A New Hope

A New Hope is the sub title of the very first Star Wars film. Luke Skywalker was new hope to help save the universe from the evil empire. I met my Luke down at Sloan yesterday in my battle against the evil empire attacking my body.

Sandy and I took the train down to NYC to meet with a CRC(Colorectal Cancer)doctor at Sloan. The day started off nice with a beautiful train ride down the Hudson river to NYC. We arrived around 11 AM and we proceeded to walk up to Times Square. We spent some time looking at all of the stores and advertising. Then we walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral to say some prayers and ask for help in finding a cure. We had lunch walked over to 5th ave and window shopped and then walked over a couple blocks to Sloan.

The staff was very nice to us and we filled out a bunch of forms and went in to meet the Doctors. First we met with Dr.C's fellow and another doc from China who is here to learn about CRC. The cases of CRC are starting to increase in China. Although they don't know what causes the disease, I suspect the rise in the number of cases in China may be related to all the fast food companies that have opened up there. Anyways he examined me and asked about the history and what I was looking for. We told him we wanted to have liver resection which leads to a cure. He left and and told us that he and Dr. C would talk it over and develop a strategy. We waited about 1/2 hour 45 minutes then the knock on the door came. Dr. C came in and introduced himself and proceeded to give us a lecture on CRC and how the disease works. he went on to say that under my current treatment that I would not be a candidate for liver resection. My heart fell on the floor. That was when he told us of a study using a hepatic arterial pump therapy that has potential to lead inoperable people to candidacy for resection. He went on to say that I would be an ideal person to participate in this study. My heart hopped back into my chest and my new hope was realized. Our prayers were answered!

We left Sloan and will be back next week for an appointment with the surgeon who is running the study. I will be undergoing a very serious operation to have the pump implanted in my abdomen. They will remove my gall bladder due to a risk of infection. They will also remove the original tumor in the same surgery session. I will more than likely spend 7 days in the hospital in NYC and have 3 weeks at home to recuperate. I beleive that this will occur sooner rather than later as the Sloan Docs recommended that I pass on the chemo treatment this week. The chemo causes your body to heal slower so you have to be off of it for a couple of weeks before undergoing any surgery.

So that's my story. We went to NYC with nothing and came back with a new hope. I'm looking forward to this week end and not having a chemo hang over. I plan to spend my time with my 2 favorite girls; my wife Sandy and my little angel Olivia.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.