Next Step

In addition to our appointment with the surgeon today, we also met with the oncologist.  Dr. Kallick is a very nonchalant guy... I like him.  He looked at the new report from the surgery... expressed his concern about the new diagnosis... and then we jumped in and discussed a treatment plan.  To summarize all that we discussed in the hour we were together, the plan is to start Derek's first chemotherapy treatment around March 1st.  That should give Derek time to fully recover from the surgery (inside and out).  At that time, he'll start a "Folfox" treatment.  Two weeks later they will start adding Avastin to that treatment, which is supposed to hit the cancer more aggressively.

 Every two weeks he will show up for a three hour appointment and then leave with a two-day chemo treatment that will be pumped through a port in his chest.  After a few days, he may have a sick-ish day, but then his body will get a chance to recover for the rest of the two weeks before he goes back for the next treatment.  The hope is to do 6 months of chemotherapy in this way, hopefully getting the cancer temporarily under control, and then wait and live normally, expecting that new cancer cells will eventually grow.  At that point, they would do another round of chemo, hopefully kill off all existing cancer cells, and then wait and watch.  Of course, our hope--which is not necessarily supported with medical research-- is that Derek will be able to get rid of the cancer permanently and not have to continue having chemo his whole life.  We have felt that we still have much to do together, so we'll make the most of whatever time we've got and take it one treatment at a time!

The good news is that Dr. Kallick didn't see any reason why Derek can't work during all of this.  He also said the treatment is very standardized and will be the same no matter where we are, so it will be easy to transfer his treatment to a new location.  He has age and good physical health on his side... and he might not even lose his hair!  We were happy to think that he could accept a new job and move to a new place and not have that be a detriment to his health.  He made some calls to hopefully further us along that path and we will just continue to pray for Heavenly Father's help to get us where we need to be, when we need to be there.  We still feel positive about the journey we are on... it is not a fun road, but we are still progressing and know that the Lord is mindful of us and will carry us when things get too rocky. We have felt so much love from so many people... it is truly humbling.  Thank you again for your help and prayers. We love you all!