiation sessions left, and I'm very happy to be done. I've been feeling lousy the last few days. I'm very glad not to have to go another 2 or 3 weeks or something like that.

My skin has actually been healing some from the sunburn now that I've been using the "wonder cream" and have been able to control the number of daily movements to some extent.

We will be visiting with Chaz (our former foster son) tomorrow. We are very excited to see him. We talked to him on the phone for about 10 minutes on Thursday and he seemed very excited to see us as well. The foster placement he is in sounds perfect for him...a real answer to our prayers!

Closing in on Round 1

6 More days of Radiation until Round 1 is done.

Dr. Hansen and I discussed the "sunburn" and it's not bad enough that we think we need to take a pause so we're going to push through until next Wednesday, the original goal date.

My blood numbers are very good and so we're not too worried about the Chemo right now. I do have some fatigue and it gets steadily worse each week, but once we reach the peak next week it should start getting better!

Dr. Hansen and Dr. Chang are discussing options for a surgeon. We think the surgery to remove whatever is left of the tumor will be around 4 weeks after next Wednesday. (Sometime between 4 and 6 weeks, but Dr. Hansen indicated he would like to see it happen closer to 4 weeks). So that's about March 25 or so...mark your calendars :)

Pray that we would find a very skilled surgeon who has done this type of surgery many times previously. This one is going to be a bit tricky because of proximity to the end of the track (which we want to keep around if possible!!...although right now sometimes I think pooping in a bag might not be such a bad thing...I'm sure later I will feel differently).

Catching up with me

Monday's visit with Dr. Chang was uneventful...still boring (is good). The "sunburn" down south is getting to the point where the skin is very irritated and there sometimes is a slight bleeding. Dr. Chang said this is normal (doesn't seem normal to me :) and I will talk to Dr. Hansen, the Radiation Oncologist about it Tuesday. Blood counts = normal, but slightly lower

Tuesday, got some wonderful "Silver Sulfadiazine" cream which is specifically for treating burns, says the pharmacy. It does soothe the pain, but the bummer is I am not supposed to use it in the morning before going to radiation, so I'll hurry home!

The radiation is "catching up with me" as I was quite fatigued Tuesday and didn't work at all. Mostly just laid on the couch by the fire and ate a few times. Now I know what it's like to be a cat.

Today (Wednesday) I'm feeling much better and have been/will be working...

Pizza could be the Cure

I'm not convinced that Wallery's pizza is the cure for cancer, but isn't it nice to think about!

This morning I didn't feel like going to church, but we watched a bit of a TV preacher, not because we felt like we needed to, but because he looked...interesting. He said something that was striking to me.

"If God had not put Goliath in David's path, and David had not chosen to go up against him, David would still be a shepherd, not a king and the patriarch to the Messiah."

His premise was that God puts obstacles in our path to take us from season to season in our lives and when we run into an obstacle, we know it's time for a new season. Kinda what I thought.

We're just trying to beat this giant right now by taking it day by day. I've noticed my heart beating faster when I move around and up and down the stairs. I've been having more irritation on the skin down south, but none of this is unbearable.

Will meet with the doctor tomorrow and report the results!

Oooh, We're Halfway The-ere...

Yesterday was the 14th of 28 total radiation treatments. It's not the treatment per se that is tough, but the results. I have started getting quite itchy and tender. The doctor says he doesn't want me to go to the bathroom more than 3 times per day, but also does not want me to get constipated...so...we're trying to get the right dosage of Imodium AD to do exactly that.

Wednesday and Thursday I did pretty well, but today...I've been interrupted several times.

Thankfully, I really haven't seen any other side effects from the Chemo still besides fatigue. My blood count levels continue to be normal but slightly lower.

Hoping for a good weekend! Staying inside and staying warm!

Jeanah's uncle Steve and aunt Eileen from Salem are bringing Wallery's pizza (my favorite) tomorrow night...I'm looking forward to it!


God Bless!

