Well, I just want to say that Gilda's Club is a very good organization and I wished the Holland extension was opening sooner so the rest of may family could see what a nice place it is.
Thought of the blog:
We all have a fear of the unknown, what one does with that fear will make all the difference in the world.
-Lillian Russell (American actress & singer in the late 1800's - early 1900's)
And p.s. - I think I REALLY may need one of these for work!!!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/8bc4/
Thank you for all the great thoughts and prayers - PLEASE KEEP THEM UP, THEY HAVE OBVIOUSLY HELPED THUS FAR!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
We (me & my children) went to visit for a while today. My son was being a poophead - I was told he was actually just being a boy. (very busy and testing me a lot)
Anyway, Dad was not feeling his best today. His back was sore, but he was still in good spirits. The steroids are done now so he will have to take more pain pills. He had a bad day a while ago, he has new appreciation for detoxing drug addicts. The radiation was reducing his pain so he didn't take his pain pills - not such a good idea to quit cold-turkey like that. He is worried about his consistent weight loss, he is even eating more to try to compensate. He is losing 1-2 pounds a week and we know that is probably not a good sign.
He will be getting another bone scan, which I hope to post an image, the same day he gets his new CT scan. (March 12th) We see the Oncologist on the 16th and we should have the results of both scans that day. We should also know if he qualifies for the clinical trial. They had to check to see if there was enough tissue left from his liver biopsy from June to test for the marker on the cancer cells. The marker must be present for him to be eligible. If there is not enough tissue, they will have to do another biopsy. He also has to wait at least two weeks after radiation is done. He said he wishes he didn't have to wait so long - I think if it was up to him he would start tomorrow.
He said he has already signed the consent forms to be part of it if he qualifies. I have to say I am worried as well. There are many, many possible risks and side effects to it - about 6-8 pages of them and one sentence under "benefits".
So that is what I know. We are so fortunate we are getting "extra" time to spend with him. He is very fortunate to be as well as he is at this stage of things.
He said if he wants to know how he is feeling, he will check this blog....SO DAD, YOU FEEL GREAT!!!
He said some of you have tried to post comments and either are having difficulty or do not know how. You are always welcome to email me directly by clicking on "view my profile", then there is an email link. I can post your comment or tell you how. You should just be able to click on post comment, I changed it a while ago so you do not have to register to post. You do have to type in some random letters to verify because I had a spam comment and I don't want spam comments.
Anyway, Dad was not feeling his best today. His back was sore, but he was still in good spirits. The steroids are done now so he will have to take more pain pills. He had a bad day a while ago, he has new appreciation for detoxing drug addicts. The radiation was reducing his pain so he didn't take his pain pills - not such a good idea to quit cold-turkey like that. He is worried about his consistent weight loss, he is even eating more to try to compensate. He is losing 1-2 pounds a week and we know that is probably not a good sign.
He will be getting another bone scan, which I hope to post an image, the same day he gets his new CT scan. (March 12th) We see the Oncologist on the 16th and we should have the results of both scans that day. We should also know if he qualifies for the clinical trial. They had to check to see if there was enough tissue left from his liver biopsy from June to test for the marker on the cancer cells. The marker must be present for him to be eligible. If there is not enough tissue, they will have to do another biopsy. He also has to wait at least two weeks after radiation is done. He said he wishes he didn't have to wait so long - I think if it was up to him he would start tomorrow.
He said he has already signed the consent forms to be part of it if he qualifies. I have to say I am worried as well. There are many, many possible risks and side effects to it - about 6-8 pages of them and one sentence under "benefits".
So that is what I know. We are so fortunate we are getting "extra" time to spend with him. He is very fortunate to be as well as he is at this stage of things.
He said if he wants to know how he is feeling, he will check this blog....SO DAD, YOU FEEL GREAT!!!
He said some of you have tried to post comments and either are having difficulty or do not know how. You are always welcome to email me directly by clicking on "view my profile", then there is an email link. I can post your comment or tell you how. You should just be able to click on post comment, I changed it a while ago so you do not have to register to post. You do have to type in some random letters to verify because I had a spam comment and I don't want spam comments.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Half-baked!
The radiation machine has been broken a few times, so does that mean he is only half-baked at this point? (groan, am I my father's daughter or what)
Thought of the Blog:
If there is a God, whence proceed so many evils? If there is no God, whence cometh any good?
-Boethius (Roman statesman and philosopher)
Thought of the Blog:
If there is a God, whence proceed so many evils? If there is no God, whence cometh any good?
