December 18, 2007

As of today, Garrett has an appointment with Dr. Kvols (Neuroendocrine cancer specialist) in Tampa, Florida on January 16, 2008. Let's all keep our fingers crossed!

December 17, 2007

Sorry I have not updated in a while. Here is the latest information on Garrett:

The Kaiser Oncologist has started Garrett on sandostatin monthly injections. This is a non-curative injection to treat Garrett's symptoms. We were told that these injections are about all they can do for him at this point. There is not alot of known treatment for this type of cancer according to the Kaiser Oncologist. However, Mom and Garrett are trying to get an appointment with the Oncologist we mentioned before, Dr. Kvols, in Tampa, Florida. Mom has become aware of several methods of treatment for this cancer via the Internet and she has done online chats with patients of Dr. Kvols. They have assured her that there are other treatments out there. These patients have told her that you definitely have to find someone specific in this field in order to live more comfortably with this cancer.

I will update again in January once Garrett has his follow-up appointment with the Kaiser Oncologist. At that time, he will have another cat scan and repeat his 24 hour urine test to see if there are any changes from the beginning of his diagnosis until now.

Merry Christmas to everyone and hopefully 2008 will be healthier for everyone!

November 27, 2007

Garrett received the results from his Octreo Nuclear Scan today. The scan confirmed that there is Neuroendocrine Cell Carcinoid Cancer in his lung as well as the three lesions in his liver that we were already aware of. The scan also confirmed that it is in the lymph nodes of his abdomen. The Oncologist will be meeting with the liver specialist and a Radiologist tomorrow for lunch to discuss Garrett's case and a treatment plan. Hopefully, the Oncologist will get back to Garrett and Mom by Thursday with the treatment plan they decide on.

Please continue to pray for him and my Mom.

November 18, 2007

I am going to go right to the good news first. Garrett had his colonoscopy done on Friday, 11/16/07, and the good news is.......the colon is CANCER-FREE! YAY!! He did have two polyps that they removed. They also found out that he has diverticulosis. The treatment for that is diet which means he can't have nuts, raisins, whole kernel corn, or popcorn. He also must avoid alcohol due to the diverticulosis as well as the cancer in his liver.

Now I will move on to the other results. Garrett had his full body Cat Scan and Brain Scan and more good news, his brain is also CANCER FREE! YAY AGAIN!! The body scan showed that they need to do something as soon as possible with his liver but they aren't sure exactly what yet. The Kaiser Permenente Oncologist is consulting with a liver surgeon specialist to see if surgery resectioning of the liver is possible due to the location of the lesions. The liver specialist reviewed Garrett's Cat Scan and has ordered an Octreoscan. The Octreoscan is similar to a Pet Scan but it has been designed to investigate Neuroendocrine Carcinoids. It is a two-day nuclear scan. He will go in tomorrow at 10:30 am for the nuclear injection. They will start the scan at 2:30 pm. He will need to return at 2:30 pm on Tuesday for more scanning. Once they get the results from the Octreoscan, they will then determine what type of liver treatment they will do. The Cat Scan was still not clear as to what they should do for his lung which is another reason for the Octreoscan.

We are hoping to have the results of the Octreoscan before Thanksgiving. If not, it will probably be Friday or maybe even Monday due to the holiday.

In the meantime, Garrett has either broken or severely sprained his ankle today. He will need to get through tonight with the pain and have it x-rayed tomorrow as well. Things never calm down at the Byrnes' house!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We are definitely thankful for his Colonoscopy and Brain Scan results!!

November 8, 2007

Garrett had a full body (including his brain) Cat Scan with contrast yesterday. He will not get the results back until tomorrow or Monday. His Colonoscopy is scheduled for next Friday, 11/16/07. Hopefully that will be his last test. As you can probably imagine, Garrett is quite tired of having all of these tests done. I will update again as soon as we hear on the Cat Scan.

November 2, 2007 - ADDITION

Garrett will not be having the brain scan tomorrow. When he has the Cat Scan next week they will include his brain in that scan. Sorry I did not mention that in my previous entry.

November 2, 2007

Garrett went for his second opinion with the other Oncologist today. The Oncologist has requested that he have a Cat Scan with contrast which has been scheduled for Wednesday, 11/07/07. The Oncologist feels that the Cat Scan should have already been done. This Cat Scan will be used as a base to watch the cancer's growth. The Oncologist also wants him to get a Colonoscopy done. The Colonoscopy has not yet been scheduled. After both of these tests have been completed and the Oncologist has the results, he will then determine what the treatment should be. This Oncologist feels that Garrett has had the Neuroendocrine Cancer for at least 10 years.

