Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. Judd started experiencing difficulty swallowing and severe acid reflux in late 2017 after arriving in Arizona. Below is a list of significant events that have occurred since.
Jan 8 - EGD (scope in throat) in Mesa, finds invasive esophageal tumor Jan 11 - Consult at Mayo, PET Scan reveals metastasis to liver and lungs, with the metastasis surgery and radiation deemed not viable, leaving chemo as primary treatment option Jan -16 Oncology Consult, diagnosis stage 4 adenocarcinoma, treatment to be palliative rather than curative, chemo planned every two weeks Jan 22 - Port placed Jan 26 - 1st chemo Feb 8 - 2nd chemo Feb 21 - due inability to swallow food, has GI consult and procedure to place stent in esophagus Feb 22 - Severe pain from stent leads to ER visit and hospitalization Feb 23 - original stent removed, replaced with different type of stent Feb 27 - Discharged, with initially positive outcome Mar 8 - 3rd chemo Mar 16 - Oncology consult, cancer not growing per CT scan, increased pain meds due growing pain in swallowing Mar 22 4th chemo, pain continues to increase despite significant prescriptions, food intake is minimal, weight loss is significant Mar 29 - Pain is unbearable, hospitalized. Mar 30 - Second stent is removed, we have two very good days April 2 - PEG (feeding) tube placed, seems disoriented from anesthesia, but confusion persists for several days April 3-13 - Has elevated white blood cells, elevated sodium, muscle atrophy, fevers, treated for infection around tube placement among other issues. April 14 - Discharged to skilled nursing facility pain finally seems to be controlled April 16 - Fever, disorientation, and fall. Treated for aspiration pnemonia (limited to water intake only for now), first suggestion of hospice via attending MD April 17-19 tired and weak, but aware, has calcium issue, undergoing physical therapy April 20-April 29 - In and out, sometimes conversational, but not always coherent. Physical strength waning. He enjoyed some out of town company from Mary Payne, and Tom & Kathy Lindeen, and shared some nice moments with them. Mary, Tom, and Kathy also provided support and guidance to Jon for the upcoming decisions and challenges. April 30-May 2 - Very restless, unable to really communicate. Based on evaluation will be discharged from the skilled nursing portion of the facility on May 3rd, and will officially transition to hospice care. Under hospice care, Judd will be able to stay at the same facility until Saturday, May 5th, then will move to a group home under continued hospice care.
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.
