K
KathyC
Guest
Many of you probably remember the long ordeal we went thru beginning last July with DH health thru Dec; last Sept we were told he had stage 4 cancer of spine that they thought had come from the prostate. After months of tests with everything coming back abnormal yet not positive for cancer we finally were sent to Univ of Iowa Clinic in Dec & received a final letter from the Clinic in Jan. stating there was NO cancer YET but the lesions on the spine look as though it will develop into cancer at some point in the future. I know how lucky we are as most people who get told they have stage 4 cancer do not get this diagnosis reveresed but now the time has come for some testing again just to see if there have been any significant changes. So far so good but we are now awaiting the results for the MRI of his spine which we hope to receive in the next couple of days. Blood work done for cancers they are watching for came back good last wk, his PSA level which was very high came back the lowest he has had in 9yrs (dr was blown away by that report & we were totally shocked)! If the MRI comes back with no significant changes ( I'm thinking positive that the report will be good) I guess we can relax again for a while & although we are so grateful he does not have stage 4 cancer it wears on your nerves as it is always in the back of your mind that IT is coming but just hasn't arrived yet. Current issues include extensive retention of fluid which we went thru last yr with no explanation of the cause or why it finally just went away but now has returned--we see the dr again Thurs. If MRI comes back good for the spine they are going to try to work on his knees which are causing so much trouble with his walking--drs think he should have pain as tests show he is walking bone on bone with no cartiledge but he says he has no pain but the knees won't "work" they don't want to bend so he walks stiff legged & can only walk short distances before the legs become weak & he can't go any further. If he should be able to have surgery on the knees the Remicade treatments he takes for his Crohn's will have an effect on the healing process so gastro dr says he will need to start on antiobiotics if surgery becomes an option. So in a nut shell, DH is kind of healthy with no tests so far indicating anything major but he still has alot of health issues to deal with. Anyway, cross your fingers that the MRI remains unchanged because that would be great news & we can breathe easier for a litle while longer. For those of you actually living with the cancer diagnosis, my heart goes out to you & I'm wishing all of you success in your treatments.