December 10, 2008

We met with Dr. Aggarwal on Monday to get the scan results. She told us that the spot on my liver had grown three times the size as the last scan, and there were several more new spots on the liver. She also believes that this rapid growth in my liver would cause most of the symptoms that I’ve been having…pain, nausea and vomitting. She’s treating me aggressively with a new chemo plus my Herception that I’ll have weekly. In fact, we started the first dose on Monday. She’s also prescribed a pain patch that works for three days because nothing in pill form was lasting long enough. Because of the pain patch and chemo, she doesn’t want me driving for a while, and I won’t be able to work for the next four weeks. She’ll repeat scans in a couple of weeks, and there’s another chemo she can add if we don’t see a quick response. She called this a “very serious” situation, but she didn’t take away the hope that it may respond well and I’d be back to normal.

This week I’ve been VERY tired, but the patch has started working and my pain is much better. I still cannot eat much without throwing up, but I’ve been able to get down some food. I’m at work today for a few hours to meet with my boss and see how I can leave the projects I have for a while.

We are grateful for some answers, but we know we’ll need to fight again and lean on our faith to make it through this time. I’m resting in the hope that God will provide what we need and carry us through a difficult time. We ask for your prayers also.

Sandy and Mark