Chemo #11 & He said, She said

Hey There!
  We've been pretty busy since the last time we wrote to you all. 
  First of all, we went to get a second opinion from a Radiation Oncologist, and boy, did we learn a lot.  Did you know there different types of oncologists?  There are medical oncologists (like the one Ken has now)-they administer chemotherapy.  There are radiation oncologists-they administer radiation.  And there are surgical oncologists-they perform any surgeries related to cancer.  Pheeew-ok-now that we got that all figured out...we went to get a second opinion from a radiation oncologist to see what he thought about the treatment Ken has been receiving and if he thought Ken would be a candidate for radiation. 
  According to this doctor, radiation is inevitable.  A patient can receive radiation to shrink a tumor that is causing a blockage, pain or to ultimately get rid of a tumor.  This doctor believes the chemotherapy alone will not get rid of Ken's cancer-most importantly, the tumor in his bootie.  Having said that, he feels that the treatment Ken has been receiving thus far is what he would have suggested.  It is responding to the chemo and therefore it is shrinking.  This is when, ideally a patient would have radiation, when the cancer is on the downswing-being proactive, rather than when it is on the upswing or growing-being reactive.  This doctor specializes in a procedure called Brachytherapy, also know as internal radiation therapy.
  Brachytherapy is a form of radiation that delivers high doses of radiation from implants placed close to, or inside, the tumor(s) in the body. This technique ensures the maximum radiation dose is given to cancerous tissues, while minimizing exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue.  He believes Ken is a strong candidate for this procedure.  If he were to do this, Ken would continue receiving chemotherapy, while at the same time receiving daily radiation treatments for 9 weeks. 
  Now...of course, Ken's medical oncologist would have to agree to this...and right now there is some confusion as to whether or not she is in agreement.  She has some trepidation because she is not sure if the chemotherapy will be strong enough to continue shrinking the tumor in Ken's lung.  So...we have a big decision to make and of course each option comes with its own set of risks.  But hopefully we'll have an answer for you all soon!

WOW...that was a lot!  But it hasn't been all about decision making....because we were able to get up to the mountains and go skiing!!  We weren't sure how this was going to go since Ken is so sensitive to the cold, but it ended up to be a really great time!  It had snowed the night before we went to Loveland and the trails were perfectly groomed when we hit our first run at 8:30.  It had been two years since Nicole had last skied, so she was unsure if she was going to enjoy this...but she ended up doing 11 runs that day...more than she's done in the last 2 ski trips combined!!

She even made some attempts to go through the trees. 

Skiing that much definitely made her tired!

Thanks to Sean and Maryann for suggesting we tag along!  It was a nice break to take our minds off of everything.




And now...we're getting ready to pack and head to Key Largo, FL, where the weather forecast is 85 and sunny!  We hope this post finds you all happy and healthy.  Talk to you all again soon.  Love Ken and Nicole

Chemo #10 & Good News

Hey Everyone!
  Finally...we have some good news to share!!  On Tuesday, January 24th, Ken had a PET scan at the request of his doctor.  She was concerned with the results of his latest CT scans, which showed no shrinkage in the cancerous areas in Ken's body.  However...the PET scan showed that there is barely any cancerous activity in Ken's liver, the legion in Ken's lung has shrunk from 3cm to 1cm and the mass in his rectal area went from 7 cm to 5 cm.  The technician who read the scans noted that there is a great deal of inflammation in the rectal wall as well as swelling in the rectum.  Ken's doctor believes that this is due to the crone's close proximity to the cancer and that it is making it difficult for a CT scan to show shrinkage of the tumor.  She suggested that we meet with a GI specialist in order to find out exactly how the Crone's in effecting the cancer.
  Due to the fact that we were concerned with the slow rate of shrinkage, we opted to seek a second opinion from a radiation oncologist.   We learned a great deal about radiation therapy and how it, along with chemotherapy, could result in great benefits for Ken and are excited about this possibility.  We have a few weeks to think about it, but we'll keep you all posted about what we ultimately choose. 

Last Tuesday was a milestone for one our friends, Bob.  He was able to receive to his final chemo treatment!!  We hope we never have to see him in that room again! (And we mean that in the most loving and caring way!)  We wish him the best of luck and many, many years of bird hunting to come!
 

Just when we were beginning to think winter was never going to come...it came, and it stayed!  In fact it snowed for nearly 36 hours.  The dogs loved it, we however, did not.  But we did get out to watch, what we were told, was a great college hockey rivalry, Colorado College vs. University of Denver.  Unfortunately DU lost, but our seats were great and we had a lot of fun. 

And now, we're resting up for the BIG GAME tomorrow (Go Patriots!) and trying to stay warm. 

We hope this post finds you all happy and healthy!
Love Ken and Nicole