I know we are a little slow getting you all brought up to date. Bad news is always a little to harder to share, so I will just get that out of the way first.
Let me review Fred's cancer over the past 8 months. In July, tests showed 2 cancer spots, one on his pelvic bone and one on his spine. We had the spine treated with radiation because it was pressing on his sciatic nerve and causing a lot of pain, plus we did not want any permanent damage to those nerves.
In September, Fred officially started the new vaccine trial. On his second dose, in October, he had a drug reaction that caused his liver enzymes to be elevated for 10 weeks. He did not have the vaccine during that time.
In January, he was able to continue with the trial and his PSA numbers were starting to rise fast.
Here we are in March. Fred had all the body scans and blood work done that we expected. We knew his PSA has been going up considerably faster in recent weeks and expected some new cancer activity. The scans showed 3 new cancer spots on his bones, two on his skull and one one his ribs. Because of these latest developments, Fred has been taken off this trial.
All the doctors that we have worked with at NIH and NNMC agree that chemo therapy should be our next step. We have calls into several more doctors and medical facilities gathering information so that we can make a decisions on a treatment plan soon. Please pray for us as we work through this information and make these decisions.
We were so blessed to have Shane travel with us last week. I think that he got a pretty good picture of what our lifestyle has been most of these last 4 years. It was fun to introduce him to all our Doctors and the community of people that are part of our DC life. (Thanks again, son.) We were sorry he missed meeting Skip and Sandi as they were out of town on vacation.
In the meantime, we are at home enjoying feeding the birds, feeding the fire and adjusting to the Alaska time zone.
3 comments:
Just checking to see if I can comment like Shane directed. It worked for his blog. I am learning.Come by again some time and teach me more. Love mom
Hello Fred and Marie and your entire family. This is Sandy (of Sandi and Skip). I just read the email and we are sorry to learn that we missed meeting Shane last week while we were in Fl.
I would like you all to know that meeting Fred and Marie was a God send for Skip and I. We have grown to love and respect one another and we have shared lots of laughter, yes laughter. We have found strength in one another and learned from each other's experiences. We are a unique group. Last year at a cookout there were 6 of us and only one without a serious medical issue. We all found humor in that along with so many other things. Marie and I have been amazed at how great Skip and Fred get along and how they must long lost brothers because they are just too much alike. Marie and I get along great and seem to also have so much in common, like bringing home strangers and thinking we can save the world with kindness.
To you all, please know we are here for your parents when they are in the area. God knew we would be a perfect match when he put us all together and for that we are grateful.
Love, Sandra and Skip
Hi guys - I'm so sorry to hear about the newest cancer spread. I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers and I miss you terribly. Keep your chins up and your faith strong. We all love and miss you.
Jen, Greg, Jayden & Grady
Post a Comment