Finally some positive news!

On Monday Pete had a suspicious lymph node in his chest biopsied. They had to wait until this morning (Thurs) for results, knowing that the surgeon finds 75-80% of these biopsies turn out to be cancerous. Thankfully Pete's results were NEGATIVE for cancer! This means when he starts radiation on Monday the power and area of the radiation will only have to be half as much as it would if cancer would have spread to lymph nodes. Chemotherapy will begin on Tuesday. We are all thankful that Pete's cancer still appears to be very treatable and curable. Thanks for your continued support.

Radiation Update

Going back to the beginning for a minute, the only outward sign that something was wrong with Pete was that he would hiccup after eating, starting just a few months ago. Luckily his dr. in Vegas took this seriously and sent him for the test that would find evidence of cancer. By this point, it's estimated that the cancer had been growing 12-18 months already, an unsettling thought to say the least!

We met with the Radiation department on Tuesday, and Pete's first treatment will be May 4. We meet with the Chemo people next week and assume Chemo will start around that same time. Radiation is basically what you might think it is - a high energy XRay beam focused on the tumor and the surrounding area, which means up and down the esophagus and on the top of the stomach. You lay on a table to receive treatment and don't feel a thing, and they said that treatment from "door to door" is only about 45 minutes. It's still to be determined if he will have once a day treatments for 5 weeks or twice a day treatments for 3 weeks. Regarding side effects, there typically aren't many the first few weeks - it's more of a cumulative effect so they occur more at the end of the treatment cycle. He may have some nausea (they have good meds to control this), some redness in the area, difficulty swallowing, and fatigue.

Pete continues to have a positive attitude about all of this and has been very good about getting in his 3 mile walk everyday. We'll update next week after talking to the Chemo department.

Meeting with the surgeon

We met with Pete's surgeon today at the University of Michigan hospital, and Tanya & I both walked out feeling very optimistic. Pete couldn't be in better hands than those of Dr Mark Orringer who did a fantastic job of educating us about what Pete is facing http://surgery.med.umich.edu/thoracic/clinical/faculty/morrin.shtml . I'll outline the doctor's findings and proposed course of treatment, and Tanya or I can try to answer questions about anything I don't touch on here.

Pete does indeed have a cancerous tumor in his esophagus. There are 3 layers in an esophagus and tumors begin on the inside layer. As the tumor grows it goes through that first layer, through the second and third, and then can break through that last outside, muscular layer. Pete's tumor had grown through all three layers and had just broken through that last layer, making it a T3 tumor.

The good news is that all indications are that the cancer is confined to the one tumor and has not spread to any other organs. There are a few lymph nodes that are suspicious, but not obviously cancerous which puts the cancer classification at Stage 2A. If they were to find cancer in any lymph nodes it would become Stage 3.

Pete's treatment will start in the next couple of weeks and will progress as follows: 1) 4-5 weeks of simultaneous chemotherapy and radiation; 2) 3 weeks of rest; 3) surgery/recovery; and 4) possibly 1-2 more courses of chemo and radiation. The surgery for this type of cancer used to be very difficult with a high mortality rate (and many hospitals still perform this "old fashioned" surgery), but Dr Orringer is an expert at T.H.E. (transhiatel esophagectomy) surgery which he said has a survival rate the same as basic gall bladder surgery and has 98% of patients home after one week. Here's a link about the surgery http://www.med.umich.edu/michigandifference/victor/orringer.htm .

The bottom line here is that Pete has a very rough 5-6 months ahead of him, but after that time he should be cured and better than ever! Dr Orringer was adamant that he must prepare for what is ahead of him by doing breathing exercises and walking 3 miles EVERY DAY, even during chemo & radiation, so when you talk to him make sure to ask if he's following doctor's orders! (he'll love me for that!)

Thanks for your continued concern, and I'll post another update after he meets with Oncology to get prepped for chemo and radiation.

First post

This blog has been created to update family and friends on Peter Colbert's health and subsequent treatments. Since returning to Michigan for treatment of esophagus cancer Pete has gone through numerous tests to determine the extent of his illness. Tomorrow we meet with his surgeon to fully understand his illness and to determine a course of treatment. We will update this blog with details as we get them.

Thank you for keeping Pete and his family in your thoughts and prayers.