What doesn't kill us...

A couple of developments have occurred since my last post.  First, and most importantly, Matthew had a PET scan, and we found out that he was not in remission.  He has 3 tumors  in the colon area.  One of these is the spot that we had been watching and was not clear previously.  The report came in the mail without any additional information from the doctor.  Dad contacted MD Anderson, and has been waiting for more information.

 Today, they received final clarification on a procedure that is scheduled for Monday/Tuesday 4/23 and 4/24.  They will do a "partial splenic artery embolization" on Tuesday.  From research, and our understanding, this is a procedure that will hopefully result in decreasing the amount of platelets that are stored in his spleen, and possibly cut some of the blood flow to the tumors.  They are hoping that this procedure will help address his low platelet counts, and will allow for more chemo.  The procedure is supposed to be done with a catheter and should be outpatient.

So, unfortunately, the fight continues.  Pray that this procedure brings good results.

Nothing New....

Some of you may have seen a Facebook post or heard some news about Matthew bleeding and a low platelet count.  Fortunately, it turns out that both of those are a problem. 

Matthew started bleeding from his stoma on Sunday evening.  The stoma is a result of the colectomy Matthew had last May.  My Dad took him to the emergency room because of the fear of excessive bleeding as a result of his low platelet count.  The bleed stopped, and they did scans to check for internal bleeding, which came back negative.  However, they told Matthew that his platelet count was a 20--which is extremely low.

A couple days later Matthew went to the oncologist. The oncologist tested his blood and found that his platelet count was in the 60's.  His thoughts were that they did not test Matthew's blood quickly enough, and his platelet clotting occurred causing the count to be inaccurate.  He sent him to LabCorp for another count (immediately after testing it in the office) to test his theory.  The blood count from LabCorp came back as too low to count.  This confirmed his theory that the hospital's count was inaccurate.  He also told Matthew that bleeding from the stoma was very common (which nobody had mentioned before). 

Therefore, despite the scare.  Matthew is still in the same place he was in last week.  His counts haven't gone up yet, but the doctor doesn't seem concerned.  So, we just hope that he needs more time.  The next step at this point is scheduling his colon resection.  This is not on the books yet, but they are hoping for the end of April. 

Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers.

Remission!!!

Matthew's scans were clean!  They saw no cancer!  His platelet count was still low (74), but hopefully, with time, they will gain some more ground.  He will go back in 3 months for another set of scans.  He still needs to go through his resection surgery.

For now though, we are relieve, and thankful......

Happy Dance--at least a small one!

We can do a little happy dance this week.  Matthew's platelet count went up to 74 --all on its own!

  This doesn't change the fact that chemo has been discontinued.  However, we were a bit concerned that the marrow may have been permanently damaged.  So, this is excellent news.

They also had a meeting with the surgeon that will do his resection.  The doctor basically said that he wouldn't do surgery if there was still cancer present.  So, the next step is appointments at M.D. Anderson.

These were already in the works, but it has taken a while to get them all straight.  Mom has gone back and forth with them on scheduling things in the right time frame (and right order) several times.  March 22nd Matthew will have his next round of scans at M.D.A.  These (Hopefully and with lots of prayers) should show that all the cancer is gone.  He will get the results from the scans with the M.D.A. oncologist on March 23rd.  He will have a follow-up with the liver surgeon on April 2nd (he has to have several meetings a year with the surgeon).

So, in short, the prayers --and time--are working so far.  Please keep them up  They are much appreciated.

More Trouble with Platelets

Matthew got some bad news today.  The doctor has discontinued his chemo treatments.  Even after all of the "boosters" he has gotten in the last few weeks, his platelet count has dropped from 55 last week to 49 this week.  The plan was for him to receive 4 more treatments.  As of this point, we don't know what exactly this means for the long term.  We don't know how effective the last several treatments have been.  It is possible that all of the cancer is dead.  There was actually very little of concern left after the last surgery.  We probably won't know more until the next round of doctor's visits and tests at MD Anderson --appts TBD.

The doctor said that Matthew could schedule his colon resection.  However, we are unsure about the timing of that because of the low platelet count.

We are also hoping and praying that rest, without treatments or medicines, will allow his body time to recover.

.....and so we wait some more.

The Little Platelets that Can?

  So the news this week wasn't good. Matthew went last week for a platelet count.  Following what has been the normal pattern, Matthew's platelets were low (59).  So, they put him on a steroid pack, which has also been the normal pattern.  However, this week, when he went back for another count, his platelets had actually dropped to 55.  This could possibly be because he has an infection from an ingrown toenail.  He is currently taking antibiotics for this infection.  They gave him a shot to help boost his platelets, and he is expected to receive another shot next week.  His platelets haven't given up yet, but they aren't making it up that hill.  Those little platelets could sure use all the cheers they can get.


I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Round 4

I am a few days behind.  Matthew did have chemo this week.  His counts were up this week.  White and Red were with within limits.  The platelets were 79, which is still low, (goal of 100) but they will do chemo in this range.

So, he has now finished 4 rounds (out of 8)..So, he is halfway done  .I think.  I might have pregnancy brain today, so please forgive any errors.