Plot Twist

A few things have changed since we last spoke.

Before we get into the new details, I’d like to first mention how Justin’s recovery is going. To recap, his surgery was a doozy! Many of you who have had cervical spine surgery know it’s big, and the extent of his was astronomical. Initially, the doctors were considering going in through the front of his neck, which would have made recovery easier, but since there was concern of the tumor “seeding,” the back approach was used. While there was/is still a small risk of seeding with the back approach, it’s far less so. Anyhow, Justin had about 10 days of hell. It was pretty much constant pain barely managed by pain pills and muscle relaxers. He had been living in his new recliner (the one we serendipitously bought several weeks ago).

This past Thursday marked two weeks from surgery and we had scheduled appointments with the surgeon for a post-op checkup and the radiation oncologist for path forward planning. The evening before our visits, I got a call from the surgeon with almost final pathology results … and they weren’t what we were thinking. We had thought the tumor on Justin’s spine was metastasis of the cancer in his abdomen, but it happens to be a secondary cancer. Although I’m still working through how I feel about all this, I’ll go over the pros and cons I have in my mind.

Good news … his abdominal cancer has not spread! When we first found out about the tumor, Justin and I spoke to his first surgeon and dear friend, but one of the things he mentioned was that it is exceptionally rare for his type of cancer to spread beyond the peritoneal cavity. And for it to have metastasized so distantly, even more unusual. Having that in the back of our minds made the news a little less shocking, but we did breathe a small sigh of relief since the metastasis path was intimidating to stare down.

More good news … the secondary cancer in his cervical spine is extremely slow growing. This gives us time to figure out what is going on, find new (and highly specialized) doctors, and set the course for 100% recovery.

Even more good news … Justin had an MRI that indicated no visual evidence of residual tumor. This means Justin’s surgeon is badass and got all the tumor the human eye (and the MRI) could see. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean his neck is cancer free. Tumors always start as just one rouge cell and multiply over time, but what it does mean is that Justin is in the best possible place going into potential radiation treatment with no additional surgery needed at this time. The surgical team was thrilled with the images and said they were “better than expected.” Praise God!

The not so good news … Justin spine cancer is beyond extremely rare. Less than 300 cases a year in the United States and the type of equipment required for treatment is only found in a couple of hospitals nationwide. When a cancer is slow growing it’s also code for “hard to treat.” Over the next several weeks, we’ll be in communication with new doctors, at different facilities and determine the best path forward.

We all know Justin is one in a million, this being evidence of such.

Justin is doing much better these past couple of days. Still uncomfortable, but his pain is more manageable. His spirits are up and his eyes are bright. Give him a call or text when you can. As always, thank you for your support and prayers!

God bless, Christina