It's Back

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. ~Newt Gingrich 

Here we go again. This is the last news we ever wanted to have to share and now that we’ve had the time to fill in our families and a few friends we thought we’d let everyone else know what is going on. Tim’s CEA test scores have been slowly creeping up for a few months now, 4.4 to 4.6 to 4.8 although over the last 2 months it jumped up to a 9 all of the sudden. This isn’t a huge number for it to be at in comparison to where many others are but that large of an increase that quickly is a cause for concern.

Tim’s oncologist immediately ordered a PET scan and a CT scan which he got the Thursday before Thanksgiving and we received the results on yesterday. We expected that a lymph node would light up which we could remove with surgery and radiation but instead found that his PET was clear although the CT was a different story.

According to Tim’s CT there are now spots that are showing up in both of his lungs, they have to be less than 8mm in order for them to show on the CT and not on the PET although apparently that doesn’t really help the situation very much. His cancer is still considered to be colon cancer it has just metastasized to his lungs instead of being located solely to his abdomen. Unfortunately, as his doctor said, they no longer know how to cure it now that it has traveled to his lungs.

We’re not really sure what the next steps are yet, he had a better quality CT scan today and we are currently planning on heading up to Chapel Hill on Dec 16 for further tests and to meet with a specialist. We’re looking into every possible option in the country to find out where we can get Tim the most advanced and best possible treatment for this specific form of the disease.

We do know that at some point over the next few weeks Tim will once again start chemo. Not really sure what it will bring with it this time but we’re pretty sure it will be harder than the last.

Once again we feel so humbled and overwhelmed by all of the love and support of our friends and families. We really are so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing support team surrounding us and can’t thank you all enough for your love during this time. All we  can really use right now is to ask that you keep Tim in your prayers so we can get him as many as possible.

Thank you so much for everything. We owe you all more than we could ever repay.