Blowing smoke

Matthew was successfully transported to MD Anderson this morning.   The doctor told Mom that it is not uncommon to wait 5-7 days before taking action in these situations.  They have done many blood tests and many cultures.   The waiting game continues.

  He spiked a fever this afternoon, which of course, is bad. They are treating it, and it is down.  Mom Is taking the first hospital shift.

He is feeling a bit more confident in his setting.  I asked Matthew what the doctors were saying.  He said, "Blowing smoke up my ass."  I said, "is that it?"  He said, "Oh yeah, acetomeniphen too."


I will try to update tomorrow.

Back on the inside

Matthew is back in the hospital.  He was having a lot of abdominal pain and vomiting this morning.  They found that he has a blockage in his small intestine.  They are not sure what it is.  It may be scar tissue, it could be a twist, and it may be another tumor.  However, he just had a scan at MD Anderson that (we think) should have shown any tumors that size.  

There are a couple of things that complicate the issue.  1) Matthew has had a lot of surgery in the abdominal area.  2) Matthew had chemo on Monday-Wednesday, and one of the drugs in his cocktail  acts as a blood thinner.

As a result, they have decided to put him in the hospital and keep him on complete rest.  He has a drain that is draining his stomach and keeping the stress off his intestine.  He is also on an antibiotic and fluids.  They hope it may resolve itself and no further action will be necessary.  MD Anderson is currently full, so he will stay at Brazosport.  His doctor at MDA has been consulted, and the current course of treatment would be the same either place.

In addition, he had been experiencing back pain.  They did an MRI to rule out more tumor growth.  They found he has a bulging disc and vertebrae out of alignment by 25%.  He saw a local doctor, who said he needed a neurosurgeon.  At this time, there is no treatment plan for this problem.

As always, your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Three month scan

Unfortunately, the news is not great.  The scan showed a new growth in the ascending colon.  I have included the picture for reference.  This growth was roughly about 1/2 inch.  In September, they removed a drug from his chemo cocktail because his liver function was starting to be impacted.  The cocktail had previously worked to shrink his tumors.  They will be adding this drug back to his chemo cocktail in hopes that his liver function has recovered and that is will help the tumor. 

The fact that he had a 6 month period with no growth is pretty amazing.  He seems to continue to be in good spirits.  For now, he will continue to take chemo.  Thanks for all of the continuing thoughts and prayers. And...since the Harlem Shake is the "thing" to do right now, I thought I would throw this in.  Harlem Shake...chemo edition.....

Some catching up....

I apologize that this update is long overdue.  Life has been crazy....sick baby, baseball, work, etc..... Sorry for the excuses, I will try to do better. There hasn't been anything really major to report.

Matthew has been continuing chemo.  He has had to space a few sessions further than two weeks apart because of low counts.  He has had low white counts, which needed a boost, and some additional recovery time between treatments. He went for a 3-month scan at MD Anderson yesterday...results to come. He has been having increased back pain, so that is of some concern. 

He has been keeping busy with his spare time. For Valentine's Day, he made a gift for the nurses at the cancer treatment center in Lake Jackson where he gets his treatments (boy has he learned about being kind to the nurses.)  He made a planter out of recycled materials.  The planter box was made from an old pallet that he sanded and painted.  The pots (I believe) were somehow made from plastic bags that he ironed??????  The "flowers" were boxes of candy.  I thought it was really neat. 

Long overdue

I know that an update has been long overdue.  However, there has not been much to report.  Matthew has continued chemo.  He has struggled with blood count problems.  At one point his red blood count was low enough that the doctor recommended a transfusion.  However, Matthew resisted because he didn't have any symptoms.  His blood counts have come back up.

He was able to come visit (along with the parental unit) for Amelia's baptism a couple of weeks ago.  We were glad to see him, he was tired, but in pretty good spirits.

He had some scans done to check his status this week.  Matthew is considered stable.  The tumors showed no significant change.  One of them may have shrunk a bit, and another might have grown, but the changes were so small it could also be measurement error.  His blood counts were also good.  Right now, the course of action remains the same.  The doctor spoke of the possibility of participating  in some experimental treatments in the future.

For now, we are pleased to hear this news.  All of the crazy noodles will be together for Christmas in just a few weeks.

Not Many Words

I don't have a lot to share, or say otherwise today.  Matthew met with the surgeon at MDA yesterday.  The panel decided he was not a good candidate for the surgery.  He will continue to do chemo.  That is all we have right now.

 Matthew celebrated his 34th birthday this week.  He has been in good spirits which is nice to see.  Mom and Dad closed on a house in Lake Jackson on Monday.  They will be moving over the next couple of weeks.  We are hoping hat they get an offer on their house in New Jersey soon.

Will share more when I have something more.

A New Mascot

Emily recently participated in the Color Run in Matthew's honor (Matthew does like to paint). In case you are wondering, WSHR stands for Wall Street Hood Rat. Do we have a new mascot for The Fighting Noodle?





Matthew had his appointment with the new doctor that performs the HIPEC procedure. http://www.hipectreatment.com/documents/hipec.php
This procedure involves using heated chemotherapy solution during surgery. It is not considered standard-of-care for colon cancer, so there are some hoops to jump through. The doctor has ordered a MRI, which will take place in two weeks. After the MRI, the doctor will take the results to a panel of doctors, who will make a decision about the procedure. We Are expecting the decision toward the end of September.

 Matthew has continued his chemo (minus the drug that was affecting his liver). His platelet counts have dropped a bit, but have remained high enough to continue.  He recently completed round 9.

Matthew's fight continues...please continue to pray.