challenges

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I have been wanting to share some news with you all but hadn't been able to until now.  If you've followed my blog for awhile then you know that my husband Eric was diagnosed with cancer back in February of 2010.  Following surgery and six months of chemotherapy, we were told in November of 2010 that Eric was cancer free with a 50-90% chance of his cancer not returning (depending on which oncologist you spoke to).  Fast forward to March of 2011, Eric hadn't been feeling well and was having unusual pain.  Due to this, his oncologists decided to push his PET/CT scan and other tests forward to find out what was causing his pain.  The results were shocking.  In a few short months they found that Eric's cancer had in fact metastasized and was in his small intestine, stomach, colon and peritoneum.

Within days of this news and visits to his oncologists at Stanford and UCSF, Eric's doctors recommended chemotherapy for three months followed by another round of scans to see if his chemotherapy is working.  If the chemotherapy proves to be working then he will continue on his current course of treatment with Flofiri (leucovorin/fluorouracil/irinotecan) and Avastin (Bevacizumab).
If it is not working then they are going to treat his cancer like you would pancreatic cancer since it has shown to be effective for patients where the colorectal treatment proves ineffective.  Eric has Duodenal Cancer of the Small Intestine which is very rare therefore there is not an exact treatment for it.

To date, Eric has completed five rounds of his chemotherapy with his sixth round starting tomorrow.  Again, following this round we'll know more which we hope and pray will be that his tumors are shrinking and the chemotherapy is doing it's job.
As for how my hubbie is doing.... this round of chemotherapy has proven much harder with crappy side effects, basically the scariest thing imaginable (to quote my hubbie).
So, I ask that you please pray for my husband Eric.  Please pray that his tumors are shrinking.  Please pray for his continued strength and will.

If you want to know more or follow his cancer journey then stop by his Caring Bridge site here.

My reason's for explaining this is that our life is really hard right now and as much as I want to enjoy your blogs and blogging, I am finding it more challenging to do so day to day.  I will post as much as I can but it will be sporadic for now.

Please feel free to share our story because our family needs all the prayers and positive thinking coming my hubbie's way.

Hugs my friends.  See you soon.