Keeping up with the Komplications

Eric started xeloda again 4 weeks ago. Last monday was the beginning of the 2nd round in this cycle. So far he seems to be doing ok with it. Today is his last day of chemp before his weeklong break. We had our 2nd appointment with the derm on monday, as his skin is still breaking down something awful. They are going to try another form of ointment which eric used awhile ago. They are also going to keep him on a constant low dose of antibiotic (doxycycline)to try to ward off infections, but we need to be leery of him getting c-diff again. His cultures have come up positive for Staph, and acinetobacter. So it is obvious the need for antibiotics is there, or he is going to end up in the hospital again. Then I get a phone call from derm on tuesday saying Eric tested positive for a different staph strain, but so far not showing as MRSA. But this staph is resistant to the doxycycline. So after a few days on that he had to stop, and use hibiclensse bath and an ointment until we meet with infectious disease in 2 weeks. Grrrrrr!!!

Dr. Locatoure, the derm, wanted to treat Eric with an additional chemo called Methotrexate solely for the purpose of trying to control the skin breakdown. Methotrexate is used for some forms of breast cancer and leukemia, but it can be used off label for chemical abortions and autoimmune disorder, like Eric's eczema. It can have adverse effects on the liver, which Eric only has 1/3 of. As a result, for right now, Oz (Dr. Kemeny), nixed it. In a way it sucks, because Methotrexate is really a great way to treat the skin breakdown but she does not want to interfere with the effectiveness of his chemo for the colon cancer mets. Its frustrating, but I am sure there is some wisdom to it.

Other than that we continue to take things one day at a time. There are bad days, and then some not so bad days. The good days are few and far between anymore. But every once in a while there are some good days thrown in there. The neuropathy is getting intense at times, as he is showing symptoms from chemos past. The worst thing is the trunk neuropathy, where several times, well honestly almost constantly, he feels like he is being stung by thousands of bees on his entire trunk region. We are hoping that as the skin recovers, this will go away as well. It is not a common side effect to any of the chemos that he is on, so they believe it is either a side effect of his his most recent surgeries (some sort of nerve damage), or the result of the trauma to his skin. We are obviously hoping this is temporary and not permanent, as it causes Eric a great deal of pain.

So far we have no other appointments until September. The first week in September Eric will have a PET scan and a CT scan. The following week he will review the results with the docs. By that point he will have had 2.5 rounds of xeloda in his system post surgery. We pray that there will be no signs of disease. Until then, as long as there are no changes, I probably won't have anything to update.

Past 2 months in 2 minutes

I haven't updated since May, mostly because not much had happened, then life became a clusterfuck. Eric went through 5 rounds of Xeloda before being hospitalized for chemo toxicity. Well that's what they think it was, because they really had no idea. We were stuck at Abington for 6 damn days. I was down the shore for the Fallen Heroes M/C Ride. Eric was supposed to participate, but felt so sick he went home. The next day my Dad took him to the ER, and I rushed home from North Wildwood. It was a long 6 days filled with fever, lost of some bodily functions and horrible blistering skin. And then 8 days later he was hospitalized again.

 The 2nd round of hospitalization this month was kind of weird. We went for a routine visit on monday and Eric felt fine. He had an abscess on his face that had started as a blind pimple. But if you know E personally, this is nothing new with his eczema and history of staph. But when the bloodwork came in the the numbers were not good. His WBC had jumped to 34,000 and Kemeny insisted he be admitted. He had brought Logan to this appointment with us, so needless to say we were not prepared for a stay in NY. Eric was pretty upset they admitted him, especially considering the fact that he had just gotten out of the hospital. Plus it was somewhat of a deja vu feeling, as Eric was hospitalized for 4 weeks right before the 4th of July.

Logan and I stayed at a hotel room that night, and my dad saved the day by coming up to NYC, meeting me on the train platform, and taking Logan home. During this stay Eric felt ok up until he was about to released, thus causing his stay to be extended. He ended up having a staph infection, a rare skull bone infection called mastoidosis (effects 0.004% of the population in developed nations)and ended up with c-diff. (if you look up c-diff it super sucks and is highly contagious). But we were able to get the meds for him to come home, where he will spend 4 weeks on antibiotics. Man can't catch a break.

