Dr. S. Visit 8/6/12

Today was Joe's visit with the Oncologist in Chandler.  He discussed lots of things, but I'll try and summarize the highlights.  First, although Joe has gained some weight back, he is still not strong enough for chemo.  He definitely wants another 10 lbs on Joe, plus the hole in his stomach from the last surgery needs to be healed much more before they can start chemo.  He expects it will take at least another month or so before these events will happen.  Until then, he's going to start a series of tests to try and determine how much cancer is left and how large the tumors are in Joe's abdomen region.  This is not that easy.  The tumors have to be sitting just right and so large before they can be detected.  In addition, there are certain tests that they can't do because the prep can really mess up Joe's gastrointestinal system.  Joe will have the tests completed within the month and from there, they will start the chemo.  The type of chemo will be determined from the test results.  Dr. S does not think he will be on the same chemo treatments he was on before the surgeries.  He thinks it will be something far less traumatic.  He gave us hope that all the surgeries and hot chemo really made a lot of progress against this terrible disease and eventually Joe will be on a maintenance program.  He also reiterated how good Joe looks.  He was amazed (as are all of us) with Joe's strength.  He commented several times on how well Joe looks and how much progress he made in between visits.  Please keep those prayers coming.  They continue to work miracles!  All our love and thanks,  Sherrie