A Drop in the Bucket

Jeanah and I were talking yesterday about how our lives here on this Earth are like a drop in the bucket of "eternity" or "forever". Just like these 5 1/2 weeks are a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of our lives.

2 weeks down, 3 1/2 to go! I don't have many problems other than some itchy dry skin starting and more regular trips to the little room. Going to start watching both and trying to nip those symptoms in the bud.

Today, Dr. Chang said, "No nausea, hand or foot swelling, eye swelling/pain, mouth sores?...man, you're pretty boring...and boring is GOOD!"

I'm more tired than I was last week and do have more irritation down below, but other than that, doing pretty well.

An answer to prayer is that we sold our 5th wheel that we had as a project for a long time. It is no longer in our front yard! Thursday, we will be talking to the realtor about selling "the big house".

Did you see the big game this weekend? No, not Hyper Bowl XLIII...the hoops civil war! OSU 57, oregon 54!

God be with you!

Victor

Shrink 'dat Thang

Monday afternoon I went to Dr. Chang's (the Kung Pao Cancer is to die for) and had the Chemo pump refilled. It actually was empty at about 3am on Monday. I know this because when it's empty, it beeps every 5 minutes. Good for me that I start working at 4:30am anyway! The blood tests at Dr. Chang's say that my blood is very healthy right now, the best it has been since all this started in December. That's great news because one side effect of the 5FU (the Chemo) is that it suppresses the bone marrow and reduces the production of red blood cells. They expect my numbers will slowly decrease over the next 4-5 weeks, but it's great that we are starting from a high level.

Tuesday, I met with Dr. Hansen at the Radiation Oncology unit at St. V's and he said my radiation regimen is doing great and all the X-rays they take each day to get me lined up on the table are looking really good. I also met Amy the Social Worker there (no, I'm not being adopted). She helped me find a new primary care physician because I had fired my previous PCP due to poor customer service attitude. I go to Dr. Fullman in Tualatin next Tuesday.

I'm feeling well today but for the tube coming out my chest and the occasional realization that I must quickly make it to another room in the house for a bit. Jeanah is in good spirits and we're trying to deal with who is going to provide our Cable, Internet, Phone, and Cell services...lotsa fun!

He works the Night Shift

Early this morning I had a dream that was important to me. I don't remember dreams often, but this was vivid. Thought I'd share because it was one of those conscious/subconscious/body/soul/spirit kinds of deals.

Through some events in the dream, all the emotion and pain of the events in recent months (cancer, deciding not to be foster parents, etc.) welled up inside me. I was in the middle of a forest clearing on a dark, starry night and I was yelling “WHY” at the top of my lungs. “Why are You letting these things happen to me?”

The phrase “I hate you God” was proposed to me from somewhere, but I yelled “I hate having to go through this!” instead. I kept yelling “Why” “Why are You letting these things happen to me?” “I hate having to go through this!” over and over.

In my mind, I was kind of awake and aware in bed, but obviously not awake. After a time I was crumpled on the ground. I got a sense that it was OK and even expected that I would have been doing this and that God understands. His Spirit comforts me and in my dream feel like I'm back in bed with Jeanah next to me, her head on my shoulder, warm and snuggly.

Then I woke up...2:10am A few minutes later, my Chemo pump beeped telling me it's low on Chemo. This is OK as I'm heading into the doctor at 1pm today to get it refilled.

Later I had another dream. I don't usually share this type of thing, but I got the very real sense I was to pray for the people of Ames, Iowa that they would be able to endure a natural disaster that was coming.

Thanks for listening! God understands us, knows our needs, and He comforts us in time of need.

Situation Normal

Nothing real new to report today. We had a lovely time last night with two of Jeanah's sisters (Julie and Livvy) and their husbands (Jim and Matt) and Julie and Jim's 6 kids (Lauren, Emma, Sam, Mae, Nora, and Millie). It's great to spend time with those you love!

Anyways, feeling pretty normal this weekend...maybe a bit tired...but it's hard to say if that's the Chemo or if it's just winter talkin'. (Still best to be close to the restroom).

