We have a date

The surgery to remove my cancer, rectum and section of my colon is set for January 4th, 2017.

This is anticipated to be a six hour surgery with two teams working on my. My surgeon, Dr. Whiteford and team will be working on my 'lower end' while his colleague and team work on my 'upper end'.

I will post again as we get closer to the actual surgery date.

Prayers now and throughout all of this are needed and appreciated.

A field trip & Show and Tell

Eric and Marissa drove up to Clark County today so he could turn in the paperwork from his doctor stating he will be off work until at least May 30, 2017. It was a fun and emotional visit with friends he hasn't seen in a couple months.  Fridays are "Show & Tell" day - Eric excitedly told his coworkers he had something to share "You guys get a choice, do you want to see my intestine or my fancy robe?" and he smiled and laughed! Needless to say, he donned his amazing robe and took his catwalk turns to the sounds of laughter.

He is hoping to be approved for disability, which would pay him 60% of his salary and cover a portion of his health insurance. The remainder of the bill has to be covered by the family. His coworkers will most likely be donating portions of their accrued leave to keep a paycheck coming until disability is approved. His next check will be only $14 because the paperwork wasn't turned in earlier, not that it could've been.

Since surgery, his pain has decreased tremendously, the healing process is long but the radiation burns have improved dramatically since that treatment ended.

Thank you for your continued prayers and well wishes. They mean the world to Eric.

As a reminder, Eric's GoFundMe page is active, please if you would, share it, this will be tougher than we anticipated on us.

Where has time gone?

Eric is finally home after a long couple of weeks between Providence St. Vincent and Providence Portland Medical Centers.

The decision was made to do an Ileostomy last week and place an Ostomy to avoid future bowel movements. The radiation and chemotherapy have caused breakdown in his bottom and the pain has required IV dilaudid to keep it under control.

Treatment is now complete, although it still remains active in his system for about 6 weeks.  We are anticipating his next surgery to be in January 2017.

His job now is to recover, follow a new diet and hopefully return to work before Thanksgiving.

He has asked that if you wish to visit, you let him know ahead of time.

I leave Wed morning for St. Louis and will return Sunday night. I'm working to prep some meals for him tomorrow ... making a list tonight!

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Marissa and Eric

Back at St. Vincents

Well folks, the pain was too much to handle again so Eric is back at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center for the night with his good friend Dilaudid on board. 

I will pick him up around 2 pm tomorrow and take him over to Providence Portland Medical Center where he will be admitted for surgery to place an ileostomy bag. He will also have some other minor procedures done while under anesthesia (for sheer comfort purposes). The anticipated hospital stay is 2-3 days with approximately 2-3 weeks off work after that. 

We are in the process of getting medical paperwork filed with his employer that may get some disability money coming in, but we don't know about it yet. Needless to say, Eric is concerned about finances, but we do know that God has provided in the past and He will do so this time. 

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and support. They do mean the world to us. Please feel free to share this as well as our Blog (http://ericspeskyrectum.blogspot.com/ ) for those not on Facebook, and our page on FB ( https://www.facebook.com/EricsPeskyRectum )