Jim Ruttenberg 12/28/2009

Hi all, I first want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts and cards. I am amazed by your concerns and support. Thank God for you my friends and family. We drove to Tampa again today for a consult on the PET SCAN we did last week. The results showed NO cancer anywhere else in my body. This is great news and put our minds at ease for now. After talking to the Docs in Tampa, they still show a blockage in my liver from a "Klatskin Tumor" which effects the drainage of my liver through the ducts. Now, we are going back to Tampa this Thursday for another biopsy to see if we can treat and shrink the blockage.This should be an outpatient procedure starting at 8am so we hope to be on our way back to Cape Coral by noon. We have a journey ahead of us but Deb and I are strong and we are just taking it day by day...We love your posts and read them every day. They mean so much to us. Today, in the next room there was another Klatskin tumor diagonosis...maybe we will have a clinical trial right here in Florida. Please keep praying, it appears God is good and answers our prayers. Please take the time to read Psalm 91, it has been our strength and support. We hope you all had a wondeful Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year. Sincerely, Jim, Deb, Matt, and Brad

10:24pm, Tuesday, Dec. 22nd

Tonight Mom and Dad got home around 7:30....finally. Tears of joy and relief filled the house as we all welcomed them home for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks! It makes us all so happy that we can spend Christmas together at home. As you can imagine Mom wasn't in the cooking mood so we dined over the best Chinese Food dinner we've had in a long time. Tomorrow Dad has a Pet Scan, by orders of the doctors in Tampa. As this case continues to become more and more rare, they insist on continuing to search a few other angles as it would be irresponsible to do anything but. Monday, they will drive back up to Tampa to meet with Dr. Rosemurgy to discuss the results. There is still a "mass" blocking the bile ducts so we need to consider everything. Now that he is discharged we can send his file to Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, etc. Thank you all for your kind comments and keep up the prayers as there is still a long road ahead.

Sunday update

Praise God! The doctors were in this morning and the results of the second biopsy came in showing NO EVIDENCE OF CANCER!!! This is now the second biopsy that shows that the blockage is NOT cancerous. Obviously this is a shock to us and nothing short of a miracle from all your prayers! From the moment we met with the oncologist 3 days ago... a shred of hope returned.

Tomorrow, the doctors are removing the external drains, so that the bile will drain naturally. Obviously, since there is still some "blockage", the stents will remain, and we will be keeping a close watch on the situation. We want to thank everyone for all the prayers and comments. It warms our hearts to know that there are so many of you that care so much. For anyone that has any doubt of the power of prayer, this should put that to rest. This is God's Hands at work! Everyone of you has helped to contribute to God's miracle. Jim asks you take the time to read Psalm 91-this has been our strength. Still keep him in your prayers for the procedure tommorrow and know that Christmas 2009 will be wonderful. We love you all and Merry Christmas to you..the Ruttenbergs

Thursday, 9:22pm

The second biopsy went great. Dad is in a little bit of pain, but not enough to set him back. Not entirely sure, but should be home by Saturday! Thanks again everyone!

Wednesday, 10:33 pm

Hi everyone. Thanks for your continued prayers and comments. You have no idea how much it helps. There hasn't been much in terms of updates, just waiting on dad to be discharged. Hopefully by the weekend. It's great that he'll be home for Christmas. He continues to get better. It looks like they need another biopsy, but that's a quick procedure. We can't get any details on the chemo or radiation until then. We continue to gather info for other locations. Dad's head surgeon, Dr. Rosemurgy, highly recommends Houston.

Tuesday, 11:04 am

Last night the doctors reported to us that they CANNOT operate/remove the tumor. It is too high up in the biliary ducts to safely remove. We just spoke to Dr. Martine Estermann, our Oncologist in the Moffitt Cancer Center. Still waiting for the biopsy results from Friday, should be in the next few days. We are currently getting our hands on quite a few copies of his records, so that we can contact other locations (Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, etc) for second opinions. "FULL COURT PRESS". We asked Dr. Estermann alot of questions for other types of therapies and options. Once they have the full biopsy report, they can be answered. Silver lining: his bile levels are dropping steadily, infection is clearing up, and he's finally back in his private room with a window. Most likely, he'll be discharged by the end of the week.

Monday, 10:04 am from Jim

Hey everybody, just wanted to let everyone know that Matt, Brad and Deb have been reading everyone's comments everyday. Always good for a little chuckle or a smirk!Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I thank God that I have so many good friends. Just been resting here in the ICU. They are taking great care of me. No procedures on Mondays I guess, they will review the films today and tomorrow to make the decision whether or not they can operate. Love you all.