Matt showed us a wonderful waste of time called Fantastic Contraption and I've spent about 4 hours on it today. Matt is in such trouble.

Finally, I gotta mention that this weekend, my OSU Beavers beat both the Bay Area Pac-10 schools in hoops for the first time in 16 years. They're playing great ball right now. Go Beavs!

Worth 1000 Words

I thought it was time I posted the pics Jeanah coaxed out of the Gastroenterologist. Yep, what you see is real, unadulterated Rectal Cancer...and something I like about as much. WARNING: it's a medical picture, so I just put the link here: RECTAL CANCER

Today, my Radiation process changed some. They went from the "normal" type of radiation to what they call "IMRT". Read more about it here: IMRT LINK

Anybody Seen my Wallet?

Today I physically feel like some guy named Big Louie met me in a dark alley, kicked the tar out of me, and stole my wallet. However, I also felt this way on Jan 1. after getting the original port-a-cath installed, and yesterday was of course a double dose of that because they had to remove the old one too.

The good news is the Chemo pump seems to be working great. Jeanah drove me to St. Vincent's and I got a shot of radiation to my keister and we found a great "sneak" entrance where I can go right into Radiation Oncology without walking through the entire hospital!

I've been able to work from home today as expected. Only one DSL drop all day, although I gotta say VoIP is not all it's cracked up to be. The regular phone works tons better...

Speaking of working from home, I realized how much I miss the "old" ISI office when we could watch the sunrise from Support every morning. Did you catch it today? Here it is from my office window at home this morning.

Isn't God's handiwork AWESOME!?

2nd Time's the Charm

The installation of the new Port-a-Cath seems to have gone without a hitch. Woo Hoo!

It took a little longer than expected, but I was able to take a later tee-time with the Radiation folks and so now we have 2 radiations down and about 26 to go! It's supposed to go 5 1/2 weeks, so that's Feb 25/26.

This afternoon I got the Chemo pump installed. It's about 8" x 5" and fits in a little pouch that I can hang around my neck or shoulder. It's not too awfully bad.

The doc really doesn't think I'll experience too many side effects because the low dosage, although consistent, is very small.

We'll see!

We also had Canby Telephone come out and do extensive testing on our DSL. They think they may have narrowed down the problem to the type of DSL modem they had us using. They gave us a different type and we'll see how that goes. I'll be trying to work all day tomorrow (except for my 10:12 Radiation tee-time) and see how many times it drops.

God is good!

More Fun Tomorrow!

We found out today that the Port-a-cath for whatever reason, is malfunctioning. Tomorrow at 6am I go in to St. Vincent's to have another one put in. They're trying the right side this time. Surgery at 8am. Should just be heavy sedation, no anesthesia needed just like last time.

I have a 10:12 tee-time in the radiation oncology office at St. V's to get my 2nd dose of radiation. The first one went well today. I didn't notice anything during the visit, but let's just say I'm sticking near the restroom.

Because of the port-a-cath problems, we didn't start Chemo today. That's scheduled tomorrow at 1:40.

I actually got about 3 hours of work-from-home in today! Gotta pay those hospital bills!

Woo Hoo!

Something to Cheer About

Mom, Dad, and I took Jeanah to her first college basketball game on Saturday night. Well, there wasn't much to cheer about as the Beavers lost 85-59.

However, today I realized I had a voicemail on my cell which has been on vibrate since Friday's doctor visit.

It was Dr. Hansen (Radiation Oncologist) letting me know that the results of the MRI on Wednesday looked great and there isn't any evidence of cancer spread into the bones.

Praise the Lord! Great news!!

Looking forward to tomorrow...

The Weekend Begins

Around lunchtime today I had a tingle in my left, front neck and it got a little more annoying as the day went on. I went to Home Depot after work and decided to head to the Doctor's office after. It felt like something might be happening with the Port-A-Cath in my chest or the other end of it in my vein. ????

