The Challenge Ahead!

                                                                        N E W S !!!!! My last post was not uplifting, to say the least. Despite the fact I have a long recovery ahead, I did receive some positive news yesterday! I received a call from my radiation oncologist, Dr. Stuckless. It was basically a follow-up call to see how I was doing, also I had radiation in August. She did not know how sick I had gotten, but she was saddened when she brought it all up on her screen. However, she really called to go over the pathology report from my original surgery. Basically : the cancer was gone                  nothing found in the nodes or in surrounding organs                  the cancer to the right was actually insitu ( i.e. pre-cancerous )                  the cancer to the left was early stage                   she informed me that based on the clean pathology report she did not think that chemo                       would be of any added benefit to me Y           

                                                                     October 8, 2017 Well it appears I stayed at St. Clare's with a catherer and 2 large tubes inserted thru the rectum to get rid of the abcesss for 4 days, comfortable as you can imagine. Then all was removed and I was released all in the same day! Well 4 days later Sharon noticed that I had a temperature. Back to the hospital ( HSC this time ), much to my joy, I was admitted immediately, seems the abscess had never beed totally drained so the infection was still there. This time I was under the care of Dr Michael Hogan. I was admitted Sept 14 and discharged Sept 29! When I went in for surgery Aug 14th I weighed 186lbs, today I weigh 151. My energy is nil, my appetite is starting to come back but I have a long road ahead  of me. My chemothertherapy has been delayed because I am not strong enough to handle it right now. It is going to be a long road back, but what is the alternative? So you'll u

Monday, August 14th Surgery took approximately 7 1/2 hours, 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  My colon was removed and my spleen was ruptured and thus had to be removed as well. This caused me to have two blood transfusions during surgery.  Spent 2 days in Special Care recovering.  I experienced a major problem with nausea and vomiting after surgery. I was diagnosed as well with a urinary tract infection.  On top of this I had very little appetite. I ended up not eating for about 6 days. Released from hospital Friday August 25th... 12 days after my surgery.  No appetite, no vomiting, extremely weak.  Saw family doctor Wednesday, August 30th.   Friday September 1st. pre-admission visit to St. Clare's for chemotherapy port, blood work.  I was feeling very weak and had to be placed on a stretcher so the doctor arranged for a ct scan for me immediately.  Brought the surgeon to see me while waiting for results.  Turned out that I had an abscess that required drainage on my pelvic area.

Radiation Done !!!!!!!! This has been a bit of a tough week mentally! The actual radiation wasn't too bad, but all the info about upcoming things was a little overwhelming at times. The above is my selfie after the meeting with the Medical Oncologist.... The above was a card that I received from Adrienne's friend that gave me a great laugh and expressed how I felt all at the same time!! Anyway, settle down John... My surgery is scheduled for Monday morning at 11AM. Too much information to share from this past week, suffice it to say that it is a very complicated surgery on Monday with many possibilities. I may wake up with an ileostomy, a colostomy, ( both possible, permanent or temporary { up to 2 years } ), or wake up with neither. The recovery should be about 2 months at which time I will begin chemotherapy. For chemo, I will have a port inserted into my chest through which I will receive the drugs every 2 weeks for 6 months.The drugs take about 2 days to diff

NYC.....when we turned 60!!! Anyway, been a bit slack here lately because not much to report. Funny, that when I was writing Sharon's blog, I was really on top of it. This Monday coming ( Aug 7 ) I begin radiation for 5 straight days. Tues morning I have to go hospital for my pre-admission appointment ( 2 to 4 hours ), followed by radiation. Next weekend I get a break for 2 days and then on Monday, bright and early, I have my surgery. I believe it will be a 5 to 6 hour surgery followed by 7 to 10 days in hospital. The radiation is being done at HSC and surgery at St Clare's. In among all this I have to meet with the Medical Oncologist. The pathology for what they remove during surgery will tell the tale, hopefully it will be positive news and the chemo will be effective. Apart from this, Sharon and I have keeping a normal routine. I have been feeling good. If I remember, next weekend I will update this. Take care and thanks for all your support and prayers. Jo

  Hello Again!!! July 18, 2017.....Tuesday Wow, can you believe this weather!! What winter?? Bad??? Wha?? Anyway, had my appointment with the radiation oncologist today, Dr Terry Stucklass. She was fabulous, exactly what I want in a doctor. A great communicator, explained things, options thoroughly, straight to the point, and a genuinely nice person. The Coles Notes version of the meeting is that I am going to have 5 straight days of intensive radiation. One week to rest up, then surgery is booked ( as of now) for August 16th.  I have to have a CT scan within the next 5 days to pinpoint where I will exactly receive the radiation. I will be tatooed and those markings will be used for each session. She confirmed that this is Stage Three cancer, which I already knew. Hopefully when the nodes are removed during surgery and sent to pathology, it will remain Three. She did say that on my prior CT Scan and MRI cancer was not not detected in other areas. She said our goal here i