My son-in-law had his surgery February 27th here in Nashville at the Vanderbilt Cancer Center.
To recap, he was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2023 at age 37. He is now 39.
He soon began a treatment regimen that included radiation and chemotherapy. That took him to spring of 2024. Scans showed some shrinkage, but he would need to have surgery to remove all of the cancer.
He had that surgery in late June last year and recovered over a period of about six weeks, after which he went back to work and lived a fairly normal life.
He continued to have scans, however, and in late October one of those showed some "activity" in the area of his previous surgery. He was referred to a surgical oncologist at Vanderbilt (up to this time, all of his care had taken place in Huntsville, Alabama, where he lives). She referred him for a biopsy which took place in December, and it confirmed that there was a new tumor. He would have to have surgery again.
This surgery was extensive, taking a little more than nine hours. At the end of the surgery, the surgeon was encouraging, saying she felt confident she had removed all the cancer and confirming there was no spread of it anywhere else in his body.
Post-surgery has been brutal with a number of complications. Over the past couple of days, however, we have seen signs of improvement and have reason to be encouraged.
My daughter has been staying at the hospital with him but has gotten a couple of breaks in which she has driven home (about two hours away) and slept in her own bed, the most recent of those breaks being last night.
Their three children have been with us part of the time, with their other grandparents and with other friends in Huntsville. My daughter is bringing them back here today and they will be with us this next week, which is their spring break.
When discharged, my son-in-law will likely come here. There are many moving parts to this ordeal, and we are as prepared as we can be to assure he is well cared for while he is with us. Of course, our daughter will be right by his side and for at least part of the time our grandchildren will be here.
I have explained this rather factually, not incorporating the emotion, fear and stress that have been major ingredients. Perhaps I will elaborate on that another time.
For now, I want to thank you all for your support, concern and prayers which are greatly appreciated. I will give another update soon.
