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| With Chris' brother and family, New Mexico June 2010 |
Wed 9-1-2010 - No news is usually good news, hence the long period between updates. And now a new update... Not only are we having to keep an eye on the Lymphoma which as far as we know to date is still at bay, now we have Prostate cancer to worry about. Chris' Prostate was biopsied last week. He has Grade 3 Prostate cancer at stage T2A. This is a slow growing form that was found on only one side of the Prostate. There are a few options for treatment; watching it, radiation, and removal. We feel removal would be a last resort based how much of the Prostate seems to be involved. There is also a study at the University of Colorado (Not our favorite place) that we might look into, if nothing else, he would get a more thorough biopsy. We need to see if he would quality.
Chris is still feeling pretty good. He's been busy helping out at church and fixing up vintage equipment for the studio.
Sun 10-24-2010 - The "more thorough" biopsy we were hoping for was actually a Focal 3D mapping procedure which is more precise at locating cancer within the prostate. As it was explained to us, normal biopsies are hit or miss in locating the cancer. In other words, there is usually more than an a normal biopsy finds. Focal biopsies should be the norm, but aren't yet. And it appears that is why our insurance wouldn't cover it. Even after the CEO of our insurance company was treated this way (by the same doctor at University, even!). It was good enough for him, but not the people his company covers.
Anyway, the final treatment would have been the same, just not as precise. Chris will be treated with cryotherapy; essentially the freezing of the prostate. If the Focal mapping could have been done, only those areas cancer was found would be treated, but instead, the whole prostate will be treated. This is less radical than prostate removal nor does it prevent further treatments should they be needed. Chris is scheduled for the procedure on Tuesday. It is outpatient, so he will be home that night.
Wed 10-27-2010 - Chris' surgery went well. He was given plateles and his oncologist gave him a Nupregin shot both on Monday and today. His counts looked good today. Not normal, of course, but they were high for Chris. His follow-up appointment is in a couple weeks.
Mon 12-13-2010 - Everything is going well. And, oh so much to be thankful for. Chris has recovered well from his Prostate procedure. He will have his first Post procedure PSA test in February. But the best news has been his recent PET scan. This makes three clean scans in a row. We are very excited. Chris and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of good health!
Mon 1-3-2011 - Our new year hasn't started out very well. We travelled out to Illinois to celebrate the holidays with my family. Chris had contracted a bad cold from, of all people, me. We started off for Illinois with Chris on antibiodics. He seemed to slowly be recovering, then right after Christmas, he started running a fever which very soon got quite high. It was just under 103 when I took him to the emergency room. He spent the next three days in the hospital with a sinus infection and a little pneumonia. The doctors reluctantly released him on Friday and we started back home on Saturday. Recovery has been slow, but it looks like the pneumonia is subsiding and he'll be seeing and ear/nose/throat doctor about his sinuses.
Mon 1-17-2011 - Chris is just now starting to feel better. And after consulting with an ear/nose/throat doctor, Chris will be going through a procedure to clean out his sinus which should reduce the amount of sinus infections that could occur. The doctor noted that the pictures of the CT scan of Chris' sinus that was done in Illinois were worse than the written report indicated. The procedure is scheduled for this Thursday. It is outpatient and will probably include a good week of discomfort for him.
Fri 8-12-2011 - As of June 2011, Chris has had 4 clean PET Scans. He is very susptable to infections, battling a few already. But he's learned to pay more attention when something doesn't feel right. We consider ourselves very blessed to have had so many praying and supporting us.