October 28, 2007

Garrett had an appointment on Friday with his original Oncologist, Dr. Saker, for his first consultation after getting his diagnosis. Dr. Saker recommends Chemoembolization for the liver. For this treatment, Garrett must be hospitalized for several days. An I.V. will go directly into his liver and release chemo beads into the liver. To do this, they must cut off the blood supply to the liver. It is very painful so the hospitalization would be for pain management and to monitor the I.V. Only half of his liver can be done at a time and then they would repeat it on the other half. Dr. Saker still recommends radiation for his lung. These two treatments can't be done at the same time. Dr. Saker has ordered a Brain Scan to be done on Saturday, 11/3/07. I believe this is to see if the cancer has gone to his brain. Dr. Saker will also be ordering a colonoscopy. We do not have a date for the colonoscopy yet.

Garrett and Mom will be going next Friday, 11/2/07, to get a second opinion from the Kaiser Permenente Oncologist.

Dr. Saker has trained at the Moffett Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. He has a call in to Dr. Kvols who I mentioned in my previous blog entry.

Garrett is having a lot of low back pain, he aches all over, and he is very tired which are all symptoms of Neuroendocrine Cell Carcinoid Cancer. Please continue to pray for him.

October 26, 2007

Tomorrow (10/26/07) and next Friday (11/2/07) Garrett has two different oncology appointments for their opinions on neuroendocrine cell carcinoid cancer. Thanks to Garrett's nephew, Michael Byrnes, we have a contact in Tampa, Florida at the Moffett Cancer Center with a Dr. Kvols. Dr. Kvols specializes in this type of cancer and is ranked 7th in the world in his field. In the meantime, Mom and Garrett are just trying to educate themselves on this type of cancer.

Thank you all for reading this blog and for your continued support. Our family really appreciates it.

October 22, 2007

Garrett finally has a diagnosis. It is Neuroendocrine Cell Carcinoid Cancer. It is a very, very uncommon and very rare. It is also very hard to diagnose, obviously. They are investigating what they feel would be the best treatment. The surgeon wants them to get two different Oncologist's opinions for the treatment just because it is so uncommon. The conventional chemo and radiation are not used on this type of cancer. They want to do more testing because they feel it may be in other places than just the lung and liver. They suspect it could be in his colon, intestines, and/or stomach becuase he has had severe stomach bloating. Garrett also has an appointment with a Cardiologist tomorrow. I mentioned in my previous entry that his lips turned blue right before his biopsy last week. The surgeon recommended that Garrett have a cardiac workup.

October 16, 2007

Garrett had the needle biopsy of his liver today. The Radiologist is very concerned about his liver. The Radiologist had a Pathologist with him while he did a very aggressive biopsy. They feel they got a lot of good samples. The lab at Northside Hospital is processing the samples and if the results are still questionable, the Radiologist will send the samples to the Mayo Clinic. They are hoping this biopsy will give us the answers we need for the liver. Garrett came home very sore today. He had complications after the procedure due to severe high blood pressure. It was 220/130 and they couldn't get it to come down. He was held in the extended recovery area until they got the medications to respond. We hope to have the results on Thursday or Friday of this week. The Radiologist's assistant noticed that Garrett's lips were blue when he was admitted today. Now they want him to have a cardiac workup.

Your thoughts and prayers through all of this are so appreciated. Thank you!

October 15, 2007

Last Tuesday night, 10/9/07, Garrett had another MRI with contrast. The doctor feels that there is still a questionable area in the liver that he needs to biopsy again. This lesion can't be reached surgically. The liver (needle) biopsy will be done in the morning at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. The doctor hopes to have the results by Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Please keep Garrett in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow morning. He and Mom really appreciate everyone's support.

October 2, 2007

Garrett had his consultation with the general surgeon today. He wants to wait on the laparoscopic liver biopsy and present Garrett's case to the cancer board (20 doctors) to review before he does anything. He feels that the previous needle biopsies got into the lesions successfully and that the laparoscopic biopsy probably wouldn't show anything different. They will get back to Garrett and Mom after the cancer board reviews everything. If the cancer board decides that the biopsy is needed, it won't be until the end of next week.

October 1, 2007

The surgical lung biopsy has been postponed for now. Tomorrow Garrett and Mom will meet with a general surgeon for a consultation and schedule a laparoscopic liver lesion biopsy. The MRI absolutely confirmed the three 6cm lesions in the liver but there is no distinction as to whether they are malignant or benign. After the liver biopsy report comes back, they will determine whether or not the surgical lung biopsy is necessary. I will update again after tomorrow's consultation.

