Oh happy day!

This morning started out gloomy. However, the sun is shining brightly for us now. I received updates from my doctor, from Friday’s tests.

The Thursday 6/25 8.0 CEA test was NOT confirmed. The Friday 6/26 retake came in as <1.0. This was the result we have received for some time now. This is the result that indicates NO CANCER. Furthermore the Scans are showing clear as well (e.g. no cancer). We are still waiting for the CT of the abdomen but the MRI and CT of Chest are showing ALL CLEAR. And my doctor expects that the CT of the abdomen will show clear as well, given these other results.

Who knows what the 8.0 CEA was? Maybe it was just a glitch? Maybe it was supposed to be 0.8 instead of 8.0? Whatever it was it sure sent us on an emotional rollercoaster ride. And it sure reminded me of how lucky I am to be NED (No Evidence of Disease). The remission continues! Praise the Lord, Halleluiah!

And THANK YOU for your many Prayers. You all are awesome prayer warriors. And I am so thankful to have you all praying with me.

Now we are looking forward to the Anna’s wedding and ready to truly celebrate! Thanks be to God!

Love and Light to each of you on this beautiful Monday!

Sincerely,

Philip

Bad News Today (06/25/2015 Update)

More prayers requested…

We’ve been in a very comfortable six month remission since my December 5th surgery. And today we hit a bump in the road. I went in this morning for another blood test and Erbitux chemotherapy treatment.  

We were all confident that I would receive another <1.0 CEA, just like the previous ten treatments. My wife was confident enough that she decided to work and let our son go with me to this treatment (this was the first doctor visit that she missed and the first visit that Bryce went ). My doctor was confident enough that he decided we can skip this treatment to let my face and chest heal a bit more from the Erbitux rash. This was a welcomed decision given my daughter Anna’s upcoming wedding on July 4th.

So I left my doctor’s office, happy that I had another break from chemo, and fully expecting a text message reporting my stable CEA level (my CEA test takes several hours to be processed so I usually get results later in the day, after the blood draw and after the doctor visit).

However, instead of the usual text message I received a call from Dr. Krauss. He quickly started with his too familiar opening “I’ve got bad news.”

My CEA jumped to 8.0 in two weeks. This is not a good sign.

He continued, “It could be a false read.  However, I want to move your scans up sooner rather than later.” 

So now I’m going back to Ann Arbor tomorrow for a CT and MRI scan.

We need to stay focused on the upcoming wedding and try to choose to be happy and keep faith that this is all in the Lord’s hands.

Meanwhile, your prayers are formally requested once again.

And I know and appreciate (more than you know) that many of you have continued to pray for me and my family. Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Philip