Monday

So, a busy couple of days.  Dad met with the GI doc and surgeon on Friday who went over the results of the endoscopy and ultrasound.  They were not able to put the scope as far down the esophagus as they would like, but from what they were able to determine, the esophageal tumor is a T3 (The tumor has advanced through the entire esophageal wall) and the surrounding lymph node is at an N1 stage (Cancer has extended to nearby lymph nodes).  I found this link helpful in discussing some of the different staging of esophageal cancer if you are interested
http://www.healthcommunities.com/esophageal-cancer/staging.shtml

With this, the recommendation from the surgeon was to proceed with meeting with Oncology and likely 6 weeks of chemo and radiation to prepare the esophagus for surgery to remove the infected part of the esophagus and pull the stomach up to connect with the upper portion of the esophagus.

Dad and Mom met with the Oncologist and radiation oncology this morning (Monday) to discuss next steps for the radiation and chemo and they confirmed some of the tests and treatment options as discussed on Friday. 

However, they met with the Business Office on Monday afternoon, who told them that because they were not Minnesota resident and uninsured, and because treatment options are available in Washington, that they are not able to continue treatment here unless they are able to pre-pay for the treatments.  Not what any of us wanted to hear, to say the least, but they did give some advice for working with hospitals and insurance companies in Washington.  Understandably, Mom and Dad are not sure exactly what this means for next steps. 

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us.  We know that God hears our prayers and will answer them according to his good will.

I'll update more as we know it.