FRIDAY JUNE 14th, 2019
It has been a long week so far, but all of this really started on Wednesday, May 29th; just over two weeks ago.
Chris was at work and texted me that he was having some Persistent back pain that was eventually radiating to his shoulders and neck. I asked if he took any Advil and suggested that he maybe get out for a walk and do some stretches. I checked back in a few hours later. He said the pain was better, but he was still getting a little pain and numbness in his left shoulder, arm, and neck. Working in the cardiac field, I immediately told him to call his doctor and describe the symptoms with concern that they were cardiac in nature. The doctor was not overly concerned with his symptoms.
Chris was having similar numbness and discomfort the following two days at work and made an appointment with his primary doctor for the following week. He he was in the Dells for the weekend, and while he experienced some periodic pain and discomfort, it was tolerable.
Cardiac concerns were ruled out at his appointment on Monday June 3rd, with an ECG and chest x-Ray. In in the next week, Chris’s pain/ numbness/ discomfort continued to escalate and affected different areas in the upper and lower back, shoulders, arms, and neck with each “wave” of pain that was experienced.
After not getting any relief from the steroid that was prescribed by his Primary Physician, Chris had some labs drawn. His white blood cell count and inflammation markers were elevated so he was prescribed something to help with the pain and inflammation. This also wasn’t very effective.
On Friday June 7th, Dr. Blackwell (primary doc) had Chris get a CT scan of his chest in order to rule out blood clots after his D’dimer lab came back as elevated. The chest CT was negative.
After the CT, Chris and I went to Door County with my family that weekend on a planned 3 day golf trip. Chris was determined to get some golfing in even though he wasn’t feeling his best. It seemed his pain was better when being active so golf was a great prescription. 😜 While the pain was better while golfing, it resumed in the evenings, to the point where Chris couldn’t get comfortable in bed and ended up sleeping on the floor or the harder couch.
Chris went to work the following Monday, but came home early because he couldn’t tolerate the pain while sitting at work. After speaking with his doctor again, he had a brain MRI and an abdominal CT done on Tuesday June 11th. The doctor asked us to come in to discuss the results.
The Results:
- The brain MRI was normal.
- The abdominal CT showed enlarged lymph nodes in the abdominal area and spots on his spleen and liver consistent with cancer.
Dr. Blackwell explained what the next steps would look like, told us we would get a nurse coordinator, and referred us to Dr. Johnson (hematology/oncology).
Obviously there were a lot of emotions to be had, both in the office when we found out, and when telling Pat, Dave, and Jonas.
On Wednesday June 12th, Chris had more labs drawn looking for specific tumor markers in the blood. A biopsy of the lesions on the liver was scheduled for Friday June 14th.
That evening we went to my Parent’s house for dinner. About 8:30 Chris was having excruciating pain in his hips, shooting into his knees. We went to the ER at the hospital by my parents. He had more labs drawn and was admitted to the hospital overnight for pain management. They eventually were able to get Chris’s pain down to a tolerable level and bridged him from the IV infusion of drugs he was receiving to an oral dose that could be take at home. He was discharged from the hospital at 2 pm.
We picked up Stellan from my parent’s house and headed home. Chris tried to get some rest, but ended up in extreme pain again by 6pm. We headed to the ER because his oral meds were not eve touching his pain. His pain was managed in the ER and a lumbar spine MRI was ordered. It showed a few lesions similar to those found on the spleen and liver. He was again admitted to the hospital for pain management.
Chris had his liver Biopsy today, Friday, June 14th. The results should be in early next week. He is still in the hospital for pain management and we will likely be here for the weekend. After figuring out what drug/ relief regiment would work for Chris, he is finally comfortable and getting some rest.
Thank you all for your kind words, prayers, and support. We know we have a long and difficult road again but Chris and all of us are hopeful and ready for the fight.
❤️ V
It has been a long week so far, but all of this really started on Wednesday, May 29th; just over two weeks ago.
Chris was at work and texted me that he was having some Persistent back pain that was eventually radiating to his shoulders and neck. I asked if he took any Advil and suggested that he maybe get out for a walk and do some stretches. I checked back in a few hours later. He said the pain was better, but he was still getting a little pain and numbness in his left shoulder, arm, and neck. Working in the cardiac field, I immediately told him to call his doctor and describe the symptoms with concern that they were cardiac in nature. The doctor was not overly concerned with his symptoms.
Chris was having similar numbness and discomfort the following two days at work and made an appointment with his primary doctor for the following week. He he was in the Dells for the weekend, and while he experienced some periodic pain and discomfort, it was tolerable.
Cardiac concerns were ruled out at his appointment on Monday June 3rd, with an ECG and chest x-Ray. In in the next week, Chris’s pain/ numbness/ discomfort continued to escalate and affected different areas in the upper and lower back, shoulders, arms, and neck with each “wave” of pain that was experienced.
After not getting any relief from the steroid that was prescribed by his Primary Physician, Chris had some labs drawn. His white blood cell count and inflammation markers were elevated so he was prescribed something to help with the pain and inflammation. This also wasn’t very effective.
On Friday June 7th, Dr. Blackwell (primary doc) had Chris get a CT scan of his chest in order to rule out blood clots after his D’dimer lab came back as elevated. The chest CT was negative.
After the CT, Chris and I went to Door County with my family that weekend on a planned 3 day golf trip. Chris was determined to get some golfing in even though he wasn’t feeling his best. It seemed his pain was better when being active so golf was a great prescription. 😜 While the pain was better while golfing, it resumed in the evenings, to the point where Chris couldn’t get comfortable in bed and ended up sleeping on the floor or the harder couch.
Chris went to work the following Monday, but came home early because he couldn’t tolerate the pain while sitting at work. After speaking with his doctor again, he had a brain MRI and an abdominal CT done on Tuesday June 11th. The doctor asked us to come in to discuss the results.
The Results:
- The brain MRI was normal.
- The abdominal CT showed enlarged lymph nodes in the abdominal area and spots on his spleen and liver consistent with cancer.
Dr. Blackwell explained what the next steps would look like, told us we would get a nurse coordinator, and referred us to Dr. Johnson (hematology/oncology).
Obviously there were a lot of emotions to be had, both in the office when we found out, and when telling Pat, Dave, and Jonas.
On Wednesday June 12th, Chris had more labs drawn looking for specific tumor markers in the blood. A biopsy of the lesions on the liver was scheduled for Friday June 14th.
That evening we went to my Parent’s house for dinner. About 8:30 Chris was having excruciating pain in his hips, shooting into his knees. We went to the ER at the hospital by my parents. He had more labs drawn and was admitted to the hospital overnight for pain management. They eventually were able to get Chris’s pain down to a tolerable level and bridged him from the IV infusion of drugs he was receiving to an oral dose that could be take at home. He was discharged from the hospital at 2 pm.
We picked up Stellan from my parent’s house and headed home. Chris tried to get some rest, but ended up in extreme pain again by 6pm. We headed to the ER because his oral meds were not eve touching his pain. His pain was managed in the ER and a lumbar spine MRI was ordered. It showed a few lesions similar to those found on the spleen and liver. He was again admitted to the hospital for pain management.
Chris had his liver Biopsy today, Friday, June 14th. The results should be in early next week. He is still in the hospital for pain management and we will likely be here for the weekend. After figuring out what drug/ relief regiment would work for Chris, he is finally comfortable and getting some rest.
Thank you all for your kind words, prayers, and support. We know we have a long and difficult road again but Chris and all of us are hopeful and ready for the fight.
❤️ V
Comments
Post a Comment