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