Cancer Journey Begin Date - 11/4/11. Cancer Journey End Date???
It's kind of sad when you remember certain things based on hospital stay dates, oncologist dates, radiatioin begin dates...etc.
I think we did pretty good in the beginning of keeping things positive and not letting the 'cancer diagnosis' rule our life, attitudes or happiness. Don't get me wrong, dad's treatment and well being was our priority, but we also found ways to keep things positive and light hearted and continued to celebrate the good things life brought. Lately, however, I can't get through the day without thinking about how the disease and it's treatment have cheated our family.
Lots of things have changed in the last few months.... Dad's condition has taken a turn for the worse. Why?
No one can give us the exact reasons but based on recent visits with his primary oncologist and radiation oncologist there could be several factors at work here. Duh...really? I think I could have pretty much came up with the same lists of reasons they did...because even though I am not a doctor I could play one on TV. Really...I just need the white coat and stethescope!
We would like to (and certainly have) blame the radiation. Unfortunately looks like it could be other things as well. For those of you that read Amy's blog you will note that I am
- Somnolence syndrome – while this occurs mostly in children and to a very specific degree of onset to the time it will end, this is a possibility for Dad’s confusion. And if this is the case, we should start seeing some improvement very soon.
- MRI – is it clear or not? We are still not sure what we heard. The doctor said that there was a large area that appeared abnormal; does that mean that the gray area is hiding cancer cells? We don’t know. It could very well be scarring from the cancer treatments. The doctor did not have a chance to view the scans prior to our visit because some program was down. Meanwhile this appointment has been on the books for almost 8 weeks....hello...
- Dementia v. Delirium – We do not have Dementia. This is good. Dementia cannot be reversed. Delirium is a stage. It goes with that Somnolence Syndrome. The oncologist is scheduling an appointment with a Neurologist and we hope to get more info at that time.
- Lab work – Dad’s kidney function set off alarm bells last week. This is not surprising considering how little he takes in. He received a polite little pep talk about increasing his fluids to avoid dialysis. We’ve begged and pleaded and Juju (that's me Julie) threatened waterboarding...no lie. Fingers crossed Dad picked up on the urgency and we will see better results next lab test. HOWEVER, we believe that the phone call from our Radiation Oncologist just might have prompted the Primary Oncologist to be a little more proactive. Mom got a phone call the next day to have dad brought in for IV hydration. Good call docs!
- Weight – 30 lbs in 3 months. Not a diet any of us want to be on. (Though, I, Julie, should probably be on) We think we have found something that is helping. Dad has the munchies… make your own inference. Lol!
- Favorite daughter – While the doctor was testing some of Dad’s cognitive functions with questions, Amy had to jump in and ask the most important one, “Who is your favorite daughter, Pops.” He looked at the doctor and grinned and said he knew better than to answer that. Yep, that’s my Daddy!
- Praise for the family – The doctor made it very clear to Dad that he has the best care-takers working around the clock to make sure he stays safe and are nurturing him back to health (the praise goes to MOM!!! She is our family Angel). He said we were doing the right things to try to get to the bottom of what was causing the symptoms by eliminating possible culprits one at a time; we have paused any further chemo, we are weaning off of steroids. We go back to doctor in 2 weeks and hope to see some improvement.
In the meantime, we continue to take things one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, one patio trip at a time, one glass of water at a time...you get the picture!
We appreciate the phone calls and prayers from our family and friends and a BIG, BIG Thank You to their neighbors who have brought over food and offered their help in different ways. We are very grateful to them for their love and concern.
This journey has continued far longer than we would have liked but with a little love and faith we know we have the perseverence to carry on.
“And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us”~
Hebrews 12:1
No comments:
Post a Comment