Like I said last time, every day I feel better and better. I am walking around more, eating full meals, albeit a limited diet, and life is returning to a new normal. It’s funny how busy it can be even though I’m not doing much. Kids have a way of keeping you busy.
The doctors feel I am doing so well, they want to start chemo end of the month. Here’s the dirty deets: Chemo cocktail called folfox (What does that fox say?) - 2 drugs. One is platinum (keeps cells from dividing) and the other is 5-FU (keeps cells from multiplying). Well it is appropriate to call chemo FU, right? Side effects are fairly minor all things considered - severe sensitivity to cold (like use an oven mitt to take things out of the fridge), numbness in fingertips and toes, sores in mouth, on hands and feet, and other typical chemo stuff. My gorgeous set of locks will happily stay in tact and I should be able to carry on my daily activities quite normally.
We’ve been inundated with cancer information. We had the opportunity to meet with two oncologists, one last Friday and the other yesterday. One of the great things about MDA is all of the doctors communicate with each other, so you aren’t relying on one person’s medical expertise. Therefore, we can go with any doctor and expect quality medical care. The great thing about meeting with those oncologists is that we were able to attain vast amounts of information and start connecting some dots. The official cancer diagnosis is stage III (followed by numbers and letters that I won’t get into what they mean because it’s very nuanced) appendiceal adenocarcinoma carcinoid tumor. Thanks to this diagnosis I can no longer exclaim “It’s not a tumor!”
I’ll break it down:
Stage III - based on size of tumor and where it spread to - spread past 3 layers of the appendix, but not past the fourth layer (fat), and was found in the lymph nodes
Appendiceal - Found in the most ridiculous organ of your body.
Adenocarcinoma - cancer that forms in mucus-secreting glands. Breast, colon, pancreas cancers, etc. are all adenocarcinomas.
Carcinoid - slow-growing, non-spreading type of neuroendocrine tumor originating in cells of neuroendocrine system.
The chemo is to treat the adenocarcinoma. We are calling it the insurance policy plan (adjuvant therapy). Without treatment very likely cancer will return and with treatment, the number goes down to 25%. We’ll take it!
It will be 12 cycles given every two weeks, and I’ll be finishing up the end of September.
Following chemotherapy, they will do a CT and we will go from there.
Physical update complete. The only thing I would add here is when chemo starts, I’d love to offer it up for you and your intentions, so please feel free to let us know how we can pray for you. Our specific prayer request is for the chemo to kill any rogue cells quickly and efficiently. We are offering continued prayers of thanksgiving for all you have done for us.
David wants to provide an update for you regarding physical things for the house, but he’s dealing with a birthday boy (Thomas turns 3 today!) who is throwing a fit right now. It’s his party and he’ll cry if he wants to.
Love to all!
