Update...

Dad got back from Chemo very late last night, so I am not sure how it went. Mom said it went well. I will update everyone this evening...

Lots of Love,
Kate

Drum Roll Please....

(Hold for applause)

(Still holding)

"Quiet Down People"

"People....please"

"Thank you, thank you!"

Hehehe.....Anyhoo...

Dad has been placed in "Arm B" of the trial, which means 4 rounds of extra kick butt cancer killers for free! Thats right people, free!! This also means that he will have 12 days between rounds, also meaning...Dad is coming home with Mom on Monday! Get excited people, the queen bee is returning with the king. Bzzzzzzz!

Dad will be home for about a week and half and will return to Houston for one full day and then back to Ocala again. After the four free chemo sessions, Dad will receive the standard round of chemo + radiation. After that, he has about a month and a half off and then... surgery. I have provided a timeline, cause I am good like that.

Enjoy.

PS. The port (pic line) went in really easily.

Lots of Love,

Kate

I will learn to love the waiting room...

Good Afternoon Readers!

I must apologize for the delay, yesterday was a very long day. Dad had appointments with both the Oncologist and the Radiologist. We are totally and completely armed with information! We even got to see Dad's CT Scans! I have seen my Dad's kidneys, pancreas, lungs, and liver! How FREAKIN cool is that?!

Dad is going to be participating in two clinical trials. The first one is a study on the effect of a round of chemo before the round of chemo and radiation (standard treatment). Dad will be randomly placed into either the experimental group or the standard treatment group. In either group he will receive this awesome new Chemo drug (along with the standard one 5-FU --insert chuckle here--). This new Chemo drug is just as kick cancer butt like Chuck Norris but does not make you as sick. Depending on what group he randomly is assigned to, he will either start chemo on Tuesday (experiment group) or a week from Tuesday (standard group).

He is also (depending on insurance) going to receive Proton therapy in lieu of regular radiation. Protons are so specific that they can target the tumor and only the tumor, sparing all of the healthy tissue around the tumor...like the heart, lungs, all those minor things... They are going to give Dad tattoos too! They want to make sure that they target the tumor in the exact same place every day, so they give you tattoos! After he is cured I am going to talk him into getting some sort of remembrance tattoo around/on them (he just doesn't know it yet)!

Here is a link with more info about Proton Therapy:
http://www.mdanderson.org/patient-and-cancer-information/proton-therapy-center/what-is-proton-therapy/benefits-of-proton-therapy/index.html


In any case, Dad will start treatment really quickly! He is going to receive a PIC line on Monday so that the Chemo will go directly to his heart. Mom is in charge of that appointment, so keep her in your prayers!

On another note Dad’s research nurse is phenomenal; her main goal is to make Dad comfortable! She looooveess those 'scripts!

I think I covered it all…maybe I will update more tonight! I have some great pictures from the day to add as well!

Lots of Love,
Kate

Uneventful

Goodness gracious, its late and I don't have much to say! Mom is here, she has already made suggestions for the redecoration of the house, still no idea what color the accent wall will be....Lord only knows!

Doctors appointments at 9am and 1:30pm...I will be sure to update.

Lots of Love,
Kate

Pumps...and not the Prada kind...

Hola everyone,

Dad is home (well, at my home anyway). He is currently passed out thanks to lack of sleep and a little happy pill we like to call Vicodin. He started his feeding tube tonight and it was rather uneventful. The little pump in held inside a backpack so that Dad is able to move around freely. I promise to add a picture tomorrow.

The queen bee will be here tomorrow and I think that Dad is pretty excited about it. We will see how much furniture actually stays in place. Apparently she has packed her favorite paint brush...Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us.

Thursday we see the gastrointestinal oncologist and the radiation oncologist. I will update tomorrow with information about Mom's adventure to Houston.

Say a little prayer for Mom, she is pretty nervous about flying.

Lots of Love,
Kate

Comments

Okay everyone...now you can comment on this blog without having to set up an account! Be excited! I expect lots of comments....

Whoooo iiieeeee....

I am delirious, I may have stolen some of Dad's morphine...

JUST KIDDING...Geeze!

Oh Waiting Room, Oh Waiting Room...

Okay everyone, it's late and I have spent a combined 7 hours in waiting rooms, so do not expect much! Dad is doing well. He may not come home tomorrow, depending on the dietitian schedule. That does not mean that something went wrong, so don't getta worrying. Nothing can be put into the feeding tube until it has been in place for 24 hours. They will put the first drip in, make sure everything goes well, and then send him home. Of course, Dad is not a happy camper, but I am glad they are being thorough.

