When the oncologist is calling you at the same time Hubby is texting you, both saying come into the doctor’s office now, you know it is not a good thing.
The results of the PET scan in April were not good. There are 3 new tumors, none bigger than 2 cm (as of April 25th). One is on Hubby’s liver, near the original spot. Another is in a lymph node back behind his abdominal wall and the 3rd is located in the sacro/rectal area.
Hubby had to skip 1 chemo session due to low platelets and white blood counts which is an ongoing issue. Dr. C thinks that is what caused the 3 new tumors to grow large enough to show up on the PET scan. Colon cancer is very aggressive and with the rupture all those cancer cells spread through out his entire body.
The original chemo cocktail was just keeping the cancer at bay. It wasn’t shrinking the tumor on his liver. It was not killing off the cancer cell “seeds” since 3 new tumors popped up. So the next step is to change the chemo drug mix, removing the Avistan (spelling?).
A new drug was added and Hubby started a chemo session on April 26th. By Monday, Hubby was breaking out in a horrific rash. Seriously nasty looking. (I have photos but will spare you the images.) A quick visit to the dermatologist, a biopsy, and talking to Dr. C resulted in discovering Hubby is allergic to the new drug.
Hubby has missed another week of chemo at this point (making 2 so far) which makes me nervous. His rash has cleared up and he is on track for chemo next week. Dr. C is trying a 3rd drug this time to see if it will work better, without causing an allergic reaction.
Realistically, Hubby isn’t in pain, the tumor are not large nor in any other organs, and he is not sick from the chemo. There is no reason for Hubby not to live a productive active life at this point in time. Well, except for the whole still in semi-denial thing.
Thank all of you again for your wonderful words of support, comfort, prayers, and good thoughts. I know things would be worse without those!
Elizabeth
A tough diagnosis. Prayers to the family…
Thank you.
Damn. I’m sorry.
Thanks.
Always praying, dear. 🙁
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We’re always thinking and praying for you guys. Hopefully the new chemo will agree with uncle Robert! XoXo
Fingers crossed!
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Sending good thoughts your way. xo
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Hi Elizabeth, I saw your blog this morning in something else I was looking through online. I am so sorry about your hubby going through all of this, but I understand in a different way. I am the one going through cancer in our house.. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in Dec. 2003. I actually had 4 years of remission with no recurrences and throughout that time..up until Dec. 2010, it was only inside the bladder and I could have surgeries to have just the tumors removed and then treatments that were put directly into the bladder by catheter to try to stop it, which we did for a time. But Dec. 2010, I had a new tumor in the bladder & when we did an IVP xray series to check out the rest of the urinary tract, I had tumors in my left ureter and kidney! GULP!! In 2011, I had my left kidney, ureter, ovary and some lymph nodes removed. I still had some tumors in my bladder, and it looked like a new tumor had started in my left lower pelvic area, so I then had 6 cycles of cisplatin and gemzar chemo. God was so good to help me get through it w/ never having any bad nausea and no vomiting! I was totally wiped out and slept almost all day throughout the 6 mos..but at least it was tolerable and God was so gentle and good to me. After the chemo, the tumor had completely shrunk. In Jan. the doc looked in my bladder and I had 10 tumors..so the chemo hadn’t helped the bladder like we had hoped it would..so I had surgery to remove all of those tumors and the doc did a rough chemo treatment that was put directly into the bladder and it was horrid! I ended up with spasms in my right ureter where urine couldn’t pass and a couple episodes of horrible pain from it. The doc was going to do the treatments I had had when I went into remission for 4 years again..but when he relooked at the bladder a little over a month later, I had 5 new tumors.. sigh.. So I had surgery again to remove those. It was time for me to have another CT scan to check my chest, abdomen and pelvis to make sure no cancer had metastisized anywhere, and there was a new tumor between my bladder, top of my vagina and near the rectum. I had kinda thought something was going on as for the first time ..from the cancer ..I was having a LOT of pain! And sure enough, that’s why! It is causing horrible toothache type nerve pain plus a feeling of awful pressure from my bladder over to my left hip and down into the bone in the left side of my bottom. The tumor is about 2 inches. I am to have 4 cycles of carboplatin and taxol and then I will have surgery to remove my bladder, top part of the vagina, rectum and possibly the anus too.. I sure would appreciate your prayers as this is scarey. I KNOW that the Lord is with me and He has been so good to me, I really can’t complain! I will be praying for you and your hubby! Love in Christ, Lynn Williams
Thank you for your kind words! I’m so sorry to hear about your cancer returning. It is truly a horrible thing to go through. You are definitely in my prayers.
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I know that this is a tough situation for your whole family, but don’t ever lose hope. I’ll include all of you in my prayers.
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We appreciate your prayers and kind words. I’m holding onto hope, tempered with reality.
Thank you for stopping by!