Cancer Update 12-10-10

Last  week, I completed the first of (2) 4-week cycles of my new medicine. I'm currently taking Navelbine and Cyclophosphamide. So far the symptoms of each have been mild. Overall this drug regiment has been less demanding than the last one. I'm praying that this set of medicine is just as effective as the last. My next scan will be towards the end of next month.

I'm definitely enjoying being at home with my family during the holidays. I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Cancer Update - 11/21/10

My latest scan (two weeks ago) showed that the effectiveness of the chemotherapy medicine that I had been taking had finally peaked. There wasn't any shrinkage this time. Also two (2 cm) nodules appeared in my right lung, that weren't present on the previous scans. We are now moving forward with two new medicines. Hopefully these medicines will be just as effective. I really feel blessed to have gotten to type shrinkage that I did on the original large tumor. I am going to going to pray and believe that God will heal me. I also will continue to rest and take care of my body as best I can. As always, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and ask that you continue to pray for me and others who are dealing with a a similar situation. Thanks.

Cancer Update - 10/31/10

Last week, I completed three days of chemotherapy treatment. I am currently scheduled to have a PET scan done in a couple of weeks to make sure that the cancer hasn't spread and to verify whether the tumor is still shrinking. Based on how the tumor is shrinking, a decision will be made as to whether I am ready for surgery. If the tumor continues to shrink the way that it has, we'll do more chemotherapy, but if the shrinking appears to slow down, I will meet with the surgeon to determine if surgery is now an option. Initially in July, surgery wasn't an option due to the size and location of the tumor.


I have been doing pretty well the last three or four weeks. My weight is where I want it to be and I currently have a pretty good appetite. I recently has a week and and a half span where I really didn't have an appetite, but fortunately I was able to work through it. God has really blessed me in this situation and I am very thankful. Again, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and gifts. I really appreciate it.

Cancer Update - 8/23/10

I had a chest scan scheduled for 10:30am. The oncologist office setup the appointment at a facility that was about 20 minutes away from their office. They wanted to do the scan at our doctor's office but our insurance wouldn't agree to pay for it there. They could have scheduled the scan to be done at a UAB because we have it in our file that are expenses there are covered 100% there. The scan was with contrast, which means I was injected dye to allow the cancer cells to show up more prominently. They dye creates a warm se sensation all over your body. It also, in the words of the lab tech "makes you feel like you have urinated on yourself". It's definitely a weird experience. Afterward, we drove 90 miles back home.

Lolita Halsey Surgery Fund - 10/08/2010

This post is dedicated to a close family friend who is on need of assistance. She suffered a serious on the job injury four years ago. Her and her husband recently located a doctor in New York that we feel will be able to help her walk again. They are currently planning to go back to New York for the surgery on October 17th, but they need financial assistance in order to afford the hotel stay and expenses. They will have to remain in New York for at least six after the surgery for post-surgery physical therapy. You can learn more about her story and donate at the link below:


http://lolitahalsey.blogspot.com/

Cancer Update - 10/6/10

God is good! I found out today that my tumor has shrunk 50% from my scan on 8-23-10. The tumor was initially about 15 cm and it is now down to about 5 cm. We are going to do two more rounds of chemotherapy and then another scan. If it shrinks another 50%, we'll do more chemotherapy, but if the amount of shrinkage starts to decrease then the tumor should be at a point where I can have surgery.

I also wanted to thank everyone for the prayers, thoughts, gifts, cookies, food, time and patience. I realize that I have been blessed in this situation and I know it's because of all of the prayers that have gone up on my behalf.

Cancer Update - 9/17/10

I had an appointment with my oncologist this week and my blood work came back good.I went back to work last week and so far things are going pretty well. I have an office with a door, which I will shut when necessary. I will also be working from home part of the time as well.

