Round 4 Is In The Books!

 

OK, chemotherapy started for me on October 5, 2022 and last week I completed Round 4 (of 12) chemotherapy treatments.

So far, so good! My only side-effect has been hyper-sensitivity to cold in my fingers, toes, and mouth. Cold air or touching anything cold turns my fingers into pin-and-needles, I can barely touch anything until I warm up my hands again. In the mouth, if I attempt to drink cold milk or any cold liquid, it feels like someone put some electrified steel wool in my mouth around my lips and the tip of my tongue - and then again in the back of my throat, making it difficult to swallow. Anything room temperature or warm to hot, I can drink/eat just fine. 

I am not "losing" my hair, but it is thinning a bit, my wife has noticed - and I can tell too, to a point. I'm not supposed to lose my hair, but the doctor did say it will likely thin a bit.

Anyway, I am one third of the way through treatments now. When I am half-way through he plans to send me in for a PET scan to see how things are going on the inside. As mentioned earlier, the CT scans of my chest and abdomen did not show any signs of cancer spreading to other organs.

"I CAN FIGHT CANCER" 

With God's help, and your prayers of support!

Scott Update

 Hi All!

It's been a little while since my last update, but it's time now!

 Recap:

In July a colonoscopy found cancer in my colon.

August 11, I had surgery to remove 18 inches of my colon. He also took out 13 lymph nodes (and for good measure, my appendix!), one of the 13 lymph nodes showed cancer as well. Then came recovery from surgery.

Last week I got the results back from a CT of my chest, my lungs are clear of cancer! Previous CT of the abdomen, prior to surgery, showed the liver is clear of cancer too! If the cancer spread to other organs, the next place is usually the liver or the lungs.

October 5, I am scheduled to begin chemotherapy to remove any microscopic cancer cells which may remain. Chemo will be every 2 weeks for 12 sessions (6 months).

Your continued prayers are much appreciated!

In Christ,

Scott<<<

YES! I CAN!

 

Prayer Request

Well, it's been a tumultuous 2 weeks for me. A week ago Monday I had a colonoscopy - and the doctor found a cancerous growth in my colon. Surgery is scheduled for August 11th to remove a section of my colon, a fairly large section. There is a non-cancerous polyp (perhaps pre-cancerous) that was too big to remove during colonoscopy; and there is a cancerous mass. Both are on the right side, one higher than the other, but this means there will be a rather large incision, then 5-7 days in the hospital for recovery. He will also remove the lymph nodes in that area and have them biopsied. 

So far, pathology looks good - there is nothing pointing to the cancer spreading, but we won't know that for sure until pathology comes back post-surgery. If pathology comes back clean - then I will be cancer free and it will just be a matter of healing/recovery and back to work. Of course, the opposite is true, if it does not come back with an all-clear, then we will be talking chemotherapy and radiation with oncology.

So, I thank you in advance for your prayers and support!

In JMJ,

Scott<<<