Dennis goes for his 2nd chemo treat on Mon. Dec. 3rd. He will have the 2 different chemo’s through a drip and then he will get his 3rd chemo through a pump until Wed. This is what he will go through every 12 days. We will be there about 5-6 hours. Will give you a update after Mon on how things went.
Today was dad’s first round of chemo. My mom and him were there about 7 hours. they would only allow one person to be there in the room with him so i waited in the waiting room for a while and then came home. They did blood work first and then started the chemo. after five hours of chemo, they sent him home with a pump that will continue to drip about 5 ml an hour of chemo until Wed at 4pm. The pump is in a little fanny bag that stays on his waist. he will repeat this process every 12 days for at least 6 months. Thanks for all your prayers. I have been pretty strong throughout this but have had moments where tears just fall…. today when i walked out to the car, I cried like a baby for about 5 minutes… then i said a prayer and i know God is healing my dad. Thanks for all the love and support and prayers.
Here are some of the family portraits we took on November 11, 2012. We actually took more photos, but this is the main bulk of it. These photos were taken after being diagnose with esophagus cancer, but before starting chemo.
To 10 Reasons losing your hair to chemo is good: (which I explained to my dad today)
1. Some women find bald head very sexy
2. Don’t have to take time in the shower to wash your hair.
3. Save money on shampoo
4. Save time and money having to get it cut each month
5. Don’t take time to brush your hair. Just get up, dress and you are ready to go.
6. People can rub your head for good luck like they do for a Buzz hair cut
7. Since hair grows slower due to the chemo, you do not have to waste time shaving every day.
8. You do not have to worry about nose hair, ear hair or eye brow hair growing as fast. So no one making fun of you cause you need a trim
9. No one can tease you for having a bad hair day or laugh when you first wake up and have a funny hair design
10. No one can tease you about your gray hair.
Dennis and I were down at MD Anderson today seeing a Dr. that is the top of the line in Dr’s. in esophagus cancer. He is going to give Dennis 3 different medicines which are types of Chemo. He told us that Dennis has had this cancer in him for at least 2 1/2 years.
He goes tomorrow to get the pre surgery work done as he is having a port put in his neck on Tues. at St. Johns. This way they can start the chemo. Two of the medicines are drips and the other is a pump. They all will be given through I V. He goes back to his main oncologist on Thurs. and I am sure that is when she will tell us when he will get the chemo.
He will get 2 days in a row then wait 11 days and then get chemo again for 2 days and then wait 11 days. He is schedule already to have another PET Scan done on the 10th of Jan. to see how much the chemo shrunk the masses and the lymph nodes.
Anyhow that is where we stand the port will be put in Tues. and then Chemo will start I would say sometime shortly after the 15th of Nov.
I was reading about the side effects and there is going to be a lot since he will be getting 3 different types of medicine and each one has there own side effects.
As always keep us in your prayers and we thank you very much for all the beautiful things you all have been saying.
Dad went today and got all the paper work taken care of to get his port put in on Tuesday, he will have the port in and shortly after that, he will start chemo… for at least 6 months. I know God is working in our family! God has lined up literally the best of the best in every step of this process. He has had the leading doctors in the WORLD looking at his case and I know that is God working. I praise God for all of His grace and I know that this will be a journey but one that God will never leave us.
As you all know Dennis was denied surgery and radiation because there is to much cancer in his esophagus. MD Anderson did their own Endoscope on the 31st and we went to his oncologist yesterday the 1st of Nov. She went over every thing and it is Def. Dennis is in Stage 4 The tumor has gone through the wall of the esophagus. He has a lot of Lymph Nodes up and down his esophagus that have cancer. She said remember the esophagus is round well the tumor has gone to 40% of the esophagus so that is one reason Dennis is having some difficulty swallowing. We are going to see another Dr. down at the main hospital on next Thur. and he is suppose to be a world wide expert on esophagus cancer. He has discovered a lot of the material that they do on patients all over the world. We will see what he says on Thurs.
She told us that Dennis will start on Chemo after seeing this Dr. The Dr. might put Dennis in a study with also getting Chemo. He is also going to have a port put in his chest sometime next week so when they do start Chemo he will be ready. She said that she feels that the Chemo will not get rid of all of it. Then Dennis will get off of it and then the cancer will come back eventually and then he will have to get more Chemo. She said this is what he will probably do the rest of his life. You can take Chemo as much as your body will allow. Eventually it could effect the liver or heart. Now will that be something in a year from now or 20 years only God knows when Dennis will go home with him. Even though it sounds grim I need and ask for everyone to keep us in your prayers because prayers and our faith is all we have and we have to keep a positive attitude and keep God at the top of our life.