It’s true!  Dad had another visit today with his primary doctor and didn’t get much good news.  His blood work and the x-ray done pre-visit show his calcium levels are elevated again from more bone cancer and the recent severe pains he’s had in his arm and chest are due to new or grown tumors.  Dr. Karp was clearly frustrated to see that Dad is still not near strong enough to handle chemotherapy. Remember Dad presented to M.D. Anderson with stage IV cancer and has had two life-threatening setbacks since then.  He agreed with me that local radiation treatments to the painful areas might be done (he will be getting with the radiation team on that) but informed us that will only be a game of whack-a-mole to control pain and not to treat the underlying problem of the agressive growth throughout his system which only chemo can handle.

Keep in mind that Mother had to sit and listen to the news today as she gets ready to start five weeks of radiation and light chemo Wednesday and then six weeks of full chemo after that.  Any prayers, thoughts or phone calls you could send her way will be greatly appreciated.

In the mean time we have an appointment at noon tomorrow to bring Dad’s calcium levels back down with an I.V. treatment and Dr. Karp is setting up hospice to start visiting Dad in this apartment in Houston to try and help with his pain and quality of life.

There is still some hope for recovery but Dad’s body seems to be fighting us all every step of the way.  I’ve told Dad all this and explained to him that if he regains his strength and enough health that he will be able to start treatments.  The doctor also explained to Dad that he has seen people in his shape turn around and improve enough to be helped so there is that hope.  Also on the positive side is that Dad seems to be holding his weight at around 170 – 173 pounds for the past month or so with the help of his tube feeding.

Keep those thoughts and prayers coming!

It’s been a while since my last post mostly because we’ve just been in a recovery period for the last couple weeks with Dad.  We’ve only had one scheduled appointment since the last update and that was this past Wednesday to follow-up on his lung stint.  They were happy with his lung sounds and his ability to stand and walk using a walker so that visit went well and he’s on track in that aspect.  I even try to make sure his wheelchair doesn’t get much use these days while he’s in the house going from room to room so he can build more strength walking.  He also found out that his tube feedings seem to be working as he gained a few pounds and he enjoyed hearing that.

We did however have a bit of a hiccup late last night as Dad’s constant nightly low-grade fever crept just over the 101 degree mark and I had to take him in the the closest ER as a precaution.  After 4 hours of X-Rays, CT Scans, blood and urine work they basically said they couldn’t find anything major and sent us home.   Special thanks to my Uncle Greg and Aunt Beverly for coming and sitting with Mom while I took Dad to the ER as she wasn’t feeling well.

We have also decided where Mom and Dad will have their treatments as we now are tenants at the Brompton Court apartments just a mile or two from the medical center in Houston. We have been on many waiting list to get reduced medical rate housing and Mother liked the sound of this offer even though it’s not all that reduced in my opinion but it does look nice.  It’s a one bedroom on the second floor with a balcony. We haven’t actually moved in or even seen the apartment in person, we will be doing all that this week, but it’s will be home for the next month or two nonetheless.

That should bring you all up to speed – stay tuned as I’ll start posting more again as appointments and such start ramping up again.

Dad did well in his surgery to install a PEG tube in his abdomen to supply tube feeding nutrition without the aggravation of the tube in the nose.  He’s tolerating the formula better and seems to be in better spirits having had more nutrition and energy.

Here you can see the actual internal portion of the PEG secured to the lining of Dad’s stomach. About 12″ of tube is all that shows externally in the center of his abdomen.

We just have a follow-up in the morning and hope to be headed back home tomorrow afternoon.  Will keep you all posted!

Today was one of those “one step back” days.  Dad failed every aspect of his swallowing test.  We viewed the x-ray video showing him aspirate on everything he drank even using all the techniques used to prevent it.  It is now all of certain that his recent pneumonia was caused by fluid from eating and drinking making it into his lungs.  This means he is no longer allowed to eat orally and will need a feeding tube reinserted for the next months.  We will be headed back tomorrow to either get a temporary nasal tube placed until Monday when he’s scheduled for a gastric tube to be surgically inserted  into his abdomen or just do the Monday procedure tomorrow.  Either way he sees this has a huge setback and needs any and all support from friends and family.  I’m just happy to know he’ll be getting the nutrition he needs for the fight ahead.

Dad has escaped the label of inpatient once again.  Here he is sitting on our hotel balcony enjoying the sweltering Houston summer.  We are thrilled to have him “home” and are looking forward to continued improvement.  He’s on a soft diet now and that will be re-evaluated tomorrow during a x-ray swallow test to make sure he’s getting the food and air down the correct pipes.

He’s also getting around a lot better than he was before possibly due to the back and hips having had time to heal from the radiation treatments.  It really is great to see him stand with very little problem and move around.

After another week or two the team will decide on a treatment plan, that now includes many more options than it did a week ago, and we’ll know where he’ll go from here.  For now however, we are just happy to have him back!

Here is Dad enjoying some iPhone games after a little physical therapy wore him out. It’s looking like he will even be discharged in the next couple days.
He is eating soft foods now so hopefully his feeding tube will be removed soon.

For all you iPhone owners out there, it’s the game “Angry Birds” he’s addicted to.

Dad made it through his little operation to open the obstructed airway.  They removed tumor and placed a splint to insure the airway stays open.  Stay tuned for more updates…

Dad’s team has decided that a laser bronchoscopy would be beneficial in increasing airflow to his left lung.  The plan is tomorrow that they will again go down his throat but this time with a laser attached to actually remove some tumor.

I have made a simple graphic to help illustrate the location and what the team will be removing tomorrow.  The doctors have said that the tumor does not seem to be particularly red or full of blood vessels so bleeding might not be a concern but caution that they don’t know exactly how deep the tumor continues down his the bronchial tube.  They will remove as much as possible and then decide if palliative radiation therapy can also help.

This is not Dad’s only tumor or what might even be called his main tumor, but it is the one causing the most trouble right now.

Just a quick update on Dad.  He is still doing well just very tired.  We are going to leave for a while so he can rest.  He just had a visit from family and he put his best face forward.

The plan is for him to have a procedure tomorrow to try and remove most of the tumor blocking his airway to his left lung.  Pending the results of the procedure they will then re-evaluate him for radiation/chemo on the rest of the lung tumor.

Will post more later…

As those of you that visited Wednesday can see Dad is doing quite a bit better.  He is off of the vacuum sealed oxygen mask and back to a regular old nasal cannula so he can talk all he wants now.  His oxygen levels are higher even with less oxygen applied suggesting his lungs are functioning better.   If he continues this way he will even be graduating from the ICU to a room tomorrow.

We did have a discovery of a blood clot in his leg this afternoon but the nurses seemed unconcerned and are treating him for it.  Keep those prayers coming…

P.S. That is his buddy Ziggy that was with him during his first cancers ten years ago.  If you look close his shirt says Guardian Angel and Dad treats him as such.