Not even 2 weeks home from our dream vacation and we've had a lot on our plate! Ben has had a procedure in Hamilton, 2 doctors appointments and many other appointments in the very near future.
Ben's first procedure was on February 3rd. This was his portal vein embolization procedure, which I mentioned in my last post. It's kind of a complicated thing to explain so I have attached a video here which explains it perfectly! (and saves me paragraphs of writing) Click on the link below.
The embolization procedure took place in Hamilton and was 3 hours long. Ben was awake from the entire thing. He spent the night in hospital and was discharged the next morning. He came home with some pain meds, which he rarely takes, and was feeling a bit tender and tired. Since then he has really been doing well and up and about. You'd never know looking at him! He occasionally does have some pain at the incision site and tenderness around the liver. Other than that I've been surprised at how well he has come around.
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| 2nd doctors appointment today. He smiled for me :) |
Today, February 9th, we had 2 doctors appointments. We met with Ben's medical oncologist and his radiation oncologist. We learned that Ben will have a CT scan on Monday (Feb 13th) and start radiation for the tumour in the colon starting February 21st. He will receive 5 days of radiation, Feb 21, 22, 23, 24 and 27th. Each treatment is only about 15 minutes long. This is to downsize the tumour in his colon while attending to the liver. We've been told the side effects shouldn't be as bad as chemotherapy and we pray he feels well for treatments!
Following radiation, Ben has an MRI and CT scans booked on his liver and surrounding areas to asses the cancer. Ben has been off chemo since January 4th so they want to see that the cancer hasn't grown since being off treatment. This is a HUGE step. If the cancer has not grown and stayed the same since his last treatment, we can proceed and Ben can go in for a liver resection. If the cancer has continued to grow since chemotherapy they will have to reassess things. Our biggest prayer right now is that the cancer in Ben's liver has not grown and that he will go in for this liver resection! We are asking our prayer warriors to really pray hard for this! If the scans come back good, a liver resection will likely happen the beginning of March. The resection will remove 75% of his liver, the most you can remove during a resection.
When the liver resection is complete, Ben will wait 4-6 weeks to undergo his 4th surgery since being diagnosed to remove the tumour in his colon and possibly reverse his ileostomy. Following this it sounds like he would receive a few more treatments of chemotherapy, but those details aren't totally firm yet. Ben has an appointment tomorrow, Feb 10th, to meet with the colon surgeon in Hamilton to learn more about this.
The next few months are really big for Ben. This has been the biggest news for us since June. We were been told back in June when Ben was originally diagnosed that he only had a 10% chance of qualifying for a liver resection and yet here we are planning the surgery! We've also been told that Ben is the first case presented to his medical oncologist as being a patient who has stage 4 colorectal cancer who did not qualify for surgery, and now does after receiving chemotherapy treatments. I can only fall to my knees, lift my hands and thank our God for His amazing work and this miraculous miracle. We keep listening to the song "Oceans" by Hillsong and the words are just so perfect,... "Spirit lead me where my trust is without boarders. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my saviour". Trust without borders... "and I will call upon Your name... keep my eyes above the waves, I am Yours and You are mine"
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| Our wedding rings. This picture reminded me of the vow we took to one another almost 8 years now. Through sickness and health... |
We continue to thank everyone for your outpour of support and prayers! The hands of help with the girls, with meals, monetary donations, help with groceries, house cleaning, lawn care... the list goes on and on... to have friends, family and community rally around us and help us get through this time has been a true blessing and SO unbelievable. Thank you!!
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