Update #25

This was written last night:

Good evening all,

As most of you know, today Felicia and I had an appointment with Dr. Wirtzfeld, the surgeon whom Dr. Wong sent me to. Well, we didn’t hear what we wanted to hear, basically Dr. Wirtzfeld told us that because of the size of the tumor it is not possible to operate. When they operate they  take out everything and a margin of healthy stuff if they can, otherwise it is pointless to have the surgery. As she described it to us, the mass is almost completely wrapped around my kidneys and up against my spine, so she would have to remove both my kidneys and part of my spine at minimum. Kidneys alone might not be so bad, I would be on dialysis for the rest of my life but so be it, but then I couldn’t receive chemo anymore so altogether she feels that it would be quite detrimental to my health and of no benefit to have surgery. She also told us that her colleagues in Toronto would be of the same opinion as her.

So here is where we know we are at: In the next couple of weeks Dr. Wirtzfeld along with Dr. Wong is going to send me for a PET scan and wait and see what the results of that scan are. As I mentioned in an earlier email, there is a small possibility that the tumor is scar tissue, maybe some of it, maybe all of it, maybe none of it is. Maybe it is all cancer still, we don’t know. What this PET scan might show is that it is still cancer or maybe scar tissue but it could also show nothing new. As Dr. Wirtzfeld said to us, cancer tumors are alive, they feed off your blood system and your nutrients and that is quite often why cancer patients don’t feel well and slowly go downhill in their health. But I, on the other hand, am slowly gaining more physical strength, I am feeling better now than I have in almost over a year and that is what is why Dr Wirtzfeld and Dr. Wong are sending me for this scan. In the meantime, the tumor is still slowly shrinking from chemo (or is it scar tissue slowly being reabsorbed by my body?) so the plan is to keep going on with chemo as long as I can handle it or it stops working and then find something else that works and then keep on going again.

We can ask why, and we do. Why, Lord, did you send this to us, why us? Why this? But we do know why, that His name might be glorified throughout. The Lord has a plan and purpose for all of us, we don’t know what His plan is for us right now but we trust in Him, our help is in the name of the Lord the maker of heaven and earth. So we ask for your prayers and support in the coming days and weeks,

Rob and Felicia