Smiling through the Tears

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks but we have some news we need to share. Last Friday my mom and I went to what we thought was going to be a routine check-up and check-in with my oncologist. However, we received some news that took my breath away a little bit. First off the second biopsy that they performed on my rib a couple of months ago the lab came back and said it still wasn’t sufficient to test. We didn’t really get a lot of answers about this, my doctor seemed very aggravated about it and said he was going to go an alternate route. So we will see what happens from that.

Well the part that really took my breath away was that my CEA numbers (tumor marker/blood test) had gone up significantly… by more than 50%! Last time this happened was when the cancer had spread to a different spot. My original number in September was around 53 and the test they did on October 24 was over 113 (normal is 0-35). This really caught me by surprise and to be honest I had a hard time processing.

So with that being said I have two more treatments of the chemotherapy that I am on and we will evaluate wether or not it is working. I will have a PET scan the week of Thanksgiving. If the treatment isn’t working the way it should, we will start to look for alternative chemotherapy treatment and also clincal trials.

This is probably the first time I really got scared and had a good old fashion come apart in my almost year and a half of being diagnosed. I know that God has a plan and either way I win. We would just like some good news! My wife and family have been rockstars during this whole thing. I know they have times were they fall apart but they have been so strong and encouraging to me.

Thank you for all your love and prayers….. and KEEP THEM COMING! God is still God and He is still on His throne! I will have the victory in Him!