-Boethius (Roman statesman and philosopher)
Friday, February 02, 2007
Pissed off Cancer & a bag of Zometa
Well, it is official - THE CANCER IS PISSED! and I say GOOD!! (It's a big jerk in my book anyway) We didn't get a letter from it or anything, but it is making its feelings known by the pain it is causing dad. Apparently the concensus is that the radiation is making the cancer "mad", so one of the side effects dad is feeling is pain. Hopefully it will pass like most of the symptoms of the chemo did. He starts getting pain about 1 1/2 hours after his treatment. He said it was really bad last night - and if he says its bad it must be horrible. So, point for dad - he pissed it off!
Now for the Oncology appointment summary....
He was given paperwork/consent form for the clinical trial. It explains all possible side effects and such. I found it interesting that there is 4-5 pages of possible side effects and two sentences about the possible benefits..."may shrink cancerous tumors". So below I posted a link about the trial, but basically it is this:
It is a trial to test is the drug Centuximab (Erbitux) will do more in combination with the chemo drugs Docetaxel or Pemetrexed. Centuximad has already shown promise with colon, head & neck cancer; now they want to know if it will help shrink tumors of late stage lung cancer. What that drug basically does is attack a "marker" on the surface of the cancel to prevent it from reproducing. The way it works as dad's name is placed into a "lotttery" with others and a computer randomly chooses who gets only the chemo drug and who gets the combination of the new drug & chemo.
If he is chosen for the combo, he will have the chemo drug every 3 weeks and the other every one week. If not, just the chemo drug every 3 weeks. He said "so I will be a statistic" but we agreed he is a statistic anyway. I just hopes he looks very closely at all the information and makes an informed desicion. No matter what I will support him and I hope you will all too.
link to trial info:
http://www.cancer.gov/search/ViewClinicalTrials.aspx?cdrid=405843&protocolsearchid=3017043&version=patient
He will also start a steroid called Decadron to help with pain, he is hesitant about raising dosage of his patch until the radiation is done. (but I am glad he is doing something because I don't like seeing him in pain)
He had to have the med today for his hemo - it was a little low.
So, that is all I know for now. Everyone stay warm & stay home tomorrow if you can!
Now for the Oncology appointment summary....
He was given paperwork/consent form for the clinical trial. It explains all possible side effects and such. I found it interesting that there is 4-5 pages of possible side effects and two sentences about the possible benefits..."may shrink cancerous tumors". So below I posted a link about the trial, but basically it is this:
It is a trial to test is the drug Centuximab (Erbitux) will do more in combination with the chemo drugs Docetaxel or Pemetrexed. Centuximad has already shown promise with colon, head & neck cancer; now they want to know if it will help shrink tumors of late stage lung cancer. What that drug basically does is attack a "marker" on the surface of the cancel to prevent it from reproducing. The way it works as dad's name is placed into a "lotttery" with others and a computer randomly chooses who gets only the chemo drug and who gets the combination of the new drug & chemo.
If he is chosen for the combo, he will have the chemo drug every 3 weeks and the other every one week. If not, just the chemo drug every 3 weeks. He said "so I will be a statistic" but we agreed he is a statistic anyway. I just hopes he looks very closely at all the information and makes an informed desicion. No matter what I will support him and I hope you will all too.
link to trial info:
http://www.cancer.gov/search/ViewClinicalTrials.aspx?cdrid=405843&protocolsearchid=3017043&version=patient
He will also start a steroid called Decadron to help with pain, he is hesitant about raising dosage of his patch until the radiation is done. (but I am glad he is doing something because I don't like seeing him in pain)
He had to have the med today for his hemo - it was a little low.
So, that is all I know for now. Everyone stay warm & stay home tomorrow if you can!
Radiation
I hear that Dad started his radiation yesterday and will have another treatment today before the Oncology appt. So if my addition is correct, he should have the last of the 15 treaments on Feb 21st. I will let you all know what/if anything happens at the appointment today.
Keep warm everyone!
Keep warm everyone!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Tiny update
Dad goes today for the radiation "dry-run" - he said the machine was broken yesterday. He thinks if all is well they may start today but he doesn't know for sure.
We did see him Sunday, I could tell he was hurting. He said he was getting over one of his back "migranes" and was moving slow. Also was not in his normal humor.
As far as I know, Oncology appt. is still on for 3pm tomorrow and I am still planning on going. I will not get to post until late Friday night or Saturday. I promise I will as soon as I can.
Take care everyone and drive safe!
We did see him Sunday, I could tell he was hurting. He said he was getting over one of his back "migranes" and was moving slow. Also was not in his normal humor.
As far as I know, Oncology appt. is still on for 3pm tomorrow and I am still planning on going. I will not get to post until late Friday night or Saturday. I promise I will as soon as I can.
Take care everyone and drive safe!
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