Hello all. The past several days have been tough for dad and all of us. Last week, mom and dad were out getting some lunch when dad pretty much lost all of his strength while getting out of the car and he had a bad fall in the parking lot. The fall shook him up a bit and mom decided to call Dr. O's office to see if they needed to do anything. Dr. O went ahead and bumped up dad's scheduled CT scan (originally scheduled for May 6) to last Thursday and they added in an MRI. So, dad had both done on Thursday. Well, we got the results today in an appointment with Dr. O. It appears that the latest round of chemo has not been having much affect at all on the existing cancerous spots (save some reduced swelling around the areas on his brain). Unfortunately, this isn't the worst of the news. There are at least 2 more cancerous spots on his brain now. One is on the left side and another is on the right side of the cerebellum. Dr. O noted that the spot on the cerebellum could be what is causing him to fall (he had another fall yesterday as well). Additionally, the cancer has continue to spread in his abdomen. Dr. O mentioned that there are "several" new spots on his spleen and his kidneys in addition to what was already there. Dr. O presented a treatment option of one final type of chemo to be taken in conjunction with Temodar. This is pretty much the last form of chemo available for dad to use. The chemo treatment will begin soon, but it had to wait for dad to get a blood transfusion this afternoon as his blood counts were quite low. The blood transfusion was successful and by late afternoon, mom and dad were on their way home for dad to get some much needed rest.
Friends, I wish I had better news. Unfortunately, I do not. While dad is still battling bravely, he's tired a lot more often than he used to be. He's also scarred as he realizes that this is a battle that he's probably not going to win. That's very hard for me to type. At this point, dad is fighting to get as many days as he possibly can.
I'm not really sure what is the "appropriate" thing to say right now. I simply ask that you will lift dad and our entire family up in prayer asking that God will provide comfort and guidance to use in the days ahead. Thank you for your continued support.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Chemo Today
All,
Dad's visit to the doctor yesterday showed that his blood counts had come up a good bit. Dr. O decided to give him a shot that boosts the blood counts even further and as a result, he was lined up for chemo today at Rex Hospital. I just spoke with mom a short while ago and she said that things are going well with today's round of chemo. He should be there until about 4 p.m. today wrapping things up with it. If the past chemo sessions are any indicator, the next few days will have dad sleeping a lot and in a little bit of pain, but he generally starts to come around about 3-4 days after the treatment. Dr. O did go ahead and schedule a CT scan for May 6 to see what the situation looks like in the chest cavity area. Obviously, we ask for your prayers for this situation and wisdom for the doctors to know how to treat disease. Additionally, please pray that God will provide dad with as much comfort and rest as possible. Thanks!
Dad's visit to the doctor yesterday showed that his blood counts had come up a good bit. Dr. O decided to give him a shot that boosts the blood counts even further and as a result, he was lined up for chemo today at Rex Hospital. I just spoke with mom a short while ago and she said that things are going well with today's round of chemo. He should be there until about 4 p.m. today wrapping things up with it. If the past chemo sessions are any indicator, the next few days will have dad sleeping a lot and in a little bit of pain, but he generally starts to come around about 3-4 days after the treatment. Dr. O did go ahead and schedule a CT scan for May 6 to see what the situation looks like in the chest cavity area. Obviously, we ask for your prayers for this situation and wisdom for the doctors to know how to treat disease. Additionally, please pray that God will provide dad with as much comfort and rest as possible. Thanks!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Status Update: April 15
Hello all,
I wanted to bring you up-to-date on a few things that have taken place with dad in the last week or so. As dad has been going through the latest round of chemo, the doctor has been keeping a close eye on his blood counts. As many of you are familiar, this isn't unusual as chemo is quite literally destroying the red blood cells in your body along with pretty much everything else as it attempts to fight the cancerous cells. Dad has been doing quite well, but a couple of weeks ago, his counts were beginning to decrease. Dr. O tried a shot that aims to boost the cell counts, but that didn't make the kind of difference she was looking for. So, last week, dad had a blood transfusion. The procedure was rather straight-forward and dad was back home and resting later in the day. Since then, his energy levels have risen a bit, so we're hopeful that it has made a difference. However, when they did the transfusion, the medical team had a hard time finding a vein to work with. In fact, the last couple of chemo treatments have been quite painful for dad because of this same situation. So, Dr. O recommended putting in a port. For anyone that isn't familiar, a port is a device implanted in the body that allows for needles to be inserted so that blood can be drawn, chemo can be administered and anything else that happens via a needle can be done in a less painful way. So, now, instead of the medical team searching for a vein, they will go straight to the port to do whatever is necessary. The port was inserted yesterday (putting it in involves a minor surgical procedure) on the upper-right side of dad's chest and he was back home yesterday afternoon.
So, we move on to today. Dad is going back to Dr. O today to check his blood counts. If they are high enough, he will likely have his next round of chemo tomorrow (Thursday). So, I ask that each of you be in prayer for dad's comfort, for wisdom for the doctor/medical team and for God's guidance on how best to proceed.
Thank you once again for your continued support and prayers. If you get the chance, please leave a comment on this blog or give mom & dad a call to let them know that you are standing with them during this time.
Have a wonderful day!
I wanted to bring you up-to-date on a few things that have taken place with dad in the last week or so. As dad has been going through the latest round of chemo, the doctor has been keeping a close eye on his blood counts. As many of you are familiar, this isn't unusual as chemo is quite literally destroying the red blood cells in your body along with pretty much everything else as it attempts to fight the cancerous cells. Dad has been doing quite well, but a couple of weeks ago, his counts were beginning to decrease. Dr. O tried a shot that aims to boost the cell counts, but that didn't make the kind of difference she was looking for. So, last week, dad had a blood transfusion. The procedure was rather straight-forward and dad was back home and resting later in the day. Since then, his energy levels have risen a bit, so we're hopeful that it has made a difference. However, when they did the transfusion, the medical team had a hard time finding a vein to work with. In fact, the last couple of chemo treatments have been quite painful for dad because of this same situation. So, Dr. O recommended putting in a port. For anyone that isn't familiar, a port is a device implanted in the body that allows for needles to be inserted so that blood can be drawn, chemo can be administered and anything else that happens via a needle can be done in a less painful way. So, now, instead of the medical team searching for a vein, they will go straight to the port to do whatever is necessary. The port was inserted yesterday (putting it in involves a minor surgical procedure) on the upper-right side of dad's chest and he was back home yesterday afternoon.
So, we move on to today. Dad is going back to Dr. O today to check his blood counts. If they are high enough, he will likely have his next round of chemo tomorrow (Thursday). So, I ask that each of you be in prayer for dad's comfort, for wisdom for the doctor/medical team and for God's guidance on how best to proceed.
Thank you once again for your continued support and prayers. If you get the chance, please leave a comment on this blog or give mom & dad a call to let them know that you are standing with them during this time.
Have a wonderful day!
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