First Round of Chemo

After spending twelve hours in the ER last Sunday, Larry stayed the night in the hospital last Sunday and Monday, but they didn't end up dong anything for him other than keeping his pain under control. 

The GI doctor finally came in on Monday afternoon, acting very annoyed that he even had to be there. He essentially told Larry there was nothing that he could do for him and that there was no reason to bother because this disease was just going to take his life. This was very upsetting to Larry after he had been told by the doctor the previous day that they would do an ERCP on Monday and clean up any blockage that was happening. Larry really felt like the GI doctor just didn't have time for him and didn't want to bother. Larry told him to leave his room and he ended up filing a complaint against the doctor. Everyone at Portneuf was extremely helpful, except for the one that we really needed the help from. This reminded us of our week long stay at the University of Utah hospital and the one doctor that he really needed to see, the pancreatic specialist, never bothered to come and see him because they told us it was too far for them to walk to come and see him.😠

We decided to go ahead and move forward with the chemo on Tuesday morning because at this point we felt like it was our best shot at quickly getting the tumors shrunk and getting his whole body some relief. 

Just like we planned he went into the chemo fasting. He fasted (water only) 2 days before the chemo, did 3 days of chemo, and then fasted 24 hours after.

Sadly, he lost five pounds, but we feel like the fasting has protected his body from the harsh effects of chemo so it was worth it. The only side effects he has had so far have been extreme fatigue (could have been from fasting) and he had swollen feet for about twelve hours which we were able to eliminate by doing epsom salt and magnesium foot soaks.

He started eating (bone broth, green juices, and protein shakes) again on Friday and that is what he has done through most of the weekend. He has been able to gain his strength back little by little. Yesterday morning he felt really good and had a really good day. He was also able to attend our work Christmas party on Saturday night which we were all so grateful for.

Last night he tried to advance his diet and it put him in a lot of back pain😥His inability to eat normal continues to be our biggest challenge. We are hopeful that if we can get the cancer knocked back that it will significantly help with this.

Larry also had a brain MRI of his brain last Wednesday as the neuroendocrine cancer that he was diagnosed with can easily spread to the brain. We were very relieved that the imaging came back clear. He has a follow-up appointment with the oncologist tomorrow and we are very anxious to get his assessment of things.

The specific prayers that we could use at this time are that he will be able to start getting adequate nutrition and that the professionals we are working with will know how to best help us. We feel all of the prayers in our behalf and appreciate them so much.💖