Biopsy Result

It seems that the cancer is there in that spot. Dr. Willis called Dad this evening with the results. It showed that the area had squamous cells but "it has not invaded the muscle or the blood vessels". I am going to assume this is good news about those cells. Since the CT scan showed "dying cancer cells" in nodes on left neck, we are left with the question, "Are these new or are they dying?" Hmmmm... Dr. Willis conversed with Dr. Holmes and brought him up to date on everything since April of last year. He (Dr. Holmes) is going to call Dr. Spencer (radiologist) at UAB and talk to her himself to see exactly what areas she treated. He wants to know the specifics about the radiation treatment before he decides anything about what to do with the bad teeth and/or the spot that is still left after radiation. Dr. Holmes said he would call Dad when he has talked with Dr. Spencer. It could be as late as Monday before he gets her, so I will post AS SOON as we here anything!

Love,
Michelle

Update

Dad had an appointment with Dr. Willis in Madison this morning to look at his tooth/jaw and give his opinion on whether or not he thought the pain was from decaying teeth or the decaying jaw (side effect of Zometo). If you remember, Dr. Willis is the oral surgeon who finally made the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma over two years ago. When Dr. Becdach wanted an opinion of a dental specialist, we decided we would call him to let him have a look. He gathered as much background information from the past two years as he could and then examined the teeth. He definitely agreed that the teeth are in trouble. He also said that the doses of antibiotics he has been on lately have helped the teeth from being in worse shape than they are. Radiation can help to kill cancer, but it also takes its toll on good things like YOUR TEETH! He did some xrays to look at the bone and decided that everything looked ok there, but that the teeth needed to be tended to. That being said, he wanted to contact Dr. Holmes (our original surgeon in Birmingham). He wanted to bring him up to date on what was going on and see if he could see Dad pretty soon. There is no question that the two teeth need to come out (and some other minor dental procedures) and he thought that Dr. Holmes should be the one to do it because he has done all the other work. We agree. Having said that, he took a look at the spot on his neck that has been our concern over the past couple of weeks. It is obvious to the eye, as I have said, that something is going on there. He agreed with all the doctors that it could be scar tissue and/or hardening tissue, but based on what he has seen before it looked like cancer was still hanging out there. Since it has been nearly 12 weeks since radiation, he was rightfully concerned. Remember, HE is the one that actually (FINALLY) diagnosed the original area!! As I said in the last post, the only way to know would be to biopsy it. He offered to do that for Dad today so we would all just KNOW what we are dealing with. Turns out to be a great idea, because if we are sent to see Dr. Holmes in Bham, the first thing he is going to want to know is what we are dealing with so having the biopsy already done will speed the decision process up. We just need to know what step is next. In the last CT scan (3 weeks ago) it showed dying cancer in that area, and no new spots. However, it appears to be changing in an odd way so no one knows what is going on. The biopsy will tell us, so pray for that biopsy.

So, both doctors (Willis and Holmes) were busy with scheduled surgeries today and as far as I know at this point have not been able to communicate with each other yet. Dr. Willis will call in a few days with the biopsy results and then we will decide what step is next. We don't know if it will be the teeth and other dental issues, or dealing with the spot on his neck. We will just pray about it.

On another note, I think his reflux is acting up a bit. The feedings and some food are not sitting well at some times so please add that to your prayers. Tonight I pray for each of you, for your thoughtfulness, for your prayers for my Dad, for your families, for your loved ones who are sick and/or facing difficult times, for those I don't know who are fighting cancer! I also send praise for the wonderful things that God has done and will do!

