I had the privilege to visit with Ben, Daniel, and Scott while we discussed the plight of our Costa Mesa location of the Breakfast Together Outreach. For all that Ben had been through he was looking good and said he was determined to beat cancer. Here is a link to his caring bridge blog if you would like to help pray and follow along with his progress http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/benkeenan
A letter from Ben’s wife posted on Caring Bridge:
Dear family and friends, thank you so much for your continued prayers for Ben. On October 6th, he completed five days of Cyber Knife Treatments in San Diego. We won't know the results of that until sometime in December, when they will take another scan. They have to wait at least two months post-CyberKnife treatment to do the scan to allow time for the inflamed tissue to calm down, otherwise they would get a false reading. In the meantime, he was put back on a chemo regimen after a ten week break. The first week he was to go on chemo, he was unable to receive it because his platelet numbers were way too low, caused by the high dosage of radiation he received. He got it the following week. But, unfortunately, he also got the hiccups following chemo, that have plagued him for the past ten days. Sounds like a trivial side-effect, but when you have them 24/7 on some days, it's very painful, and nauseating, and drives him crazy. The drug he was given last year when he got these, isn't working for this round. Last week, when he went for chemo, he couldn't get it again because his platelets dropped too low. He is supposed to be on a regimen of three weeks on, and one week off, but his Oncologist is going to change that to every other week to allow him to build up his system in between. He's very tired these days and spends much of his time in bed. He's losing weight, down about 50 pounds since his journey began. Fortunately he was a robust guy prior, so he still looks OK. Thanks again for your love, support, phone calls and notes. They mean the world to us. Roberta
A letter from Ben’s wife posted on Caring Bridge:Dear family and friends, thank you so much for your continued prayers for Ben. On October 6th, he completed five days of Cyber Knife Treatments in San Diego. We won't know the results of that until sometime in December, when they will take another scan. They have to wait at least two months post-CyberKnife treatment to do the scan to allow time for the inflamed tissue to calm down, otherwise they would get a false reading. In the meantime, he was put back on a chemo regimen after a ten week break. The first week he was to go on chemo, he was unable to receive it because his platelet numbers were way too low, caused by the high dosage of radiation he received. He got it the following week. But, unfortunately, he also got the hiccups following chemo, that have plagued him for the past ten days. Sounds like a trivial side-effect, but when you have them 24/7 on some days, it's very painful, and nauseating, and drives him crazy. The drug he was given last year when he got these, isn't working for this round. Last week, when he went for chemo, he couldn't get it again because his platelets dropped too low. He is supposed to be on a regimen of three weeks on, and one week off, but his Oncologist is going to change that to every other week to allow him to build up his system in between. He's very tired these days and spends much of his time in bed. He's losing weight, down about 50 pounds since his journey began. Fortunately he was a robust guy prior, so he still looks OK. Thanks again for your love, support, phone calls and notes. They mean the world to us. Roberta