Wednesday, October 17, 2007

2nd Colonoscopy Results

Karen's recovering from her colonoscopy today. This is Karen's 2nd colonoscopy and was performed once again by Doctor Lipsky. Sarah babysat so I was able to take K to the surgery center myself. Thanks Sav.

Dr. Lipksy is a gastro specialist and was one of the first doctors we met with when Karen was first diagnosed. The procedure took a while but once completed I was able to review the results with the doctor whilst Karen came-to in recovery.

The results were terrific. Karen's colon is in great shape. Lipsky was visibly excited and I could tell the news was good before he called me in. The primary tumor which was about the size of a golf ball before the summer has disappeared! Gone. Expired. In his words "this was the best possible outcome".

When the first colonoscopy was performed, the area of the tumor was marked with a special dye which doesn't "wash off". That dye helped Lipsky determine this time around where the tumor should have been. Of course only a small amount of dye remained today and the tumor is no more. This type of result is rare and means the chemo has been highly highly effective.

The lack of polyps in Karen's colon may indicate that she is genetically predisposed to getting cancer. This will be further investigated over the coming months and the appropriate action taken. Lipsky also took lots of biopsies of the area where the tumor was for further analysis.

Karen still needs a colon resection but it may be smaller piece taken out now. She also still needs liver surgery and a bunch of other things so no change there.

We are making progress but we are not done yet! Karen has done an amazing job and displayed incredible heart and endurance to get this far. I am so proud of her. That hard work is being rewarded.

We remain confident that this is the best approach to treating Karen's cancer.

3 comments:

kp said...

This is wonderful! Thank God for the reassurance that Karen is kicking butt! Fran, please give Karen a big hug from me. You guys are constantly present in my thoughts and prayers.

Julia said...

AWESOME! WOW WOW WOW! This is just the news we all needed to hear! I'm am so happy for you both, and for your little ones! Wow...this just made my day!

With Warmth,

Julia :-)

Anonymous said...

I found your entry while doing research on colonoscopoy consultation (for work) and was thrilled to read this entry! My father is 82 and has colon cancer w/ mets to the liver (7 year survivorship and going strong!). It's a hard jourey to travel, but it sounds as though you are very determined. Be stong and be well and please accept my deepest congratulations on this outcome!!

Catherine Kane
NetWellness.org Program Coordinator
Case Western Reserve University