Back again 😬

Well, I definitely wasn't planning on sharing an update quite this quickly again and definitely wasn't wanting it to be the kind of update it is. If nothing else my body is keeping up with it's reputation of being perplexing...

As I mentioned in my last post today I was supposed to be meeting with two gastrointestinal oncologists - Dr L (who was part of my most recent surgery) and Dr G (who specializes in chemotherapy). As luck would have it I only ended up meeting with Dr L but she was a good one to meet with since she knew more about the pathology reports and such from my surgery. Of course the appointment started in the usual way with an oncology resident coming in to ask how I've been feeling and more specifically what new symptoms I've been experiencing if any. Of course the answer to the new symptoms was a lot given how terrible I've felt since last Wednesday. Then the first thing Dr L did when she came in was to recap the symptoms that had been passed on to her and then she asked if I felt like they were similar to the symptoms that sent me to the ER 3 weeks ago. I hadn't put that together yet but minus the crazy nausea and diarrhea I had before surgery and the addition of my back being very sore it is mainly the exact same symptoms.

After that she proceeded to give us the basics of the pathology report....insert drum roll here...which most importantly is that they still can't pinpoint exactly what type of cancer I have. I'm sure that's a huge shocker since everything so has had everyone more than a little baffled. So, the most immediate game plan as of that afternoon was that Dr L, Dr G, Dr S, a few surgeons I haven't personally met yet, and the 2 heads of the pathology team here would meet together tomorrow for a few hours to go back over everything with a fine-tooth comb. The hope with them all meeting together is that they can come up with what they believe will be the best type of chemotherapy to start me on to try to get whatever it is out of my system. Sounds like a great plan to me especially after we learned more later on in the day.

At one point Dr L sent her nurse out to ask Dr G if he still wanted to meet with me right then or if he agreed that it would be good to get me over to Acute Care - basically their own in house instacare - to run some tests and do more scans to see if they could find out why I've been feeling so crappy. So, off to Acute Care I was sent. They gave me some iv fluids first since I was dehydrated again and then did some blood work. When the results came back from blood work my white blood cell count was very high again as well as both my calcium and uricacid levels all of which alone could account for me tanking again so suddenly.

Next they did a CT scan of both my chest and abdomen. With the chest scan they were looking for signs of pneumonia because of my cough that has come back again as well as blood clots. Thankfully both of those weren't present in that scan. My abdominal scan on the other hand wasn't so nice to me. My cancer is already spreading again - as the doctor there out it they can see lesions near my kidneys, my liver, and here and there across the back of my body cavity. They didn't say either "growths" or "tumors" so I took it as lesions simply being a sign that the cancer is spreading. I keep meaning to ask a doctor what they are specifically but keep forgetting.

Put all of that together and I won myself readmittance to the hospital for at least 2 or 3 days while they keep a very close eye on all of those high levels and the oncologists can decide what chemotherapy I will be starting much sooner versus later. We didn't get the fancy upgraded 5 star room this time- most likely because they aren't planning on me being here too long - but the nurse and the internist who will be taking care of me tonight are both very friendly and personable. We talked with the internist for about 45 minutes and he was very thorough in explaining everything he would be checking through the night and why.

That's all the update I have for now. As usual continued prayers are greatly appreciated and if you want something specific to pray for as far as the internist was concerned he said the most concerning things will be getting my white blood cell count lower as well as my calcium levels. Love you all!