Update and Schedule

Hello everyone. I have not been posting because honestly I have been feeling pretty low. The radiation and chemotherapy ended on Oct 30. My doctor told me that the radiation would continue to build and the nausea and discomfort would as well. I hoped he was wrong. Turns out, that decade of training he had and the daily experience are worth something, and in fact I have continued to go downhill on my physical state. I really do not encourage anyone to try this at home. The good news is that now that I am no longer adding to the chemotherapy or radiation with daily doses, so it must be on some half-life schedule and therefore I will be feeling better before long. When that happens I don’t know. I figure if I feel as bad as I do the cancer must be getting a major walloping since this stuff is targeted to kill it and only do damage to me.

The next steps on this journey begin quickly. I go back to Houston this Friday, November 7 for another procedure to replace the bile duct stent placed in mid August. It’s time for this one to be removed. This was not an unpleasant event but it’s risky because the passage through which the camera and new stent must go is constricted due to inflammation from the cancer. If it’s too constricted, then I could end up with a tube in my abdomen again. Referring back to what God said, I don’t believe this will happen. I believe I will get the new stent uneventfully and return home on Saturday.

After that the next visit to Houston is in mid December for a check on the treatment’s effect on the cancer. I mentioned earlier that my cancer markers have been coming down during this treatment. This is a good sign but the real check point is December. The delay comes from the doctors letting the radiation percolate for about 6-8 weeks. The doctor will use this information (which is hopefully very good) to present my case to the liver transplant boards in Houston. They apparently have visibility into other lists around the nation and may or may not be willing to put me on their lists. Their decision criteria is not clear to anyone including my doctor. (Prayer here is appreciated.) Once presented I will either go on the list or begin a series of chemotherapy treatments for a second shot 6 months later, or a combination of the two if the list is long and we need to control the cancer with more chemo while we wait.

The new chemo will be on a bi-weekly dose administered here in Austin. Its side effects will be more intense at the time of administration but will slacken and I should feel better after a couple of days. This will continue until we get a liver for transplant.

To everyone who has been praying for my family or taking care of them in some way THANK YOU. I cannot begin to tell you how important you have been during this process. It has been very hard, and continues to be. Thank you so much for your caring and love.