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Super Bowl Sunday update

I took Eric down to the Elks Lodge for the first half of Super Bowl. It was great to see him laughing and smiling with folks. He spends most of his time standing up or laying down, so he was on his feet a lot there, which aggravates his achilles tendon. He simply can't win.

We came home at halftime and within 15 minutes he was in bed and asleep.

He has started getting Acupuncture twice a week for pain relief. He's two treatments into it, it's expected to take 5 or 6 before he notices any improvement. He will be speaking with his doctors tomorrow about his pain level.

We've been blessed with some donations to the GoFundMe account this week. We ask that you continue to spread the word about our situation and consider helping out. Our finances are a real concern for Eric, we know God will provide however the bills keep coming and it's added stress.

Oncology update ...

My oncologist was very pleased with the pathology results. My next round of chemo starts in 2 weeks. I will be taking the exact same oral chemo as before but in a stronger dose. There will be a total of six rounds of treatments. Each round will consist of 14 days of chemo two times a day and then 7 days off.

At this point, we are unsure how my body will react but do not anticipate anything very serious.

I meet with my surgeon Feb 9th. He will review my new chemo schedule to help him determine when to reverse my ileostomy.

In the meantime, I am still dealing with the pain and recovery from my Jan 4th surgery. Please continue to pray for me and my family.

Thank you. - Eric

Latest GoFundMe update

We've updated the GoFundMe campaign. Please share it with folks. Eric is really struggling over not being able to support us through this. Every bit, anything you can spare, would help ease his burden.

Here is the direct link www.gofundme.com/2pbadfhc that you can share with others.

Thank you and God Bless!

Another procedure

Today was a crazy day. Eric has been in rough pain for weeks, although he says it's a level 3 or 4, his physical being tells me it's much higher than that. Let's go back a few days ... 

Last Saturday we ended up at the Providence Portland Medical Center Emergency Department for blood work and a CT scan to see if there was any infection or signs of leakage from the surgical site. Fortunately, everything was ok, unfortunately it meant that the pain was around to stay. 

He called his surgeon to speak with him about things yesterday and this morning we got a call saying that he'd be going back into the hospital for an outpatient procedure tomorrow, then it was changed to 3 pm today, and then at 9:15 am we were told to be at the hospital by 10 am. And we were. 

And in they went ... and Eric is very well aware of what his pain level now is. According this this scale, he's been living in the area between 6 and 7 ... NOT a good place to be. 

So, what is going on? Well the good news is that everything is healing well. Unfortunately that anal fissure is still there and because of the proximity to the surgical site, it's adding to the irritation that comes with a major surgery. PLUS his bladder is right next to the site also, so when his bladder begins to fill, it presses on that area and his pain increases.

He is now moving to a different medication regime AND will start Acupuncture on Monday, which his surgeon says can do wonders! 

Dr. Mark Whiteford - ROCKSTAR MD

A WILD turn of events !!!

At no time did I think I'd be reposting this from Eric's Facebook page this early in the year. emphasis added by me ... because you can't add formatting to a facebook post and THIS deserves it!! 

GOD IS GREAT!!!

I will let Marissa update all the blogs but wanted to share this right away.


Dr. Whiteford just called me with the results of the tumor biopsy. I know that the chemo and radiation will get all the credit but I know the outcome would have been different if not for all the prayers also. I give God the credit, with the help of the chemo and radiation.


The biopsy showed 

NO CANCER! All of the cancer had been removed.

THANK YOU, all for your prayers and support.


THANK YOU, GOD!

Tumor IS Gone!

Surgery went well as has his recovery. Tumor shrunk from golf ball size to nickel sized. Only had to remove 8" of colon vs. a potential 24". He's been up and walking, eating and laughing.

Here is a cropped photo of what's been done, the blue area covers his colostomy bag. There are 4 laparascopy incisions in his abdomen for the one surgeon to do the colon release for reattachment and a large incision from his belly button down to the pubic bone for the Cancer, rectum and colon removal.

He has another pouch where you see the tape, this is gathering the post-surgical drainage.

