NOOOOO

Many of you recived a version of this post by email  I am putting it in here in case I missed someone..If we did miss you I am very sorry.  Monday was a beautiful warm clear day that became dark when the surgeon called at noon.  The pathology reports indicated cancer on the panaceas and the liver.  The news was not unexpected but it still was hard.  On Tuesday our appointment with the oncologist was at 3:00.  The biggest news was that the cancer showing up in the liver meant the cancer was in the blood stream and therefore stage 4 and surgery was no longer an option.  The treatment options are bad, badder, and horrible.  Dave can also choose to do nothing and they would treat the symptoms.  There are two different standards of care, chemotherapy that is rough and survival rates are short and chemotherapy that is rougher and gives a few more months.  A third option is a clinical trial.  This trial has two different arms testing two different ways to stimulate the immune system.  Patients are randomly placed in each arm by the lead researcher at John Hoppins. Among the requirements are a CT scan to determine eligibility for the trial.  This would be necessary what ever choice he makes to establish baseline to see .if the treatment is working. All this is really difficult when they are talking about life expectancy in months.  Once treatment starts we have a schedule and be able to cram in as much living as possible.