The Smell of Greenhouses

Today was a pretty good day, we went for a walk and smelled the greenhouses. There is something wonderful about dirt. Al struggles with breathing, but his oxygen level is at 92 and being at 6900 feet that's good. Friends came over last night and prayed with him and it always leaves him better. Kirby came over this morning with Al's old guitar and played worship music, which is so restoring to our hearts. Our conversation is more limited these days, focused on pain meds, and poop (which he is very excited about when it happens). But he remains in good spirits and we live each day to the full. The biopsy has been sent to three different places with no results yet. We treasure all your thoughts and prayers.

Needing Oxygen

The past couple of days, Al has noticed that his breathing is labored due to the abdominal pressure from the tumor.  Sleeping has become difficult.  He set up an appt with Dr. Markus to have his oxygen levels tested to see if he might need oxygen available to help decrease the labored breathing.

Today he said, "I hope they figure out what this thing is before I pop."

The pressure is very uncomfortable, and the waiting game is getting rather old...

Celebration Time!

So many of you who love Al have been wanting to know what is happening. So Al invited some close friends and family to come out for a Celebration Event here at the Nursery.  Here's what his invitation said:

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Al here...

I'd like to invite you to gather for a special 1-hour celebration in our back yard one week from today!

Most of you know that I was recently diagnosed with abdominal cancer, but this isn't a time for sorrow!  I want to gather our family and friends for a short time of celebrating our Amazing Creator and the beautiful community we enjoy.  Many of you will be unable to attend in person, but we invite you to think of us as we gather!

Many of you have said there is much yet to be accomplished by us in God's Kingdom.  I am decidedly in agreement with that! It is an opportunity for us to declare our unity and gratefulness for what God has given us here and for you to hear from my heart.

We have lots of room but few chairs- bring one if you'd like to sit. We will be outside in Colorado in November so dress warmly!
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There was something like 100 folks here, and we enjoyed a great time of celebrating Al's life, our community and the Great God we serve! There was hot chocolate, sandwiches and cookies aplenty along with some powerful worship and prayer time and testimonies from a few.

Al felt better today than he has in a while and enjoyed supernatural stamina to share his heart.

Revisiting Dr. Willard and Memorial Hospital

Had a scheduled appt with Dr. Willard (the surgeon) to remove the staples from the surgical biopsy last week.  She didn't want to remove all the staples due to stretching skin on his abdomen, so she removed only half of them.

Later on, Al wanted to head back to the hospital to get pain under control, so headed to Memorial Hospital North.  They performed another x-ray and another CAT scan, which showed that the tumor has grown larger since the first CAT scan.

Since we are still waiting for results of the testing, there was no reason for Al to hang out any longer at the hospital, so after they monitored him overnight they released him to go back home the next afternoon.

Another Meeting with Dr. Markus

We (Al, Lana, Steph and Kirby) drove into Dr. Markus's office at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center again today. Dr. Markus explained that the pathology testing results showed that the cancer is NOT GIST (as he has suspected) NOT lymphoma, NOT adenocarcinoma, NOT melanoma, and NOT a few other kinds of cancer.

So the next question is: What is it?

The answer: They do not know.

Al said he likes being unique.  Ha

Dr. Markus said this happens only 10-15% of the time- when they cannot determine what kind of cancer it is.  So he said they will send the samples off to some special cancer centers- one in Cleveland and the other is CARIS (http://www.carislifesciences.com/) which should take a couple weeks to complete testing.

Meeting With Dr. Markus

This was only one day after the surgical biopsy and Al hadn't quite recovered, although the pain blocks were allowing him to feel relatively comfortable.  We met with Dr. Markus, the oncologist, who was appalled that they released Al from the hospital so soon after that procedure!

He explained his hunch that it might be what's called a GIST and that there are oral enzymes that have been proven to substantially reduce the size of tumors.  But it's impossible to determine a course of treatment until the testing is done to figure out exactly what kind of cancer this is.

So we all left Dr. Markus's office with a little hope that day...

