Doctor Visit

Dad went and saw the P.A. at the Oncologists yesterday. Overall it wasnt too bad, better than I had prepared myself for. He had the CT scan and the MRI during the week. The CT scan showed he is in "stable" status. In medical terms that means he is in a holding pattern, the cancer has no significant growth but it also has not backed off any. There is some minimal increased swelling in his lymph nodes. It was pointed out too, that when the cancer starts growing again it will be more aggressive.

The MRI showed that there is bone erosion at about the L2 level of his spine. This means the cancer is eating away at the bone tissue in his spine just below waist level, at this point there is no spinal compression - the cancer has not intruded into his spinal column to push on his spinal cord. (when spinal compression occurs, it can cause sensation loss &/or paralysis) It was recommended he have radiation treatments on that area for pain management. Typically people will have 10 treatments, it can be either injected or giving externally. He will be evaluated by a radiation specialist and we will know more then. I am going to try to go to that appointment. After he has the radiation, they will figure out which clinical trial would be appropriate for him. Two were suggested at this point, but I will look into them and post what I can about them later.
He also has a really disgusting oozing infected mass on his finger that he needs to go have a surgeon drain on Monday and be on an antibiotic for 28 days. I will say it is one of the nastiest things I have ever seen.

I plan on reading the written CT scan & MRI reports on Sunday when I go out there and post anything new/different I read. We will be going Sunday to celebrate his birthday early as I will be out of town on his real birthday on the 21st. He will be the big 5-6! wOOhOO!

On the good side, he still has all his humor! He was bragging that he got a roadrunner bandaid from the blood draw, so I told him is was sexy and he would surely be fighting off all the 8 year old girls at the grocery store. I also teased him about that yucky thing on his "typing" finger, so he holds up his middle finger and says "no, THIS is my typing finger" so I said "ok, smart guy I'm posting THAT on the blog!" A few minutes later he says "well, my finger was fine until this happened" So my sister Samantha pipes up and says "sure, so is my toe before I stub it too" I know studid things, but humor helps a lot.

So keep up the prayers and good thoughts, they seem to be working!