May 6, 2024
David and I have had a weekend of sadness. We tried to stay busy with things around the house but the reality of the scan last week is hard to cope with. It is forefront in everything. I decided to take the whole day off not knowing what information we may receive today. We had an early appointment with Dr. B this morning. As expected, he is concerned about the new liver involvement and does not recommend surgery for the rectal tumor. The liver must take priority once again. He is referring us to an interventional radiologist that specializes in primary and secondary liver treatment using Y-90 radioembolization and/or ablation. Dr. B spoke about chemotherapy again but explained David already had the strongest treatment available and Dr. B was not confident of that again since David did not have a good response to it the first time. He also spoke about the possibility of using another drug for the rectal tumor called Avastin (bevacizumab) that can be used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer along with fluorouracil (5FU) chemotherapy which was a part of what he received previously. I have since read a good bit about this drug and it has pros and cons and many serious potential side effects. The medicine works by starving the tumor and preventing the growth of blood vessels. It prevents wound healing so it cannot be used with surgery. Dr. B said it could be 2-3 weeks before we could see the new doctor (Dr. K) and we would first have a consult followed by an appointment for the treatment plan before the treatment. Depending on the plan, he said treatment is usually done within a day but lesions on either side of the liver would need to be done separately. While not an ideal situation, we are grateful to have options right now and are anxious to meet with this doctor. David’s blood work shows nothing of concern. His last CEA was elevated which is to be expected now that we know about his liver.
Our 18 year old microwave up and retired from faithful service yesterday, so David and I went on to Newnan after the appointment to shop for a new one, run some errands and have lunch someplace we haven’t tried before. Despite the now heavier and darker cloud hanging over us, we ended up having the best day we have had in a long time just messing around. We found a microwave and were able to use some gift cards we had saved to pay for it, so it was like getting one for free. We dropped off some clothes from our recent closet clean-out for donation, did a little shopping, and had a tasty lunch downtown. We laughed a lot and just enjoyed the ordinary day together so much.
