Last night, DRomov called me and gave me some great news. His preliminary report from Epic Imaging from the PET scan show NO TRACER ACTIVITY in the lymph nodes or surrounding area. This means that the cancer doesn't appear to have spread outside the rectum!
We didn't know this for certain previously as the films we hand delivered to Dr. Lee didn't have this report with them because the PET scan doctor had not made his report yet. The TRACER ACTIVITY in the area of the original tumor in the rectum has increased from a 10 to a 15. It has been in the 20's before... This means the cells in that area are more active. DRomov says he thinks this could be due to the bleeding, and other activity in that area in recent days.
In any case, the word of no spread was encouraging as we move forward.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
My a$$ on the line.
Yesterday I had a PET scan. We won't fully go over the results of that with Dr. Chang until next Monday when I meet with him at 1:40 (we think).
Today we met with Dr. Lee, the colorectal surgeon. After a thorough examination, he said to save my anus and normal function would be very tricky. He isn't certain it can be done. This surprised me because I fully expected him to tell me to be prepared for a permanent colostomy.
We left it at he is to use his discretion. If he goes in and thinks the anus can be saved he will do it. I will wake up from surgery expecting permanent colostomy, but if he can do better, then GREAT! He said the dangers to saving the anus are 1) I will have bouts with "self control". I gotta tell you honestly I have already experienced a few due to the radiation from last year (and the location of the cancer currently). 2) Since it is a trickier surgery to save the anus, he will be required to be in there longer and to move around more.
Jeanah had a good point. How much risk is it worth to save my a$$? Really...that's a hard one to determine.
Please pray for:
1) Wisdom for Dr. Lee in making the decision.
2) Skill for Dr. Lee in executing his plan.
3) Peace for Jeanah and I with the result.
We don't know exactly when the surgery will be except that it is likely to be on an upcoming Monday. We have chosen St. Vincent's in Portland as the hospital we would like me to stay at for 7 days and Dr. Lee does surgery at St. Vincent's on Mondays.
Two good things we learned today:
1) The recovery time is 7 days in the hospital and 2-3 weeks at home. This is less than we expected because...
2) He thinks the surgery can be done lapriscopically. There is a possibility he will need to make a large incision in my belly, but he would rather not do this. Normally he is able to use lapriscopic surgery and he will try in this case.
The surgery will take about 6-7 hours and yes, he does have comfortable shoes (thanks Jeanah for asking :)
Love ya'll!
Today we met with Dr. Lee, the colorectal surgeon. After a thorough examination, he said to save my anus and normal function would be very tricky. He isn't certain it can be done. This surprised me because I fully expected him to tell me to be prepared for a permanent colostomy.
We left it at he is to use his discretion. If he goes in and thinks the anus can be saved he will do it. I will wake up from surgery expecting permanent colostomy, but if he can do better, then GREAT! He said the dangers to saving the anus are 1) I will have bouts with "self control". I gotta tell you honestly I have already experienced a few due to the radiation from last year (and the location of the cancer currently). 2) Since it is a trickier surgery to save the anus, he will be required to be in there longer and to move around more.
Jeanah had a good point. How much risk is it worth to save my a$$? Really...that's a hard one to determine.
Please pray for:
1) Wisdom for Dr. Lee in making the decision.
2) Skill for Dr. Lee in executing his plan.
3) Peace for Jeanah and I with the result.
We don't know exactly when the surgery will be except that it is likely to be on an upcoming Monday. We have chosen St. Vincent's in Portland as the hospital we would like me to stay at for 7 days and Dr. Lee does surgery at St. Vincent's on Mondays.
Two good things we learned today:
1) The recovery time is 7 days in the hospital and 2-3 weeks at home. This is less than we expected because...
2) He thinks the surgery can be done lapriscopically. There is a possibility he will need to make a large incision in my belly, but he would rather not do this. Normally he is able to use lapriscopic surgery and he will try in this case.
The surgery will take about 6-7 hours and yes, he does have comfortable shoes (thanks Jeanah for asking :)
Love ya'll!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Surprise! A new chapter...
Well, at 5:30 am on Friday, I was at work, feeling great, and suddenly I had to go to the bathroom. Halfway there, I noticed I leaked a little and it felt like the original time when there was blood in 2008.