CEA level had more then doubled in 2 weeks, which concerns me greatly. Eric is not on any chemo right now, and his surgery to remove the lung tumors has been pushed back twice because of infection. His numbers have not been this high since pre liver resection last year. If you scroll down below you can see the CEA level trends since he was diagnosed. Hoping that the reason behind this was the brewing infection, and not more disease growing elsewhere in the body. I do know that the neck/head/brain are good. He had multiple CTs of that area during his stay last week. We have an appointment in new york tomorrow, so I guess we will find out what the next plans look like. Surgery to remove the tumors from the one lung is scheduled for july 20th, with the following lung to be at a date after that. In the meantime we continue to pray. I will probably write more later, but I figure this is the quick update.

 These are pics of Eric when he was up at Sloan.

We passed the time talking about our Respite trip in January care of For Pete's Sake Cancer Respite Foundation

Scans, Scans, Scans...

E had a PET Scan yesterday at Sloan. Afterward he had treatment, but did not meet with the doctor. On March 2nd he will have a CT Scan, which was scheduled before the PET Scan was. We will not find out the results for either scan until our March 5th appointment. This also happens to be my 31st birthday, so I am hoping for the gift of improving health and clear scans.

As always, we ask that you continue to keep E and other cancer warriors in your prayers. We are praying to Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, for Eric's miracle. She has been declared Venerable for all her works, and is well on her way to sainthood. Our hope is that Eric's miracle can be a result of her divine intercession.

O beloved Catherine,
through the power of my
most compassionate Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
I humbly beseech you to
look with love and pity on
Eric who is ill at this time.
Stir up in me the same
passion that impelled you
to respond to the needs of
your time.

Bless me with the sure
knowledge of your
presence and with a
complete trust in your
providence.

Use once again your spirit
of compassion and your
ardent desire to Alleviate
suffering and to restore
Eric to full health, if it is
God’s holy will.

I ask this in the name of
Jesus who lives and reigns
with the Father in unity
with the Holy Spirit.

Amen

short but sweet

All visible tumors now gone. Doesn't guarantee cancer is gone, but nothing can be seen by the naked eye. Tumor growth burned, as was cells surrounding tumor growth area in liver. Continue receiving 5FU chemotherapy. Meet with oncologist next Monday to discuss if any changes will be made to treatment. Will also review the results of PET scan that was performed.

E did well with the procedure and was able to go home that night.

texting away after waking up.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Just as an FYI- I am not really using facebook much anymore. At least not for posting updates. I limited what people can see as well. So I will continue to use this, as well as the blog for updates. I also went to on a deleting frenzy. Please do not take it personally if you were deleted. Because of some privacy concerns I basically limited my account to close friends and family. Sorry if I offended anyone, although I am sure facebook doesn't really bother many of you.

Thankful....

So far Eric has had 2 chemo treatments with minimal side effects. I have managed to play Dr. Dial pretty well and de-accessed his port successfully. He is still able to go to work most days, but E is pretty tired. CEA levels are still up and down, up this time around. However his liver functions are almost back to normal. Dec 5th we go to Sloan for treatment and meet the chief of Staff for Interventional radiology to discuss surgical options to destroy the tumor.

Today I am grateful for so much. I am grateful for family and friends, and the amazing Doctors and nurses at Sloan Kettering. I am blessed to be spending another Thanksgiving with my husband. A year ago I wasn't sure if this was going to be a reality.

Thank you all for your continued support, especially for Eric, his son Mark, and my son Logan. It means a lot.

Here's Eric and his new pal Gunney. Gunney helps calm Eric.

Some good and some meh

Good: 21st will be eric's last chemo for 7 weeks. Kemeny wants to stop 3 weeks before surgery, and he won't have chemo for 4 weeks after.

Good: she also said he won't have much chemo after surgery. It would just be a precaution. Maybe 2 rounds in may-june.

Good: she was smiling and happy with how well Eric is doing. If you know Kemmeny, you know this is a big deal.


Meh: eric's bloodwork wasn't ideal today, so he isn't getting chemo. He has to get bloodwork done next monday in Philly to make sure he's good for the 21st. She's not too concerned because she thinks bloodlevels are whacked beccause of PVE last monday.

MEh: the 21st in now going to be a NY day, and its during PSSA's. That is going to go over real well at worlk. About as well as a fart in church.

Meh: I have never seen Eric so tired before in my life. It really sucks.

A personal glimpse into the life of a cancer patient.

