Saturday, July 21, 2007

Some good news

Airdrie phoned us last night to let us know that Derek's oncologist had phoned her. The pathology report says that Derek's removed cancerous colon tissue showed that all of the diseased tissue had been taken out, and nothing had been left behind. This is a good piece of news, and a big step forward in Derek's fight against the cancer. Of course, there is still a long way to go - more chemotherapy is yet to come, and there will also be another operation to "reconnect" his plumbing. We haven't talked to Derek today yet, but this is a great relief to him, no doubt, as it is for all of us.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Waouh !

This is REALLY good news !

We are waiting for such a report ourselves, it should come by the beginning of next week - which is logical, as JH's surgery was four days after Derek's.

This is a very very important step, it clearly means that no chemo will be necessary for this part of the body.

Now, of course, the problem will be the lungs - I have certainly not forgot about those. But it clearly is much easier to fight cancer one location at a time - and good to know that the first location was a success.

As I understood, the second surgery to fix things back is much simpler - they don't open anything, they just pull out the bowels, sew them up, and push them back inside. They sew things under the skin, but not the skin itself - it just slowly heals by itself with bandages, no stitches.

JH is feeling quite well now - he had coffee, water and apple juice today. Tomorrow, we will move on to light soup. Slow and careful. They feed him by intravenous means, but they are going down on this now, so that the normal food progressively takes over.

You are right - hospital does feel a safer place sometimes, even if I must admit I am very impatient to take my husband home.

Good thing Harry Potter 7 came out today - it is going to keep me busy and my mind off cancer for a few days ! I am just like a kid for some things...

Karl said...

Hello Laurence

We are glad to hear that JH is doing so much better. It must be a great relief for you. More progress will be made, and you'll have your husband home again soon. As parents, we certainly know your feelings and concerns. Please convey our best wishes to JH, we are rooting for him, too. As I said before, one step at a time for both Derek and JH.

Anonymous said...

That is good news, Karl. Thanks yet again for the update.