The past few days have been pretty rough. When we got back from Hawaii, each of us had back-to-back-to-back doctor appointments, lab tests and (in Tim’s case) a biopsy. We have 2 different Kaiser oncologists (Dr. Reddy for Paul, Dr. Li for Tim -- each of whom is a specialist in a particular type of cancer (multiple myeloma or pancreatic cancer). Not long after we got home, we met with Tim’s oncologist for the first time. Dr. Li went over his 3 basic chemo options that she anticipates needing to start very soon: a heavy-duty “toxic soup” that usually has significant side effects but may prolong life; a chemo that has no side effects, but doesn’t prolong life; and, a chemo somewhere in-between – i.e., some side effects and some small increase in longevity. Depending on the outcome of the biopsy and whether Tim meets other criteria, another possibility is that Tim might be eligible for a new clinical trial run by the National Cancer Institute. In that case, he would be treated with a new drug that has shown to be remarkably successful in the lab, but it hasn’t been tried on humans yet. That’s may be the best we can hope for.

We were trying to push through all this, but we got slammed down after Tim’s liver biopsy on Thursday. This biopsy is to determine whether the pancreatic cancer has metastasized. It’s pretty likely this it has, but they need to verify in order to determine treatment. If it has metastasized, then surgery is not an option – only the chemo. It wasn’t the biopsy that was so difficult, but what happened afterwards. Tim developed significant jaundice (yellow eyes, yellow skin). It’s visually disturbing, but more importantly he feels pretty sick and nauseated. The docs plan to put a stent in sometime next week to alleviate the blockage that’s causing the back-up. Just our luck that all this happened on Labor Day Weekend when a lot of hospital departments are closed or on limited staff. So we have to wait until at least Tuesday. According to the physicians we talked with over the past couple days, Tim’s condition isn’t life-threatening. But, still, it’s just one more thing to bear.

On Friday, Paul met with a consultant at UCSF who’s one of the top multiple myeloma specialists in the country. This was his second visit with Dr. Wolf, and he confirmed that Paul’s lab numbers continue to slowly decline: basically, fewer red and white blood cells that are all being pushed out by an overabundance of protein-producing myeloma cells. However, Dr. Wolf was more alarmed when he found out about Tim. He told us that he would take care of Paul, but his situation wasn’t in need of immediate action. However, he felt Tim needed more immediate attention. Dr. Wolf is now helping to facilitate Tim being seen by one of UCSF’s top pancreatic cancer specialists just to review what’s happening and what treatments they recommend. Given that multiple myeloma isn’t as speedy as pancreatic cancer, he recommended that Paul hold off on chemo for at least a couple more months. Partly because Paul is still fairly healthy, and partly so he can be in good enough shape to take care of Tim as long as possible. Compared with pancreatic cancer, Paul’s multiple myeloma also could have a better prognosis as far as how many years he has left. We’re not sure that’s such a comfort, but that’s what we’ve got for now.

So many people keep contacting us and offering help, and we really appreciate it. We don’t know what we need right now other than a good night’s sleep or just a better day without something more happening. But, the other thing that does help is how we keep hearing how much we’ve been appreciated and loved and are in your thoughts and prayers. That’s probably the biggest help.

Writing this blog difficult because it seems like it’s such a bummer for anyone to read. It’s not a “fun” blog about our travels or our collections or our botanizing and photography. Yet, right now, this is mostly what’s happening in our lives. So, while we’ll try to bring in some of our silly stuff or humor (we still have that once in a while), we also want to be honest about what’s going on. Doing the blog together also helps us keep somewhat organized and try to stay on top of what’s happening with each other.