Evelyn and Al Syvertsen Evelyn's Updates

December 2022 - We are using this page once again as Al's cancer has become active again, after 4.5 years of very regular doctor appts to keep an eye on things.  The info below is from 2017/2018, when both of us were diagnosed with cancer.  I (Evelyn) am cancer-free at this time.  Al's latest info can be found in the recent journal entries.


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This page started out as my (Evelyn's) story.  It has since been adjusted to reflect both my medical issues and Al's medical issues:

Evelyn's Story:
In November I had outpatient surgery to remove a nasal polyp.   On December 12 we got the news that it was not a polyp, but chondrosarcoma, a low-grade (slow-growing) cancer that doesn’t metastasize but can spread to adjacent tissue.   It actually is a rare cancer...with less than 200 cases since 1950!

 On December 18 (Al's Birthday), Al and I spent the day at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia.  I'm grateful to have such an excellent hospital nearby.  The doctors there told me then that the cancer has affected the bone.  Once we get  updated MRI and CT scan pictures, they will do another surgery to get the rest of the cancer out with good margins.  If they get everything, which they expect to, the prognosis is very good.  We anticipate that the surgery to take place in the next few weeks done by a team of doctors who have worked together for 14 years -- one an ENT doctor and one a neurosurgeon.

Meanwhile I FEEL great!   And I am truly at peace…God has reminded me over and over of Isaiah 26:3 and Psalm 23 and the fact that I am in His hands.  I think this is actually harder on Al and his girls than it is on me because of all the memories they have of Al’s first wife, Eileen, who had cancer surgery at Jefferson 11 years ago at Christmastime and died a year later.

I so appreciate your prayers for me and for our family...


Al's Story
On the morning of December 31 Al had some belly pain.  Not awful, but it reminded him of the pain he had before his gall bladder was removed.  So in the afternoon we headed to the ER (to beat the New Year's Eve rush...LOL.) 

To make a long story short, they found a mass in his belly.  That REALLY took us by surprise.  As Al says, it felt like we got punched in the gut.  Since that time, we have seen our Gastro doc and have gone to a surgeon at Jefferson Hospital in Philly.

The truth is we don’t know what it is.  The ER radiologist thought it looked like something that is generally not cancerous.  Our gastro doctor set Al up with additional tests.  The mass is in the tissue surrounding the small intestine.   It seems almost certain he will need surgery to remove it…whatever it is.