Sure enough, when I got to the bathroom, I was leaking a lot of blood out my bottom. I did what I could there, went back to my desk, clocked out, and went out the door, telling a co-worker I must leave for the day immediately.
I called Jeanah and asked her to meet me at St. Vincent's Emergency Room (about a 10 minute drive from work, 30 minutes from home).
Long story short (I'll give the long version later) the cancer is still there in my rectum and has moved around the circumference a little bit. We think this will definitely mean surgery to remove it.
For now, the bleeding has stopped and the doctors think I'm OK in the very short term but I plan to have surgery within the next week or maybe two. We will know more on Monday or Tuesday.
Please just pray for wisdom for us and the doctors as we discuss and confirm what the plan will be.
Love you all!
Sure enough, when I got to the bathroom, I was leaking a lot of blood out my bottom. I did what I could there, went back to my desk, clocked out, and went out the door, telling a co-worker I must leave for the day immediately.
I called Jeanah and asked her to meet me at St. Vincent's Emergency Room (about a 10 minute drive from work, 30 minutes from home).
Long story short (I'll give the long version later) the cancer is still there in my rectum and has moved around the circumference a little bit. We think this will definitely mean surgery to remove it.
For now, the bleeding has stopped and the doctors think I'm OK in the very short term but I plan to have surgery within the next week or maybe two. We will know more on Monday or Tuesday.
Please just pray for wisdom for us and the doctors as we discuss and confirm what the plan will be.
Love you all!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Stoned
After I ate my breakfast this morning I felt nausea and didn't feel like eating at lunch. I had a pain in my right side and I napped in my truck to see if it would go away.
It just got worse.
At about 10:30, I asked Jeanah to take me to a medical facility. We went to an Urgent Care place in Beaverton and after they took blood and urine samples and after my pain level went from a 3 to a 6 while there, they said for me to go to the Emergency Room.
I went to St. Vincent's ER and after waiting about 1.5 hours lying on a couch, I finally got in to see the Dr. Blessed woman gave me some pain meds right away. It was determined I have a "classic case" of kidney stone.
I'm going to wait it out at home and they think it should pass in the next 48 hours. I have good pain meds and Flowmax to increase the caliber of the passage way.
Hoping for less pain in this than everybody says there is!
I get to filter my urine for treasure! What fun!
More later.
It just got worse.
At about 10:30, I asked Jeanah to take me to a medical facility. We went to an Urgent Care place in Beaverton and after they took blood and urine samples and after my pain level went from a 3 to a 6 while there, they said for me to go to the Emergency Room.
I went to St. Vincent's ER and after waiting about 1.5 hours lying on a couch, I finally got in to see the Dr. Blessed woman gave me some pain meds right away. It was determined I have a "classic case" of kidney stone.
I'm going to wait it out at home and they think it should pass in the next 48 hours. I have good pain meds and Flowmax to increase the caliber of the passage way.
Hoping for less pain in this than everybody says there is!
I get to filter my urine for treasure! What fun!
More later.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Another Front
We have been status quo for several months, so I have not blogged. Continuing to do Vitamin C drip 1-2 times/week.
I was to have a PET/CT scan Sept. 7. They said, "be sure your blood sugar is under 200." Normally this has not been a problem. I checked several days prior, and my fasting blood sugar level (at 4:00 am) was in the 240's...oops!
So, my DRamov suggested a change in diet. I now am eating 6 meals per day (that sounds good, eh?) 250-300 calories/meal, and ONLY proteins (meats, nuts, eggs, etc.), fruits, and non-starch vegetables (no, no, potatoes are not non-starch veggies). NO GRAINS...not even gluten-free grains.
It has gone surprisingly well as today's number was 197.
He has also prescribed 500mg (small dose) Metforminto help get that number lower. It should be in the low 100's.
I had not kept up on my diabetic monitoring for the last year or so. This was my bad. We are confident that with diet, exercise, and monitoring we will get that blood sugar under control!
On another note...Thanksgiving and Christmas I will be eating "normally" but will be sticking to whatever dietary advice DRamov gives me other than that.
More info to come later...
I was to have a PET/CT scan Sept. 7. They said, "be sure your blood sugar is under 200." Normally this has not been a problem. I checked several days prior, and my fasting blood sugar level (at 4:00 am) was in the 240's...oops!