They had trouble before with the Port-A-Cath not giving a backflow of blood. However, today they were able to draw blood just fine and flushed it. However, since I feel like there is a little squirt gun in the back of my throat when they flush it, they want to do a "dye study" on Monday just to make certain that thing is in the right place.

So...Monday:

8:00am...St. Vincent's...Dye Study

11:00am...St. Vincent's...Cancer Dietician

11:30am...St. Vincent's...First Radiation Therapy

1:40am...Dr. Chang's...Chemo Begins

Let the fun begin!!

Have a great weekend!!

The Jackhammer

If you've ever had an MRI, I'll bet you know what I mean. I couldn't believe how noisy the MRI machine is!

I had an MRI today because Dr. Hansen wants to make certain that some "stuff" he saw in the PET/CT is in fact the start of arthritis in my lower lumbar region, and not anything to do with cancer...so, that's right, we are now praying that I "do" have arthritis.

This would go with Jeanah's Ankylosing Spondylitis (say that 5 times fast), but I don't think it's nearly as bad because I don't feel it...

Yesterday we met with Dr. Crocenzi (crow-chen-zee), another Medical Oncologist at Providence Cancer Center downtown to get a 2nd opinion and just to have another "team member" to bounce things off. He says the plan we're going on is good. We felt very comfortable with him too. Good to have good doctors.

Ta ta for now

A Family Affair

I meant to post this yesterday, but didn't get to it.

We prayed on Christmas with Jeanah's side of the family and Yesterday with my side of the family. Both were great get-togethers, and we need to do it more often under happier circumstances!

Some of the prayer requests we brought to the table yesterday were:

1) The Chemo/Radiation regimen will shrink the tumor significantly or completely.

2) Victor will tolerate the Chemo/Radiation with few or no side effects.

3) Victor, Jeanah, and the Doctors will have clarity and wisdom in making difficult decisions.

4) We will get confirmation after Chemo/Radiation that the tumor has not spread, but is local and removeable.

5) Jeanah will have strength and energy to do the things she needs to do to simplify our home life.

6) The Canby house will sell quickly and for a satisfactory price and we will be able to find a place to land safely.

7) Victor will be able to work well from home (or even at the office) with minimal physical or technical glitches.

Love ya'll!

Hurry up and Wait! (A one week reprieve)

Patience is a virtue, and I'm learning lots of it!

Today we changed plans slightly. I was supposed to start Chemo today, but prior to that (and it's a good thing) I went in to get "mapped" for Radiation and the Radiation Oncologist decided that because of several factors including my size and the location of the tumor, he wants to change the method of administering the radiation.

He's going to setup a deliverance method (I forget the initials of it) where the radiation is applied from 4-5 different angles and shapes so that it doesn't all focus on the same external place and so that the internal end of the beam is better focused on the tumor. This will give a better chance of having less of the "sunburn" as a side effect. Sounds good to me.

However, this takes 4-5 days to setup the Radiation Machine to do and so Radiation won't start until Monday, 1/19. For this reason, it was decided also to start the Chemo that day because they want them to coincide as much as possible.

Tomorrow, 2pm: I meet with Dr. Crocenzi, another Medical Oncologist, mainly to get a 2nd opinion and to get other ideas if Dr. Chang did not explore them. I suppose I may also choose to move my care to Dr. Crocenzi if I feel more comfortable there. We shall see...

Wednesday, 2:30pm: I am having an MRI at Epic Imaging. In the PET/CT earlier there is some haziness around my lumbar area and they think it is due to minor arthritis types of flare up, but they just want to make absolutely certain.

Sunburn where the sun don't shine

Today we talked to the Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Eric K. Hansen of Oregon Cancer Specialists at St. Vincent.

I'll be seeing a lot of Dr. Hansen over the next 6 weeks and he'll, well, be seeing more of me than anybody should.

He had the most positive thing to say that any Doctor has said since we found out about the cancer. He said that we have actually caught this thing pretty early in its development and that he thinks there's about a 90% chance of shrinking it, removing it, and not having it bother us again. Them's pretty good odds...maybe we should go to Vegas, Baby!?

