Andrew Halton

Welcome to Andrew's CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep Andrew's family and friends updated in one place.  Andrew and Anna appreciate your continued prayers and encouragement. 


I am sure many are curious of the path and progression of Andrew’s recent health developments. Hopefully this will help everyone feel a little more updated.


At the beginning of October, Andrew started to experience pain in his sternum and under his ribs. This continued for about two weeks, when one evening he started vomiting, which was a new development. That night he went to a neighborhood emergency center (which I had only noticed earlier that same day when at the Post Office on Far West - the first instance of God’s provision in this process). They treated him and prescribed a proton pump inhibitor to treat acid production, assuming this was all coming from a GI issue. We made an appointment with a general practitioner, but that was two weeks away. In those two weeks, Andrew continued to experience pain in his chest and abdomen, vomiting, pressure, difficulty getting full breaths, and great degrees of exhaustion. At the doctor appointment on Monday the 31st, they felt it was an ulcer, and ordered blood work. Tuesday evening/early Wednesday morning Andrew awoke in intense pain in a different place, lower and on the right side. We headed into the doctor as soon as possible, got new proton pump medication and scheduled an abdominal ultrasound for the next morning. We still thought this was mostly a GI issue, though some liver numbers were off and unexplainable and he was low in iron. Thursday morning the ultrasound revealed “something” in his liver, and he had an MRI a few hours later. The MRI revealed multiple lesions on his liver, and a tumor in the colon. Andrew saw a general practitioner known by his family Friday morning, who got him into a well-respected gastroenterologist within the next few hours. The gastro consulted with Andrew, and had a senior radiologist look at the MRI which confirmed the mass on the colon and lesions on the liver. Simultaneously, Andrew’s sister in law, Lori, also a radiologist, was reviewing the film in Louisville, KY and had a Johns Hopkins radiologist who specialized in the abdomen consult as well. They scheduled him for a colonoscopy on Thursday, but after reviewing the MRI, bumped him up to Tuesday morning. After the colonoscopy, the possible diagnosis of cancer in the colon was confirmed. The gastro made calls to get Andrew in for surgery urgently, and our surgeon called us into the hospital Tuesday afternoon at 3:30. The speed at which this has all moved has been a grace from the Lord, for multiples reasons. He had a CT scan that evening that confirmed the liver lesions were also cancerous. He had surgery on the following day. It went well thanks to, again, well respected and well liked physicians (we’ve had a great team, God continues to provide). Surgeon was able to remove the entire mass in the colon and with the least complicated route. 


We love all of you, and feel so loved by you. That love and support, along with God’s hand behind, before, and on us, is what is making each day do-able. We are walking down this road one step at a time, and our friends, community, and family are making that possible.