Bikers Paying It Forward: Chris Wilson

Each of our Pay It Forwards have a story & each story has some incredible people involved just like "A LOVE STORY STRONGER THAN CANCER"

If you are not familiar with the Wilson family then please take a moment to read their story on our website under our Pay It Forward tab. Here is the link: theorneryone.com/2020 We wanted to give you an update over the past year.

Update on Chris:

Throughout 2021, Chris continued chemotherapy. This therapy has not helped the new implant of cancer in the rectum. He has also had surgery every 2-3 months to replace stents to help with kidney function. The new(ish) tumor that was pressing against the ureter (the tube that transports urine from kidney to bladder) was invaded by cancer. We just learned yesterday 3/4, that left kidney is functioning at 80-85% and his right is functioning at 15-20%. He suspects that when Chris was on the hardcore chemotherapy for that year and a half- two years, it caused some damage. This explains why he had began having issues with stones and uric acid crystals after surgery in 2020. He said the inside of the kidney looks great, but the outside, the muscle is damaged and causing it not to function properly. He is worried about trying to reconstruct the ureter because of the area and if there was ever a need for radiation, it could destroy the work that they do. His goal is to reconnect the ureter, however that is impossible to know before going in. If he can’t, he feels it would be best to just remove the kidney.

Chris will be having surgery on 3/25. During this procedure, the colorectal surgeon will be removing the tumor that formed on the rectal stump. She will remove all of the large intestine and close up the fistula. The ileostomy will stay in place (where liquid stool will come out of the stomach and into a bag). She will attempt to do this robotically but cannot guarantee that will be successful given all the work she had to do in 2020 and the possibility of scar tissue. We are fervently praying that she can do it robotically. If not, she would have to open him up again, sternum to pubis (chest to pubic area), which has risks, a harder recovery, like last time, many unknowns. Then when she is done, the urologist will go in. He is likely to open Chris up umbilicus to pubis (belly button to pubic). He likes to visualize and be able to palpate (touch/feel) the tissue to distinguish healthy tissue from cancerous tissue. He also said that the location that the cancer invaded the ureter makes it difficult to do robotically. Once he is in and can see what’s going on, he will call me and give me options to decide what to do or what he has to do. If they do end up reconstructing, it’s a longer recovery/longer stay in the hospital. I pray that they can reconnect and leave the kidney… my thoughts are that even if it’s only functioning at 20%, at least it’s helping the left side along. Though, there is a possibility that Chris will need to continue to have stents. Really it’s a hard decision because there are positive and negative outcomes for any choice we make.

Additional update 3/4: we got Chris’s medical records. The latest scan from 2/25 showed the tumor in the pelvis getting larger and there was a lymph node significantly larger than normal. The tumor in the pelvis hasn’t responded to the treatment he has been on since December 2020. They did the biopsy of the ureter and it does show adenocarinoma (with markers indicating colorectal cancer), but it is not the same as the HER2/Neu ( biomarker or DNA) of the original cancer.

The metastasis to the liver are HER2/Neu… and even though Chris hasn’t had treatment since January, the liver mets continue to decrease in size 🙌🏼 because it is an immunologic agent.

Please pray that this new tumor is fully removed without cell implant, for there to be no new metastasis. And for the treatment needed after surgery for the pelvis to not negatively affect the kidneys (YES KIDNEYS, because I am praying and hoping for him to keep both).

As far as my job goes- I am looking for work. The problem I have is the uncertainty of cancer. We are trying our best to live in today and not worry about tomorrow… but, something may come up where I need time off. The way it looks, it may work out in our best interest… The position I am currently in will no longer exist within the next 30 days. I possibly have an option to transfer or this could be my opportunity to go elsewhere. I love my job and the people I work with…. I’m sad to go, but thankfully it’s because Covid is going waaay down (YAY!) Right now, I do Pre-procedural Covid testing, Pre-Admission testing, and working recovery on the endoscopy suite. I’ve only been averaging 25ish hours a week (without missing work), which has been hard financially. There has been a lot of missed work due to Chris’s appointments, a hospital stay, Jacob’s health and hospital stay, and then I ended up sick. I have been blessed by my opportunity though, as I have been able to grow as a nurse and work in different areas of healthcare. After Chris has this and we get through that, things should *hopefully and prayerfully* calm down. There will be a long hospital stay and recovery, but we are believing that things will be calmed down afterwards. Hopefully, I will have something lined up to jump into after all that. I do love CoxHealth, so transferring would work out great since I’m there… if I can find something that fits, but I am also weighing options to stay closer to home.

Anyway, thank you to all who have kept up, prayed, encouraged, and supported us. We are approaching 4 years into this battle. Thank you for standing with us. We aren’t ready to back down and we hope you won’t either!"

Here is the YouTube link about Chris & Shanah Wilson: https://youtu.be/GWya6Px-PLo

Here is the GoFundMe link to help Chris & Shanah Wilson: https://gofund.me/d9fb05a3

Please, we ask that if you can help support Chris Wilsons fight against cancer to please donate, share, like, comment or simply send a positive vibe their way! Thank you guys so much for the love & support that has already been poured out to this family!!

We are all in this together!!

Our Pay It Forwards are not a one time story as it effects the life of an individual & in Chris Wilson's situation; it is the whole family that is fighting!!

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