Hi All,
Dennis had his follow-up appointment with the oncologist. He went over Dennis's blood work and the CT from last week. We didn't get the answers we were praying for. The CT showed that multiple lesions had grown. Two of them had doubled in size. One that doubled in size is the lesion on the left lobe which is the lesion that prevented him from getting his surgery back in July. This means that the chemo and immunotherapy aren't effective. Unfortunately, there aren't any other treatments that are available to try. Dennis has a follow-up appointment in 3 weeks to check on his labs and make sure all of his pain meds are effective.
Dennis has his specialized MRI on the 30th then an appointment with Dr Meiselman, the GI doctor, in early November to see about changing out the stents. This should help so that the bile ducts won't get blocked and cause jaundice again. It will help him stay more comfortable as the cancer progressess. After that is done, we were advised to sign up for hospice for the remainder of his days.
I'll just answer that hard question that everyone is wanting to ask: We don't know how long he has left. When Dennis asked the doctor back in August what the prognosis is without doing any chemo, he said probably 6 months.
While our hearts are broken by this news, Dennis is glad he is no longer doing chemo. The last 2 weeks have been rough from the side effects of the last treatment. Right now, he is feeling better even though he doesn't have the stamina he once did. We are heading up to Bishop this week-end. We planned a little get-away a while ago. The timing is perfect to see the Aspens and other Fall foliage on the East side of the Sierras. Dennis will be doing some fishing, which he loves to do! I'll post some pictures on my next post.
The next post may be a couple of weeks. We appreciate your continued support and prayers for our family. I'll end this post with one of Dennis's favorite scriptures:
'I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.'
Galations 2:20
Love and Blessings,
Sharon and Dennis
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