The Port is In Place!

We got some good news today.  Steve’s CEA (tumor marker) number is going down again.   It’s currently 18 and was 28 four weeks ago!  That’s really good news because that means that the new chemo he started 6 weeks ago is working!!!  So the plan right now is to keep doing what they are doing. Steve is also scheduled for a CT Scan the first week of April – the 2nd or 3rd and then they will check his CEA number again on the 6th when we get the results for the CT Scan. Last week was 9 months since Steve was diagnosis and the fact that he’s still doing well and the chemo is still working at this point is really good! Friday, March…

When we arrived at the infusion center today, they didn’t have the new orders for Steve’s reduction in the 5-FU chemo.  Thankfully she mentioned out loud that due to his weight loss, she needed to call the doctor to have him adjust his meds.  We told her that the Doctor said he was reducing one of them and she noticed she still had the old orders.  Glad we were paying attention. It took about an hour but he called in the right orders and he began chemo #7.   We did figure out which one the 5-FU is – it’s the one that he comes home with.  Before we leave they give him a push of it into his IV to give him a big dose…

As a parent, the last thing we ever want to do is see our children hurt. We’ve raised our girls with so much love and protection in the hopes that they would always feel safe with us. As a family, we’ve been through a lot the past 23 months and we’ve tried to be as honest as we could with the girls, letting them know along the way how much we love them and that everything would always be “okay”. Today we had to do the hardest thing ever… today we told the girls that the chemo isn’t working and the tumors are still growing. And even though daddy was going to continue on chemo the next 6 months, ultimately it’s just to get more…

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 June 18th, we saw the Oncologist and he told us the bone scan was clean and there is no cancer in his bones.  First good news we had received!  I thought for sure it would be so I was pretty happy to hear that. The plan was to start chemo on Wednesday, June 25, 2014 and the doctor planned for the first scans to be done probably in September to see it’s working.   They will be doing blood work weekly or biweekly to make sure the chemo isn’t affecting his white/red blood cells and platelets.  If it does, the doctor will readjust. Really hoping we can put this in remission for a long time.  Only time will tell.

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…