Wendell Metzler

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.     Wednesday June 20th, Wendell was loading bikes for our trip to VA beach and he felt a twinge in his lower back.  He thought he pulled a muscle and was irritated more than anything.  The next evening when he went to get out of his car at Kylie's softball game, he experienced severe pain in left groin.  This pain left him unable to walk but subsided when sitting/lying.  Pain was on and off for a few days and we packed all our things and left for VA beach.  He was taking it easy and we wouldn't let him lift.  His pain progressively got worse.  Tuesday morning I took him to urgent care where despite negative blood work and urine sample, they treated him for kidney stones (mostly because of his history).  After 24hrs on vicodin and antibiotic, the pain got worse to the  point he couldn't walk really at all.  I took him Wednesday night June 27th to VA beach hospital.  They did some testing and then delivered  devastating and scary results.  They had noticed multiple swollen lymph nodes throughout his abdomen. Some so large, they were pushing on his pancreas.  The pattern was consistent with lymphoma and they were fairly confident it was malignant in nature. CANCER.  By this time it was wee hours in  the morning and they said there really wasn't anything they could do for us but give him pain meds and recommend he gets home to seek treatment from his own local doctors.  We went back to  our house, got a few hours sleep and our family and friends traveling with  us helped us pack and we convoyed 6.5 hrs home.  Family  doctor Friday sent us to LGH  emergency room who then sent us home... nothing they can do they said... you need to see oncology.  Wendell's pain was severe and unrelenting despite all the  narcotics and anti-inflammatory meds I was giving him around the  clock.  Monday morning July 2nd, I called oncology to find out the first available apt wasn't until Friday.  I had to make another appt with  family doctor to get more pain meds and something to better manage his pain.    We were able to get him on steroids but on our way home from there, oncology called and said they would see us Tuesday afternoon.  We were so thankful.  Its been quite a journey from there.  Tuesday oncology appt sent Wendell to be directly  admitted to LGH.  He had a myriad of tests  which led to confirmation that he has cancer and in addition to areas in abdomen, chest, axilla, and neck, they found a soft tissue mass on his lumbar spine compressing the nerves.  This is causing his severe pain but we are thankful that it hasn't effected his motor function (because it has not yet invaded the actual spinal cord, just the surrounding layer).  Last night brain MRI was negative and he was able to get the first good night's sleep since this whole thing started.  Oncologists' initial thoughts were that this was probably lymphoma but now they are changing to ? melanoma.  We were hoping he would be put on steroids, sent home and the pain would be managed waiting for next phase of treatment.  Now everything has changed again.  Just got a call that he is being transferred today (Friday July 6th) to Cancer center for urgent appt with radiation oncology and hopefully first treatment to shrink tumor pushing on spine.   Despite all of this gloom and  doom, we have been blessed by signs God is with us.  We so appreciate the calls, social media posts, texts, letters of support and we know many are praying for us!