This page is dedicated for those who wish to keep up on the Barry's battle against cancer, receive current updates, events and future events.
the Dr. recent findings for the severe back pain Barry has been dealing with over the last 6 months. He has has chronic back pain for over 10 years, how ever the most current is totally unrelated. Problems first started to arise when he had strained a muscle back in October of 2011, which at the time no one would have correlated the 2 to go hand and hand. Along with being a father to 2 beautiful twin babies, a lot of the ailments he had been noticing were common in the parenting process. Lack of sleep, loss of weight, loss of appetite. All contributing factors to teething & growing babies. In late november signs of tightness in chest muscles & joints became prevalent. As getting into early december signs of what seemed like reflux, indigestion and a tight esophogus, which to common believe stressful holiday season and the starting of a new job in the new year. So after starting his new job and getting settled in to the swing of the new routine of life. A blessing in disguise had occured on his wifes birthday. Barry had fallen down the steps running down the stairs to retrieve a bottle for their babies, which he had slipped, fell & injured his back. So as any normal man does, he continued forth and went on dealing with the pain. Ruining his wifes birthday due to extreme pain and she had worked 16 hours the night before.
so the begining of february came around and the pain was unbearable. Barry went to get an mri on his lumbar spine and they found 2 herniated discs L4/L5 & L5/S1, and not a typical herniation. both sides of the disc. He started forth with physical therapy & a spinal injection to expeditie the recovery. However the persistent numbness, tingling & loss of feeling in the right abdomen and back were still puzzling to the dr & therpist. After 2 months of therapy and no lumbar pain at all what so ever it was time to get another scan. Set forth back to the dr to get an MRI on the thoracic region of Barry's spine where a growth or mass was discoverd but was still unclear as more imaging had to be done to verify.
He has cat scan w/ contrast Sunday performed April 8th, (Easter) which revealed the size of the tumor. They than performed a biopsy on the specimen on Monday Aril 9th, followed by an MRI with contrast Tuesday April 10th, to end with an endoscopy on Wednesday April 11th . Endoscopy is normal. On wednesday April 11th after speaking with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, we sent them copies of the final reports and they demanded Barry come to NYC the next day to consult with a neruologist to make sure the tumor had not grown towards the brain or any other regions. After arriving in NYC on Thursday April 12th. The neurologist evaluated the images that had been brought on disc & concluded immediate action be taken. The tumor had already occupied 40% of Barry's spinal canal which was very close to causing paralysis or more severe neurological damage. So after discussion it was up to the 9th floor which is the cancer center. Barry than met with a team of cancer dr & the findings were discussed. They performed blood work & informed everyone with an over baring amount of info. So after consulting with the dr, it was said that Barry had to be back to Sloan Kettering in NYC the following day Friday April 13th, where he had bone marrow tests done and my Medi port for IV fluids and chemo put into his chest.
The tumor runs vertically in the spinal canal, his descending aorta is encased in it, and it is wrapped around his esophagus. The tumor also has a tail piece that loops out into the side of my T9 & T10 vertebrae, which is what has been causing the numbness/tingling and loss of feeling in the right abdomen/back area. The tumor was to the point where is was physically displacing the spinal cord to the left. The tumor 15.5 x7.9 x9.8cm - vertical, side to side, front to back in size. The good new is the cancer is not in any organs and all are functioning the way they are supposed to.
The bone marrow tests have came back with good results as of 4/23/12, The tracable amounts are not large enough for any further concern's at this point, which means it has not spread at large.
To Show Support to the Burgoyne Family while they continue to battle the their fight against Ewing Sarcoma Cancer
http://www.barryburgoynecancerfund.info
Follow Barry on Twitter @BarrysSarcoma
