Sorry about the delay

I haven’t sent out an update in a while, there’s been a lot going on so let’s see if I can get you caught up. After starting the new Chemotherapy drugs I experienced some significant fatigue and weakness. My oncologist was concerned about my fatigue and general history of infection, so he scheduled a number of tests just to make sure that something new had not popped up. My scheduled chemotherapy treatment was canceled because my CBC (blood count) levels were very low. A blood culture was taken to check for infection and both CT and MRI scans were scheduled. Follow up CBC checks showed that my CBC levels had bounced back, so no significant concerns here, this can happen easily with cancer patients undergoing treatments, particularly with those starting new chemotherapy drugs. The blood culture tests came back clean, showing no signs of infection. The CT scan showed possible fluids around the lungs and the heart. The immediate concern was fluids around the heart since this could over-stress the heart and cause other problems. An electro-cardio-gram was scheduled. It took a few days to get the test scheduled and performed which caused some stress on our side. In the end the test came by normal so no fluids were found around the heart. Two MRI’s were scheduled. One of the head to check progress of the tumors on my brain, and the other to check the check progress of the tumor in my back. The MRI of the head showed so some actual shrinkage of the tumors on the brain, so that is good news. The MRI of the back showed NO shrinkage of the back tumor. This is bad news since that is what the recent radiation treatments were supposed to take care of. If the tumor in the back remains then pressure on the nerve in my back would also remain and continue to affect the function of my right leg. This makes me wonder if the Physical Therapy I am undergoing will have any impact at all given that the tumor is still there and the nerve is still being impacted. We cannot do any more radiation in this area, since I was given the maximum dose allowable. Two options exist here. Back surgery to try and remove the tumor, or hope that the chemotherapy will reduce/remove the tumor in my back. Surgery is not the preferably option, as it is very invasive, has long recovery times, and no guarantees that it will work. I have not heard good things about back surgery. Surgery is not an option that we are seriously considering right now. We are hoping the chemotherapy will deliver the results we need by reducing/removing the tumor in my back and helping to restore the function of my right leg and ability to walk. The CT scan also showed growth of the cancer in my right lung (the “good” lung). The left lung has been severely compromised and is generally considered non functioning, so seeing the degradation of the right lung is NOT good news. The growth of the cancer in the right lung has caused a significant increase in shortness of breath, and degradation in my ability to breathe on my own. I am on oxygen 24/7 at this point. There is a significant increase in my general fatigue due the chemotherapy, continued recovery from the radiation therapy, and degradation of the right lung. I get severely winded just walking from the bathroom to the bed. While walking up and down stairs is already very difficult due to the this issues with my leg, it is a huge chore now when adding the additional shortness of breath from the degradation in my right lung. We have also been referred to a specialist in Denver to look at the possibility of trying some trial chemotherapy drugs, we’ll be visiting with this specialist in the next week or two to look at the options. So at this point chemotherapy is our only hope in solving the host issues that I am experiencing. Taking all these things into consideration, the situation sucks, but we have not lost hope and will continue to fight this. - Eric