Monday, September 13, 2010

Prayers for Pawpaw

My Pawpaw was diagnosed last week with stage 4 cancer.  They found the cancer in a bone marrow sample from his spine, but they know that this is not the original location.  They are continuing to run tests in order to find the affected locations and most importantly, the location where it started, in order to make decisions about the types of chemo drugs to use.

My Pawpaw is 79, still goes to work every day (he's a lawyer), plays golf with his buddies, goes to watch his grandkids sports, etc...  That is, until about 6 weeks ago.  Over a matter of about a week, he got to the point where he needed help getting dressed, and even getting up off the couch and walking to the kitchen for a drink!  The doctors originally diagnosed him with a muscle disease, but when the treatment had no effect, they tested further and found cancer.

They suspect that it began in his colon, and based on this theory, they began chemo on Saturday.  Although cancer is never good news, my Pawpaw is happy to have a diagnose and a game-plan (or at least the start of one).

Please pray for him to continue to gain back some strength, for an increased appetite, for increased energy, for the chemo to be HARD on the cancer cells, but easy on the rest of his body.  Pray for his diabetes to stay under control, and pray for his mental strength.  He and my Nana are so thankful for the blessing of family and friends and cannot stop talking about how lucky they feel to have so many people visiting them/loving on them/encouraging them right now.  It's pretty cool :)

Thanks for the prayers!  And hey- while you're at it- check out my friend Meredith's blog.  Her momma is finishing up her chemo with a series of 4 INTENSE treatments.  I know they would so appreciate your prayers as well!

1 comment:

Kelsey @ Seattle Smith's said...

Roxanne -- This broke my heart to read. I am praying for your PawPaw as it is near and dear to my heart with my Granny Gayle being diagnosed with ovarian cancer and them the colon as it spread. She is in remission now, but it still affects her day to day. I HATE CANCER!