Update- Partial chemo started

Sorry for the delay in updating.. Since the last post, Curtis' bilirubin went up to 11. That day we decided to have them put in two additional stents in the hepatic ducts (right and left). The surgeon was afraid that the bilirubin was staying high because Curtis had damage to his liver from the cancer. We decided to go ahead with the two additional stents last Wednesday.. I think.. By Saturday, his bilirubin had gone down to 8. Last Monday it was down to 4. So the stents are working!! Hopefully, the bilirubin will be down enough by Monday so he can have the full Folfiri and Cetuximab. Last Thursday they were able to start him on the 5fu, Leucovorin and cetuximab and yesterday he had another dose of Cetuximab. He is doing very well with this round of chemo. Things are starting to calm down a bit, his pain is under control and he is finally able to sleep, and the edema (swelling) in his legs and feet is slowly going down as well. We are currently looking into some alternative treatments with possibly Cesium chloride along with other supplements to try and keep his immune system up and keeping his cells oxygenated. It is very expensive though, so we are trying to find out of it is even a possibility at this point.

No chemo today.. Bilirubin up even more

Curtis' bilirubin is up to 8.9 this morning. The plan is that he will go in for the "stent procedure" again (endoscopy) to try and figure out if the stent they put in had moved, if there is a new blockage, or if a larger stent is needed.. Or some suprise we don't yet know about. The plan so far is to have this done Wednesday. Curtis has now been 6 weeks without chemo. This is making us all nervous. You wouldn't ever think that you would need to pray that someone could just get their chemo.. This is getting to be very frustrating to us.. He had a really rough night last night vomiting through the night and this morning. But, he has been able to eat since about noon today and keeping it down. We wanted chemo to be on Mondays, since it is weekly now, we thought it would give him more quality time with Tavner on our weekends, but it might take a few weeks to get to that schedule. Hopefully, he can start the new chemo later this week if his bilirubin drops enough. They like it to be less than 3 for the Irrinotecan chemotherapy.

Bilirubin back up.. Port back in Friday

We found out today that Curtis' bilirubin is back up. It was down to 2.1 after the stent was put in and it is now 6.4 today. They first scheduled an ultrasound to try and see if there was another blockage or if something happened with the stent, but after speaking to the surgeon, they decided to re-draw the bilirubin level on Monday and see if it has improved. The surgeon thinks that the bilirubin might be elevated because it was taken too soon after the attempted gallbladder procedure. The main issue with the bilirubin is one if his new chemotherapies Irinotecan, is excreted with bilirubin and if the bili is too high, the chemo won't be excreted proparly and will accumulate in the blood. Not good. The plan so far is for him to get his port back in Friday and some of the chemo Monday, and if the bili is down below 3ish, they would consider adding the Irinotecan. He is actually feeling well, mostly just tired. We got to spend some quality time with Tavner today, so that lifted both of our spirits. We are moved back into our house in West Valley. We had to rent it out after Curtis was diagnosed because he has been unable to work. It has taken some time to get moved and unpacked especially with all extra activities lately, but we made it thanks to wonderful family and friends. I am having to take a break again from nursing school. I will be set back 3 months and won't graduate until Dec 2012 now, but I will be able to spend time with my hubby, Tav and the dogs and settle in a bit. I had the surgeon take some pics of the tumors in his gallbladder to post next week..