For those who have followed Chad's journey, you know he's had a hell of a time with various issues. We are no closer to figuring out his digestion stuff and he started vomiting again more frequently for a little while there. I am not sure what the next step is here.
Yesterday we went to Marion IL where he had an MRI done on his knee to try and see what is wrong there. The earlier X-Ray showed some areas of concern so the MRI was the next step. We should have results for that in a few days.
In Other News: Chad also has on-going issues with his neck and arms/hands. He's already avoided surgery because his C4 and C5 discs are shot. That was largely affecting the left side of his body. He avoided surgery by getting pain management shots and has been doing okay there for the past 2-3 years. Now his left side is bad. The doctor we went to originally (I think I complained about him last time) did absolutely nothing for him. Basically told him he had Tennis elbow.
Chad had a nerve conduction study done yesterday and that doctor determined he does in fact have issues in his C6 and C7 now. He will recommend oral steroids to see if that helps and new imaging (MRI) If the steroids do not help, then he will recommend actual pain management. I expressed my concern with his referring us back to that doctor because he has been completely useless thus far. Not surprisingly, this doctor did not have a high opinion of the Pain Management doctor either. He said he thinks he works for the VA just so he can say he works for the VA. So God willing, if Chad does require actual pain management, we should get a referral to someone outside the VA.
So while the news isn't awesome, it is validation (finally) that there is something wrong and we have a few options on how to proceed to treat it. This doctor visit was the first, in a long time, that we left with a little bit of hope that maybe at least ONE thing can find some improvement.
When I know more, I'll keep you posted xo
This is the story of Chad's fight against Appendix Cancer. On January 7, 2015 Chad found out just how special he was when he was told that not only did he have Cancer but it was extremely rare and very aggressive. Chad has always taken life by storm - so why stop now? Some may have crumpled and fell but the soldier in him took over and he decided then and there he had an infinite number of reasons to kick Cancer's ass. The road will never be easy but he will fight - and he will win.
Options are so much better than unanswered questions Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Novella and Chad...you may already have read these important books. But cancer is about the body's normal cells suffering mitochondrial dysfunction due to metabolic imbalance, accelerated by toxic chemicals in our foods, water, cleaners, fragrances, cosmetics and most things in our home environment. I so recommend Radical Remissions, The Metabolic Approach to Cancer, Chris Beat Cancer ( incl his blog on FB) to make significant diet and lifestyle changes and present alternative treatment options. Western Medicine has had decades to figure this out and the treatment is often more life threatening than the disease. I am an example of having made most of the changes in these books. Fired my surgeon and oncologist and see a naturopathic Dr for regular blood tests to monitor inflammation, immune and cancer markers. So far so good! I am living with 5 abdominal tumors, stage 3-4 endometrial adenocarcinoma...that have not progressed in the past 9 mos. I call them my illegal aliens! All the while still maintaining a high quality if life. Hugs and prayers to you both as Chad hopefully can turn around his body's metabolic terrain and reduce the underlying inflammation that contributed to cancer.
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