Round 1 Take 2

Matthew's platelet count was 100 (which was the bottom limit) for chemo, so he started this morning.  It went well as far as chemo is concerned.  His other blood counts were up too, which is good.  He took his nausea meds, so hopefully that won't hit him too hard yet. 

He finishes this round on Wednesday...traditionally, Wednesday and Thursday have been the hardest days for him.  Hopefully this round will be relatively easy.

Thanks for the prayers.

Rising to the occasion

So, its been a couple of weeks since I have posted.  The last post said Matthew was starting chemo.  Well...he went in on that Monday, and his platelet count was too low.  I think everybody was surprised because it had been high enough just two weeks earlier.  Apparently this can be caused by a couple of things.  Chemo can, and frequently does, short term damage to the bone marrow.  Damaged bone marrow does not produce platelets as well. Surgery, even without a lot of bleeding, can also cause low platelet counts.  In addition, Matthew has a condition referred to as "platelet clumping."  This means that his platelets clump together, and while it does not affect how well they work, it does make his counts inaccurate (usually lower).  Matthew has been on a drug that helps increase the bone marrow production.  He was checked last week, and it had increased, but not enough.  Hopefully, it is high enough when he goes in tomorrow.

Because of the chance of starting chemo tomorrow, Mom cooked a Thanksgivingish dinner today so that Matthew can enjoy it.  (We have heard that chemo is worse when your platelets are low).  Matthew is not looking forward to chemo, but at the same time, he needs to get through it. 

I will try to make sure I update with the results tomorrow.

More Chemo

Yes, more chemo starts tomorrow following the same schedule as before (in-office treatment on Monday, and he goes home on a pump for two more days.  That's the not so fun part.  Starting tomorrow also means that he has to take chemo the week of Thanksgiving.  :-(  His platelet counts were a bit lower than they would like, but they have decided that they would prefer he start and take a break if his platelet counts get too low. 

However, there is a good news.  Matthew saw the doctor at MD Anderson today.  The doctor came in smiling.  The blood test that checks for cancer markers came back at .9--the doctor said that is usually a really good sign. 

Mom reported that Matthew seems to be doing better.  He has been going to the gym, and the doctor is allowing him to do more, but gave him some strict limits.  Matthew has been up and about more as well.  Here's hoping for minimal side effects from the chemo this go round. 

Cancer Humor: 

What do you call a doctor who is always on the telephone?

An ON-CALLogist.

Surgery Notes

Matthew visited with the Oncologist last Friday.  We got a bit more information from his surgery, partly due to getting a copy of all the surgical notes. Here is some of the information.  Some of it might be a recap.
1)The liver tumor was removed with clean margins.  40% of the cancer cells were dead.
2) They removed several lymph nodes, all of which, were clean
3) They found a nodule on his diaphragm that came back as cancerous.  The type of cancer was adenocarcinoma and was a metastasis of the colon cancer.  They removed this nodule.  I found that the difference between a tumor and a nodule is the size (this was pretty small). 
4) His gall bladder was clean, but they removed it (maybe it was in the way?).

He is starting to gain a bit more energy, but still tires very easily.  He actually went out on Saturday evening and spent some time with friends for the first time since the surgery.  Jeffrey and Stephen spent 4 days there last week (and then stopped to visit us), which Matthew seemed to enjoy. This also seemed to lift his spirits a bit.  

The doctor said that he should be ready to start chemo in just another week or so, however, he told Matthew he could wait a couple more weeks if he didn't feel ready yet.Right now, he is probably going to start chemo the week before Thanksgiving.  His chemo will follow the same pattern as last time.  He will do a large dose in the office on one day, and then go home with a pump for two more days.  This will repeat every other week for 4 months. 

Next week is our Dad's birthday!  He has a Halloween birthday (fitting right?) .  In honor of his upcoming birthday, and all the fun that is Halloween, I thought I would share this bit of fun.

Taking a Beating

Matthew has taken a beating today....but not from cancer.  This is a picture of Matthew with our friend Cindy's daughter (on the right--and her friend).  

He continues to improve.  He is still tired, but is improving.  Once he is completely healed he will have to have 6 more rounds of chemo.  

Emily has been visiting this weekend, and Jeffrey and Stephen are on their way into town.  Matthew has been enjoying the visits.  I will update when we know something new.

Chopped Liver?

Chopped liver?  I think not.  Matthew's liver is a Rockstar!  Tests show that it has already regenerated to 80% of full size.  This is in less than 3 weeks, and they were expecting it to take more like 6 weeks.  The biopsy of the liver tumor also showed that 40% of the cancer cells were dead.  This means that the chemo being used to treat the cancer is working really well.  

The one downside of his tests showed that his liver cavity is still not fully drained.  Furthermore, it has not drained evenly, so he had to go in today to have the drain repositioned.  This was a minor procedure, but still took most of their day.  However, when I talked to Matthew he was in pretty good spirits.  He said he was a bit sore, but nothing too bad.  

We are really pleased with is progress at this point.  Hopefully there will be even more good news to come soon.

Still Healing

Matthew has been home for several days now.  He is doing OK.  He is off of pain medication, which was tough.  He still has a drain in, which is draining about an ounce a day (yuck!).  He has also been giving is own heparin shot on daily basis.  Apparently this is very uncomfortable, and causes a burning sensation.  Before he left the hospital , they removed a couple of staples from his incision.  This is an open wound that he has to pack on a daily basis.  He has been very tired, and has spent very little time up and around.

He actually returned to MD Anderson today for a CT scan and more tests.  These are to check how the drains are doing, and to check other progress.  I am guessing we will get some results tomorrow.

I will post as soon as I have some more information.