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I started chemotherapy again this week. My oncologist had put the chemotherapy on hold for a while due to my hospital stay, and making sure the infection was cleared up first. I had forgotten the wonderful side effects of chemotherapy ( Nausea, Fatigue), this morning I was quickly reminded. We visited an orthopedic doctor today (Dr. Grossnickle) to see what more we could do about the back/leg pain, and leg weakness that I have been experiencing. He first took an x-ray and found nothing. A follow up MRI showed more detail. He found that a cancerous tumor in my spine was pushing through the bone from the L3 vertebra to the L4 vertebra and shutting down the function of the nerve that controls by right leg. I essentially have no use of my right leg, which as you can imagine makes it difficult to walk. We took this as good news, and bad news. Good news that we now understand what the real problem is and we can now focus on fixing it the right way. Bad news because this means that the cancer is spreading. There are two options. 1) Radiation treatments on the Tumor in my spine. 2) Surgery to remove the Tumor. This surgery would need to be performed by an orthopedic oncologist specialist in Denver. My oncologist does not like the surgery option due to the overall risk and risk of infection. So we are going with the radiation treatments. We were able to meet with the radiation oncologist today in Greeley . He first performed a CT scan, marked my body with three tattoo marks and set up the radiation simulation. I also received the first radiation treatment today. Tomorrow I will receive the second treatment. I will receive ten treatments total , one each day over the next ten days. The radiation oncologist is optimistic that he stop the growth and relieve the pressure on the nerve. But he cannot promise that the weakness in my leg will be fixed. It all depends on how the nerve heals after the pressure is removed. I will stay on the pain management treatments with the steroid epidurals. Busy day. -Eric