Second Round of Chemo is Done!

Steve has been having a lot more back pain.  It started to get worse last Thursday night.  He had a hard time getting comfortable and could barely move.  It was so hard to see him in so much pain.  Friday morning when I spoke with the doctor, he told him to double up on the pain meds he prescribed him and if it got really out of control to go to the hospital to get something stronger to give him relief.  He was scheduled to have a bone scan on Monday (yesterday) and CT Scan Tuesday (today) so he said we’d talk after those scans to see what was going on. After doubling up on the pain meds when needed, he felt better and got…

Steve is doing great.  He’s just tired.  But he feels fine. The side effects from Chemo can come on at anytime but he’s doing really well so that helps.  He had trouble sleeping last night because one of the meds is a steroid – the nurse warned us about it. Steve is also having some back problems which is completely unrelated to the cancer, thankfully.  So his back was also very sore.  After he finally listened to me and took the pain pills they gave him at 2am, he was able to fall asleep and slept through till 10am! Who knew I actually knew what I was talking about! He’s tired still and has napped a few times but in general, he still feels great. …

This morning I did the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I said good bye to my husband Steve. He peacefully passed away at 6:20 am and is no longer suffering. His soul is free from cancer, so he won! Thank you all so much for your prayers, friendship and love over these past 2+ years. Steve’s Obituary    

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)…

Steve’s surgery last week was a success.  The spine surgeons were able to remove the tumors that were compressing Steve’s spinal cord without having to insert the titanium rods.  His bones were surprisingly strong.  They did insert a little cement into the spine where they removed the tumors, just to give it a little more strength. Because they didn’t have to insert the rods, the recovery was much easier.  Steve was up walking around the following day and then doing the stairs a day later. Two days after his surgery, his heart rate was still high – it was running 115-120.   Come to find out it was because he has a blood clot in his lungs.  He was at a high risk for getting one,…

Today we saw the Oncologist again with an update on Steve’s CEA Number.   And we got some really good news! Steve’s CEA (tumor marker number) is down to 64!!!  On June 4th it was 536.  Then a few weeks later it was up to 834.8. Four weeks ago it was down to 263.1.   And today it’s 64!!! The doctor said not all cancers can measure the tumors with this marker, but Colon Cancer is one of them so this does tell us that the tumors are shrinking.  But we can tell as well because of some little differences that we see that I’ve mentioned before.  (His dry cough is gone and his night sweats are gone for the most part and his bowels are better. …