Ok so may it is not quite a glimpse, but today I feel the closest I probably ever will to feeling 1/3 of what Eric feels like on a daily basis. I have been stricken with the dreaded stomach virus that is making its rounds with all my friends and family. Logan had it for a day, only puked 4 times and felt better by 4pm the same day. Just to be on the safe side I had quarantined him at my parents house so Eric wouldn't get sick. That was a few weeks ago. But alas, it seems that I finally got hit with this monster. I looked like this poor little girl all day today. Not nearly as cute, and basically laying on the bathroom room floor. I feel even worse now, but moved to the couch and just run to the bathroom every 5 minutes. This sucks. And I only see it getting worse as the day progresses.

Now I know how Eric feels. He probably feels even worse then this. For almost 2 weeks he feels like shit. Feels nausea and stomach pains that leave him miserable and so worn out. When asked how his day is, he usually responds "tastes like shit". Now I know what that means.

Previously, the best way I could have described the chemo effects is a long lasting hangover. You know the ones were all you want to do is stick your finger down your throat to make it go away?? Yea those kind. But now after less then 24 hours of being tormented with the stomach bug, I can empathize at a totally new level. Now I understand why he doesn't want to go out and just wants to go to sleep. I feel it too right now, and I knew mine will pass in a few days, where Eric has until June to fell like shit, with every treatment feeling worse.

Needless to say I am staying away from Eric. I am staying away from everyone. If what my friends have told me is true, this horrible thing lasts several days to clear from your system. UGH!!!!!! I CANT BE SICK!! I need to take care of my family. GRRRRRR!!!!

Eric's mother Kathy, and her friends and family, are holding a benefit this weekend for Eric. The Beef & Beer for Officer Eric Dial~Our Cancer Warrior is being held this Saturday at Turner's in Roxborough from 7-11. There will be excellent food, baskets, and dancing with music being provided by PJ the DJ. It is really kind of them to do this for Eric. A lot of hard work was put into the event, and we thank everyone who attends.

Eric will be heading up to NY this weekend to prepare for Monday's Portal Vein Embolization. To prepare for this he has gone into an isolation. No going out, no crowds, pretty much staying in the house. It's a tough thing to do when you are used to being active, but the doctor ordered it. According to the oncologist, "If you want to continue to be my patient, then you will follow my rules." I guess it hasn't been so hard this week because he is so sick from chemo, but now, as he prepares for this major procedure Monday, and his upcoming liver resection, he needs to follow her rules.

Monday's procedure is an interesting one. The are basically going to shutdown the right side of the liver by cutting blood flow in the artery. If you guys remember from previous posts, the right side of his liver still has all the tumors. With the first part of his liver resection in November, Dr. D'Angelica was able to remove all the cancer from the left side. Anyway, when the cut off blood flow this will cause the right side to start to shrink, essentially "killing off" some of the tumors in the process. While this is happening, the left side of the liver will be forced to regenerate (grow back) at a faster rate. This will give Eric the largest liver section possible when liver resection surgery occurs. Hopefully the resection will be in 6-8 weeks, maybe around Easter time. When we met with Dr. Lee on Monday for chemo he was ecstatic over the latest CT results. He has been so supportive of us, and carries out Dr. Kemeny's medical plan perfectly. It's also nice because we get a little more one on one attention from Dr. Lee because he has the time Dr. Kemeny does not have.

So all in all, we are still fighting the good fight. We keep our faith and sense of humor. Eric keeps pushing the bar because he knows he will beat this. Only a few more months and all of this will just be another obstacle that we overcame. Here's to laughter, love, faith, and courage!

How do you Spell relief: S-H-R-I-N-K-A-G-E!

Well we received some fabulous news on Monday at Sloan, Eric's chemo treatments are working!!! The smaller tumors seem to have all but disappeared, and the larger ones have shrunk to almost 1/2 of the original size. Praise be to God!

Dr. Kemeny was very pleased with these results, and decided to consult with Dr. D'Angelica the liver surgeon. As of Monday he wanted Eric to continue with treatments, but Eric received a call Thursday that D'Angelica wants to start testing and prepping him for the next surgery. This is HUGE!!!!

We met with Dr. Karen Brown to discuss the next procedure Eric will receive to prep for part 2 of his liver resection. In the next few weeks Eric will be getting a Portal Vein Embolization. Basically the will be cutting off blood flow to the entire right lobe of the liver. This is where the remaining tumors are located. This will force the left healthy lobe, to regenerate at a faster rate to prepare for surgery. After this is done, we could be looking at liver resection in about 6-8 weeks....around Easter. God truly is blessing us with this news.

