Watch and Wait

Many of us have heard this expression in communication about many things, including a child’s growth or aspirations, about making an “A” in algebra, about whether we will go to an Alison Krauss and Union Station concert, about a report on election results, and many other scenarios. But I believe that it is heard in the medical space more and more. That expression is a good one to use when we are talking about a health issue. I think that doctors feel uncomfortable making predictions about the status of a patient. They shy away from saying something that might lead to legal action by the patient’s family. I have received the “watch and wait” response many times from my physicians.

So, when I get questions from my friends that deal with how long I may live—granted they are not that candid with their questions—I can tell them who knows but God. My job is to be ready to face my Father in Heaven.

I volunteered to participate in a clinical trial for nine months, and in my first meeting with my team of oncologists, they resisted stating how much longer I have to live. But two of them ventured out past their comfort zone. The first one said about 8-12 weeks, and the second one said it is possible to live with this rare, incurable disease for months if the body and treatments continue to slow down the intensity of the cancer.

My daughter-in-love is in this holding pattern in dealing with cancer on her pancreas. She patiently waits for results of her testing. She is such a trooper about her “watch and wait,” and she is teaching me about handling all those thoughts about “watching and waiting.”

Thank you, Kimberly.

Update on My Treatment

A week ago, I had scans, an MRI, and blood work done at Emory. Next week on Tuesday (23 rd ), I have an appointment with the leader of my cancer treatment team to interpret the results of these tests and talk about options for starting any new treatments.

Because of an intestinal issue, I had a flexible sigmoidoscopy on Thursday, which was thankfully normal. I also had an endoscopy that showed a benign stenosis in my esophagus that the doctor stretched. This will hopefully help with my swallowing. We’re praying that it will not be necessary for me to have another G-tube placed into my stomach (I had one for 3 months earlier this year).

We really need prayer support through next week, and I am appealing to my family and friends to pray for us. This is a critical time to think about what’s next.