A Henry Forrest update
Henry Forrest is not doing well and he really needs us to keep him in our thoughts. Doctors called his recent PET scans very alarming. Below is a note from Henry Forrest's wife Lou.
"We're sending an update because Henry's condition has changed. Last Thursday Henry had a PET scan (radioactive glucose is injected and makes it possible to see any tumors). Friday evening after we got home from work, the surgeon called to say what the PET scan showed was "very alarming." He said Henry had a nodule on his lung, a nodule on his spine (T7), and the cancer is in his liver. The surgeon has come to love Henry and got quite emotional about having to pass such bad news. He said he would be shoulder to shoulder with Henry fighting it and he told Henry to get an appointment with his oncologist. We saw the oncologist Tuesday. He told Henry that they had done two tests, and that neither of them was good. The first, the blood test, showed an elevated CA19-9 (tumor marker). Henry's normal range should fall between 0-35. His was at 431, which means the tumors are growing. Then he discussed the places where the cancer was, and when we asked, he said they could have been there all along, that they were just too small to have been seen on the many CT scans Henry had.
The oncologist is checking to see if there are any clinical trial options out of state since there are none here in Georgia, so Henry might be going to Johns Hopkins, MD Anderson, or another location for treatment. If there are no clinical trials for which he would qualify, Henry will begin chemo again on Monday, Sept. 8th. The oncologist said we would know within a month if the chemo was doing any good (relieving symptoms). Henry has been feeling worse for the last couple of weeks – a lot of back pain and he is now nauseated every day. He has had to go back to taking several pain pills a day, as well as his nausea medication. He has also lost about 5 pounds, which he really couldn't afford to do. He weighed 160 yesterday; his before-surgery weight was about 205-207. He had gotten down as low as 147. But all of you know that Henry is a fighter, and he isn't giving up. He will continue to fight as long as he can. We are working on the paperwork for him to go out on disability again, but we will stay in touch and keep you posted as anything of consequence occurs. This will give Henry the opportunity to spend more time with his family and to stay as medicated as he needs to be to stay out of pain. So, we need our prayer warriors again! We know you've done 'overtime' praying for Henry, but if you continue, we'd very much appreciate it. We love you all, and we're sorry to have to relay bad news. Your support is appreciated. Lou
Thanks for all your prayers
God Bless."