Although I'll start Chemo on Monday, and get "mapped" for Radiation on Monday, the actual Radiation regimen won't start until Thursday. He says about 2 weeks into the process, I'll start being very tender in some very tender spots and it will be like having a bad sunburn where the sun don't usually shine...or maybe slightly worse.

While that doesn't sound too fun, I say we fry that little bugger and get on with the next phase...

Have a great weekend!

Victor

Homework

Several of you have asked if I plan to work during my Chemo/Radiation treatment. The answer is Yes, I do plan to work. ISI has been very gracious and is working to help me setup a work station at home just in case I am unable to come into the office for one reason or another.

In the estimation of my oncologist, I should be able to do my job. I'm thankful at this point I don't have a very physically demanding job.

Jeanah also continues to look for work as we are uncertain at this point what the future holds and we are in "keep the options open" mode. She is the best receptionist in the world if you know of a company she would be needed. She has myriad other skills as well including a love of home design.

Trusting God day by day.

I'd say my energy level today is about 8/10 which is as good as it has been in a month. I'll continue to evaluate that as we go forward...

Know Thine Enemy

We know a bunch more now, but we don't know as much as we wish.

We got positive confirmation from the pathologist that we are dealing with adenocarcinoma which is the most common type of rectal cancer and is what the oncologist expected from the visual exams in the first place.

In a way, it's nice to know what we're dealing with, but it's a bummer (pun intended) to know that it is indeed cancer and the "worser" kind, not the "better" kind.

The plan doesn't change. I am to start Chemo on Monday 1/12 and it will continue approximately 6 weeks. This will be coupled with radiation therapy. After the six weeks we will have another PET/CT to determine what the Chemo and Radiation have done to the tumor.

Also, in the most recent PET/CT there is a possibility of "hot spots" of other cancer around the tumor outside the rectal walls, but the oncologist said these are very small and it is his opinion that these may not be cancerous and may be from the C Diff infection inflammation. In any case, it does not effect the treatment plan at this time.

We will treat for 6 weeks with Chemo and Radiation like has been planned and reevaluate at that time to see what the next step is.

Please pray that:

1) ...the Chemo and Radiation will shrink the tumor.
2) ...the tumor is "local" and that the several "hot spots" are not actually cancerous.
3) ...I will tolerate the radiation and chemo well and still be able to work and function with some semblance of normalcy.

God Bless!

Victor

Hoping for a Plan

Yesterday's Iron Infusion is done, but it took much longer than expected due to my Port-A-Cath not working necessarily as expected. Please pray that the Port-A-Cath will work better in the future so they don't need to surgically reposition it! (It seemed to accept an IV just fine, but they couldn't draw blood through it very well).

Today, at 2:20 we have an appointment with Dr. Chang to discuss "the plan" and hopefully will go over the pathology, the PET/CT from last week, and hopefully will know more about what's going to happen from here.

Next Week's Game Plan

I got a call from my "2nd opinion" oncologist after he got the results of the pathology. He said the report was inconclusive. This is not necessarily "good news" but it does mean that it is not confirmed cancer and not confirmed the worst type of cancer for that location. We'll just have to wait to see.

I go to my primary oncologist, Dr. Chang, on Monday for a blood iron infusion because I was anemic in the hospital.

Tuesday, I go back for an appointment with Dr. Chang to go over the pathology and to lay out a game plan for Chemotherapy.

Friday, I go to Dr. Hansen, the Radiation Oncologist to see what radiation and other studies I am a good candidate for.

We are still anxious about that pathology report. Keep prayin' that it will come back with good news!

Last Friday 1/2/09, I had a PET/CT scan. Basically, they inject you with a irradiated sugar compound which cancer cells love to absorb and then an hour later they torture you by making you hold your hands above your head for a long time. The longer your torso, the longer you have to remain in that position. Lucky for me my torso "goes forever" in Jeanah's words.

We should know more about the PET scan on Tuesday as well.

God Bless!

Victor