The Ugly Beast is Back!

Yes, it’s back! Earl’s cancer has returned… or maybe never left. His CA19-9, which has been less than two for the last year has jumped up to 40. Up to 35 is considered normal, but for Earl, it is elevated. He finished up his treatments at the end of December. So, it’s only been seven months.

He has been experiencing back pain in the kidney area of his back for a couple of months. It mainly occurs at night when he lays down. Tylenol has been controlling it fairly well. Doctors had been trying to track down the cause of the pain.

Then, he started losing weight around the end of May. He had lost 26 lbs. putting him down to 158. He has had no appetite during this time. He had gained about 5 lbs. in the last 10 days and was 165 today.

He is on his fifth round of antibiotics for a bladder infection that won’t clear up. It will clear up, but flares up again after the antibiotics stop. They thought the pain might be from the bladder infections. Another doctor thought it might be related to the radiation. Not according to the radiation doctor! It would have shown up much sooner after the radiation.

He finally called the Oncologist and when he found out Earl had lost so much weight so fast, he ordered a PET scan for last Thursday. We went this morning and got the news that his cancer is back and “glowing” in the area of the pancreas and has spread to lymph node(s) down deep on the left side of his heck…. behind the collar bone.

The Doctor, when asked, told Earl “It is fatal. I can’t cure you, but I think we can buy you some time”. So, we are back to square one. Without treatment, Earl may have six months. With treatment, he might have one to two years. All this will depend on how he responds to the chemo. It’s pretty much the same story we got, when this started in April of last year.

He was told today there were three different chemos he could be given, maybe all together. This would be very hard on him and make him very sick. They are going to try the same one he got the first time. See how he responds to it. Guess the others will be later options. He goes back tomorrow for chemo, then will continue on a Monday schedule.

Earl has contacted his Philadelphia surgeon, who has asked for copies of the PET scan and/or the report. Don’t know if he will have any suggestions or not. Additional surgery is out of the question, according to the Oncologist.

It’s been very hard telling the kids and the rest of the family. Earl’s Mother is 91 and is the last member of her family left. I know this will be very hard on her, as Earl is her only child. Her health is not the best, but she is still taking care of herself at this time. She has her own apartment, where our two car garage was.

We thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for all your prayers, support and encouragement during the past year. It has meant so much to us.

We again ask that you remember us as you pray. We are gearing up and will wage another battle against this powerful enemy. The war isn't over yet!

Lillian

Ryan's story continues

If you click on the "Overstreet" label way down on the right side, you will find earlier part of Ryan's story.

Ryan ended up having to change oncologist in January due to his insurance changing at work. This change resulted in him having to find new doctors. He ended up with the very doctor who treated Lance Armstrong. He is more aggressive in the treatments. Ryan was successfully treated with radiation and chemo and pronounced cancer free with the lung cancer.

Then, about two-three weeks ago, he got an infection in the lung connected with scar tissue. They did scans, x-rays.... something that included the upper part of the liver when they looked at the lung. Lungs did not show any cancer, but they did find a small place in the liver. Sounds like it was just a fluke that they even found this. Full body scan did not find any more cancer.

Ryan got a port put in yesterday and received his first round of chemo to treat the liver cancer. He will get three treatments, each three weeks apart. Then, they will go from there. His Dad (my brother) said this chemo will "knock him on his fanny" by the second round. Must be much worse than what he got for the lung cancer.

Ryan's job, where he had worked for 12 years, was eliminated some time in April (I think). So, he is still out of work at this time.

The company paid insurance will end Oct. 1st. Please keep Ryan in your prayers. Times are very hard for the family right now.

More pain

Earl has appointment with oncology doctor on Monday to get checked some more. He is still having pain. I finally got him to call the radiation doctor, since everyone else keeps telling him they think the pain is from the radiation. When he did call the radiation office, he was told that they did not think this long out would be related to the radiation. If the radiation was going to cause problems, it would have happened within a couple of months of the treatments.

We're thinking again that it is likely his kidneys. He says the burning has started again, too. I had him start drinking cranberry juice yesterday and he says he feels better today. I just hope they'll DO something.... find out what is causing the pain.

Trip to Atlanta

Earl seems to be doing a little better. His back pain has been less the last few days. He is still taking the muscle relaxers.

He attended an IRS seminar in Atlanta this week. Left here on Monday. Seminar was Tues-Thurs. He also met with two clients in the evenings. He got back home around 8:30 last night.

He said his back didn't hurt Tues & Wed nights in Atlanta. If it hurt last night, he's going to blame it on our bed!! Just wait.... I know he will. :-)