Has it been a Year?? Another update...

I cannot believe it's been almost a year to the day since my last post. It hasn't been an easy year, Larry continues to struggle with infections that land him in the hospital almost every month. The longest period of time that he has been out of the hospital is just shy of 2 months. The good news is once the antibiotics are given within days he is back to working and living his life. Early this year, we did find out that he did have 2 small tumors in his pelvic area and he was to start chemo therapy as soon as he kicked the infections. Well...the infections just wouldn't go away so he's been without chemo for over a year. We've spent the year monitoring the tumors...anxiously awaiting the CT scans that are done every time he's in the hospital. More on that... I first have to share what Lar's been up to...

This year he's been able to travel and spend time with family. In May he got out of the hospital to come down to St. Louis and watch the White Sox vs. Card series. Nathan was able to score great seats for both games. Although it definitely was not the outcome we had hoped for (it was a rebuilding year, right?!), we still had fun.

U2 is one of my brother's favorite bands. I took him for his 40th birthday to the show at Soldier's Field and then was able to score tickets for the May 4th show in St. Louis. Not just any tickets but a good friend hooked us up with a suite! Words cannot describe how great it was to share this concert with him!!

Larry watching U2 from the suite

A couple weeks later it was off to Northern California for Natalie Kate's (NK/sweet cheeks) high school graduation. Wine tasting, parties and lots of family time was just what the soul needed!

Nor Cal Dinner

On our way to the wineries (Lar, Abby & Nathan)

So as you can see Lar has been living with cancer and doing it well! He continues to work full-time and have a social life. The damn infection struck the week of Thanksgiving so he was unable to come to St. Louis with rest of the family, but he made the best in the hospital. Because that is what he does. He keeps living.

This month he started to have more pain in his tailbone area. Now for him to complain of pain is a BIG deal - he never complains! After the pain didn't go away with the infections, an MRI was ordered. We found out late last week that Larry's colon cancer has spread to his bone. He has a sizeable tumor on his tailbone that has been causing him pain. 

Sh*t!!!  F*CK!!!! god Damn it!! 

You name it we said it, thought it and maybe even screamed it! It was definitely not the news we ever wanted to hear. So now what? Radiation. Why not? It's the one treatment that he hasn't had to do in his 6 years of cancer life. We met with the radiation oncologist today and thank you to modern medicine! The doctor said he wants to be as aggressive as he can be due to my brother's age and overall health. Welcome to our team, Dr. Sean Sachdev! Every doctor related to my brother's cancer has had the same attitude-let's be aggressive! And my brother goes right along with them. I LOVE it! Next week my brother will go in to get a mold done of his backside along with a 3D MRI with multiple imagining. Lar will wear this mold for his 3 targeted radiation sessions. Dr. Sachdev feels that this will eliminate most of the tumor, relieve the pain he is feeling and put him in 'long term' remission. Now of course aggressive treatment can also come with risks. The only real side effect he should have with this type of targeted radiation is tiredness. That's nothing to Larry. The risks are a little more trickier. Anytime you radiate the spine there are risks of fractures, nerve damage and other things that we don't have to worry about when you don't have a colon and you have tubes functioning as kidneys. SCORE!

We feel so fortunate to have the absolute best doctors on our team. This new doctor has amazing bedside manner along with all the others on our team. We are also fortunate that Larry continues to have a positive attitude and continues to live life to the fullest. We're going to spend Christmas together, follow are life-long traditions like we always do and take things day to day.  Our family has a fun year ahead and in April, my brother has the biggest job of his life - he is walking me down the aisle.

So, thank you LRM Crew for continuing to support my brother and my family. Please continue to keep my brother in your prayers (if that is your thing), in your daily mediation (if that is your thing) and definitely in your thoughts.  We all need a little TLC right now.

I will update as Larry progresses with this radiation. 

Until then Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

xo Laura

Sox it to it Lar...