From Philip

The following is from Philip. There have been changes to this. The doctor has discontinued the chemo pills due to side effects. They are now more concerned with the results from the genetics tests before deciding on another course of action.

Health Update: We have more info and treatments starting.

The good news is the MRI showed no signs of spreading to lymph nodes or other organs, however it has spread outside the muscle lining of the colon. It is considered stage 2 at this point in time. With that being the case, the surgeon and oncologist want me going through an estimated 6 months of chemotherapy and radiation to help shrink it and keep it from spreading before a surgery date is set.

They are also doing some genetics testing to make sure things will be ok for me. Currently they have prescribed me a pill form of chemotherapy. No radiation at this time until the genetics tests come back.

I want thank everyone for their support and care at this time. A very special thank you to my family for their help with all of this and to Mikala Nelson for being an outstanding partner and helping me deal with so much of this.

MRIs (Plural)

Yesterday's MRIs ended up being at 9:40 p.m. both with and without contrast. So Philip (and Mikala) ended up there for quite some time. However, they are done so when the oncologist schedules, she will have results. 

On that note, it's time I gave some credit where it's due. Philip has a girlfriend named Mikala. She is an absolute Godsend. I used to work with her dad and was shocked when Philip told me who she is. They have known each other for some time (over a year). 

Mikala used to work for a medical company and knows which offices in the valley have competent staff. She also calls ahead of time for his appointments to check that his test results were sent. Doesn't mean the staff won't change their story once we arrive. But it does mean she have a point of contact to go back to. So, shout out to Mikala. Thank you for everything!

Update

The appointment with the urologist yesterday gave us some new information. The next steps include an MRI and consultation with an oncologist. Depending on when she can fit us in, it may be a couple of weeks before we know any more. So nothing is really going to be happening for a couple of weeks. I will update again when more info is available. Hugs.

Round 3

So here we are again. Philip has colon cancer. I will try to keep this blog up to date for those who want more than just a short answer over the phone. So far...

• It does not look aggressive
• It is in the very early stages
• It is most definitely operable

He is trying to get an appointment with the surgeon to talk about when they'd like to do the surgery. It will most likely be in the next few weeks. We will be staying at home for the holidays due to this and LK's foot surgery. I'll post more information as I receive it myself. Hugs to all.

Never Have I Ever...

...Wanted to post another thing to this blog. But here we are. 

More to follow, when I'm sober.