Monday, Jun 6, 2009

We met with Dr. Rivers (Oncologist) today. Blood work shows that his liver enzymes are very high which means something is poisoning his liver. He's not sure if it is medicine or cancer. So, he is taking him off a lot of his other drugs (not chemo drugs) to see if the enzymes get lower. His CEA level is higher which indicates cancer but he said those are not totally accurate so he's not totally disturbed by the CEA going from 31 to 42. He is going to do scans again in 2 weeks to see what's happening. He is happy that the tumors are not growing but they are not shrinking either. Again, he said that the minute the Erbitux (chemo) stops working he is in bad trouble. The Dr. does not have a back up plan but is desperately searching for one but said he could not promise a back up plan because Buel has taken all drugs there is out there for colorectal cancer. He is going to try a drug called Revlimid which we have at home for 2 weeks but he is afraid the side effects are going to outweigh the good it might do. In a nutshell, he is not doing well at all. He weighs 133.5 lbs which is what he weighed last time. The Dr. could tell a huge difference in him from last time in that he is not doing well. He is taking his chemo and we will be finished here around 1:00 and then we will leave to come home. We should be home around 5:30 or 6. Please pray for Buel, the Dr. and a cure for this terrible disease. For those of you who can, please come to "Relay for Life" at Phillips Field in Greenville Jun 12th at 7 pm. I am hopeful that he will be able to make the survivor lap but Theresa and Mom will for sure be there to make their lap and then the 2nd lap is survivors with their caregivers. Thanks, Tommie