Some Troubling News!

Well....it's been such positive and good news since last spring, but....we've hit a bump in the road and we need all of our prayer warriors, friends, and family to help us rally again! What I didn't know when I wrote in September was that one of Lou's blood counts had crept up slightly. It's known as CEA - Carcinoembryonic antigen - it's a tumor marker in the blood - in particular a colon cancer tumor marker! We didn't find out until our appointment in October that this had gone up over 100 (the Dr.'s like to try to keep this number under 100 for cancer patients being treated). And, unfortunately, by our October appointment it had almost doubled from the number in September and it's doubled yet again as of last Thursday! So, the chemo Dr. ordered new CT scans to see what was going on. The sad news is that 2 of the tumors in Lou's liver have begun growing. The tumors are not the largest ones nor the smallest ones - but....both in the last two months have grown by about 1/2 cm each! Of course, this is devastating news to Lou and me! Lou was sick for about 10 days after his October 1 chemo - not sure if it was totally related to the activity of these two tumors or not, but, possibly. The Chemo Dr. wants to leave Lou on the same chemo treatments for the next 4 sessions - meaning the next 2 months since the chemo treatments are every other Thursday. His thought is that since the current chemo treatment has been really successful in keeping all of the other tumors and areas of concern in Lou's liver and spine (and maybe brain - but...chemo doesn't usually effectively treat brain tumors - the chemo doesn't transcend the brain barrier which is good and bad!) - he would like to remain with this course a little longer to try to keep all of the other tumors "in line" and not causing problems. However, these two "renegade" tumors in his liver are a problem! I asked about the possibility of radiation or any other treatments to try to address the problems with these two tumors - but...for now, it seems we have to wait! Of course, waiting and knowing that these two are growing is VERY difficult mentally for Lou and me! We'd like to be able to do something to attack them and try to keep them from growing! Waiting seems like playing Russian roulette to us!!! I have put a call in to the radiation Dr. - just to see what his opinion is on the situation - but.....it's difficult to get a "phone" appointment! We do have an appointment already with him the first week of December for the next set of MRIs for Lou's spine and brain! So.....may have to wait until then - but...definitely would like to see if he has any other thoughts about ways to even experimentally try to do something for these two tumors!

In the meantime, the chemo Dr. has told us that the chemo regiment change he will probably follow in January will include a drug that will cause Lou to lose all of his hair. Needless to say - this is NOT something Lou is happy about! And, while most of you know - I don't even know him without a beard - guess I'll get to know him without a beard! As I've told him - somehow, we have to try to find the humor and or the lighter parts of this whole thing - but.....at times like this - it's sometimes hard to find the brighter spots!

But...we do have a bright spot coming up tomorrow! We are leaving at noon tomorrow - Tuesday, Nov 3 to go to Maui for a week! The original plan was to go to Costa Rica - but....last Friday Lou told me he really really wished we were going back to Hawaii! We thought going to Costa Rica would be easier on him - no time change - and only a 4 hour trip! However, turns out the drive from the airport to the resort we were going to go to is at least 2 hours! Long story short - I got on the phone was able to change the airline tickets and hotel - and we are on our way to Maui tomorrow! Fortunately, since Gabrielle is still living at home - she'll be able to take care of all of our dogs and keep the fort here! Lou is almost like a kid before Christmas just thinking about the beach and ocean air, etc. We truly love it in Maui - so....I hope and pray this will be a time of "renewal" and hope for both of us and that we can come back and face this new struggle with a little more optimism and strength!

We arrive back early morning on the 11th and Lou has chemo on the 12th! We had to push the next chemo up by a day to the 24th since the lab isn't open on Thanksgiving!!! He'll have his take home pump with him for Thanksgiving - but.....I think we'll just be thankful to be together! Last Thanksgiving, Lou was in considerable pain - we had just found out about the colon and liver cancers - didn't know anything about the other tumors - and he was facing the colon resection surgery on Monday after Thanksgiving! We've been down a LONG and sometimes difficult road since then - but.....it's been so much better over the last few months and we're going to try for more of those good months to come!

I apologize for not updating sooner - I find it very difficult to "share" the bad news! And, until last Thursday, even though the blood numbers were not good - we weren't sure what the problems were - although, we knew it wasn't going to be anything we wanted to hear! It could definitely be worse! Consdering the large numbers of tumors in Lou's liver and elsewhere - to only have 2 problems - while hard to be thankful - the news could have been much worse!

We both really appreciate your prayers and concerns and hope that you will all continue to pray for the Lord to direct the Dr.s and our nurse Teddie to determine the best ways to fight this insidious disease in Lou's body! He has come so very far and has done so well!! I think much better than even the Dr.'s expectations - but...I know and Lou knows it's the Lord's hand that has allowed these things to have been so good thus far! So, we are very thankful and relying on our faith - we want to continue the good fight and we know with the Lord that all things are possible! And knowing we have so many prayer warriors and friends backing us up - well....we're humbled and extremely thankful!

Blessings and Love!
Deb