Update Sept 18

About a week ago Joe had both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy scheduled with the plan to take biopsies of the colon and stomach. Since the PET scans have come back mostly clear the Dr wanted to verify what was going on inside the tissue. They were unsuccessful with the colonoscopy due to some kind of blockage. The Dr said this could be from a complication of chemo where the colon can depress or get twisted. The biopsy from the stomach showed that the cancer cells are very minimal (at a microscopic level). Joe has another colonoscopy scheduled this AM and the Dr will be using a smaller scope to try to access the colon. If the biopsy comes back clear, Dr Sandre indicated that there may be a possibility for discussing surgery. This is definitely considering outside the normal for a Stage IV diagnosis 9 months ago to be considering surgery that is usually conducted in Stage 1 treatment. Please say some prayers for Joe that the biopsy has good results and to guide him in decisions he may need to make in his treatment in the next few weeks.