Saturday, March 13, 2010

Bump in the road

Its been a while since I posted so here goes. Treatment has been going well and my first scan since starting the new protocol showed that the disease is on the run. The tumors are shrinking at a good rate (one has shrunk by a 1/3) and nothing new is showing up. Great News!

Shortly after I had the scan done I started experiencing pain in my abdomen. It started 1 day at work the pain was so bad that I had to leave and coworkers were commenting that they could see the pain in my face. I had an appointment with my doc at Sloan the following week and told him of the pain. He ordered a chest X-ray and an EKG both of which showed nothing remarkable. I ended up taking the treatment and went home. The pain did not go away and we called the doc to let him know about it. I was told to take the pain killers (percocet) to manage the pain. I was pretty much bed ridden and doubled over with pain. I was unable to go to work due to being on the pain killers and the pain was still present. I went down to Sloan for treatment and complained to the doc and nurses that the pain was out of control and unmanageable. He ordered a CT scan and withheld treatment. He also stepped up the pain killers (oxy contin was prescribed) and scheduled an endoscopy. The doc thought I may have an ulcer that was caused by the chemo. Sandy ended up working some magic and was able to get an appointment in Albany with a GI doc. We went to a consult and had the procedure done. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the endoscopy ruled out an ulcer. So here I sit still in pain but managing it better with pain killers. I hope to get back to work this week working from home because I won't be able to drive while I am taking the pain killers. I go to Sloan again next week and I'm wondering what's next as far as tests go. I really want to know what is causing the pain so we can address it and move on.

I want to close this post by thanking my wife Sandy for all her hard work managing my care team, scheduling appointments, billing, and all the other things that go along with taking care of me. I really appreciate it and love you more each day we are together. I also want to express my gratitude to my employer for giving me the flexibility that I need in order to get through trying times like I have been having recently. Thank you Paul, Chris, Bill, Dennis, J*** and everyone there for everything you do for me.

1 comment:

  1. Great news about the scan, and we are sorry to hear about the pain you are experiencing. Our prayers continue for you to be cancer free and that the source of your severe pain can be determined and rectified. Fred will try to reach you tomorrow, and if you aren't up to a conversation, he'll understand. Our best to Sandy and Olivia. Love, Fred & Mary

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