On October 6th, I'll will get a chest ct scan and do blood work. The scan will be to determine if the tumor has shrunk any further. If the tumor has shrunk significantly, I will do round five of chemotherapy and possibly a round six. If there is minimal shrinkage another appointment with the surgeon will be scheduled instead of doing round five. The doctor says there is a 50/50 chance of more substantial shrinkage .

As much as I would like to be done with chemotherapy, I would really like to see even more substantial shrinkage. More shrinkage would allow me to retain even more lung tissue during the surgery. I also am holding out hope that the tumor will go away completely. I know with God all things are possible. Either way I, with God's help, am ready to do what it takes to be completely healthy again. I pray that its God's will for me to close this chapter soon.

I realize that I have been blessed in numerous way in my battle with cancer. God has blessed me with 11 years since my initial diagnosis. Prior to my initial cancer diagnosis, e blessed me with a wonderful wife who has been doing a great job of taking care of me and our kids, as well as managing the household, my appointments, medicines, and numerous other things. He also blessed my wife and I to be able to have a child before I first exposure to chemotherapy medicine, and to be able to adopt our son. Having him has been just as special as when we when we brought our daughter home. My wife and I have also been blessed to have been able to get our college degrees and be in positions to build careers after my first bout with cancer. We've have also been blessed with great supportive families,friends, and church families, who keep us uplifted in prayer and love. I realize that my journey has been made easier by all of these things that I've mentioned. I feel very fortunate and hope that I can give back all the love and hope that everyone has extended to me so far.

Cancer Update 9-4-10

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my oncologist. The goal of the appointment was to monitor my white and red blood cell counts to make sure they didn't get too low. The counts came back good. The doctor said that he liked how my treatment was progressing. He said that we would do at least another round of chemotherapy (round 4) and then do another chest scan. Depending on size of the tumor at that time, there's chance we could discuss whether surgery is an option with the surgeon. The doctor sounded very optimistic that we would be able to get the shrinkage needed for surgery. His optimism definitely put my wife and I at ease.

The last few weeks I haven’t had any symptoms related to the tumor. I have really felt normal for the first time since May. At this point, I just have been just dealing with the chemotherapy treatments. Fortunately, the side effects from chemotherapy seem to be less and less with each round. I had s muscle and bone pain at times during the first two rounds. I haven't experienced that with the current round of chemotherapy. I really feel blessed and fortunate to have so many people praying for me. I truly believe that the prayers are what is making the most impact on my treatment.

God is good. All of the time.

Some light at the end of the tunnel - 08/26/2010

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had a chest scan Monday to verify whether the chemotherapy is working. We followed up with the doctor's office today because we wanted more detailed information. On Monday, we had just received a brief call with minimal information.Today we learned the scan showed that my tumor and lymph nodes had shrunk by 20-25%. Everyone's prayers are definitely working.

The doctor wants to do at least two more rounds (up to a possible 4 rounds of chemotherapy. (I have completed two rounds so far and working on the third round). At that point, we will do another scan and based on those results he will consider surgery. Prior to today we, didn't know when and whether surgery would be an option. Hopefully things will continue to progress as it has so far and we can have a successful surgery.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers.

Cancer Update - 8/24/10

For the second day in a row, we drove back to Birmingham again. Today we had an appt with the doctor @9am to get the results of the scan and to do blood work. I also had a chemotherapy treatment scheduled for 11am. I did blood work and we met with the doctor. The scan wasn't ready yet because the new facilitythat we went to, took the scan at a different angle than my last scan in July, which was done at UAB. This detail prevented side by measurements to determine how much the tumor is shrinking. So the scan had to be sent to UAB to be adjusted and compared. My chemotherapy treatment was indefinitely postponed and we expected to wait another day for results. At 3pm, we got a call from the oncologist office.The doctor reviewed the chest scans and stated " that I was responding very well to the chemotherapy." This is definitely good news. We are going to pray even harder and take this as evidence of prayer working. Thanks everyone for your prayers!