Honestly, all things considered, he's doing really well. Planning on discharging tomorrow unless the two sites need more attention here.

Be gone Tumor!

Eric is now settled in his temp home, Rm 744 at Providence Portland. 

Surgeon was able to remove the tumor completely and said the colon reattachment looks good. Best news is that the tumor responded GREAT to the initial chemo and radiation and was about the circumference of a nickel! For reference, place a quarter and nickel side by side, that's where we started in August! 

Pathology should be back Monday, once we have that a specific chemo plan will be decided upon. That round will tentatively start the first week in Feb and last 4-5 months depending on the specific cancer. 

Then a 4 week break and another surgery to hopefully reverse the Ileostomy. 

We anticipate being here for 3-7 days, based on his recovery. 

Thanks for the prayers and thoughts. We still have a long way to go but this was a big step.

It's time to get moving!

Early night for us, we hit the road at 5 am for a 530 am check in at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Surgery starts at 7:30 am and is expected to last for 6 hours. I will update when I can.

Prayers, good vibes and all positive thoughts are requested.

Merry Christmas

A friend of Eric's came to visit this past week.





He belongs to a snowmobile club and they got together and gifted us dinner for today.

Such a blessing.

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 )

Always have a Plan B

I have now talked with all of my doctors. The surgeon came up with the most viable Plan B.

The pain and bleeding is caused by a tear in wall of my anus that is aggravated by my bowel movements. The best way to end the pain is to end the BMs, I will have surgery on Wednesday to have a colostomy bag installed. Since I would need one after the main surgery anyway, it makes sense to do it early and end the pain. He also plans on giving me a Botox injection to relax the muscles.

My surgery will be at Providence Portland.

Please pray the surgery goes well and is successful.

Thank you - Eric

Pain and prayers

I just put in phone calls to all three of my doctors and cancelled today's radiation treatment. The pain and bleeding have worsened. Considering the progression during the last 4 weeks, there is no way I can continue for two more weeks at current levels and especially not if it continues to worsen.

Pray for pain relief.
Pray for mental and emotional strength.
Pray the team can come up with a valid "Plan B".

There was early discussion of postponing treatments and resuming later in a situation like this.
There was also discussion during my hospital stay last week of a preemptive surgery that would also delay treatments.

Keeping me in the hospital until treatments are over is also valid, in my opinion.

There may be other options. I don't care what we decide as long as we find something that will work.

From Eric - 10/14/16

Journal entry by Marissa Phillips Brown — 10/14/2016

The cancer is silent. I don't feel a thing from the cancer. The treatments, however, are really kicking my ass (figuratively and literally). I am very tired and wiped out at times. Yesterday (etz Wednesday) wiped me out emotionally.

Please continue to pray for me and my family but right now, please pray for the friends and family of Boyd and Boe. We lost two really good people yesterday. I am confident that they are with God right now and that gives the family some comfort but this is still a hard time for them and they need prayers and support.

Thank you

With Sadness

Journal entry by Marissa Phillips Brown — 10/13/2016

We have to share that Eric's two co-workers, Boyd Wiff and Boe Richards, both passed away in the past 24 hours.

Please pray for their families and co-workers.

Others

Journal entry by Eric Brown — 10/10/2016

Hey all. I just wanted to draw your attention to two of my co-workers' pages here on CaringBridge. Both of them are also fighting cancer. I know for a fact that they and their families would greatly appreciate your prayers also.

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/boydwiff

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/boerichards

Thank you

1 week down

(this was posted earlier on the CaringBridge page that is now inactive)

Journal entry by Eric Brown — 10/6/2016

I am a week into my treatments and the only side effect so far is always being tired.

For the past several months, I was getting up at 4:30 and working 12 hour days. Now I try to get up at 6:30 and work 6 hour days but always seem to be tired. That doesn't necessarily mean that I am able to sleep very well though.

If this is the worst side effect I have to deal with, I will consider myself lucky and just deal with it and move forward.

A great friend blessed us by making dinner for the family tonight. We watched a movie afterwards and laughed. Good stuff!

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