Back Surgery is Scheduled for Today

I  forgot to mention in my previous post that the CT Scan also showed that the inflammation of his colon and the small perforation in the colon that they saw last time, is no longer visible.  So that means that part healed.  That made us VERY HAPPY because that means surgery is not in the future again… which is a good thing.  Surgery is not something we want because that means no chemo for at least 6 weeks after and perhaps even more.  Right now Chemo is what he needs. That was my Christmas Gift! 

We received the results of the CT Scan today.  The doctor says that after looking at the ct scan himself, there has been a small reduction in the tumors.  It’s not as big as the last time but he feels they are all slightly smaller.  He did point out that they are measuring them in mm and not cm so we are looking at something very small in size. Tomorrow is Steve’s first treatment in the next chemo regimen and it will be less the Oxaliplatin.  The doctor is going to monitor his CEA number closely and if he sees any change then he’ll likely change up his entire chemo prescription and use some different drugs. At this point the doctor is looking at it…

The doctor called to tell Steve today that his CEA number is 12.  Last time it was 11 but the doctor says that’s still great and it will go up and down a bit, but doesn’t really mean anything.  So Steve was happy. Steve also noticed at 1pm today that his pump wasn’t working and we don’t think it pumped anything since we left the infusion center yesterday at 1pm.  🙁  So  now he’s hooked up until Saturday instead of Friday.  We weren’t very happy but nothing we can do.  Now we know to make sure it’s working like all the time.

Today Steve and I went to Dana Faber to meet with a research doctor in Gastrointestinal Cancers to talk about possible clinical trials.  We did our research and talked with Steve’s Oncologist in Warwick beforehand and we were pretty sure there wasn’t anything that Steve qualified for so we weren’t expecting much.  But figured a ride there wouldn’t hurt. And it didn’t hurt, nor did it help. We were correct.  There is nothing right now for Steve’s specific cancer and mutation of his cancer.  However, the doctor did offer to test Steve’s original biopsy sample to see if it has a specific mutation that it wasn’t tested for back in June 2014.  While the doctor doesn’t think Steve’s cancer has this mutation according to other…

Steve had another CT Scan last week and it showed that unfortunately the cancer is still spreading in his lungs.  The liver is stable.  He also has some pretty swollen Lympnodes near his lungs.  His CEA is the same as it’s been the last 3 months – 11. We had a really good conversation with the doctor about what is happening and what we should do next.   So here is the plan right now: 1.  We are going to go to Dana Faber and talk to them about clinical trials.  It’s not very likely Steve will do a trail, but we at least want to talk to them about it. 2.  Steve will continue on the chemo he is on right now for 6 weeks…

We’ve been asked over and over if there were any signs or symptoms of Colon Cancer that we could have noticed? I asked the doctor how long this has been going on, for it to be at Stage 4 without really any warnings.  He said the polyp could have been there for years.  SCARY. A lot of people have asked us if Steve had any signs or symptoms.  According to Cancer.org the signs and symptoms of Colon Cancer are: A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation, or narrowing of the stool, that lasts for more than a few days A feeling that you need to have a bowel movement that is not relieved by doing so Rectal bleeding, dark stools, or blood in…