Winter Brings "Freezing"

Good news today! Yesterday's scan gave us some interesting results.
1. The largest tumor on Jim's liver (about the size of a baseball) is liquefying! The tumor is actually bigger. It grew about another centimeter; however, the density is different. Dr. Haid has predicted since December that the big tumor was doing itself in...he was right!
2. A couple of the other smaller tumors on his liver as well as one on his abdominal wall have grown.
3. The other tumors are stable.

Bear in mind that we just had a scan last month, so we shouldn't be disappointed with the fact that there's no shrinkage. (Or, as our friend George coined "goneage".)

What we need to focus on right now is the big tumor and the fact that it's basically destroying itself. Dr. Haid is recommending cryoablation, which is the process of using a long needle to inject the tumor with freezing cold gas, thereby freezing the tumor. The "ice ball" that is created around the needle grows in size and destroys the frozen tumor cells. Dr. Haid spent a good portion of the morning looking over Jim's CT Scan with an Interventional Radiologist. Dr. Haid highly recommends this radiologist, who he said has great experience and is very aggressive. Aggressive is what we want to hear!

We have a meeting with the Interventional Radiologist on Friday. Then Jim goes to the hospital on Wednesday for his procedure. He's be under general anesthesia, and he'll have to stay in the hospital over night. (Lucky for Jim, he'll be on the second floor with his beloved 2k nurses!) Dr. Haid said that the recovery time is a few days.

After that, Jim will be starting a different, aggressive chemo regimen. He will be using FOLFIRI and Vectibix. We are very excited about this for a few reasons. The oxaliplatin was really beginning to take a toll on Jim's feet - the neuropathy was causing numbness in his feet. As a result, they were reducing the amount of administered oxaliplatin. It's a careful balance to treat aggressively and still avoid neuropathy that might cause permanent nerve damage.

Because he'll be on a new chemo regimen, they can once again begin very aggressive chemotherapy. We can focus on melting the smaller tumors away, and not be concerned with what the big tumor is doing because it'll be gone!

We are very heartened by this news. Obviously the big tumor was troubling to us, mentally and physically. This is a giant step in the right direction. We are using every ounce of our beings for healing, for prayer, and for adopting a better lifestyle.

The cancer will melt away, and we will be in Hawaii in no time. I can feel the black sand beaches between my toes.