So, my DRamov suggested a change in diet. I now am eating 6 meals per day (that sounds good, eh?) 250-300 calories/meal, and ONLY proteins (meats, nuts, eggs, etc.), fruits, and non-starch vegetables (no, no, potatoes are not non-starch veggies). NO GRAINS...not even gluten-free grains.
It has gone surprisingly well as today's number was 197.
He has also prescribed 500mg (small dose) Metforminto help get that number lower. It should be in the low 100's.
I had not kept up on my diabetic monitoring for the last year or so. This was my bad. We are confident that with diet, exercise, and monitoring we will get that blood sugar under control!
On another note...Thanksgiving and Christmas I will be eating "normally" but will be sticking to whatever dietary advice DRamov gives me other than that.
More info to come later...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tough Veins
My Naturopath, Dr. Rob Dramov has a prayer request. He and I have been praying that he would be able to easily insert the catheter into the vein in my right arm. Because he wants me to have good mobility for the 2 hours each Monday and Thursday I am in his office, he has been using a very small caliber flexible catheter rather than the metal and rigid type used in the hospital. This is because I have to regularly (every 20 - 30 min) get up to use the bathroom, and because the smaller, more flexible catheter has less potential to cause scaring on my vein.
We want to continue to be able to use the big vein in my right arm. I have big veins and they are easy to find, but everybody has trouble getting the needle in them! He has had good success with one particular vein. Evidently I have thick skin!
In any case, we continue to do the IV Vitamin C treatment 1 to 2 times weekly in hope that it will continue to shrink the "tumor load". We will know more about the effectiveness after my next PET/CT sometime in August.
We want to continue to be able to use the big vein in my right arm. I have big veins and they are easy to find, but everybody has trouble getting the needle in them! He has had good success with one particular vein. Evidently I have thick skin!
In any case, we continue to do the IV Vitamin C treatment 1 to 2 times weekly in hope that it will continue to shrink the "tumor load". We will know more about the effectiveness after my next PET/CT sometime in August.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Ticked Off, Jeanah Catches a Fish!
So, I'm gonna start out with a "cancer update". I am in my 3rd week of the 2nd round of Vitamin C treatment. Everything seems to be going well, and we're going to continue the Vitamin C IV drip therapy 1-2 times/week through the summer. I'm also still doing the Budwig/yogurt and flax oil daily as well as a daily regimen of supplements.
Watching my diet has become more pronounced as we found out that Jeanah has Celiac disease and cannot eat wheat gluten. I'm trying as much as possible to continue to support her on that front.
I turned the big 4-0 on Saturday! I asked for and received an exercise bike to replace the one that had its computer die. I WILL get more exercise (so I can hike better!)
Jeanah and I went to LaGrande this weekend. We and her parents were hiking through the woods near the Camp Vista property along the North Powder River. It was as beautiful a hike as I've been on, although I should hike more so I'm not so winded!
Anyway, on Sunday morning, Jeanah let out a shriek as she was scratching my back. "That mole on your back has legs!!!", she said. It was a tick. We looked up tick removal online and she did a masterful job of removing it with tweezers. All is well. (Is your head tingling?...mine is...every time I think about it)
Later on Sunday afternoon, JEANAH CAUGHT A FISH! This was the first fish she caught in 21 years. We have been joking for years that if she is in the same county, you will not catch a fish. The curse has been broken! (no, she didn't use the tick for bait)
Until next time...
Love ya'll
Watching my diet has become more pronounced as we found out that Jeanah has Celiac disease and cannot eat wheat gluten. I'm trying as much as possible to continue to support her on that front.
I turned the big 4-0 on Saturday! I asked for and received an exercise bike to replace the one that had its computer die. I WILL get more exercise (so I can hike better!)
Jeanah and I went to LaGrande this weekend. We and her parents were hiking through the woods near the Camp Vista property along the North Powder River. It was as beautiful a hike as I've been on, although I should hike more so I'm not so winded!
Anyway, on Sunday morning, Jeanah let out a shriek as she was scratching my back. "That mole on your back has legs!!!", she said. It was a tick. We looked up tick removal online and she did a masterful job of removing it with tweezers. All is well. (Is your head tingling?...mine is...every time I think about it)
Later on Sunday afternoon, JEANAH CAUGHT A FISH! This was the first fish she caught in 21 years. We have been joking for years that if she is in the same county, you will not catch a fish. The curse has been broken! (no, she didn't use the tick for bait)
Until next time...
Love ya'll
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