here's how the story began.....

if you don't know julie's story already, here is the short of it....

last august, julie was experiencing pain and problems in her abdomen. subsequent tests revealed stage 3 colon cancer. surgery was done in september and 20 inches of her affected colon were removed. however, it had spread to the lymph nodes and she began chemotherapy in october and finished in april. blood tests showed progress all along and she was declared in remission in may. she had a follow up blood test performed earlier this month. it is a Carcinogenic Embryonic Antigen (CEA). it's a lab for tumor markers. it came back normal. however, she has been experiencing pain and symptoms again, so the oncologist ordered a PET scan. this week, on monday, we went to see him and found out that there is a large (6 inch) mass in her abdomen. a small portion of this mass is "hypermetabollic" indicating bad cells. the oncologist ordered that she see the surgeon asap and have the entire mass removed and a biopsy done. sooooo the appointment with the surgeon is scheduled for this upcoming monday the 20th. however last night and today she has been in major pain, so we contacted the oncologist who again referred her to the surgeon who we had some trouble tracking down. he prescribed some meds and treatment and she is to call if her condition worsens, and we will keep the appointment for monday. the mass is basically pushing on her other organs causing discomfort. so, please keep her in your prayers as we go forward. hopefully her symptoms will be relieved by the treatment and we can discuss our surgery options monday. thank you all - tobra