I will keep you posted!
Michelle

Some Good News, Some Relief and Some "Still Don't Know"

We all met with Dr. Becdach this morning before Dad's regularly scheduled Erbitux infusion. Good news in that he did get the rest of the scan from UAB and it didn't show any new growths and showed the cancer in the nodes on his neck as "dying cancer cells". At this point, it is obvious that something is still going on in that area, but the question is whether or not there is still cancer trying to come back after the radiation or is the skin having a hard time healing having been through radiation two times. Both are possibilities. We pray that the skin is having a hard time healing. We can manage that! Please be in prayer that God is healing and the cancer is gone. I remember being told so many times that the skin may never heal after the second round of radiation..there was mention of open wounds, skin grafts, etc. I am praying expectantly for that outcome! The only way to know for sure right now would be to biopsy it, and again we would be faced with the fact that healing is so hard to do right now because of the radiation. So they opted to wait another couple of weeks before doing that. I did ask about the spot on the C3 vertebra and he said the scan mentioned nothing about it, but the MRI would tell us more. His opinion was that the area had radiation and was probably GONE! PRAISE!!!!!

So that is the good news so to speak..the relief is that he prescribed a patch for Dad to wear that gives him around the clock, 24 hour pain meds for the ear/tooth/jaw area. He has been trying to take pain medicine and Tylenol every 4 hours to stay ahead of the pain and this will be much easier as well as better for him for the time being.

That leads me to the "Still Don't Know" part...For a while Dad has been complaining of an ear ache and all doctor's have checked out his ear and found no infection. Dr. Spencer said that the ear drum is very dry from the radiation and that would cause him some pain. There is also a lot of scar tissue around there which has been through radiation twice that can cause discomfort. He has a lot of sinus issues related to the original surgery which also causes discomfort around that ear. Additionally, the one tooth he has left on the top of the left side has been aching and really hurting. Dad thinks it has abscessed and is really causing all this pain. Both doctors looked at the tooth and agreed it could be trouble. To take it out is a problem within itself because of the state of "healing" he is in at this point and that the bone is very weak from the original surgery and the Zometo he has been taking. He has been having monthly infusions of Zometo since they discovered the suspicious spot on his vertebra. It is supposed to help reverse or slow down any cancer trying to move to the bone. All good EXCEPT we now have found out that a major side effect of the Zometo could be the deterioration of the jaw bone. This very well could be the source of the pain and swelling on the left side of his face. So that is now the big question.....IS IT THE TOOTH CAUSING THE PAIN OR THE JAW BONE?

To find out, we are going to visit Dr. Willis (the oral surgeon in Madison who FINALLY correctly diagnosed Dad two years ago) and let him look at it to give his opinion on whether or not he thinks it is the tooth or the jaw bone. Dr. Becdach also put a stop to the Zometo infusions until we know for sure. We will talk all of this information over with Dr. Becdach in two weeks and go from there. I feel like an MRI will be scheduled at that visit as well.

So, thank you for your continued prayers. Pray specifically for the spot to heal on his neck, for the upcoming MRI to be clear and evident of no new cancers and for the outcome of this tooth/jaw issue.

Love to all!
Michelle

Just to let you know.....

Dad met with Dr. Bechach this morning and everything is pretty much the same. The scan results that we received from UAB was a report of the head. It was good and didn't predict any new problems areas at all. However, there was no report specifically related to the neck or the spinal area of concern that were in the radiation treatments. Dr. Becdach will continue to try and get through to Dr. Spencer and the Kirkland Clinic to see if there are other reports which he did not receive. If there were, he would like to get them and compare them to the past Ct scans he already has on file. Regardless, even if the reports indicated suspicious spots there would be no new treatment we could do at this point because it is too soon after the radiation. So, the plan is to wait and watch. I pray that we are waiting and watching the healing! He will go back in two weeks to see Dr. Becdach and I suspect we will have a plan as to when the full body PET/CT scan will be to give us all the answers. In the meantime continue to pray with us for complete healing and no signs of cancer!!!! I also ask that you pray for his ear ache and tooth ache on the left side where all the "business" has been. Having gone through two treatments sessions of radiation does have its cons and unfortunately the ear drum being dry and fluid building up around it is one of them and of course the one tooth they left from the original surgery has seen its last days! Poor thing!

