We were getting all our Dr. appointments out of the way since the summer was going by pretty fast. Keith had his annual physical the end of July. As always, the dr. said Keith was perfect...WELL, I already knew that! All he said was - go get a colonoscopy... So, Keith made the appt. and did all that drinking prep stuff....and on Aug. 23rd we went for the test. You can only imagine our shock when they asked me to come back to be with Keith and the doc. came in to tell us he didn't have good news for us. Keith has colorectal cancer. After many tests and scans, the surgeon shared with us that it would be best for Keith to have a round of radiation and chemo before surgery. This would shrink the tumor and make it easier to remove. On Sept 20th we started the radiation treatments at the Reading Hosp. Arriving at 8 a.m. everyday Monday thru Friday. Most days we were in and out in less than an hour. On Tuesdays we saw the Dr. so that was always a longer day. The 5FU chemo was started on Tues. and was a pump which Keith carried with him 24/7 giving him small amounts of chemo every 10 min.
Long story short.. They had to take Keith off the chemo pump the 3rd week as he developed ulcers in his mouth, lips and other warm parts of his body...After a 2 week break from the 5FU...the oncologist thought we should try 1/2 dose for one week and finish up when the radiation treatments would end. After less than 24 hours Keith started with the blisters on his lips and the ulcers again. They took him off the pump for good. Keith doesn't have the gene that allows his body to metabolize the 5FUchemo. It was like giving him 10 times the amount of chemo. Poor Guy. We finished with the radiation last Thurs. Hooray!
This Wed. after lunch we'll meet with the surgeon, Dr. DeVos at the Reading Hosp. and he will give us the date for Keith's surg.
I will continue to up-date the blog on Keith's progress.... We thank everyone for their prayers...
We are TRUSTING that GOD will take care of us..
2 comments:
We've been praying for you guys for the last two weeks, ever since we saw Mitch & Barb in Natchez Trace and thinking lots of positive thoughts. Good luck with the surgery.
Both of you continue to be in our prayers daily. We're back in Peace River and missing you guys a lot - First time back on the courts brought back memories of our painting/tape job last year. Lots of people here praying for you two. Good to see you back on your Blog. Good luck with the surgery.
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