Second Round of Chemo is Done!

Steve is at Rhode Island hospital and he’s scheduled to have surgery today.  And he’s still smiling… He’s not going to give up easily and without a smile on his face.  I admire that about him so much!

Steve finished his 7th round of Chemo last Friday and it went well.  He started eating more as his mouth sores healed and had a generally good weekend. I just heard from the doctor and he said the surgeon doesn’t think that there is any need to worry about what they saw in the CT scan and they are leaving his colon as it is.  They will just keep an eye on how he’s feeling and if he starts to have any problems. We are relieved because surgery means no chemo and we are not ready to stop because the tumors are still there. This past round of chemo the doctor reduced one of the meds to hopefully stop the mouth sores from coming back….

On Tuesday, June 10, 2014, we saw the oncologist from the hospital to get the final results from the biopsy.  We knew Steve had cancer but we didn’t know what kind so we weren’t sure what we were dealing with, yet. That was when we found out it was Colon Cancer.  And since it’s spread to 2 other organs (liver and lung), it’s Stage 4.  Colon cancer is not curable once it’s spread to other organs.  Therefore, Steve will never be cancer free.  🙁 The doctor said there really is no reason to operate since there was no large obstruction in the colon (since they didn’t see anything on the CT Scan) nor is there a lot of bleeding (since Steve has never noticed any)…

We saw our 2nd opinion doctor today who is the best in RI and came HIGHLY recommended by many.  He agreed with our current Oncologist and thinks this chemo regimen is really the best way to start.  And then see what happens in 2-3 months when they do the first scan.  At that point he said if it isn’t working, we should think about something else.  He’d be more than happy to talk with us then but sees no reason to do anything else right now. Knowing he feels the same way makes us even more confident that this is the best thing for Steve.  And we really like our current Oncologist so we’ll be staying with him.  However, our 2nd opinion doctor also said…

Friday (6/27) Steve completed his first round of Chemo.  He was so happy to have the visiting nurse remove the IV and he was excited to take a nice long shower.  Something he can’t do while hooked up to Chemo. He is doing well.  Just very tired.  Having the surgery in the same week as starting chemo, was very hard.  He’s sore from ‘babying’ his right side (where the port was put in) and hopes that the next round he’ll be more comfortable with the IV in. As for side effects from Chemo, they were very minor.  He didn’t get nauseous (thankfully!), he was very tired, his taste buds were off a bit, and he didn’t seem to have much of an appetite (which we…

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!