Thank you all! We love you!
Michelle

Results! Well, Sort of... :)

Dad went to CCI this morning for his Erbitux infusion which he missed on Monday. He asked the nurse to see if the report came in. She said she didn't see it but then later returned with a copy of the fax from Dr. Spencer and handed it to DAD to READ!!! Well, Dr. Smith, (aka Dad) sent us this text...."got a copy of the fax. looks good. haven't gone back yet".

I don't know how many of you non-medical personnel have tried to read a CT, PET or biopsy report, but it sure will take you back to high school, if not college, biology 101! You can't understand anything! Ha! He did manage to find the words "bone something or another..normal, brain something or another normal, swelling in left sinus cavity". That is all Dr. Ernest Smith could decipher. However, we do know the cancer spots are still there because it has only been 8 weeks since treatment, so that is to be expected. It is obvious from looking at them that there is some healing going on. Praise God! The question was whether or not the radiation is working and hopefully no new spots. So, he said he would try to find Tina the head nurse back in the infusion area to read it to him and see if he could get in to see the doctor today. She did and Dr. Smith then sent us this text, " Tina read it. said it looks good to her. can't see doctor until Monday".

So, we really don't have an official report and will have to wait for Monday for that. Just wanted to let all of you know and tell you to keep those prayers and praises going!

As I was about to send out this blog post, Mom called me and said that Dr. Becdach did come in and glance at the report. He is prescribing him a z-pack antibiotic to help clear up the sinus problem. He seemed very positive, but wanted to call the Kirkland Clinic and make sure they sent him the whole report because it only read, CT OF THE HEAD, and he expected it to read CT OF HEAD/NECK. So we will see. Surely, they covered the neck area in the scan as that is the whole reason he is there anyway!

Have a great weekend! Thank you for your prayers and concerns! We love you all!
I will be in touch on Monday.

Michelle

Update

Whew! That was a LONG day! After the somewhat treacherous driving to Birmingham, we made it and got the CT scan about an hour late. Then several hours of waiting only to find out they wouldn't be able to get us the results today! Dr. Spencer is going to have them sent directly to Dr. Becdach late this afternoon or first thing tomorrow. Dad goes for a treatment in the morning because he missed the one on Monday because of the weather. Maybe he will be able to get a nurse to track down those results.



Honestly, I feel really good about the appointment. Dr. Spencer came in and saw how the spot had healed and substantially gotten smaller she said, "Well, it was definitely worth doing!" That was big coming from her! She thought he looked great and was very pleased. In fact, she said that Dr. Becdach would be "the leader" now and decide what he wanted to do. You can tell that there is still some cancer left in the spot on the collar bone, but again it has gotten SOOOO much smaller! All that is excellent news. She looked at his ear which keeps giving him a lot of pain. She said that the ear drum has been damaged from all the radiation and is very dry. Really the only thing to do is treat it with Tylenol and maybe some moisturizing treatments.



So all in all, it was a positive day. Other than the fact that we went through a day of agony waiting for the results only to come home without them. Boo hoo. Well, keep the prayers going and hopefully we will get the good results we are hoping for from the CT tomorrow or Monday morning at the latest!



Matthew 9:29 "because of your faith, it will happen". NLT

Prayer!

I hope this update finds everyone warm and cozy on this cold winter's night! Someone please remind me that the next time we have a "winter storm" warning to go to the grocery store and plan on feeding thousands of children! Not really, but it seems there have been 6 or 7 extra children around here about meal time for several days now. (All jokes aside..I LOVE IT, and treasure each and every moment!)

I wanted to remind everybody that tomorrow (weather permitting) is Dad's CT scan at the Kirkland Clinic. We are supposed to be there at 10:45 and our appointment to get the results is at 1:00 with Dr. Spencer at UAB. Thank you in advance for these prayers. He has done great and looks fabulous to me. I pray that God is healing these spots and we get positive results. It is too early to do a PET scan from the last date of radiation, but Dr. Spencer wanted to do a head CT about 8 weeks afterwards to see how the radiation is doing and make sure there are no new spots. I will blog when I get home tomorrow evening.

Love to all!
Michelle