Darrin’s Day.com

dclock January 5th, 2008

Hello All, I am recovering well from my last surgery.  They removed a nodule of my cancer from my right lung, and sent this live sample to Texas for testing.  The sample they removed was larger than a golf ball, but smaller than a baseball.  I am still having some problems from the surgery, as the bottom lobe on my right lung has not yet fully inflated.  I am using a breathing machine and plenty of oxygen to assist with this.  They have told me that with time the lung will fully inflate on it’s own.  I met with my pain management Doctor last week, and he changed my medications so that I am having much less pain than before.  However, I am a bit groggy from all the medications, but they assure me I will get used to it.

The results of the testing they did on the live sample of cancer was interesting.  They did not find any evidence of my primary diagnosis of Leiomyosarcoma (LMS), but rather they found two other cancers that are closely related to LMS.  The difference is that while LMS attacks smooth muscle, these other two cancers attack connective tissue and cartilage.  They have determined that the LMS has mutated on it’s own into these two new forms.  The testing they were doing is to find a chemotherapy drug that would be effective in shrinking or killing the cancer cells.  The results of this test show only one drug that might be effective, but it only shows a 20% chance of working.  The side-effects of this chemo drug are pretty severe, with a risk of coma involved.  We are meeting with my oncologist next week to discuss the options, level of chemo drugs, side-effects and whether or not it is worth doing.  If we don’t do anything, they only expect me to live to May.  However, they have been wrong on my life expectancy before, so we are not getting too worked up over this.  It will be a family decision on whether we choose to try the chemo drugs again, or stop treatment all together. 

I have not yet been able to return to work, primarily due to pain levels from the surgery and a lack of oxygen due to the collapsed portion of my right lung.  The meeting next week with my oncologist will help us determine when I can return to work.  At this time, the majority of my Doctors suggest that I not return to work, and enjoy the time we have left.  Again, this will be a family decision we can make once they tell me I am physically able to return to work.  I really enjoy my work with the Town of Castle Rock, and miss the team.  It would be very difficult to not return to work.  I hope it does not come to that.

As you can see, we have many difficult decisions to make in the next week or so.  Please pray that we get solid and correct advice from the medical staff, and enough information to make educated decisions.  On a positive note, Katee only has three more chemo treatments.  She is very tired of going to these treatments and would like to quit early.  However, she will gut it out and continue to the end of the treatments as scheduled.  Her hair is staying in pretty well, but it is taking her longer to recover from each chemo treatment.  She is very tired and ready to return to her normal life.  She will start looking for a job in March, to help her save up some money for college this fall.  She is very excited to get back to college, as she misses her friends and the social aspect she has had to give up with her chemo treatments.  She is doing very well as far as winning the war on her colon cancer, and is still cancer free.  This is certainly something we celebrate!

 We want to say “Thank you” to all who have supported us through these tough times.  We appreciate all of you!

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