September 28, 2007

Garrett received his MRI results late this afternoon and AGAIN they are inconclusive. They will speak with the Thoracic Surgeon on Monday to see when he will have the surgical lung biopsy. Can you believe this runaround??

September 27, 2007

Garrett had his MRI today and they should have the results tomorrow. I will update the blog as soon as I hear from Mom.

September 26, 2007

Instead of having the surgical lung biopsy tomorrow, the thoracic surgeon wants him to have an MRI with contrast (dye) first. This will be done at 8:30 tomorrow morning in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Once they get his MRI results, they will then determine whether or not he needs the surgical lung biopsy. Mom and Garrett learned yesterday from the surgeon that this surgical biopsy will be quite entailed. They would need to make a 5" incision on his side between his ribs to get to his lung. He would also have a 2" incision at his throat where they would go through his chest to get to his lymph nodes. He would be hospitalized for 5 days at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Not a simple biopsy by any means!

Please continue to pray for Garrett and Mom too. They need to stay strong and optimistic. They are both very tired as you can probably imagine.

September 20, 2007

Garrett had his Pulmonary Function Test today and did very well! This test was to see if his lungs are strong enough for him to go through the surgery. His surgical lung biopsy will be next Thursday, September 27th.

September 17, 2007

Fortunately, Garrett's lung and liver biopsies came back negative. However, the Oncologist said that he has been an Oncologist for a long time and he really does feel that it is cancer. The Oncologist wants him to now have a surgical lung biopsy. He is scheduled for a Pulmonary Function Test this Thursday, 9/20. He must have the Pulmonary Function Test prior to the surgical biopsy. On Tuesday, 9/25, Garrett has a consultation with the surgeon. On Thursday, 9/27, he will have the surgery at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

As you keep Garrett in your prayers, please also pray to St. Peregrine, the Patron Saint of Cancer Patients. He is the Patron of cancer victims because a cancerous growth on his leg was miraculously cured. Please also keep Mom in your prayers. She is very tired and her blood pressure has been very high lately. She is so frustrated that they still have no firm answers from any of the doctors.

Thank you all so much for your love and support.

September 11, 2007

Garrett had his second liver biopsy on Friday, 9/7/07 at Emory Eastside Hospital in Snellville, Georgia. The doctor is hopeful that he got a good tissue sample this time. There are three questionable spots in his liver.

On Monday, 9/10/07, he had a scope lung biopsy at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The doctor took tissue samples of the spot on his lung as well as scrapings. The lung looks very inflamed and there are raised spots. He returns to the Oncologist on Friday, 9/14/07, for all findings from these tests and hopefully a treatment plan as well.

Lets all hope and pray for negative findings and a positive outcome. I will update again after Friday’s doctor appointment.

September 6, 2007

At the beginning of August 2007, Garrett felt as if he had the flu. He had aches and chills and a high fever. He went to the doctor and was told that he had pneumonia. A couple of weeks later, his fever came back. Garrett went back to the doctor and they took another chest x-ray. At this time, they discovered a spot on the lung that they feel was there before the pnuemonia but was masked by the pneumonia. A Cat Scan was ordered for the next day. The Cat Scan showed a spot on the lung, swollen lymph nodes, and three suspicious spots on the liver that they are questioning. Mom and Garrett then went to meet with an Oncologist to discuss what needs to happen from here.

At the Oncologist visit, Garrett was told that he had lung cancer located at the bronchial tubes going into the lung. The lung cancer is inoperable due to it's location. The Oncologist did not like the looks of the liver. Tests were ordered at that time to find out exactly what is going on. The Oncologist feels that the cancer did not start in the lung, but somewhere else and went to the lung.

Garrett had a Pet Scan on Wednesday, August 29th and a liver biopsy on Friday, August 31st. Unfortunately, the Pet Scan was inconclusive and the liver biopsy was not successful either. The Oncologist said that they did not get "clean" samples from the liver, therefore, making them void. The liver biopsy will be repeated on Friday, September 7th.

Garrett was also referred to a pulmonologist for his lung. The pulmonologist is in the process of scheduling a scope lung biopsy as well. They wanted to conduct the lung biopsy on Friday, 9/7 as well but Mom feels that is too much to put him through in one day. Not to mention, the liver biopsy will be done at Eastside Emory Hospital in Snellville, Georgia and the lung biopsy will be done at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

I will update again on Friday after the biopsy has been done. Please keep Garrett in your thoughts and prayers.

Terri