Results of Larry's CT Scan

It is early in the morning, but the results of Larry's CT scan, that we received yesterday, weigh heavily on my mind. We received some very good news and some very unsettling news. The good news is that our prayers are being answered and the inflammation in Larry's pancreas has gone down down, despite the fact that he feels like he has had some mini pancreatic attacks likely from the smoke in the air.

The unsettling news is that they have found two spots on his liver that are either abscess's, which is a common side effect of chronic pancreatitis, or cancer that has likely come from his pancreas. The doctor said that typically you will see a fever and elevated white blood count with the abscess's, which Larry has neither. With that being said, Larry often does not present with the "typical" symptoms which could be the case in this situation. When he was admitted to the U of U back in January, they diagnosed him as having abscess's and he was on a very strong antibiotic regimen for a couple of months. If my memory serves me correctly, that despite the awful side effects of the antibiotics, the abscess's did resolve. I don't remember them biopsying the spots on his liver at that time, so my other thought is that it was possibly cancer back in January and they missed it. We were very adamant during that hospital stay that they be extremely thorough in ruling out cancer, including having an MRI done, and they assured us that there were no signs of cancer.

If it is cancer, that could explain his continued pain and weight loss. They will be doing a biopsy on Monday to determine if it is cancer. The doctor said that if it is abscess's, he will be immediately admitted to the hospital for three days and started on an antibiotic treatment. If it is cancer then we are looking at the chemo route. The one other scenario that I have thought of is that it could be a benign tumor, which in my mind would possibly be the best case scenario unless they are causing problems by pressing on blood vessels or nerves. There are so many questions yet to be answered.

Through this eight year process, Larry's life has been preserved repeatedly. I just have a hard time believing that the Lord has brought us this far, and miraculously opened up so many doors for us to have the TP/IAT surgery so that we can have a shot at a normal life, to have it all fall apart at this stage in the game. With that being said, I have prayed repeatedly that if it is the Lord's will that the doors will continue to open and if it is not the Lord's will that the doors will close. As hard and scary as it is, I have to continue to trust in the Lord and his timing, knowing that things will come together according to his will and timing and that he will allow all things to work together for our good. As I have watched the hand of the Lord in my life through the years, I have learned that the Lord can see things that I often cannot see and things happen for a reason.

Needless to say, it is going to be a long weekend and Monday cannot come soon enough!