Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We truly appreciate everyone's support, thoughts, prayers, and encouragement. It's the fuel that keeps us going and reminds us everyday how lucky we are to be surrounded with such amazing family and friends. You are all the best and we know we cannot do it without you.
As many know, Dave's story started back in July of 2018 when we received his colorectal diagnosis. What should have been a routine round of 5FU chemo treatment ended up nearly killing him. We still joke that Dave got the FU. After that Rochester Mayo has become a frequent destination. In October 2018 he started his new treatments consisting of a lighter dose of chemo followed up with five weeks of radiation and surgery to remove the cancer. Surgery was a bit rough for our superman but he got stronger day by day. In June of 2020, after going in for routine scans, a nodule was detected in his lung. Another surgery soon followed to remove it but it added a concern that something was found so soon. Throughout the fall of 2020 Dave would have days when he felt good and days when he would complain about being tired, sore, and having trouble sleeping and being active. Blood work and scans at that time didn't seem to show anything distressing. It wasn't until April of this year that we found out the source to his discomfort. Doctors found a large mass in his pelvic area as well as some more spots in his lungs. The news was crushing. The mass has invaded the lower end of his spine, his bladder, and his prostate. He was immediately started on more chemo. He just finished round #4 on Monday July 19th and is so inspiring to me. At every appointment when he's asked how he's doing, he replies awesome! and then asks how their day is going. This mass that he has is tricky and very complicated. The surgery to remove it will be very long and the recovery will be extremely difficult. The doctors have already said that there will be complications. Because of the complexity of this kind of surgery, he has a team of specialists all currently aligning their schedules in order to be in the surgical room at the same time. His team consists of his oncologist, Colorectal surgeon, Orthopedic Spine specialist, Radiologist, Urologist, and Plastic surgeon. That's a lot people for one guy right? I don't think Steve Austin (6 million dollar man) had that many docotrs making him stronger, better, faster... His next round of chemo is on August 10th (#5). At this time it's not shrinking the mass but it is keeping it from growing. The chemo is however, shrinking the spots in his lungs. Our hopes are that the next couple doses have a bit more of an impact on the mass. There has also been mention of radiation everyday for 3 weeks after his chemo treatment #6 on August 30th . Everyday brings new hope, appreciation, worries, and fears. We are doing our best to navigate each emotion as they come. Thank you to everyone in our life. We will do our best to keep you posted and updated. XOXO
