Chuck had another follow up at Mayo following his last four rounds of chemo.  His past eight treatments still include five-to-six-hour of chemo on Wednesday and then an additional fanny pack with chemo for 48 hours.  

Update regarding Chuck’s two month visit to Mayo March 27 and 28th, 2024.

Chuck, Aaron, and I ventured off to Mayo early Wednesday morning and arrived at the hotel around 11:15am. We always stay at the International hotel across from the Gonda Building.  Chuck deserves to have a wonderful place to stay and special when we visit Mayo. The hotel staff are spectacular in making our stay exceptional and comfortable.

Chuck had three appointments on Wednesday and one on Thursday morning. The first appointment was with the lab for blood draws, and then two CT scans.  One scan was for the chest area and the second for the abdomen area.

Around 6:30 Chuck received a phone call from Dr. Kimble.  She reported the radiologist finished reviewing Chuck’s CT scan from the chest area.  It was noted that he had a pulmonary embolism in his lung.  

The doctor said this is very common for chemo patients, and Chuck needed to go to St. Mary’s Emergency Room immediately to be seen by a physician.  It was critical that his vitals needed to be done, a comprehensive blood work up, imaging, and to determine whether or not he would need a blood thinner medication IV or a pill form.

The three of us arrived at the Emergency room at 6:45 pm.  It was like a bar, but drinks weren’t being served other than the vending machine.  However, you could only get something to drink if you had the correct change.  Secondly, there were no chairs available, people standing, sitting on walls, and it was packed.  They put out some folding chairs but didn’t have enough for all the people waiting to be seen.  The night went on and the nurse continued to check Chuck’s vitals every two hours. I tried to speak with the nurse, because after sitting for four hours, Chuck was still number 22 on the list to be seen and he was supposedly on the surge list.  Chuck eventually was roomed at 3:00 am and returned to the hotel room at 6:15 am.  He and Aaron then needed to hurry off to go to his PET scan at 6:40 am.  They returned to the hotel at 9:15am in time to have breakfast and take a nap. A good night sleep would have been nice, but the good news is Chuck was okay and is on a blood thinner called Eliquis.

March 29th, 2024, Scan reports:

According to Chuck’s CT scan of the abdomen pancreatic tumor has decreased from 2.2 cm to 1.8 cm which is fantastic news.  He’s chemo marker has decreased to 18 and his appetite is improving which is maintaining his weight.

According to the PET scan a suspicious area on the liver was noted.  There is a 8mm spot found and needs to be under observation. Since the tumor is so small it would be difficult to do a biopsy and could potentially miss it. Surgeons can use an ultrasound biopsy guided surgery to remove lesion.  If the tumor is in fact cancer, the surgeon can oblate the tumor after the biopsy at the same time.

Recommendations moving forward:

1.Chuck will continue the same chemo plan every other week.  An additional four more treatments of the Fulfuri.

2. Return to Mayo late May or early June.

3.  Go to the lab to complete his blood work up. Line this past appointment it will be necessary for CT scans of the abdomen and chest area.  After the CT scans following up with a PET scan.  If there is no tumor in the liver, Chuck will be clear from a liver biopsy.  However, if the tumor has grown in size, they will schedule him for a surgical biopsy.  As previously mentioned, the plan would be to do a biopsy and possible oblation. 

When we Chuck returns to Mayo it will be ten months on his cancer journey.  We are very grateful for everyone’s love and support.  Our family and friends have been so understanding and helpful during this difficult time.  The prayers have continued to heal Chuck and please keep them coming.  God is Good All the Time 💕🙏🏼🤗

Chuck is looking forward to our son’s wedding over Memorial Day weekend at Whitefish Lodge at Cross Lake, Minnesota.  We can’t wait for this beautiful day to come for Aaron and Heather.

Thank you for visiting Chuck’s Caring Bridge page.