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