Eric is tolerating treatments well, but with every new treatment his symptoms get worse. His minor setback 2 weeks ago, has resulted in Eric having to have limited contact with people. He has to be super vigilant, as his immune system is SHOT! Especially if he might be having surgery in the near future.

Keep those prayers coming! Thank you all so very much!
~J

Well its been building up inside of me, For oh I don't know how long....

I don't know why
But I keep thinking
Something's bound to go wrong

But she looks in my eyes
And makes me realize
And she says "Don't worry baby"
Don't worry baby
Don't worry baby
Everything will turn out alright




Eric's PET Scan was performed the wed before christmas. This was the first scan that was being performed and would really determine how much cancer was in Eric's body. yes we already knew Eric had Colon Cancer that had spread to his liver. And his liver contained multiple tumors (too many to take out in one liver resection). And yes he had already been diagnosed as Stage IVa (Stage IV is as far as this train goes just for a frame of reference, and IVb is the last station you can get off at). But this was going to determine how extensive the damage is OUTSIDE of what we know.

Well needless to say they made us sweat it out over the Holiday weekend. Eric was anxious and thought this was bad news. We had the Pet Scan performed in Princeton, as opposed to Memorial. They told us a preliminary report would be available within 24 hours, and alas it was not. So automatically he took this as bad news. I on the other hand, took into account the holiday...but that's a whole other story....

Anyway back to the PET. On Monday Eric has his systemic chemo treatment, which includes bloodwork and a visit with Dr. Lee. Dr. Lee is a super sweet doc, who really takes the time to talk to his patients. Usually we wait forever, but lucked out because of the blizzard, many people cancelled. Speaking of which, that blizzard really made it a bitch to get to Princeton, but I digress...

So Lee did his normal assessment, and looked at Eric's blood levels. HE platelets are back to normal, and the only negative in the bloodwork, if you could even consider it a negative, is that Eric is SLIGHTLY anemic. But this is to be expected with liver surgery. So he is getting ready to send us to Chemo, and I kindly remind him, "Don't we have PET scan results?" He honestly forgot to tell us. At that point I knew it was good news.

Essentially the scan found that the Cancer is contained to the liver. The lungs, lymphnodes,spine, and other organs were all clear. The only area that "glowed" was an extremely small inflamed area under the armpit. And they honestly think that has to do with Eric's Eczema, and would not be following a natural pattern of disease for Colon Cancer. So they are not too concerned about this area. The tumors also appear to have shrunk slightly, so Chemo is working. We were elated!!!!! And it is a weight off of Eric's shoulders. This gives him yet ANOTHER reason to keep kicking the shit out of this cancer!

The chemo still sucks. HE is starting to really feel the effects of it. HE is extremely sensitive to cold. Cold weather, cold drinks, cold surfaces. HE has to drink room temp liquids, or it feels like hards of glass are ripping apart his throat. He has to wear gloves to open the fridge, he got out of shoveling in the blizzard (although I think that was planned). Eric is having constant pins and needles feelings in his hands. Thats the neuropathy, and it gets worse with every treatment. His spirits are good though. He handles it like a champ! He still has a head full of hair (knock on wood) after 4 chemo treatments. This is Eric at Monday's treatment. He may still lose his hair, and that's ok. I am hoping that while he loses his hair, he will pick up a Scottish or English accent and I can finally bring to reality my fantasies about boinking Sean Connery or PAtrick Stewart. Yes I has a thing for older men who are bald with Accents. They are just so hot! I'm weird I know.

Eric's treatment Progression:








As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers. And remember Keep BELIEVING!!!!!

When you're weary, Feeling small, When tears are in your eyes I will dry them all...

At first I though today's blog would be about the incredible Benefit that the officers and supervisors of the 2nd Dist ran for Eric...and it will be eventually. There is no way I could write an entry and not recognize everything that the men and women of the district did for my husband. But today became a day of unexpected things.

Eric had an appointment to remove the staples from his stomach, and a chemo consult up at Sloan.

So we made the long commute up for what I assumed would be a fairly quick visit with Dr. Kemeny, the oncologist, then Dr. D'Angelica to remove the staples. I figured today we would discuss various Chemo options, and find out when Eric would have to get his Mediport. But after Dr. Kemeny looked at Eric's blood results, and his current state of health, she decided Chemo would start today. She wanted to be as aggressive as possible and break this cancer's face (it's a Halladay reference). This is somewhat bittersweet. Because Eric was supposed to start Chemo on December 15th, we were planning on ...ummm...."banking" after the stitches were removed today. He was in no position to give specimens with stitches in. Well anyone who is familiar with chemo knows that it carries a very high chance of sterilization. So while I watched the the chemo that is going to help Eric beat the cancer go into his vein, a little piece of me crumbled inside. Because with that life saving treatment, out goes my chances of ever having Eric's child.

