In April, Linda was diagnosed with pneumonia. Additional tests were ordered when her breathing difficulties did not improve. It was determined that her liver was enlarged, pressing into the diaphragm, making it hard to breath. An enlarged liver can be a "side effect" of a gastrointestinal surgery that Linda had about four years ago. The MRI revealed lesions on the liver and a biopsy determined that it was adenocarcinoma, malignant tumors. An endoscopy and colonoscopy were already scheduled, and were performed to help determine the source of the cancer.
At this point, the colonoscopy revealed the colon to be the source of the cancer. We call it colon cancer now that we know the original source. The cancer had spread to the liver.
Linda had surgery on June 8 to have a chemo port inserted. Chemo treatments began on June 13th. She will have two rounds of chemo every other week. This entails 3 trips to/from CCI (Clearview Cancer Institute) in Huntsville. Dr. Bedoya is the oncologist treating Lou at this time.
This information is provided to give you a background on what's going on and how this shocking news came to our entire family just a couple of weeks ago. I (Emily) will be updating the site by "Journal" entries as there is anything to report to you all. Hopefully this site will provide friends and family vital information without inundating Barry, Lou, Steph and Carson with questions and details. Everyone is so appreciative of your calls, texts, messages, cards, visits, etc. It can be overwhelming to report the same news to so many people. And then there are those of us who just simply do not know what to say or do. If you do not know what to say or do - do this: PRAY. The Journal entries will list some specific prayer requests. If you don't know what to pray, just pray Jesus' name. Meal delivery schedule is available online (see Journal entry about that). Fundraisers are being worked on for miscellaneous expenses. Follow the family on FaceBook, there are details there on a t-shirt fundraiser right now to show your support. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to message me. I'll do my best to get you the answer. Join the CaringBridge community, and I'll also try to tag Linda on FB each time I update.
Thank you all so very much for your thoughts, prayers and friendships.
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