Saturday, May 31, 2014

Good new from Travis

From Travis:

"Well, as usual I am here to give an update before talking to my doctor for the official results. I risk having to eat my words (as I have before). So, all this could change. BUT I was too excited not to share it. The report from the endoscopic ultrasound/biopsy came in today through my MyHealth site. This is on the only area of concern left (at this moment /crosses fingers).
It reads: "NO MALIGNANT CELLS IDENTIFIED"...
SKADOOSH!!!
That's the good news, the bad news is that what they did find is "consistent with an
abscess". That COULD explain the growing and the subsequent hugging of the nerves. Not sure where I go from here...more updates to come.
Just to point out, had this tested positive for cancer I would have been in a lot of trouble. Hence the Skadoosh."

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Another scope for this hottie! Praying for a great biopsy in the presacral area!!

 


Thursday, May 22, 2014

From Travis - Pain...Cancer again?

This message is really long. For a shorter version scroll down to the paragraph titled: “SHORT VERSION”

Hello everyone. I have an update. A little over a week ago I started having severe pain in my upper left leg/buttocks area. It was a pain I had periodically before over the last couple of months, but it was always temporary and generally not extremely painful. This time, however, it continued to get worse. By the end of last week, it had me staying in bed most of the day screaming in pain into my pillow. Standing up was next to impossible, and walking 5 feet was a daunting task.

By Saturday we gave an ultimatum to ourselves, If it hadn't resolved itself by Monday I would be going into the emergency room. Instead of better, by Monday it was worse. I called the best doctor in the world: Dr. Johnnie Cook, who told me the emergency room was a great choice. Seeing as how he IS the best doctor he mentioned calling my oncologist as an additional option. I did just that. They made room for an appointment in their office. After the examination they rushed an order for an MRI.
A half hour later I was looking up into the MRI machine. Johnnie, combined with the efforts of Dr. Hansens’ office, helped me get the fastest treatment possible without the headache of the ER.

Shortly after getting home that day we got the results on the MyHealth website (amazing invention). It showed that in my bones there was marrow irregularity. It also indicated that the area we had been concerned about (from previous scans) showed growth. Doubling in thickness. This was obviously very concerning. This combined with the pain was not real uplifting. I called Dr Hansen’s office. The nurse I spoke to did not give me a lot of hope. After she explained the results to me, and telling me that I needed to come in to discuss options for treatment, I asked her: “So does this mean it’s cancer?” Her answer? “Yes.”

At the same time my pain had gotten worse still. She helped with that as well by getting a prescription for some patches that I now wear that release pain medication into my body 24 hours a day. I am now up to two of those patches as well as the “pill form” pain medications I was taking for the neuropathic pain. To put the pain into perspective I can tell you that even with all of that, its still in pain and walking is difficult. However the pain is much more manageable finally. I am not screaming into my pillow or helplessly crying in bed.

Back to the diagnosis. I went in to talk with my oncologist and came out of there a little more hopeful. He said he wanted to make sure that it really is cancer. This means he was not as convinced as the nurse indicated. However, he did say he’s worried about it because of the growth in thickness as well as the pain. By the way, he believes the pain is in fact being caused by this growth. In that a nerve has been wrapped or affected somehow by this growth. Causing pain down the leg. As for the bone marrow irregularity, it’s his hope and belief that this is just a result of radiation and that no cancer has reached the bones.

To find out if its cancer, I will be trying to get Dr. Sandhu (who has staged my cancers) in SLC to see if he can in fact biopsy the area. If not, the only option for that would be to perform an invasive surgery for direct biopsy. This is so invasive that I would probably end up with infection in addition to a colostomy with a number of other risks. That’s a huge risk for a biopsy. So if it ends up being positive or we can’t get a biopsy, I will begin chemo treatments again. Unfortunately we cannot operate on it or continue radiation in the area. So chemo would be my only choice.

Obviously this is not the greatest news. It’s important to maintain hope that it’s not cancer, or that if it is I can fight it off. As always I need your prayers and good vibes. In return I promise to do everything I can to win the fight and stay positive.

To sum it all up:
----- “SHORT VERSION” ----- About a week and a half ago I started feeling extreme pain in upper left leg/lower buttocks. It got worse until Monday of this week I finally went to the Dr for it. I got an MRI which showed bone marrow irregularity as well as growth in the area of previous concern outside of the colon. My doctor (his nurse actually) originally told me it was cancer. But since then he is not 100% convinced and wants to run a biopsy. If I CAN get a biopsy and it’s positive, or if a biopsy is not possible, I will start chemo treatments again. Again I ask for prayers and good vibes. Wish me luck.