Long Overdue Update

Sorry for the long time since the last update. I have since started a full time job with a commute, so I don't have as much free time as I did before.
Things started to change the end of May. Jeff's back pain had gotten worse, so he went into the emergency room. There was a mass discovered behind the ureter on his right side, which was restricting urine flow.
Earlier last month Dr Heeb (urologist) put in a stint to help with the flow of urine. That next week the oncologist ordered a PET scan. The same spot behind the ureter illuminated, indicating cancer. Due to the location of the tumor they were unable to biopsy without doing surgery.
June 18 Jeff had surgery to remove/biopsy the tumor and repair his surgical hernia from his 2005 surgery.
The surgeon confirmed the suspicion that the mass was colon cancer that spread; it was 4 cm. Additionally the removed his right vas deferens (sperm tube) because there was a 1.5 cm tumor that had grown around it. Additionally there were four tumors on his rectum; two were removed. There is a grapefruit sized area in his pelvic region that is scattered with cancer seedlings. There were some pea sized tumors in the pelvic region that the surgeon was unable to remove.
Jeff came home on the 22nd and is healing from the surgery great. This last week he went to the hospital three times for pain in the kidney area. Through IV drugs his pain got under control and he was released the same day all three times. We believe the stint keeps getting clogged. The urologist is scheduled to remove the stint the 25th.
Yesterday we met with Jeff's oncologist's colleague. The pathology report 100% confirms that it is exactly the same cancer. Jeff has decided to go through chemo again and will start the FOLFIRI regiment on the 16th providing that none of the other members of Jeff's medical team disagrees. He will be receiving treatments at Lawrence Memorial Hospital every two weeks and then will wear a pump for 46 hours.
The oncologist also told us that the time between Jeff's last treatment in April 2006 and his reoccurrence was not a "short" time frame, but rather it was a typical length of time. She did tell us that without treatment his life expectancy was no more than one year.
New developments have become common practice for the treatment of colon cancer since Jeff went through treatment last time. They will be sending Jeff's tumor off to have it tested for a specific protein. If the protein is found in his tumor then a drug will be added to his regiment that will break down that protein so his body can attack the cancer cells. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
Just as a side note. I don't have the time to commit to updating Jeff's blood work like before. I will try to keep his online calendar updated. If you have any questions just ask on the guest book or click on one of the pictures on the home page to retrieve an e-mail address.

-Abby