It has been awhile since I have given an update, and I truly apologize. We have all been busy, enjoying our lives and doing well. Courtney and Sue have been spending time in Nebraska with family and purchased a cabin at Johnson Lake. It is a loved location for all of the Hanson/Bienkowski families. Courtney and Sue have been enjoying relaxing there and Courtney even received some of his treatments in Kearney.
Courtney has been doing well. He stopped chemo and remained on an antibody treatment only. This treatment worked miracles in the beginning. It appeared to have less side effects and he felt a little better on this medication than the other intolerable chemo. We all breathed a sigh of relief. However, we found out recently that Courtney's tumors in his liver were again growing, and at an alarming rate. Chemo wasn't an option again and he sought out other therapies. His oncologist in Denton sent him to a leading physician at UT Southwestern pioneering a new "pump" therapy that will deliver chemo directly into his liver. This would cut out the side effects and allow him to feel better. Again, it is not a cure, but just a means to slow the tumors growth. They will go in tomorrow and resect out any of the tumors that they can get to and implant the pump. UT Southwestern is also going to send off portions of his tumor to pathology for research. You see, Courtney has done so amazingly well and has been with us longer than 99% of all other patients that were diagnosed in the same stage of cancer. Hopefully by learning about his tumors and how they have reacted to his differing treatments will also help others in the future who will be diagnosed with stage IV Colorectal Cancer, which is the most advanced type.
He is having the surgery tomorrow at St. Paul. We are scheduled to be there at 5:30 am with a planned start time of 7:30. I will be updating this blog periodically throughout his surgery and recovery. We are planning for him to be in the hospital for at least five days, possibly more.
Thank you in advance for all your prayers and thoughts as we again travel through a difficult time in Courtney's treatment.
Love,
Ashley
1 comment:
Thanks for the updates Ashley. Michael called me earlier today to tell me about the scheduled surgery. Courtney and the rest of the family will definitely be in our prayers.
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