Joel asked me to send out an update from him tonight. Since he is very tired, still fighting a cold and is just ending a long day driving, he is too exhausted to try to email this information.

His text to me said, " I got a call from Dustine today (one of Joel's great nurses). Dr. Halvorson wanted her to call me to tell me that there is "A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE" in the metastasized mass in the liver."

That was short but very sweet news! He has been such a trooper in his fight to beat this stuff. I was with him Monday when he has the CT scan done. He was nervous and I could sense his anxiety. The last scan his progress went backward so he was nervous about the results this time. There could not have been any way I would have thought it would be this good in such a short time. The two drugs he is on now are slower to fight the cancer so this is great progress.

Though Joel has lost all his hair, has some rough looking sores on his head and has many other side effects, he has continued this battle with no complaining. I has spent many Fridays with him during his chemo and some have been tough to watch. This should really boost his emotions. He has a wonderful hospital to go to for chemo. All the people there are so kind, patient and compassionate. But, many of the nurses really know how to keep him laughing or teasing him all the time. There is a positive atmosphere there all the time.

Joel probably will follow up with more information after this Friday's chemo and Dr. visits.

Very good news, I wish I could take his pain away for you Formo. I wish I could tell you everything is going to be ok, but with cancer, every case is unique. All I can do is pray and offer you my empathy from what we've gone through with Mia. If it makes you feel any better, Mia is completely cancer free and her hair is growing back quickly. Our battle now consists of getting her to our goal of about 85% physically of what a normal kid is.

Stay strong buddy, love ya man!

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 

From the sounds of it, he isn't quite out of the woods yet, but it looks like he is hacking a path to freedom. I'm pleased to hear this. Liver cancer is scary stuff, although the good news is that liver tissue has greater powers of regeneration than most other tissue. Please keep us abreast of his progress. His battle is an inspiration to us all.

Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel 

Ah, my apologies. I had forgotten about the colon cancer. Colon cancer most commonly metastasizes to the colon, because they're directly connected by a huge blood vessel. Has the colon cancer resolved or is he still battling that?

Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel