Please pray for me...

Been nearly 3 weeks since an update...... How are you doing, man?

I'm hanging in there. Sorry I haven't posted anything - nothing much has happened since they wanted me to heal from the chemo/radiation. I got some appointment dates a few days ago and April is going to be busy.

April 1 is another cat scan. Last scan 3 months ago found "calcium nodules" in my chest/lungs (which put me at a speculated stage 3 cancer) and they want to look at those again to make sure they haven't turned into something else.

April 6 is a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy. (Try to say that 3 times fast! LOL) ...which is sort of like a colonoscopy. They want to see what improvements chemo/radiation have done.

I've got a few pre-op appointments with my primary doctor and surgeon, the last huddle before surgery.

April 20th is the surgery itself. They're going to "install" a temporary ileostomy and remove a large section (well, it seemed large to me) of my large intestine where the cancer was. Once I've healed, they'll "uninstall" the ileostomy and "hook me back up" for regular restroom use. ...that's the plan at least.

They're also going to surgically install a "port" by my collar bone for IV chemo, which will be a 6 month program. It will be nice because any needles for any reason can easily be done through this port rather than new pokes to my arm each time.

I'm not really nervous about the surgery, but I might be a little more anxious closer to the date. I'd be a lot more nervous if I had to do the surgery myself, but I've got the easy part of being unconscious. LOL

I'm not going to put next month on my plate, but today - I feel good. (physically and emotionally/mentally) Please keep praying for me. I certainly will! I'll probably be away from the internet as I might be in the hospital a week or so recovering, unless they let me use the hospital Wifi and I have the wherewithal to make any posts...

Keep praying

Thanks guys.

Unrelated to cancer, but I spent all day yesterday and the night before laying on the floor in my living room with a thrown out back.
There was no catalyst (ie: I did something that immediately hurt my back, then it was hurt) so... I'm not really sure why it started hurting.

I'm chalking it up to the Scoliosis I inherited from my mom and the narrow spinal column I inherited from my dad. Its better today - I can at least MOVE almost like normal and it doesn't destroy me to lay in a bed or sit in a soft chair.

Today is the day for the Flexible Sigmoidoscopy and I will be put under for this procedure.  Say some prayers please that it goes smoothly and that there's no pain...

My chiropractor told me the number 1 thing that creates back injury's is stress/anxiety.. it causes us to tense up and when we move or sleep wrong on the muscles it causes us to injure ourselves...I have been working on reducing the stress and it seems to be helping ...

Praying for you dude!  Please keep us posted with how it goes!!!

I appreciate the concern guys.

It went just fine.  The worst part about it was a different nurse had to start my IV cause the first took a swing a missed.  I felt really tired afterward and an hour crash made me feel a lot better.

Felt good enough to tackle housecleaning with my wife.

Glad to hear it went well

I was a bad patient today. Had a pre-op physical this morning. The girl drawing my blood missed TWICE so without saying a word, I walked out of the room and left.

My wife is annoyed at me over it. As far as I'm concerned, they can just use the results from the labs taken the middle of last month. I'm not getting my blood drawn again.

Now I've got Aspercreme all over my arms because they hurt like hell and I'm still pissed about it. Frickin' jerks.

Ah lame!  That sounds terrible.  I am sorry you had to deal with that!    That kind of crap you just don't need...

Eh, my wife's over being annoyed about it. I'm getting there.
Thanks though.

ThomasEversole wrote:I was a bad patient today. Had a pre-op physical this morning. The girl drawing my blood missed TWICE so without saying a word, I walked out of the room and left.

I'm probably thinking about this too much, but when the nurse practitioner gave me the lab orders, she said I could have them done "anywhere", specifically, "someone who knows my veins and wouldn't use me as a pincushion". That's a pretty far cry from her saying, "Take them to our lab, we'd be happy to help you there", which is where I went.

I'm definitely thinking about this too much.

Kerrick wrote:Ah lame!  That sounds terrible.  I am sorry you had to deal with that!    That kind of crap you just don't need...

Same :/

Had my two doctor appointments today. Surgery should take 5 hours and I should be in the hospital 3-5 days. Got marked for where they're putting the poop sack. My surgeon said I'll have a "big boy dose" of non-narcotic pain meds that I can administer to myself with the press of a button. They are doing the surgery laproscopicly with the robot, so the incisions should be small and the recovery time should be quick.

Praying for good results!

Thanks man!

I've got to do my prep today and then surgery is tomorrow morning. I'm nervous about it, but I think being nervous before surgery is normal.

The Lord is with you and more importantly INSIDE of you.
Will keep you in my prayers brother

Thank you!

It's normal to be nervous for that.
Still praying for you

I'm alive. Surgery was a success. They needed 1mm of cancer free tissue to hook me back up, I had 2cm. Just came back from a walk. Pain is about 8 out of 10.

Been praying for you!  I am so glad to hear you're alright!  May God have mercy on you and ease this pain.

ThomasEversole wrote:I'm alive. Surgery was a success. They needed 1mm of cancer free tissue to hook me back up, I had 2cm. Just came back from a walk. Pain is about 8 out of 10.

AWESOME!!!!

PRAISE GOD!!!

I  Pray you heal quickly, and tolerate the pain well!

Looks like I might get to take a shower, eat food (haven't eaten since Monday) and transition to pain pills rather than injections. Slowly moving along.
If things go super awesome I'll go home tomorrow. If not, Monday.
Still have my catheter and drain. Still combating pain...