Things did not go as planned today. We were called back to talk to the surgeon after he had been in the operating room for just two hours, and we knew the news wasn’t going to be good. After making the incision and looking in his abdominal cavity, he found more disease than expected. The one tumor that was causing the blockage symptoms was pressing against his bowel in several different places, so he wasn’t able to remove it. Had he attempted to do that, it was very likely to cause irreversible bowel damage. He did remove two liters of fluid (ascites), and that should make Brandon a little less uncomfortable as far as bloating, but he wasn’t able to remove the cancer.

The recommendation now is to move forward with systemic chemo to shrink the tumor and enable him to eat solid food again, which will be the first step toward getting stronger and fighting this disease. He said Brandon will need about two weeks to recover from the actual surgery, and then we need to get started right away on the new treatment plan. He is going to bring in a GI oncologist who has experience with both chemo and immunotherapy in treating cancers of the stomach. We will look into as many treatment options as possible and get him started as soon as possible. He will have to stay on the IV nutrition (TPN) until the tumor shrinks enough to let food pass through comfortably and without making him nauseous.

Brandon is holding up as well as can be expected. He’s ready to get on with this and stand up to cancer, as we all are.

The patient care liaison just came by to let us know the actual surgery got underway around 2:05. He went back between 12-12:30 but the first hour or so involves anesthesia and hooking him up to the monitors and machines. Will post another update when we know more. Keep the prayers coming!

Brandon did not feel well at all yesterday. After two days of feeling somewhat decent, he went back to feeling the way he did when he was admitted into the hospital with a slight fever, nausea, cramping and pain. His hemoglobin was low again, so they gave him another unit of blood. One of the doctors said that can sometimes cause the fever. The kidney numbers did go down a bit, which was good news. They decided to run labs  and take x-rays again last night since he wasn’t feeling well and make sure he wasn’t fighting some type of infection. He finally felt a little better by bedtime, and they told him at 11:00 last night that he was on the surgery schedule at noon today.

We still weren’t certain that the surgery would take place today because his oncology surgeon needed to take a look at this morning’s lab results and make sure he felt comfortable with today’s numbers. We just got confirmation that he is going to surgery around noon today. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers today! We will post updates as we have them throughout the day.

Brandon seems to be feeling a little better than when he came to the hospital on Thursday night, despite all he’s going through. We did start the day with not-so-good news though. His kidney numbers increased again, and his hemoglobin went down. Both of those are moving in the wrong direction. The medical team decided to increase his fluid intake and give albumin through his IV to help the kidneys. The nephrologist came this afternoon and confirmed the elevated creatinine (kidney number) is related to dehydration, which seems to be positive news if that’s the case because it means we don’t have yet another issue developing.

We don’t know what time the surgery will take place on Monday, but he is still on the operating room list, so say a prayer that all of the fluids they are pumping into him take effect and turn the kidney numbers back in the right direction.

Last night was a LONG night. When Brandon started feeling worse, we were torn between waiting it out or going to the emergency room and taking the risk of being told he wasn’t strong enough for the surgery because he couldn’t make it through the night. We bit the bullet and contacted his surgeon, who was great. He called the hospital and had Brandon directly admitted, so we were able to bypass the emergency room and the wait time that would have entailed. It was probably 15 minutes from the time we arrived at the hospital to the time Brandon was in a room on the oncology floor. That being said, it was already after 10:00 when we got settled in, and we didn’t get much sleep with the nurses and doctors coming in every hour or so through the night. All indications were that surgery was on as planned, so it was a huge disappointment when the surgeon delivered the news that he didn’t feel comfortable going forward with the kidney numbers he saw in Brandon’s overnight labs.

Today has been emotional, to say the least. At the end of the day, we know his surgeon did what was best for Brandon. He did look and sound better late this afternoon. The nausea had subsided, and the cramps throughout his body were gone. He was still having some cramping in his stomach, but still an improvement over last night. Sometime it seems like Brandon just can’t catch a break. At some point, this has to turn around and go his way.

We are still waiting to hear what time his surgery will begin on Monday. His surgeon told us to expect it to go late, so we don’t think he will go in early that morning. And while it would have been nice to be the only patient on the surgery schedule for the day, what really matters is that he has the surgery. We are praying that his kidney issues are resolved and that he can safely undergo the surgery on Monday.

We ended up bringing Brandon to the hospital after 9:00 last night because he was not doing well. His doctor admitted him and put him on IV fluids to help with the nausea and cramping. They ran labs last night, and his creatinine (kidney value) was more elevated. They think that’s due to dehydration.

They brought us to pre-op around 6:00 am and began prepping him for a 7:45 surgery. However, his surgeon just came in and said they ran labs again this morning, and the values were slightly higher again. The fluids haven’t reversed it yet. Rather than do the surgery today and risk further kidney damage, he has decided to postpone it until Monday and keep him in the hospital over the weekend to see if the kidney numbers stabilize. He said he will do the surgery on Monday, but it won’t be first thing and Brandon won’t be the only one on the schedule that day. We will update more later today.

Brandon just got the call from the hospital letting him know he needs to be there at 6:15 tomorrow morning to be checked in. We aren’t sure what time the actual surgery will begin, but it should be relatively early in the morning. We will be sure to post updates during the day when we have news. He is not feeling well at all today. It’s most likely a combination of the surgery prep and nerves. We are all anxious about what tomorrow will bring, but no one more so than Brandon.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone praying for him and thinking of him.

Things just don’t seem to go smoothly for Brandon. His oncology nurse called today to tell him that his hemoglobin is very low again, and he will need two more pints of blood by transfusion to see if that boosts his count before he can have the planned surgery. He will go tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. for the transfusion, which will take about five hours. In Brandon’s words, “This is just so exhausting.”

He could use an extra prayer right now for sure. Thanks for continuing to check in on him. We all appreciate each and every one of you.

Brandon just has one more week to get through before his surgery. He’s continuing to have bad days and really bad days, constantly battling pain and nausea. Unfortunately, no good days. Having been through the CRS/HIPEC surgery before, he knows just what lies ahead, and that’s both frightening and stressful to him. Please continue to lift him up in your thoughts and prayers for healing and for peace of mind.

Brandon had the follow-up appointment with his surgical oncologist yesterday afternoon, and he is scheduled for repeat CRS/HIPEC surgery on May 11. This is the same surgery he had last May, which includes removing all visible disease and then flushing heated chemo through his abdominal cavity. It’s a long and difficult procedure that he is not looking forward to, but he knows it needs to happen in order to change the course of his battle. He will remain on the intravenous nutrition at home for the next couple of weeks until the surgery date. He has no appetite, and it’s too uncomfortable for him to try to eat and digest food.

We did learn that what we thought was an intestinal blockage caused by scar tissue is most likely a tumor or nodule growing and pressing against that part of his intestine, making his intestine unable to function as it should. So there won’t be an additional intestinal blockage surgical procedure. That doesn’t make is any less intensive or difficult, just changes what we call it.

The surgeon chose the May 11 date because it was the first date when he has no other surgeries scheduled. He said he wanted to keep the entire day open for Brandon’s procedure. It seems like a long way off, but at least we have a plan and a date. That takes the stress of the unknown away and replaces it with the stress of knowing what lies ahead.

Please keep Brandon in your prayers. The cards, messages and texts from his friends and loved ones help him get through the days.