March 2007 Archives

I'll let Wendy share the good news:

We received great news this morning that Roger's biopsy shows that he does not have cancer! Now we just need to get him out of the hospital. He is eating solid foods but doesn't have much appetite yet. He's had a few minor complications but they are talking about releasing him later this week. There's quite a bit of home care that will be involved so I'm not sure I'm ready for him to come home yet. The staff at U of M have been great and are helping me develop some nursing skills quickly (I knew there was a reason I was an English major. For our friends in the business, I have a new admiration...). All the phone calls, cards and well wishes have meant a lot to us. Thank you.

This is definitely good news. As I'm sure many of you have heard, White House Spokesman Tony Snow was diagnosed with colon cancer two years ago, and had his colon removed, much like Roger did. Snow actually had cancer though, and underwent six months of chemotherapy too. And just recently, he found out that the cancer was back and had spread to his liver. This is definitely scary stuff, so we are all relieved to find out that Roger does not have cancer. But as Wendy alluded to, there is still work to be done, so keep those positive thoughts coming.

In spite of some awful road detours on our way to the parking lot, we made it to the Scope It Out 5K in plenty of time. We sat in the car eating breakfast in the cold drizzle. The thermometer said 50, but it felt much chillier with the light rain soaking our clothes. We walked about 3/4 of a mile up to the start line, grabbed our bibs and t-shirts, and took a picture on the stage.

Here we are blissfully pre-race. Our sign says "In Honor of Abi," since that is what Ellie called him before she could say Roger. After short wait, it was time for us to head over to the start. We made our way back behind the 12 minute mile start group. Then we were off.
But if you have ever done one of these, you know that it takes a while for 2000 people to get through the starting gate. About 1.5 minutes in, we crossed the start line running. Unfortunately, Lisa had forgotten her inhaler at the car, so we had to slow down shortly thereafter. I ran ahead to the car, which was conveniently parked just off the course, and grabbed the inhaler and ran back before Lisa and the kids passed by. After that, it was just a matter of keeping our quick walking pace up. We finished just under 44 minutes, about a 14 minute mile pace.
Our only regret was not getting a picture in the colon. Yes, they had a blow-up colon you could walk through. We just didn't have enough time to get that picture, unfortunately.
After we got home, Lisa called Roger at the hospital. He wasn't exactly lucid, because he's had some complications from the surgery, including a 104 degree fever and some blood clots in his legs. They've brought the fever down and put him on blood thinners, but he still needs all our support. Hopefully he will be home back with his family soon.

Roger's surgery went well yesterday, and he's in his hospital room recovering. Here's what Wendy had to say last night:

Just wanted to pass on the good news that Roger's surgery went well today. It took about six hours and he checked into his room in good spirits early this evening. Everything went as expected and he will be up and walking around tomorrow (like it or not). He is in room 8151 on Floor 8C at the University of Michigan Hospital.
We really appreciate everyone's support. All the kind words and offers to help mean a lot to us. We are so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends.

Thanks for all the support everyone.

Lisa and I will be running in the Scope It Out 5k on Saturday. It's a charity race to benefit colon cancer research, and it turns out to be quite timely, and Lisa's brother Roger is having surgery today to remove his colon. Here's what he had to say last night:

As many of you know, I have been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC), an Irritable Bowel Disease since 1998. This past December, during a yearly check-up, it was discovered that I have high dysplaysia throughout my entire colon. This is a pre-cancerous condition and due to my age, and length that I have had UC, I was told I have a 95% chance of getting colon cancer (They are not able to confirm that I don’t already have it). Therefore, I am having surgery on Monday, March 19th at U of M hospital to have my colon removed. This is a very serious operation, requiring 8 ½ hours of surgery and a hospital stay of 7 to 10 days. After which I will have a temporary Ileostomy (An external pouch for bodily waste collection) for 6 months as a portion of my small intestine will be made into a “J pouch” that will serve the function of my colon, but will need time to heal. I will be out of work on medical leave for 4-6 weeks while I recover. After 6 months, I will be having a second surgery to remove the Ileostomy and allow the “J pouch” to begin to function.
While I face a long recovery, hopefully, with the removal of my colon, I will be cured of my Colitis and cancer free and will have a normal life span to enjoy time with my family. If cancer is found, I am sure other treatments will present themselves. I am maintaining a positive outlook that we found the High dysplaysia before it turned to cancer and I plan to make a full recovery over time.
While I knew the potential of the disease, I never expected that I would experience them to this extent and now, more than ever, I hope that with research, we can find a cure.

We'll be thinking of him today especially, and while we are running on Saturday. It's too late for us to collect pledges, but you can still make an online donation via this link. Thanks.