The Port is In Place!

Last week, Steve had a new Bone Scan and CT Scan so the doctor had a baseline before we start the next chemo.  I was curious to see how much growth there would be without him having chemo for 4 weeks (2 treatments). We saw the doctor yesterday and the CT Scan showed some more growth in the lungs.  Not a lot, but more.  The bone scan confirmed what the last CT Scan said – and there are now 2 spots on his spine, but we already knew that.  There is also a little bit more growth in his stomach on the omentum. Not a lot, so that means the cancer is moving slowly.  It also pretty much confirmed that the chemo hasn’t really been…

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…

I knew it had been a while since I updated this site, but I didn’t realize it had been 6 months!  The reason I haven’t updated in the past 6 months is there hasn’t really been a significant change….. which isn’t a bad thing when you are stage 4! This past week, Steve had his last follow up for the year so I thought it was a good time to share how he’s doing. His CEA number is holding at 11, which is low and good.  He had a bone scan earlier this month because he was having some back pain and his last scan still showed a spot on his vertebrae.  I won’t lie, this scared me.   I was more worried than Steve was. …

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. …

I had to take Steve to the hospital today. His breathing hasn’t been very good and I just knew it needed to be addressed. I’m so glad we went because his oxygen level was VERY low. They did a CT scan to check for a new blood clot, but found nothing. There is a little fluid in his lung but the doctor thinks it’s old and doesn’t believe it is related to this. They did hear some crackling in one of his lungs so perhaps it’s a little collapsed but again, he didn’t think it would cause this much distress. There is some progression of disease in his lungs so it could be a combination of everything. They admitted him and have him on oxygen…

Today is a new day, and a day to look back and reflect on the year. A friend wrote something that inspired me and made me look at 2016 differently. My husband died, that was absolutely the worst thing that has ever happened to me. But I’ve grown so much through that, and I like who I am today. 2016 was a GIFT and I am thankful for that. I had Steve by my side for almost all of it…. that was not something we knew we would have back in June 2014. Friends I’ve known for a long time and a shorter time came together and became friends. And all my friendships grew, tremendously! I learned from my friends and family what it means…