Join Us in Terry's Fight for Life

Here is Terry's story from Bonnie, Terry's wife...

Terry began having back pain this summer. For all of us 50+ folks, you know that a few aches and pains seem normal. He started going to physical therapy that helped some but it never got better. In the fall he consulted a physical medicine doctor that also helped but again things didn’t get better. In January the pain was getting much worse so an MRI was ordered. That’s when everything changed. After an MRI and CT scan it was determined that Terry had an aggressive secondary lesion on L1, a tumor in his small intestine (assumed to be primary) and lesions in his liver. We asked for a referral to Duke and worked to manage his escalating back pain.

On Wednesday, January 22 we had consultations with the Brain/Spine Mets neurosurgeon and the GI oncologist at Duke. The hour ride to Duke was almost unbearable but we made it. We started our day seeing the neurosurgeon who was fantastic. He explained the type of surgery Terry would need and his calm and reassuring manner was a perfect compliment to Terry’s personality. We immediately knew we were in the right place and in the hands of the right doctors. Due to Terry’s uncontrolled pain, a zoom meeting with Pallative Care was scheduled and the thought was an admission to help with pain management was needed. While that was happening we met with Terry’s primary oncologist Dr Hsu to discuss his case. While we waited to be admitted they moved him to a treatment room and started some IV pain meds. We were admitted to the oncology floor that evening.

Pain management got better but Saturday brought new adventures. Terry started feeling nauseous and had lots of stomach pain. A middle of the night CT scan showed a small bowel obstruction from the tumor. The GI oncology surgeon took him into surgery on Sunday afternoon and removed the obstruction which included the tumor. All of his teams consulted and determined he could move forward with the spinal surgery on Monday morning. Thankfully Terry’s brother and sister flew in to be with us and sat with me during the spinal surgery.

The surgery was successful. They removed L1, a good amount of the tumor, decompressed the nerve and stabilized his spine. Another big surgery but Terry showed everyone just how strong and determined he is.

Tuesday was supposed to be a “pool” day where we would rest and try sitting up. PT and OT came and Terry sat in the recliner for about an hour. Tuesday afternoon the pool day was interrupted when his O2 stats went down and another CT scan was ordered which found blood clots in his lung. Terry had the trifecta, he’s been laying down for over a week, had two major surgeries and as a cancer patient is more susceptible to lung blood clots. After several multi disciplinary consultations and an echocardiogram the team decided the blood clots were small enough to watch and didn’t need immediate intervention. Due to his spinal surgery and the potential for a clot at the surgical site which could cause complications such as paralysis, the neurosurgical team wanted to hold off on heparin since it wasn’t a life threatening situation. Once his drain is removed from his back he will start the heparin.

Yesterday was actually a pool day, clear sky, no rain in sight. Terry got up and walked 28 feet! Today’s goal is to get up three times to walk.

Please continue praying for our family. I’ll do my best to continue updating as we get news. https://www.caringbridge.org/site/89f504e5-df16-11ef-b7aa-718ef90e7f77?from=%2Fsearch&fname=Terry

We are so incredibly thankful for our family, church community and friends who have rallied around us. We feel you! Thank you for taking care of Hannah and Lucy so I can stay at Duke with Terry. This is a marathon and we are in mile 1 but we will move forward as a family and fight this cancer with everything we’ve got. The people at Duke are amazing. I know my light blue and red folks are cringing reading that but we are eternally grateful for these men and women who are walking along side us. We love you all.

Bonnie