Our First Visit with Oncology

We met our oncology team today...they were really great.  I think I might have to get used to the mannerisms of the nurse, but I really liked the Doctor, she was great.

We got a mix of good and not so good news today, but I'll take any good I can!

First the not-so-good.  The liver has several lesions on it...many more than we had thought.  To me, it was a bit of a shock to see them all as they showed us the scan.  The cancer is also in the lymph nodes around that area, so that's not good either.  It is stage 4. 

They will do a liver biopsy next week to make sure that the cancer that's in the liver is the same cancer as in the colon and not some other cancer.  It makes a difference about what drug combinations if they're different cancers.  But odds are that it's all the same cancer.

When they do the liver biopsy, they will also put a central line in just under his skin in the chest which will feed into a vein.  This way they won't have to stick a needle in him every time they need to draw blood or give him a chemo treatment.

Last of the not-so-great news, and probably most disconcerting, is that Chris has had a persistent cough for several months now.  He saw an ENT about 6 months ago and they gave him prednosone and antibiotics to treat a chronic sinus infection.  However, the oncologist had them do a chest scan today on him as well to rule out the possibility that the cancer may also be in his lungs.  This is something that never occured to me and was quite shocking to us to consider.  We should learn the results of that tomorrow.

Ok, so, let's end this on a high note.  The good news is that of all the cancers, colon cancer responds the best to chemo.  Over the last couple days we've heard many stories of those who have survived a stage 4 cancer, so there is a lot to be positive about! He gets the central line put in on wednesday of next week and his first chemo is set to start on Friday the 10th. 

We remain optomistic and hopeful for the best outcome possible and are grateful to all our family and friends who are so supportive and wonderful.  Thank you for your healing energy...keep sending it!

Julia and Chris