I will be sure to keep everyone updated.

Did yall enjoy my twitter updates?

I know some of you (cough, Mrs. G, cough, Aunt Moe) are having some difficulties with the comment portion of the blog, so I am working a way to make this easier for everyone.

Night everyone!

Lots of Love,

Kate

Sunday...

Hello my faithful followers, I know you are itching for your update. I am sure most of you sit anxiously waiting for my daily update, your life revolves around it. I understand, and I am completely used it it. Rest easy friends, here is your update...

Well here we are, the day prior to surgery. We did the pre-admission for surgery and receive our report time, which is 10am (Central time). We don't have too many more details. Remember to check the twitter for hour by hour updates, starting at 10am.

http://twitter.com/dansmdajourney

Keep Dad is your prayers. He is about to play the Wii Fit for the first time!

Lots of Love,
Kate

Houston Tour...

Today we drove around Houston and saw all of the major areas...fun stuff. Dad is feeling much better today, so it was great to see him in better humor. He got some good sleep last night, so I really think that helps. Mom will be here on Wednesday, so I am sure our entire house will be rearranged, some new accessories from pottery barn will be added, and probably a new accent wall will be painted LOL! We all know Mom and I am NOT complaining!

We went to Mass today...the music was worse than Our Lady of the Springs...holy cow. Dad want to try to go to Life Teen at 5pm on Sundays instead.

Just wanted to keep everyone in the loop.

Well here it is...

Alright everyone, are you sitting down? Of course you are, this is a computer! Dad is going to be receiving a feeding tube on Monday to help him receive nutrition. The irritation in his esophagus has made eating rather difficult and he is having a really hard time getting balanced nutrition. Once he has surgery he will need one for a little while anyway, so we are just getting an early start. This will also help while he is receiving chemo and radiation, since we all know that the side effects of those treatments tend to be rough on the body. The feeding tube will be inserted laparoscopically, so the recovery time will be pretty easy.

To keep everyone updated on a hourly basis I have started a twitter account. Feel free to follow us!
http://twitter.com/dansmdajourney

Dad had another endoscopy today and we finally got a stage from a doctor. The stage T3N1, but don't google it...we are not statistics! The endoscopy showed that there are some pretty good sized ulcers on the tumor, which means Dad needs to be on a liquid diet. The ulcers are actually probably what saved Dad's life. They caused the soreness that brought Dad to the doctor in the first place. Dad is not super thrilled about the liquid diet but he enjoyed a McDonalds's Hot Fudge sundae today. Icecream for dinner? Sounds like Dad is pretty happy to me!

Dad also had a complete Pulmonary Test today and guess what? He was ABOVE normal! Wonderful! The stronger your lung function is, the better you will do with surgery.

Please send Dad some love, he is feeling pretty down trodden right now.

I added some pictures in the next post. I edited the time so this one will show first.

Lots of love,

Kate

Pictures thus far...

Uber cool arm band. They took his picture
once and EVERY department had it...awesome!


Lovin' the pocket map!


Inside the pocket map



Endoscopy results...don't ask me to translate...




Courtesy of Dr. Rice...well I may have stolen it. The circled area is going to be
removed during surgery. The image on the left shows what his new esophagus
and stomach will look like post op. The marshmallow type stuff is the tumor area.
Not really drawn to scale since the tumor is 5cm long

Loooonnnggg day!

Hello everyone!

We had a ton of appointments today, saw so many different facets of the cancer process. We found out that Dad's cancer looks more like esophageal and not stomach. We are going to start radiation and chemo before the surgery in hopes that the doctor can save extra stomach tissue. I will scan in some of the mementos of the day for everyone to see. Dad has an endoscopy and full pulmonary work up tomorrow, so I will be sure to update if we learn anything new!

Lots of Love,
Kate

Elevator Much?

Our schedule for tomorrow is as follows (number represents what floor we will be on at MD Anderson)....9, 2, 3, 2, 9, 6, 6, 4, 3, 3... Gonna be a BUSY day!

We are going to beat this!!

Hi everyone!

Per my Uncle John's request I am going to keep a blog of Dad's journey.

Dad will be here tomorrow the 7th and his first appointment is on the 8th. I will update after the appointment.

Feel free to comment and leave happy notes for Dad!

Love to All,

Kate