- Pin it
- SubscribeUnsubscribe
- Embed
Janine Bruns hasn't added a story.
Michael & Bridget's Story
On Saturday, January 11, 2014, after having severe pain and no results from previous doctoring to fix the problem, Michael went to the emergency room at Hutchinson Health. After checking him out it was decided that a CAT scan needed to be done. This scan showed a large cancerous tumor in his rectum as well as many other tumors throughout his liver, lungs and lymph nodes.
A team of doctors was immediately assembled that included doctors and oncologists at Hutchinson Health as well as Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Twin Cities. These doctors worked together to decide the best way to begin the battle against this cancer. After discussing various options, it was decided that rather than removing the large tumor, we needed to begin chemo as soon as possible to try to control and shrink the existing cancer. This meant immediate surgery to reroute Michaels colon so that he could regain normal bowel movements, as the cancer tumor was blocking 90% of his rectal opening.
On Tuesday, January 14th, Michael underwent surgery at the Hutchinson Hospital. His colon was rerouted to the outside of his body, on the left hand side of his lower abdomen. He now uses a colostomy bag. This is a procedure that can be undone if we were able to get rid of the rectal tumor, but more than likely will not be done. He also had a port placed on his right side, near his collar bone, for chemotherapy. The port will stay in place for approximately 2 years. The surgery went well and Michael recovered in the hospital until Friday, January 17th. We then headed home for a 2 to 3 week recovery.
His first week home was filled with doctor appointments. His first PET Scan was done on Monday, January 20th. The PET Scan is similar to a CAT scan, but with more detail. The images come back in color and give us a better of idea of where exactly all the cancer is. He will be having many more of these in the future to monitor how the chemotherapy is effecting the cancer. On Tuesday, January 21st, a biopsy was taken of the Michaels liver. This biopsy was performed to see if the cancer in his liver was indeed the same cancer as the rest of his body.
On Tuesday, January 28th, we met with the oncologist in Hutch, Dr. Kambal. He went through all the scans, blood tests and biopsies that Michael has had in great detail. But he also confirmed what we had been told previously by the other doctors. Because of the amount of cancer in Michaels body, this cancer will not be curable. He explained that our only option at this point would be to begin chemotherapy as soon as possible to help Michael live as long as possible. Our hopes would be that the chemo would shrink the current tumors as well as stop the cancer from further spreading in his body. Devastating news for both Michael and I. Dr. Kambal was glad to hear that we had already scheduled an appointment with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for a second opinion.
So that's were we are today. It is Thursday, January 30th and we have checked in to the Mayo clinic and Michael had blood taken early this morning. We have an appointment at 1:00pm today to meet with the doctors in the Gastroenterology Oncology department. We are hopeful that they will recommend the same treatment as Dr. Kambal did. This will give us reassurance that the chemo route suggested to us is the right choice.
Michael is young, 30 years old. Besides the cancer he is in good health. This is great advantage for him. We have a huge battle ahead of us and we are going to give it our all and fight as hard as we can. Thank you EVERYONE for your continued prayers!
Highlights
See all activity33Activity
Delete media item?
Delete this item from the media gallery? It will also be deleted from any related story update.
Set as ?
The campaign video will appear in social media and email.
The campaign cover picture will appear in social media and email.
The will appear at the top of your campaign page and in social media and email.
Reset ?
It will be removed from the top of your campaign and won't be used as default in social media and email. The will remain in the media gallery.
Embed
Share a link
Delete update
Delete this story update?
Any pictures or videos will remain in the campaign's media gallery.
Report campaign
Report submitted
Thank you. We take reports like yours very seriously. Our goal is to keep the community safe.
Please know that we may contact you for more information, but that we won't notify you personally of our decision. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Thank you. We've already received your previous report. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Tell us about the problem. Please fill in both fields below.
Record a video
Upload a video
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Take a minute or two to record one now. Record a short video message of support. Or upload one from your device. You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Upload a short video message of support. Upload a short video message of support. Or record one right now.
- Most effective video length: about a minute.
- Maximum length: 5 min.
- You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Heads up! The existing video will be replaced.
Email your friends
Join our team
Tell people why our cause matters to you. Your personal message will encourage others to help. Easy, effective, optional.
Say it in video
Short personal videos by supporters like you are incredibly powerful. Record one right now and you'll help us raise more money. Easy, optional, effective.
Add a personal goal
Set a personal fundraising goal. You'll encourage more contributions if you do. And rest easy. There's no obligation to achieve your goal or bad consequences if you don't. Easy, optional, effective.
We have a video!
Video thumbnail
We'd love to show you our campaign video. Want to take a look?
, you're already on the team.