When it rains it pours
So it has taken me a week to digest the news and sort it out enough to be able to come here and post about it now. Greg had his 6 month scans last Tuesday. His oncologist Jeremy came in with a smile on his face and asked us how far out he is now from his cancer treatments. We answered "4 years."
The spot where Greg had cancer has not changed so that spot is still cancer free. That was the good news. The bad news is that Jeremy thinks that the 38 radiation treatments caused scarring that is limiting the way his kidneys are draining into his bladder. There is swelling at the exits of the kidneys and into the entrance of the bladder.
Jeremy (oncologist) referred Greg back to the urologist that did Greg's 2nd bladder biopsy that declared him cancer free 4 years ago.
We went to see the Urologist last Wednesday. His name is Dr. Gregory Stewart. Dr. Stewart entered the room and remembered Greg. He also remembered that Greg developed the blood clot several days after the biopsy and had to be taken by life flight helicopter to save his leg. Dr. Stewart informed Greg that there is a procedure he can do where he puts stents in Greg's Ureters' as well as angioplasty to cause easier urine flow. HOWEVER, the procedure will cause Greg to bleed a lot, and with the additional risk of being on blood thinners, would cause him to bleed so much he could have a fatal cardiac event.
Doing nothing can lead to renal-Kidney failure if and when his kidney function declines. There are really no good options and he made that clear. He said that many people choose to 'TAKE THEIR CHANCES." and do nothing.
We told him we were not ready to make a decision either way. He said Greg was in no immediate danger and that we could schedule an appointment for next month. He would do blood work and a sonogram to check on Greg's kidney function and we could take it from there.
Dr. Stewart also said that it could be a tumor causing the blockage but he wouldn't know that for sure unless he goes in. Dr. Jeremy McDuffie, the oncologist does not and let me repeat that, "DOES NOT" think it is a tumor as there is no lymph node issues and if this was a spreading cancer there would be. He's been right about everything else so far so we trust he knows what he is talking about now as well. So that is where we are at. We have no good answers and are back to "waiting and seeing" in this journey we started documenting 4 years ago. I have attached his CT results here.
The spot where Greg had cancer has not changed so that spot is still cancer free. That was the good news. The bad news is that Jeremy thinks that the 38 radiation treatments caused scarring that is limiting the way his kidneys are draining into his bladder. There is swelling at the exits of the kidneys and into the entrance of the bladder.
Jeremy (oncologist) referred Greg back to the urologist that did Greg's 2nd bladder biopsy that declared him cancer free 4 years ago.
We went to see the Urologist last Wednesday. His name is Dr. Gregory Stewart. Dr. Stewart entered the room and remembered Greg. He also remembered that Greg developed the blood clot several days after the biopsy and had to be taken by life flight helicopter to save his leg. Dr. Stewart informed Greg that there is a procedure he can do where he puts stents in Greg's Ureters' as well as angioplasty to cause easier urine flow. HOWEVER, the procedure will cause Greg to bleed a lot, and with the additional risk of being on blood thinners, would cause him to bleed so much he could have a fatal cardiac event.
Doing nothing can lead to renal-Kidney failure if and when his kidney function declines. There are really no good options and he made that clear. He said that many people choose to 'TAKE THEIR CHANCES." and do nothing.
We told him we were not ready to make a decision either way. He said Greg was in no immediate danger and that we could schedule an appointment for next month. He would do blood work and a sonogram to check on Greg's kidney function and we could take it from there.
Dr. Stewart also said that it could be a tumor causing the blockage but he wouldn't know that for sure unless he goes in. Dr. Jeremy McDuffie, the oncologist does not and let me repeat that, "DOES NOT" think it is a tumor as there is no lymph node issues and if this was a spreading cancer there would be. He's been right about everything else so far so we trust he knows what he is talking about now as well. So that is where we are at. We have no good answers and are back to "waiting and seeing" in this journey we started documenting 4 years ago. I have attached his CT results here.
#4 in the Impression list above is what is causing the issues.
Greg did go to eye doctor and he has cataracts so we are looking into cataract surgery as well. He goes back to eye doctor on April 25th. We should be getting the Cataract surgery referral at that appointment.
My hopes would be if he decides to do this procedure for his blockage that we do the cataract surgery at the same time. Don't know if that is possible but I would try to get everything done at the same time. One of his eyes is really bad. It really needs to be fixed.
As always we appreciate the love, prayers and well wishes from everyone. What we really need is a small miracle that this condition clears itself with no medical intervention. A prayer for that result would be so welcome.
Greg's next appointment with Urologist is May 9th. Putting off doing anything is the goal right now. If his kidney function has remained the same, we will put off procedure for as long as possible., That is the only thing we are sure of right now.
Greg did go to eye doctor and he has cataracts so we are looking into cataract surgery as well. He goes back to eye doctor on April 25th. We should be getting the Cataract surgery referral at that appointment.
My hopes would be if he decides to do this procedure for his blockage that we do the cataract surgery at the same time. Don't know if that is possible but I would try to get everything done at the same time. One of his eyes is really bad. It really needs to be fixed.
As always we appreciate the love, prayers and well wishes from everyone. What we really need is a small miracle that this condition clears itself with no medical intervention. A prayer for that result would be so welcome.
Greg's next appointment with Urologist is May 9th. Putting off doing anything is the goal right now. If his kidney function has remained the same, we will put off procedure for as long as possible., That is the only thing we are sure of right now.
RSS Feed