12:34 Sunday the 13th

Jim is sleeping in the ICU still. Last night had a little jump in the heart rate so they wanted to keep him in ICU just a little longer to keep a close eye on him. This keeps me at ease because it's such a great group of people working. Plus, he loves his nurse Lamisa! Other than that, just resting today. Right now, heart rate etc looks stable. We are praying that tomorrow brings good news when the "team" re-evaluates the surgery to remove the tumor. It's wonderful to see all the people praying for him.

6:47 Saturday the 12th....from Brad

Dad's white blood cell count is getting lower...the infection is getting better. The drains are working great and the doctor told us the his "situation" is looking "a little bit better". They are hoping to get him out of ICU in the morning (assuming they can find a room for him) since his heart and infection are looking better. They want to give him 48 hours of rest before they put him through anything else. He can eat and drink anything he wants for the rest of the weekend. After lunch we walked in and he was chugging a large sweet tea from McDonalds! He's been eating fruit, sherbert, etc. Monday the team will re-analyze whether they think the surgery can be done. Keep up the prayers everyone! It means alot. Love you all!

Saturday, 4:20 pm

Dad is still in the ICU. Today's goal: to kick the infection. They're giving him some antibiotics and the new stents are draining the bile very well. He was up standing around, and talking to mom while he sat in his recliner for part of this afternoon. This is pretty good for someone in this unit. More updates later.

Exhausted! 11:30pm Friday

Good evening everyone. Ill give you a quick run down on Dad today... The docs said that he had a very high heart rate this morning and they needed to work on getting it down. They decided to "shock it down" which was very successful. That was quite a scare for us today... after that was taken care of by the very dedicated team of doctors, they decided to move forward with putting in the larger stents to help drain the bile which is causing the infection. That was also successful. Per doctors order... we are back in the hotel resting and looking forward to the results of the procedure and whether they can remove the tumor. Dad is resting in the ICU tonight in good hands. Thank you everyone for all your thoughts and prayers... please understand if we have not returned some of your phone calls. Our cell phones are our main connection to the doctors and we need them as open as possible. Keep the prayer train going... Deb, Brad, and Matt

Latest Update 1:30pm

Ok everyone... Dad went into surgery about 30 mins ago. They are giving him larger stents in order to drain the bile more effectively. We will have an update this evening when we know more. Afterwards they would like to put him into ICU if they have room to keep an eye on his heart rate which is side effect of all thats going on. So thanks to everyone who has sent flowers to his room! Please hold off until furthur notice as we are homeless for the next few hours and they do not allow anything in ICU. Thanks for your prayers... We need as many as possible.

From Brad and Deb

Well, Dad (Jim) went to bed along time ago, and we're soon to follow. He's on antibiotics today to help fight the unknown infection, which is quite common after Tuesdays procedure. Tomorrow is the same procedure that was done on Tuesday. The "radiation intervention" team will be withdrawing the stints slightly (which were put in place to drain the bile). They will then reevaluate the situation to see if they can safely remove the tumor. It's a big day, so please crank up the prayers another level!

Mom and I are going to stop in the hotel sports bar and see how the Brownies are doing. Oddly enough, it's nice to hear dad snoring, so let's hope he gets a good night sleep.

Thanks to all of you that have forwarded to us the information you've found regarding this type of cancer and it's treatments. Plans are already in motion for "Plan B".

from Debbie

What a nightmare. But knowing this enormous web of friends is praying for us and keeping us in your hearts makes me feel stronger. Sometimes I feel it is a bad dream and I will wake up and find that none of this is even real. My boys are my rock. It makes me so proud to see them take control and "do what Jim would do for us"...we will continue to search every avenue no matter where it takes us. We love you all. We are constantly updating Jim whenever anyone contacts us and you have no idea how it warms his heart. He seems better tonight. He is actually talking with the boys about how bad the Browns suck. His procedure on Friday will tell us what our next step will be. Know that the Ruttenberg twins are not giving up! They are awesome. Good night all. Deb

Walking Around

Hey everyone... Dad is up and walking around the hospital. You know how much of a busy body he is? Our next step to pray that he is able to get his surgery on Friday. Yep, surgery is a good thing here... We are fortunate to have one of the best docs for this in the world and he is very aggressive and wont take no for an answer! We will give you an update tomorrow. Sweet dreams pops!

Still sleeping.....

1st Update

Hey everyone, first we just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers during our difficult time. We will be updating this blog whenever we have an update for you.
Jim is in Tampa General Hospital with bile duct cancer. As you can imagine it has been a big shock for us given his healthy manner. At this point they have done surgery to put in stents in his upper bile ducts in order to help drain the bile. That has relieved some of the pressure of the bile building up in his liver and his system. At this point they are waiting on some of the inflammation of the ducts to go down in order to go in and remove the tumor... they will attempt this either on Friday or Monday. Jim is on pain medication at this point and sleeping ALOT! Tomorrow (Thursday) he should be a little more awake and able to talk more. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers... keep 'em coming!