First Tests of the New Year

Hey all,

Denny is leaving for STL tomorrow for his first check-up of 2012. Bright and early on Friday morning, he starts with an MRI and then sees 2 doctors. Then he has a CT scan in the afternoon. On Monday, he sees his oncologist and then heads home.

We are hoping the tests come back clear. If you remember, last time the doctor thought he saw something but the biopsy came back negative.
We will keep you posted on the outcome.

Thanks for checking in!

Love to all,
Deb

A New Year

When the last minutes passed of 2011 and the fireworks went off in our neighborhood, I was thinking "how lucky we are to be in this place tonight." I had an opportunity to look back on entries in this blog. It is hard to believe that it was started in 2010 and that much time has already flown by.

I'm sure Denny thinks about this gift he has been given. It is not something we talk about much anymore.

So, Welcome 2012! What adventures will you bring?

Love to all,
Deb

February 2012

No further action needs to be taken for Denny at this time. We spoke with Jennifer, Dr. Haughey's nurse. She said when he did the biopsy, he cleaned out all the necrotic tissue. When the biopsy was reviewed by Dr. Haughey, he said he was glad that it came back negative and that he will not need to see Denny until February 2012.

We are getting ready to celebrate Denny's 58th birthday on August 21st. In spite of what he says, it is NOT just another day. It is a miracle!

Love to all,
Deb

God Heard Us

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers. God heard us. Jennifer, Dr. Haughey's nurse called about 11:30am with the biopsy results. She said it showed no signs of cancer. Dr. Haughey still has to review the report but he would be the first to say he is glad he was wrong. Jennifer said there were issues with unhealed and necrotic tissue in the areas biopsied that still needs to be addressed. The area should be healed by now because the surgery was May of 2010. We will speak to Dr. Haughey and see what the plan is to get this area healthy again.

In the meantime, these Woodruff's are celebrating! Dana and Dan both called their dad when I called them with the news. Everybody has been pretty choked up and emotional over this miracle Denny has been given. It is a good day here in the little log cabin by the woods in Tennessee!

Love to all,
Deb

Waiting....

It is so good to be home! Denny went to work today as usual. His eyes look a little puffy like they do when you have a sinus infection but that is all. He is not in pain or feeling bad.

Now we wait. I'm hoping we hear something by Thursday about the biopsy. Since the doctor was so confident that it is cancer (and he hasn't been wrong yet!), we are more interested to know if there are any treatment options. We know, from the last time, that there isn't much more that can be done other than trying chemo again. However, we always have hope that the doctors will have a new approach to beating this disease.

During the biospy, when Denny was in the pre-op area, he got very frustrated with the whole situation. I don't blame him. He said to me, "This is getting old". I said, "Yes, it is, but we don't quit. Woodruff's (and in my case, Guilliams) don't quit. We are going to fight this just like we have the last two times. WE DON'T QUIT." He nodded his head and they took him off to surgery.

We are building strength, always looking for the positive and waiting.....

Love to all,
Deb

Biopsy Day

Denny had his biopsy this morning. We will not know the results immediately. They said it will take 3 - 4 business days. The doctor did say, "If you ask me if the cancer is back, however, I would say Yes." I don't know anything more. We did not discuss treatment options. The doctor said let's wait for the biopsy results to confirm and go from there.

I will post as further information becomes available. Thanks for checking in.

Love to all,
Deb

Denny's July Check up

Hello, family and friends,
It's been awhile since I've posted. Life has been moving at a pretty fast pace. In my last post, I said I would be posting the results of Denny's July checkup.

I wish I could say "All is well." However, that is not the case. Denny's MRI showed a "hot" spot near the dura (the flap that was grafted between his brain and sinus cavity) in the right side of his sinus cavity this time. All the trama has previously been on the left. Dr. Haughey, the ENT doc, could not see any mass but the surface of the cavity appeared not to be healing. The rough, unhealed surfaces are suspicious.

A biopsy is scheduled for Monday, July 18th at 7:30am. I will be driving up to be with him. We truly expected everything to be fine so I was doing a campus visit with Dana in Kentucky when we got the news tonight.

Dan is going to head out Sunday for my mom & dad's. Dana will be traveling with me back to Missouri to help with the driving. The last biopsy Denny had, they kept him overnight due to excessive bleeding. That being the case, he will not be in any shape to drive back to Tennessee on Tuesday. Dana is going to drive one vehicle and I will drive the other; a truck (stick shift).

I will post as soon as I have news. If you don't see anything on here, well...that means I don't know anything! Stay tuned and thanks for checking in.

Love to all,
Deb