Eric will be receiving 3 different types of chemo. His pump will distribute FUDR chemo over the course of 2 weeks, and every 2 weeks he will have a systemic treatment of Eloxatin & CPT-11. The systemic treatment takes a little over 2.5 hours from start to finish. He is supposed to feel super nauseous. Our Rx plan only covers some of the pills Eric needs to control this. I guess I should be grateful some of it is covered, because the one Rx is $350 for 2 pills (it's 2 pills a day) and the other is $60 a pill (the insurance company only covered 13 of 25 pills). But hey its something, and its less that I have to spend out of pocket. He will need this EVERY chemo treatment, so it will add up. We are supposed to get systemic in Princeton, but Eric really feels good here. The people are just so nice. Just found out the Chemo Suite is open until 10p, so we might be able to go up here if he really wants to. Whatever he wants I am game.

Being in the city today made me think of Simon and Garfunkel...and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters". The words are powerful. And it made me also think of the benefit, and all the people that rallied around Eric. God it felt so good. I know it made him want to fight even more! He put the following post on facebook (sorry about the profanity)

Eric F Dial: just seeing all the support tonight makes me more determine to fight this shit even harder. Fuck that its gonna take more then @#*($%* ass cancer to beat me. Knowing thats my family is by my side my brothers and sister in blue, long time and new friends I just met tonight I will beat this no problem.

Thank you everyone for helping my husband fight this battle! I promise I will blog more about the benefit soon. Chemo is almost done. So I leave you with a picture and a song...

The Campbells Condensed version of our Journey....

At 34 years old Eric did not expect to be diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer...but here we are. After presenting to the ER on September 29th, 2010 with what they believed was a blood clot in his lung, Eric, an otherwise healthy Police Officer, husband, and father was told that he had colon cancer that had spread to his liver.

We are now in beginning the biggest fight of our lives-to beat cancer. Eric was diagnosed with Stage IV on October 4th, 2010, 5 days shy of our 2nd wedding anniversary. On Oct 6th he had part of his colon removed. He was released Oct 9th to seek further treatment. We chose to seek the medical help of Dr. D'Angelica at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC. We went back to Dr. D'Angelica on November 2nd to see if Eric is strong enough to have his liver reresectioned. We also met with Dr. Kemeny, the Medical Oncologist who will be providing the chemo and additional treatments.

Eric's liver surgery is scheduled for November 16, 2010 at Memorial Sloane-Kettering in NYC. During surgery they will removed the tumors, gallbladder, and put in his HAI Chemo Pump (see below). Eric will be hospitalized at least 6 days. I will be staying up there with him. Sadly, unlike Abington, I cannot stay in the room with him overnight. I am looking into Hostels...this could be a lot of fun or I could be kidnapped so people can pay to murder me (remember the movie Hostel...lol), however the AMAZING Police Officer's at the 2nd District, are seeing if they can try to make some come of arrangements for me up there.

After Surgery Eric will have aggressive chemo treatment. He will be doing 2 different types. One is hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (see ) and the other is traditional systemic chemo. He will be receiving these treatments simultaneously for at least 6 months.


This is going to be a long and difficult journey, but he are going to fight with all we have. Friends and family can support us through prayer.

A benefit is being thrown for Eric on November 27th, 2010 by the 2nd Police District of the Philadelphia Police Department. More info can be found on the FOP webpage:

We are so grateful for the love and support shown by so many. Words cannot even express how touched we are.

Special Thanks to the following:
The Kozlowski,Conklin, Conway, Grace & Dial Families
Philadelphia Police Department
Capt. Michael McCarrick, Sgt. Jay McLain & the Supervisors & Officers of the 2nd Dist
Bullets LEMC
Garda MC
Staff of Juniata Park Academy
Staff of Roosevelt Middle School
Doctors & Nurses at Abington Memorial Hospital
And all of our friends!!!
Without all of you we would never be able to fight this battle!

Eric is the amazing husband of Jeaneane Dial. He is the proud father of Mark Dial, age 14, and step-father of Logan Little, age 9. He is a 12 year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department currently assigned to the 2nd Police District.