Hey everyone,
I just want to write in and let yall know exactly what the plan of attack is for Dad’s upcoming treatment. On September 10, 2013, he will start his chemo and radiation treatment at MD Anderson. We are praying that this is going to kill all of the cancer because each time a person goes in for radiation, even though it is in a different area than before it takes a long term toll on the body. So let’s kick butt again and make it the last time for chemo or radiation.
Re-cap:
Dad went to his 3 month check-up on August 19, 2013, in which he had another PET scan done. After the PET scan, he went to the doctors to hear the results. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the results we wanted to hear. The test showed that even though his original cancer was still totally clear (thank you Lord), Dad had a spot on his left lymph node up between his collar bone and his heart area. It also showed in an area up in his left side of his neck. Dad had a biopsy done in the lymph node and it came back cancer. So his radiologist is going to treat both areas and also treat two other areas in the neck that have lymph nodes because he feels they are probably cancer also.
Chemo:
This time the treatment is going to be a little different because it also deals with the jaw/neck area. Dad is going to have an intravenous chemo given to him once a week for 5 weeks. They are going to just put an IV in his arm instead of putting a port in since it will only be 1 time a week for 5 weeks. In addition, Dad will be given a couple different types of pills that also have chemo in them and he will take them once in the morning and once at night for 25 days only on the days that he has radiation. Dad’s intravenous chemo will be given to him at the MD Anderson – Clear Lake..
Radiation:
Dad is going to have a different type of radiation then last time. Last time, he had proton radiation but this time he is going to have IMRT radiation that stands for intensity modulated radiation therapy. This radiation will also be able to pinpoint the precise location of the cancer and beam straight to it taking less chance of hurting his spinal cord. Plus this type of radiation is used more on patients with neck and head areas. The doctor said his saliva gland will be affected so Dad will need to drink a lot of fluids to keep his mouth moist. They are planning on “33” IMRT radiation treatments, which will be at MD Anderson – Downtown.