Paul Lopez's Cancer Battle

Paul Anthony Lopez lost his battle with colon cancer Sunday, July 30, 2017 at 8:45am. 

For information on services or to share a memory with Paul's family visit www.davisgreenlawnfh.com.

Paul Lopez was diagnosed with colorectal cancer on his 59th birthday, 12/23/16. He underwent surgery on January 2, 2017 to resect as much tumor as possible. The surgery confirmed Paul had stage 4 colorectal cancer metastases to his liver, lung and lymph nodes. (And later discovered 4 brain tumors and one tumor in his left hip.) The tumors were too large and too many to resect. So instead he was given an ileostomy to allow him to start eating again. Paul spent 15 days in St. Luke's before coming home only to turn around and be admitted 3 days later to Houston Methodist Sugar Land to discover he had cancerous brain tumors. Paul was lucky to find an outstanding oncologist and radiation oncologist within Methodist Sugar Land. He was released within 2 days and began his journey of various procedures and a treatment plan to wage war with cancer. Paul and Bonnie made the decision they did not want to know how long the doctors predicted for him. So, the battle began.  

He had Gama Knife radiation on the brain tumors, a port placed for chemo treatment, 4 more visits to the ER in which one visit found a tumor pressing on his T12 vertebrae causing great pain in his lower back, 2 ER visits ended up in more hospital stays, brain CT scans, brain MRI's, other CT scans and MRI's of his chest, abdomen and pelvis, 2 full body nuclear bone scans, 10 radiation treatments on the tumor at his T12 vertebrae and 6 chemo treatments.  

This ride has been an emotional whirlwind that anyone familiar with someone having cancer can attest. When Paul was diagnosed in December he weighed 145 lbs. His lowest weight so far was 99 lbs. He was dangerously close to having a feeding tube placed in his side to keep his body from deteriorating any further. With the aid of 6 to 8 imodium tablets per day, Paul has been able to keep more nutrition within his body and we are happy to report he is at a whopping 113 lbs. Last week we received awesome news that his brain is cancer free and his overall tumor markers have dropped more than 50% from the original tumor marker reading. So, for the first-time Paul, Bonnie and myself finally see there is a glorious light at the end of the tunnel. He does still have a remaining 1 millimeter in size brain tumor but it is stable for now. Paul will undergo brain MRI's every 3 months to monitor the tumor.

We are asking for donations to assist of course with all the various expenses that come with battling such a horrific disease and insurance doesn't cover.  Paul only recently started eating full meals at least once a day. He continues to rely on Boost or Ensure 4 times a day for his primary nutrition. Takes iron, zinc, magnesium and imodium daily besides other prescribed medication. He has chemo treatments every other week. Daily maintenance of his ileostomy bag (which by the way is named Charlie). So anytime Paul leaves the house his Charlie supply bag goes with him. Gargles 2 to 3 times daily to keep mucositis to a minimum. One hospitalization was for a severe attack of mucositis after starting chemo treatments. There was a GoFundMe account originally set up and raised $3,215. Paul and Bonnie sincerely thank all whom donated to the account, but it was recently closed.  

Paul and Bonnie along with my husband, Joe Rice and myself Laura (Henneke) Rice have been long time friends since high school. In fact, we are god parents for each other’s children. I have been by Paul and Bonnie's side for every procedure and treatment since he was discharged from St. Luke's and will be posting updates on Paul's continued progress. 

All funds received are directly deposited into their bank account and will be applied to the outstanding hospital bills they were required to start paying in March.  

Check back in from time to time to keep up on Paul's progress battling cancer.