July 17 Update

On June 15, Margaret had a colonoscopy that showed she has a malignant tumor in her colon. She has had a CT scan and a PET scan since then, which have produced good news and bad news. The good news is that the she has no cancer cells in her liver, lungs, or anywhere else outside her pelvic region. The bad news is:

• It appears that the tumor in her colon has grown through the colon wall into other nearby tissues and lymph nodes.

• She has an additional malignant tumor outside the colon in the lower rear part of her pelvic region.

Because it is uncertain whether the tumor in the lower rear part of her pelvic region is colon cancer that has spread or it is another type of cancer, she had a biopsy of that tumor on July 11. We have not yet learned the findings from the biopsy.

On July 13, Margaret and I met with an oncologist. He told us that he cannot make a final diagnosis until he has received and analyzed the biopsy findings. If it is colon cancer, his treatment plan will be:

• Chemotherapy combined with radiation treatments for six weeks to kill cancer cells and shrink the tumors

• Surgery in September to remove the tumors and nearby lymph nodes

• Chemotherapy from October through February to kill any cancer cells that are left

If it is not colon cancer, the treatment plan will be different. We hope to know later today or tomorrow.