Game On!

WOOT!

I have to tell you, the last 24 hours sucked big time. Johnny and I were both scared to death that a giant piano was going to fall on our heads and we were going to find out more bad news from the PET/MRI scan. Without futher ado, here is what we found out:

There is nothing new to report. What we knew before is what we are dealing with -- Colon cancer with metastatic liver disease. OK, diagnosis still stinks, but there is nothing hiding out in his lungs or other organs.

The liver lesion is 3.5 cm x 3.0 cm. Exactly what we knew before. The other "multiple" smaller lesions barely enhanced on the MRI which means they are "immature" and will probably disappear with chemo. The lesion itself is straddling the two lobes, which makes surgery a little more tricky. Dr. Ansari told us that he will send us somewhere else for surgery. No one in South Bend fits his/our criteria.

While talking with Dr. Ansari (and finally breathing again) he answered almost every single question that I had written down before I even asked him. He would say, "Now you are wondering why we won't do a liver biopsy, and I will tell you." So then I would cross that question off my list. The only question I ended up asking was, "Is the chemo toxic to other organs?" To which he replied, "Well, the liver, but that is the point, right?" Touche.

I was concerned about cure vs. "buying time". He said, "Our goal is always remission." Remission can last forever, but an oncologist is never going to use the word "cure". Which makes sense to me.

We asked about a second opinion and whether MD Anderson was our best option or if there was someplace else we should consider. He said our concern for a second opinion should only be for the liver surgery. We actually felt confident with this and we will see how things go with the first several round of chemo and the rescans.

Every single lab value was normal. Including the liver enzymes. How crazy is that?

On to chemotherapy. We start tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. The infusions will run for 5 hours while we are there, and then one last infusion will come home with us on a pump for 46 hours. The first time Johnny will have to go back to have it removed and they will train us to do it for the subsequent infusions. I'm pretty sure I can handle that. Infusions are only once every two weeks.

As far as side effects, the only ones that they are concerned about seem to be fevers/chills, nose bleeds, and this bizzare cold sensitivity that makes you feel like you are being shocked if you touch something cold. Also, drinking cold things can make you feel like your throat is closing, so they tell you to just drink lukewarm beverages for 72 hours post infusion.

The day of infusion and the day after should be pretty good because of the medications they give during treatment. They warned us that 72-96 hours after treatment may be the "bad" days. We hope for the best with this, but can't wear our rose-colored glasses all the time. Obviously he is going to get sick. We will just minimize his symptoms where ever and when ever we can.

Ahhhhhhhh. I feel so much better today.

Again, thanks to EVERYONE for the continued prayers, wine, food, cards and visits. I told Johnny yesterday after a steady stream of visitors throughout the day that it has actually been "fun" (yeah, relative term) to see all the friends that we have over the last 10 days. I would encourage everyone to visit or call an old friend just to say "hi". We have loved every single conversation, especially when it didn't revolve around the "C" word.

This is my Johnny story for this post: Today we were driving to the appointment and I was trying VERY hard to pull it together and keep it together, but it wasn't working very well. What do you suppose passed us by as we were driving? A funeral procession about 2 miles long. Johnny started laughing. I said, "That isn't very funny." He said, "Now I know I'm gonna be OK because God and I have the same sense of humor." Then at the doctor's office I asked him where his "lucky" hat was. He said, "I don't need it. God told me to save it for hunting and fishing. He's got my back on this one." He got pretty emotional when he told me that, so I know he and God had a good long conversation last night. I'm glad they talked.

So, GAME ON, Cancer! God's got Johnny's back, and I've got everything else (along with my army of friends/family).

Your job is to keep praying. I hope you can handle that because we aren't going to cut you any slack. We all have jobs and they are all important.

Now I just feel like I'm rambling, so I guess I'll quit for now. Love to everyone.