Marching forward

Well, the marathon at the hospital this morning went quite well. Amazing what you can get done in the time it takes to pay $13.50 in parking fees!

I felt fairly comfortable when went to see the doctor - we were taken into a regular clinic room. If we had gone into the "pretty" room I would have been more worried. And we found out what we already were sure we knew. Doctor Haider confirmed that the biopsy was positive for metastatic colorectal cancer, and that the cancer is progressing. He didn't seem to think that it is a result of the missed chemo in April or not taking oxaliplatin. He figures it has been there for a while – which is what we now think. We spent a lot of time thinking it was ligaments and cartilage as the pain was the same as a prior injury Callum had years ago. It all made sense to us! It likely comes as no surprise to any of you to hear that it is not really common for colorectal cancer to spread to the bone, and if it does, it usually appears in the back area, near the site of the original tumour. While it is not unheard of to have it in a distant site (ie. Limb), it is unusual. Callum continues his path of being unusual!

Callum will have his main chemo drug changed to Irinotecan (along with the 5FU and Leucovorin). The Irinotecan is the chemo drug he started with in May 2008, but with an all too early CT scan way back then, it was feared that he was resistant to it, so was switched to the Oxaliplatin. Doctor Haider is confident that this drug will help slow the progression of the cancer, and we hope it stabilizes it again. He starts this regimen June 29. We are waiting for the radiation appointment for treatment to the bone. It sounds like he will have something like 2 – 5 treatments, but we aren’t sure yet.

The tissue from the biopsy was checked for the KRAS mutation (one of those medical things) to see if he would be eligible for treatment with Vectibix, a biological agent that has been recently approved for funding in Saskatchewan and has shown to be helpful for people with advanced colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, he has the KRAS mutation, which means that particular treatment won’t work for him. On with the research!!

It was so nice to hear Doctor Haider say that even though at some point our hands are tied, as long as we have options he is prepared to fight this thing. What a great thing to hear and know he is supports our fight!

So, we continue to carry on for now and wait to see the results of the brain MRI and chest/abdomen/pelvis CT that were done today. Hopefully in a week or so we should have some results.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. Walter Elliott

TTFN

Lorna

Bump, Bump...

Well, we heard from the docs last week - biopsy was positive for metastases in the femur. We were crossing our fingers it would be different, all the while knowing what it really was. It was still a bit of a blow, anyway. We see the doctor Monday, June 28 to get the new plan, which will likely at the very least, include radiation. We will find out then what the rest of the plan will be!

We had a great week last week. We were in Brandon for C. 's grad, and then had a grand adventure getting to Medicine Hat for Vanessa's birthday!. Quite a few miles put on the Porsche in 8 days! We did lots of visiting with friends in both Brandon and the Hat, and had some wonderful family time. We were lucky with some nice weather and were able to go to Echo Dale Park with Stu, Vanessa and Cade. We were very obviously grandparents as they looked at us sitting under the tree, one with the video camera and the other with the still camera! I just miss Cade and the kids so much when we aren't there, I have to take a million pictures!

We finished off the day with a fire in Vanessa's back yard. It was a wonderful day! We were able to have lunch with some great friends, coffee with our nephew C and family, and have supper with my brother and nephew! It was another great day!

I will update the blog once we have more information!

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow. Orison Marden

TTFN

Biopsy...done....

Things went well today. Dr. Hussain is the most excellent doctor! We are so thankful he was willing to do the biospy so quickly. It wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be, but it was quite interesting. The procedure was done in the clinic office and took about 20 minutes total. The area where the drill went in was frozen, but they can't freeze the bone, so there was a bit of pain when the Dr was taking the bone pieces. The drill (not a motorized one, all of it was done by hand), looks like the notched on in this picture.

Callum did quite well, but was pretty doped up for a while. After the biopsy he headed across the hall and had a blood transfusion of 2 units since his hemoglobin has been a bit low again.

He has spent quite a bit of the day sleeping and resting, and is starting to feel a bit more pain now that the freezing is gone and the heavy dose of pain meds has worked out of his system.

I am sure tomorrow will be better, even if he still has some pain.

We should have the results some time next week.

TTFN

Lorna

Bumpity, bump, bump, bump...

It has been an interesting week or so. We recently found out that the pain in Callum's knee has nothing to do with cartilage or ligaments, and they are suspecting it is cancer. He will have a biopsy tomorrow morning (June 15) and hopefully we know something within a week or so. He is feeling fine, except for the blasted pain in his knee. It is really quite disappointing for him to feel so well but not have full mobility.

It is just another bump along the way - that is our perspective, anyway! We really won't find out any treatment plan until we have the biopsy results. The orthopedic surgeon we saw is an awesome doctor! Very respectful, thorough, and patiently explains things so we are able to understand.

We have a busy month coming up with birthdays, visitors and graduations. We are looking forward to seeing so many people and having a wonderful time visiting.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried. This is another scary bump. One we knew would happen, but it doesn't make it less scary. I don't thing anyone can not feel scared when they find out there is cancer active in their body, or the body of someone you love. But don't count my stubborn husband down and out - he has already surprised the hell out of a lot of us, and he can do it again!

I will keep the blog more updated as things happen and we have news.

In the meantime....here's a picture of a proud Grandad!

FACE YOUR FEARS

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it... You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

TTFN