This is a cancer update. 

It’s been an eventful few weeks since my last post, with some roller coaster ups and downs along the way.  On May 1^st, when I wrote it, I was feeling particularly good, and continued to feel that way for a few weeks.  I had radiation treatments in the middle of April and have also been eating better with my new program, so some of this improvement is likely due to that.  I had a bit of a downturn in mid-May, and was feeling more pain. 

On May 20^th, I got a port installed in my chest.  It goes under the skin and is a little creepy.  The medical providers use it to draw blood and to give me the chemo agents I’ll be using next.  The very next day was my first chemo treatment of my new regimen.  My first chemo regimens were relatively easy, the only real side effect being some sleepiness the week after chemo.  My oncologist told me this regimen was going to be more aggressive and harder on me.  He was right.  On Tuesday after chemo, my mouth started being sore.  By Thursday, it was really sore, and it was hard to talk, eat, and even swallow.  This is probably because the cells inside your mouth, called epithelial cells, are fast growing and are probably attacked by the chemo drugs. Skin, stomach, and intestinal cells are also all epithelial cells, and all of these areas are prone to experiencing side effects from chemo agents.

Yes, I also shaved my head!  I was starting to lose hair in clumps, and instead of cleaning the hair off of everything, we decided to go “Mr. Clean”.  You can decide if I look like a weird hairless cat.

Last week, after my second chemo treatment, I started experiencing some neuropathy in my feet.  My doctor had warned me that this might be a side effect of the new regimen.  Whenever I walk, it feels like I’m walking on gravel.  It’s pretty uncomfortable, and I’m certainly hoping and praying that it isn’t permanent.

I had a PET scan on Tuesday. The good news is that the radiation treatments on the tumor near my spine worked well, and that tumor is now much reduced. 

But there’s some bad news too. Kind of a lot.  The tumor in my left lung is larger now, as is a tumor that has been very faint but is now prominent.

In addition, there is a brand new tumor in my right front torso area, again in a rib.  I’m not sure why these three tumors have grown so much in the past few months. 

Needless to say, this is a lot of discouraging news.  Yes, for reasons I’ve described before, I believe I’m going to live.  But the pathway continues to be dramatic.

As for prayers requests, please pray that my current tumors respond well to treatment.  Also pray that my neuropathy is not permanent.  Last, as I’ve said before, I believe that God is training me during this time.  Pray that I learn whatever He has for me to learn!  I’ve learned A LOT already, but apparently there’s more!   We believe that God will preserve my life, and that I have things to do after this is all over.  I would, however, enjoy it if the road was a little less bumpy.

Thanks again to all of you who have shown such wonderful support during this time!

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik

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You can read all of my cancer updates here.