Gary is showing signs of improvement, at least in his energy level. He is eating good and getting a little more energy every day. He is in his second round of chemo treatments on Mondays only. One more week then he will be off a week.
Dr Anderson from Barnes in St Louis called us last Wednesday, March 23rd, and said he wanted Gary to come up for another CT Scan in 2 months. He had talked with Dr Leo in Bolivar and was happy with the treatments Dr Leo has planned for Gary. Dr Anderson is going to consult with other oncologists who are in charge of clinical trials to see if Gary would qualify for one. If so, we should hear from the oncologists. For now, we have not heard anything from them.
We continue to take one day at a time. We are thankful for at least one full week of normalcy (?) without any sudden pain attacks, nausea, etc. We are so thankful for the prayers. The doctors need all the help they can get.
Jannis
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Update March 15th
There have been some changes since the last update. We thought we were going to St Louis tomorrow for a CT Scan on Thursday; however, we ended up going to St Louis last week on Thursday and had the CT Scan on Friday. Dr Anderson at Barnes was concerned about Gary's sudden pain and problems with the stint, so he didn't want to wait another week.
The news was not what we wanted to hear. The tumor has not pulled away from the artery and is possibly a little larger around it which means that the treatments have not worked like they needed to so far. Dr Anderson said that radiation continues to work for 7-8 weeks after the treatment stops and it has only been 3 weeks since the radiation treaments ended. Needless to say, we were very disappointed and somewhat depressed, but after a couple of days, we are back in the saddle and thinking positive. The positive results are that the cancer still has not spread to other organs.
Dr Anderson is now in the planning stage of consulting with other doctors (who are in charge of clinical trials) and Dr Leo (our oncologist here in Bolivar) to see what the next stage of treatments will be. We have not heard from him yet and it may be next week before we hear from him. As for now, Dr Leo is going to start chemo treatments again next week on Mondays for 3 weeks then off one week. These treatments should be much easier for Gary to handle because they will just be one treatment a week. That all may change after we hear from Dr Anderson.
Gary is feeling better, eating better, getting some energy back and gained 2 pounds this past week!! We try to stay as positive as possible, but sometimes that is hard to do because of all the negative issues about pancreatic cancer. We ask for your continued prayers and support. It means a great deal to both of us and to our children. I will post again after we know something for sure about what will be next for us.
Jannis
The news was not what we wanted to hear. The tumor has not pulled away from the artery and is possibly a little larger around it which means that the treatments have not worked like they needed to so far. Dr Anderson said that radiation continues to work for 7-8 weeks after the treatment stops and it has only been 3 weeks since the radiation treaments ended. Needless to say, we were very disappointed and somewhat depressed, but after a couple of days, we are back in the saddle and thinking positive. The positive results are that the cancer still has not spread to other organs.
Dr Anderson is now in the planning stage of consulting with other doctors (who are in charge of clinical trials) and Dr Leo (our oncologist here in Bolivar) to see what the next stage of treatments will be. We have not heard from him yet and it may be next week before we hear from him. As for now, Dr Leo is going to start chemo treatments again next week on Mondays for 3 weeks then off one week. These treatments should be much easier for Gary to handle because they will just be one treatment a week. That all may change after we hear from Dr Anderson.
Gary is feeling better, eating better, getting some energy back and gained 2 pounds this past week!! We try to stay as positive as possible, but sometimes that is hard to do because of all the negative issues about pancreatic cancer. We ask for your continued prayers and support. It means a great deal to both of us and to our children. I will post again after we know something for sure about what will be next for us.
Jannis
Monday, March 7, 2011
Update March 7th
The tumor count is continuing to go down!! It is now 134 and started at 693 in December. 40 is the magic number, but I can't tell you why or what it means. They took blood tests today, but we will not know the results of the tumor count until next week. The other tests all came back looking good. Also, next Thursday, March 17th, is when Gary has another CT Scan and meets with Dr Anderson. We will go up to St Louis on Wednesday because the CT Scan is at 8:00 am Thursday. I will probably not post another update until after we go to St Louis on the 17th.
Jannis
Jannis
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Update March 5th
I was going to wait until Monday, March 7th, to post another update because that is when they test for his tumor count again; however, this past week was not so good so I decided to post today.
Sunday night, after the tornado winds came through, Gary started having severe stomach pains about midnight. At 5:00 am Monday, he woke me up and said he was going to the emergency room because he couldn't stand the pain anymore ( I had no idea he was in pain until he woke me up). He would not wait on me to get ready. When I got there he had already been given some pain medication and was feeling better. After a couple of hours, we brought him home and I went back to work. At noon, he called me and said the pain was coming back, so I went and picked him up and took him to Dr Leo, his cancer doctor in Bolivar. They gave him some treatments (I don't remember what they gave him) and after a few hours he was feeling better and I took him home. He felt better Tuesday and even went to our granddaughter's ballgame, visited with several friends and joked all evening with them.
Wednesday evening he started feeling the pain again, so back to the emergency room we went. He looked jaundice. The tests they ran showed his bile not getting where it was supposed to, so in a consultation with Dr Leo, the decision was made to go back to Cox South in Springfield and have his stint in his bile duct replaced. They kept him at CMH until a room could be opened up at Cox. Thursday afternoon, they transported him to Cox. Friday morning, Dr Ramsey replaced the plastic stint with a permanent stint. Gary was released about 6:00 Friday evening and back home.
Dr Ramsey said that this is fairly common and that it was not anything that Gary did or ate to cause the stint to become blocked. The permanent stint could possibly become clogged also, but it shouldn't happen sooner than a year or so. Gary has to follow a low fat and low cholesterol diet for now.
This morning, Saturday, Gary is tired and in a little pain, but it is tolerable.
I will post another update Monday after we get his tumor count.
Jannis
Sunday night, after the tornado winds came through, Gary started having severe stomach pains about midnight. At 5:00 am Monday, he woke me up and said he was going to the emergency room because he couldn't stand the pain anymore ( I had no idea he was in pain until he woke me up). He would not wait on me to get ready. When I got there he had already been given some pain medication and was feeling better. After a couple of hours, we brought him home and I went back to work. At noon, he called me and said the pain was coming back, so I went and picked him up and took him to Dr Leo, his cancer doctor in Bolivar. They gave him some treatments (I don't remember what they gave him) and after a few hours he was feeling better and I took him home. He felt better Tuesday and even went to our granddaughter's ballgame, visited with several friends and joked all evening with them.
Wednesday evening he started feeling the pain again, so back to the emergency room we went. He looked jaundice. The tests they ran showed his bile not getting where it was supposed to, so in a consultation with Dr Leo, the decision was made to go back to Cox South in Springfield and have his stint in his bile duct replaced. They kept him at CMH until a room could be opened up at Cox. Thursday afternoon, they transported him to Cox. Friday morning, Dr Ramsey replaced the plastic stint with a permanent stint. Gary was released about 6:00 Friday evening and back home.
Dr Ramsey said that this is fairly common and that it was not anything that Gary did or ate to cause the stint to become blocked. The permanent stint could possibly become clogged also, but it shouldn't happen sooner than a year or so. Gary has to follow a low fat and low cholesterol diet for now.
This morning, Saturday, Gary is tired and in a little pain, but it is tolerable.
I will post another update Monday after we get his tumor count.
Jannis
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