one step forward... two steps back

Jay had a fall, around 1:30 this morning. 

He was getting weaker yesterday. And more confused with more slurred speech. He was unable to walk with his walker last night or move him self from the couch to his wheel chair. I put him to bed at 10:30. He tried to get up to go to the bathroom at 1:30 and fell. Since then he has declined pretty fast. He started throwing up around 6:45 this morning.  

He is at the cancer center getting an MRI of his head and spine. They are also checking his ammonia level. 

We pray for answers and peace and healing for Jay! 

update

Friday we received great news, The spinal fluid is showing no cancer cells. Jay will continue with his current treatment in hopes of keeping the spine clear.

Unfortunately he is having a hard time with high ammonia levels, partially due to previous procedures but mostly due to pain meds. His ammonia level was 120 Friday and 160 Monday. It causes him to be weak, sleepy, have slurred speech and confused. We've increased the meds which clearing the ammonia. It could take a while to get the level back to the normal range of 15-50.

I will try to update more often. Thank you everyone for the continued prayers. 

Hard at Work

Wester boys hard at work. 

Jay seems to be doing well today. 

staying strong

Jay is doing well.  His progress at this point is stable. He is able to use his walker full time around the house. His mental status is clear and he is helping me "over analyze" the upgrades to the house for handicap accessibility. 

His current chemo has been effective but a stronger chemo drug has been ordered and he will start on Thiotepa next week. It will be administered through the ommaya reservoir in his head. There seems to be minor side effects from the drug, fatigue that day and then back to normal the next day. 

Since the new diagnosis in November he has not had any of his normal chemo for the pancreatic cancer. As a result his tumor marker went up to 650. But since they started administering the brain tumor chemo through his head instead of as a spinal tap the tumor marker has gone down to 85. 

He is staying strong but he is tired. We are thankful for each day. 

For the patients and family members who are following the CA 19-9 trend, it is updated below. 

December 2013 CA 19-9 = 202,000+

January 2014 CA 19-9 =109,000

February 2014 CA 19-9 = 25,000

March 2014 CA 19-9 = 18,000

April 2014 CA 19-9 = 13,000

May 2014 CA 19-9= 5,500

June 2014 CA 19-9=1,964

August 2014 CA 19-9 = 481

September 2014 CA 19-9 = 211

October 2014 CA 19-9 = 111

November 2014 CA 19-9 = 57

December 2014 CA 19-9 = 40

January 2015 CA 19-9 = 26

February 2015 CA 19-9 = 21.7

February 2015 CA 19-9 = 20.6

March 2015 CA 19-9 = 21.2

April 2015 CA 19-9 = 19.7

May 2015 CA 19-9 = 23

May 2015 CA 19-9 = 26

May 2015 CA 19-9 = 35

June = started new chemo drugs

July 2015 CA 19-9 = 17

August 2015 CA 19-9 = 28

September 2015 CA 19-9 = 14

October 2015 CA 19-9 = 11

October 2015 CA 19-9 = 12

January 2016 CA 19-9 = 20+

March 2016 CA 19-9 = 60+

April 2016 CA 19-9 = 400+

May 2016 CA 19-9= 576

June 2016 CA 19-9 = 124

June 2016 CA 19-9 = 54

July 2016 CA 19-9 = 56

August 2016 CA 19-9 = 40

September 2016 CA 19-9 = 35

October 2016 CA 19-9 = 21

November 2016 CA 19-9= 24 

November 21, 2016 brain tumor detected

December 2016 CA 19-9 = 650

January 2017 CA 19-9 = 85