The Wrecking Ball

 We (Al, Lana and Stephanie) went in to Memorial Hospital this morning for the appt to take a surgical biopsy. Dr. Josh Griffin was the anesthesiologist and Dr. Tiffany Willard was the surgeon.  The biopsy was a six inch incision just above Al's belly button where she investigated what areas the mass had grown and to remove portions of the mass for testing.

Dr. Willard came to report to Lana and Steph in the waiting room.  And what she said was like getting hit with a Mack truck.  She explained that the tumor has surrounded Al's liver, bladder and pelvic floor and is very large.  She said that her first assessment (pending pathology testing) is that the mass is adenocarcinoma (glandular cancer) and that she believed the cancer would overtake him within three months.

Yes, that's pretty much news like a wrecking ball.

Al was sent to the recovery room, where Lana, Steph and Kirby were able to tell Al what Dr. Willard had said.  Wow.  It's difficult to get your mind around something like this.  Al wanted to get home as soon as possible.  They had given him large doses of pain medication, and so that afternoon they released him to go home from the hospital. 

First Biopsy Results?

Dr. Markus called and said they did not get a good biopsy- the results were basically indeterminate, but they found a lot of neucrotic (dead) tissue in the sample.  Need to schedule a surgical biopsy to get a better grasp of what is happening. Scheduled for tomorrow with Dr. Tiffany Willard.

Al's abdomen is very hard but he fixed himself some eggs for breakfast and some cottage cheese and pumpkin bread for dinner around 7:30pm.

Go Broncos!

Yesterday Al didn't have a good day- very uncomfortable and experiencing severe back pain that restricts his ability to rest.  He doesn't have any appetite and ate very little.

Today was a much better day, though. Al watched most of the Broncos game and some close friends stopped by to visit and pray together. Had some oatmeal for breakfast, some hamburger for dinner.  He took a tagement to avoid indigestion. 

We have to take one day at a time...

Overnight at Hospital

After spending the night at the hospital, we were seen by Dr. Sandhu (Kaiser) this morning who explained that we would be contacted shortly by either an oncologist or a surgeon to determine the next steps.  We were soon contacted by Dr. Maurice Markus (oncologist) who outlined these next steps:

1.) What is this mass? We need to do a biopsy.
2.)  Where is it?  Stage its location.
3.)  Treatment plan: surgery? radiation? medication?
4.)  Prognosis

A needle biopsy (not an incision) was done this afternoon and Al was allowed to go home.  He was fairly comfortable and slept well that night.

Emergency Room

Since we were still waiting for a scheduled CAT scan, we decided to head to the ER to get testing done more quickly.  Headed to the Memorial Hospital North emergency room.  They did a limited ultra-sound and found a little fluid but nothing else.  We requested a CAT scan, which they did a few hours later.


Dr. Jameson returned after viewing the CAT scan and reported that there was a large mass between Al's spine and his intestines and recommended that we admit Al to the hospital for further testing.  He was admitted to the hospital at 6:30pm.

Al's nurse's name was Stephanie Britton.  Coincidence?  I think not. We felt that it was a wink from the Father- that He saw us and knows us intimately!

Digestive Disease Clinic

We had an appt today with the DDC, the Digestive Disease Clinic.  The dr said that more info was necessary to determine what is going on in there, so he called for a CAT scan as soon as possible.

Urgent Care- Again...

Three days after the first Urgent Care visit, Al still had no relief.   We headed back to the Urgent Care again.  They did an x-ray and saw nothing abnormal and recommended an enema.

Al's still very uncomfortable...

Stomache Ache?

Starting sometime at the end of August, Al started experiencing random heartburn.  He's never had any digestive issues in his life.  Weird, we thought.  Nevertheless he continued to take Tagement (anti-heartburn medicine) when he needed it.  Throughout Sept and Oct it became more frequent and by the end of October the problem began to include constipation and abdomen pressure.

Finally, we decided he needed to get checked out, so we headed to the local Urgent Care Center.  They gave him "Go Lightly" - a medicine to clear out the digestive system.  After taking this, Al had no relief and continued to experience stomach distention, and his appetite continued to decrease.