Short summary: Two or three more rounds of chemo and then most likely surgery to remove one lobe of his liver. Dr. Lin will confer with the surgeon and we'll know more about surgery later. Hopefully, surgery in January-ish.

Last week, I was given the huge blessing of being able to get away by myself for 3 nights. It was much needed and much appreciated. A couple from our church has a guest house behind their house at Birch Bay and they graciously opened the door for me there.  I am very thankful for that.

Tomorrow we go back to Seattle for Harv's CT scan. It is this scan that will help determine the next steps in his treatment. Surgery is possible, but not definite. If dreams came true, I think, the tumors in his liver would show up in the CT scan as very well-defined, which would make surgery possible. And, I THINK that it would be ONE surgery in two parts  --- (1) to remove a smaller, tumor in one part of the liver and (2) the removal of a-whole-nother section of his liver. Evidently, one can survive with only a 1/4 of the liver. 

Honestly, the "dream coming true" sentiment is mine. For some reason, it just SOUNDS better to cut out as much of the ugly as possible. But, I'm not positive that Dr. Lin will think that's the best option. It all depends on how the liver looks in the scan.

The one sure thing is that Harv will be on some form of chemo -- most likely oral -- for the rest of his life... surgery or no.

FAMILY LIFE: 

Celeste has stayed busy at her work and with her class at Whatcom and with her social life. I imagine that there are things she might change if she could, but she handles things well. We are thankful that she's here and that we've had some "regular life" time with her.

Sarah and Hannah also seem to be doing well. School, this year, has been packed with lots of learning and stretching and growing. The cross country season is over, but they continue to run pretty much every day after school with occasional time in the weight room, too. 

Harv is soaking up the time he's having to heal. Walking when he can, playing guitar, reading and enjoying his various gadget hobbies.

I, however, continue to struggle with letting go of what was and embracing what is. How in the world does one really DO that?  I'm trying, but I feel kind of like a little girl in kindergarten clinging to my mama and not wantin' to let go. 

We are looking forward to the holidays...a slightly slower pace and, hopefully, pleasant winter weather. ☺ 

We are thankful for you all. We appreciate your prayers as we move into what we hope is a new, productive, time of healing.

We love you.

 

Just met with Dr. Lin... All of Harv's numbers are moving in the right direction. He's very pleased with the way things look. The number that shows how much the cancer is circulating is ZERO! And, Dr. Lin said that with conventional treatment, most patients with Harv's diagnosis would be resistant to the treatment at this point. Harv, however, is continuing to be receptive... And THAT is a VERY good thing.

 

We'll come back on the 20th for a CT scan and then a decision will be made about whether to do surgery or stick with oral chemo as maintenance.

 

So...as tired as we are (mostly me), we are thankful that Dr. Lin is making a difference for colon cancer patients -- worldwide -- and specifically, in our lives.

 

GFW!

We head back to Seattle tomorrow for Harv's 3rd round of chemo. If we're lucky, this will be the last round before potential surgery. Please pray, think good thoughts, keep your fingers crossed, or whatever you do -- that we will see enough progress in the coming weeks that chemo will not have to go beyond tomorrow. (I'm kinda tired of chemo and it's not even going into my body.) GFW! Get the heck outta my husband's body you insane, stinkin', obscene, evil cancer!! I mean it!

And, the chemo continues...

Went to Seattle yesterday for another round of chemo.

Had a good visit with Dr. Lin and Harv's numbers are still good. There's a number (I don't remember what it's called) that measures how many "floaters" there are in Harv's body. The number is pretty good right now, but it's a number to keep watching. If it gets higher, Dr. Lin will probably introduce Harv to a new chemo drug (which I can't remember right now...Oxsylipratin(?), perhaps...)

Dr. Lin told us that he wants Harv to remain on chemo as long as possible before surgery to give the cancer less of a foothold when he has to go off for surgery. I THINK that Harv would remain on Xeloda regardless, but truthfully, my brain is kinda full and a little tired and I find it hard to keep up with it all.

All in all, the trip was fine. Chemo wears Harv out and he doesn't feel great afterwards, but he's handling it pretty well. He experiences some indigestion on the first few days after and that's uncomfortable -- especially at night -- so he has some meds for that and I'm gonna get him one of those wedge pillows that will help keep his head elevated at night without giving him a crick in the neck.

Thank you all for checkin' in on us. We 'preciate it more than you know.

Love you.

We had a good appointment yesterday with Dr. Lin. He spent a lot of time with us. And, while he didn't really give us any different news, it was good to talk through things.

Harv completed the first of three rounds of chemo. He received pre-meds to help with nausea, some Avastin and some Irinoticin (sp?). I think it's too soon to really say, but so far his major reaction has been fatigue. I am praying that that will be the only side-effect.

Dr. Lin believes that it'll be better to try to handle all of the liver surgery as one surgery because of the danger of causing the (my word) floating cancer cells to move around too much. He compared it to digging a hole and there's almost no way not to drop dirt when you do that... So, he believes you limit the spread if you make fewer cuts. Surgery, however, won't happen for a while. Gotta get through these three rounds of chemo and then have a CT scan to see where we are. He said it's best to wait for surgery until the patient has been under chemo for a year. That'll be around January-ish.

Harv's CEA count is still pretty good -- 3.0 -- so we're keeping the cancer aware of our attacks. And, he's gained a bit of weight which is also good. 

I'm hoping that his having some time to get stronger this summer will be helpful as he receives these rounds of chemo.

We're planning to take a weekend trip to Portland to watch the girls in a cross country meet this weekend. I am praying that he feels good during that trip. Fatigue is pretty easy to manage on a trip. Anything else would be inconvenient.

Every day we thank God for our support. All of you have supported us in many, many helpful ways --an AMAZING gift in a less-than-ideal time.

We love you.

Tomorrow is first of three rounds of heavier duty chemo... Praying that we kick that cancer outta his liver.
Pray with us.