Updates on our cancer journey
I have more good news to report: John came home from the hospital this afternoon! He has two drainage bags still attached to his abdomen, but they look practically empty. Eventually, his home care nurse will remove them. In the meantime she’ll be checking on him daily.
Thank you again for all your prayers and support!
The surgeon who checked in on John this morning was concerned that his abscess had not been drained yet. He said that Monday was way too long to wait and he would definitely push for it today.
Just to give a bit of background, when they insert the tubes through his skin to drain the infected fluid from his abdomen, they use medical imaging for guidance. Apparently the CT scan machine that they normally use was undergoing maintenance, but by using ultrasound instead, they were able to do the procedure this morning. Thank You, Lord! What an answer to prayer. John came back to his room to find lunch waiting for him: jello, broth and orange juice.
It may take a few days for the abscess to be fully drained. By this evening, John said that his pain had already started to subside a little. We still haven’t heard when exactly he will be able to come home, but at least we are one step closer to that happening.
I know our church was lifting us up in prayer last night at the weekly prayer meeting, and many others were praying as well, so thank you! I’m so grateful to the brothers and sisters in Christ who have brought us meals and helped in practical ways (you know who you are). Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus.
Today was Maggie’s birthday, by the way. Daisy’s was last week, and thankfully John was still at home then. Although he didn’t get to be with us in person today, he still joined in watching her open her present and blow out her candles via FaceTime. She was a very happy three-year-old. All in all, it was a very good day.
Great news, everyone! John came home from the hospital today. He is still quite tired and sore, as to be expected, but the surgeon said the stoma reversal went well. Praise God!
The daily injections weren’t as bad as I thought. My dear wife was gracious enough to give me my daily stabbing as I have not the fortitude of mind to inject myself. I should see if they will let Leanne do my blood tests too because she is much more gentle than any nurse I have met so far. I had to ask Leanne if the needle was even in yet. I suppose a subcutaneous injection is a little different than an intravenous injection (hopefully I used those terms correctly).
I passed my blood test this morning. My white blood cell count is up. At the time of writing I am currently hooked up to the chemo machine being pumped full of poison medicine.
My weight is now up to 151.8 lbs (thanks to poutine and prayer) which is a nice improvement from my low at 137.0 lbs.
It’s now been 4 weeks since my last chemotherapy treatment. It’s been a nice break but I am glad to be getting on with my treatment.
Please continue to pray for us. Pray that I recover from this round of chemotherapy quickly.
I failed my blood test again today which means chemotherapy is once again postponed until next Friday (April 5th). My neutrophils (white blood cells) are still too low for chemotherapy and in fact are even lower than they were last week. To combat my neutropenia I will need to start receiving a week’s worth of daily Grastofil injections for each chemo cycle. This time I’m only getting five injections instead of seven due to the upcoming chemo treatment being only one week away (the injections must stop 48 hours before chemo begins). I had to pay out of pocket for the first batch of Grastofil (and could have bought two iPads for the same price) but it sounds like the Ontario Trillium Drug plan and the manufacturer of the drug are able to cover at least some of the cost going forward.
My doctor did have some positive news for me today. Apparently my blood tests have shown a significant decrease in my carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level. CEA is a protein that can be an indicator of cancer, especially colorectal cancer. My CEA level was 887.8 on Jan 23 and has dropped to 123.8 as of Mar 21. The doctor says this is really good and that if this continues we may be discussing the surgical removal of Tony when my chemotherapy treatments are complete. Praise the Lord! I have a CT scan booked for May 23, and hopefully these images show further evidence of healing.
Please continue to pray. My number one concern right now is my white blood cell count. I can’t get back on chemo until they climb back to a suitable level.
Thank God for this good news.