He has had 4 days of Radiation and tonight will be his last till Mon. After tonight’s radiation he has 23 to go. He just goes Mon- Fri. They give him a break on the weekends. He said he was really tired and weak last night. He gets his Chemo bag off of him today also so the weekend is total chemo & radiation free. He is really looking pale and has no energy. Not feeling well at all today. We know there will be good and bad days. I will be totally surprise if he finishes going to work this coming week. He is not driving to work because I don’t want him driving while he has this Chemo bag on him so I take him and Adam picks him up.

But if he continues to get week and tired I think he will go on permanent sick time until this is over. Time will see. He basically sleeps almost all the time. He has started eating some through his feeding tube because he is loosing weight and the dietician said he is loosing it to fast. Which means he is loosing muscle not fat. It is starting to get harder for him to swallow. If anyone knows Dennis they know he loves his peanut butter bar from Little Debbie, he eats one every day well, he didn’t even want that this morning. So he just had his liquid food through his feed tube. His Radiation Dr. said Dennis is going to be one very sick man very soon so please keep those prayers coming. Thanks again for all of the concerns and prayers from everyone.

With the help of my Dad’s doctor and the staff at MD Anderson, they were able to convenience the insurance people to “approve” the proton radiation. Dad’s first radiation treatment is tomorrow at 8:30pm, but he needs to be there at 7:30pm.

Starting Monday, he will be getting chemo at MD Anderson – Clear Lake and radiation at MD Anderson – Downtown. The next 5 1/2 – 6 weeks is going to be very long for my dad.

Hi everyone

Unfortunately Dennis’s Radiation has been put on hold for only a couple of days hopefully. Why??? Insurance!!!!!! The Dr. is wanting to give him Proton Radiation which it just zooms in on the cancer a little more than reg radiation. It won’t hurt his heart and lungs as much like reg radiation will. Unfortunately our ins does not cover the facility that does it so we had to put in for an urgent appeal. Hopefully will know something at the end of this next week. If all else fails then he will get reg. radiation but this Proton Radiation is so good that the Dr. is willing to wait a few days to see if we can get the ins. to change there minds and put this facility in network for us. So for now he won’t start radiation on Tues. but hopefully before Fri. This is just going to get worse with this new medical that Obama put in. Just what Americans need more complications in the medical field. I will let you know when he starts radiation we are ready. We have the IV poles, IV bags for the liquid food, the liquid food and all dressings etc to keep his feeding tube line clean. Thanks everyone for saying so many prayers. As I truly believe in prayer so this helps our family a lot.

Dear friends and Family,

As most of you know Dennis had a PET scan and it showed the chemo is not doing what it is suppose to. So they said he will have to have radiation. Since the radiation is going to make his esophagus raw he has to have a feeding tube put in. Well we have been waiting since the 31st to get this schedule. Dennis takes a blood thinner called Pradaxa so he has to go off of it for a week before any surgery. So we were getting concerned because no one was calling and they cancel his chemo treatments and we knew it would be a week or more after they called to have the feeding tube put in. Well they finally called after I called yesterday and had a firm voice on what is going on!

Today, Dennis got an appointments for the feeding tube which the proper name for it is a peg tube he goes tomorrow for the following things and then he will actually be having the procedure done on the 13th.

· Feb. 8th he sees the radiologist dept. for a pre procedure evaluation.
· Feb. 8th Then he see the Nutrition to tell us how the feeding tube is going to work and the food, just the main information.
· Feb. 8th Then he check in to see the anesthesia
· Feb. 8th Then he actually sees the anesthesia Dr. for pre surgery

· Feb. 11th Mon. he sees the radiation oncology consultant

· Feb. 13th Wed. @ 7 am he will have to check in for Intervention exam
· Feb. 13th @ 8 am they will put in the feeding tube or Peg tube
· Feb. 13th @ 12 pm they will feed him for 3 hours to make sure every thing is working right.

· Feb. 14th they will call with a phone follow up
· Feb 14th we go see Dr. Ajani which is his main Dr. he will tell us at that point how much radiation if chemo is also going to be just what is what.

Wow going to be a busy week!!

This has to work

GOD WILL MAKE IT WORK!!!!
Everyone keep us in your prayers

Here is a post that Adam wrote about his Dad

Update on Dad…
As you know for the past few months, Dad has been getting chemo therapy at the MD Anderson – Clear Lake center. He gets his treatment every other week. On Mondays, he gets 2 types of drip chemo at the center and then he has to wear a pump around with him for 48 hours. During that time frame, it pumps a 3rd kind of chemo into him. Finally on Wednesday afternoons, he goes back to MD Anderson and gets the pump taken off. We been told Dad’s dosage is a very high dosage.

Today Dad went to his main MD Anderson doctor which is downtown Houston and got a PET scan done. For those unfamiliar what a PET scan is, basically it highlights all the different areas of the cancer in the body. The results were good and bad. It showed that some of the spots throughout his esophagus have shrunken. The bad news is that some of the spots have gotten bigger.

So, what they are going to do is do chemo and radiation at the same time. The certain area where they’re going to do the radiation, it’s going to make Dad’s throat very raw and hard to eat. Meaning, they will be putting a feeding tube into Dad before starting the radiation. I am not sure when that will happen, but I would assume it will be in the very near future.

Please pray for my Dad as he is very scared about having to take chemo and radiation at the same time.

The Dr. told us originally that Dennis was not a candidate for radiation because his cancer was to wide spread but now since the chemo is not working by itself they said we have to do the radiation with the chemo to fight this. Please keep him in your prayers as this period will be even harder on him them just the plain chemo treatments. I want to Thank you for all of your prayers that you have been saying.

Well I wanted to give you all an update on Dennis. I know some of you get the updates through the kids but if you don’t here it is. I am sorry so much time has gone by but sometimes I feel like I don’t know whether I am coming or going.

Dennis went and had his chemo treatment this past Mon. he goes again on the 28th. So far he hasn’t loss any weight but of course he has loss his hair on his head and he told me last night that the rest of the hair on his body is getting pretty thin. I know his eye brows have gotten pretty thin, and he said the hair on his legs are almost gone. He gets pretty tired on the 3-4 days after his pump is taken off. This is also when he get nauseous. He always gets his 3 different chemo’s on Mon. and then the one chemo is in a pump form and he has to wear a little bag around till Wed. then we go back to the Dr. and he gets that removed out of the port he has in him. That is when he starts feeling a little on the tired side. He was feeling a little down this past week and so Jennifer got on Facebook and asked people to send him a card if they could. Well he has gotten about 1/2 dozen cards and it has lifted his spirits up. He just knows he has another 6-8 months minimum of this.

He goes on the 31st of Jan. to get a PET SCAN which will tell us if the chemo is doing the trick. That is going to be a busy day. Jennifer also has an appointment at MD Anderson the same day and about the same time. I will drop Jennifer off at the main hospital and she will go and get blood work then I will take Dennis down a couple blocks to another part of the hospital for his blood work, then he will go and have the PET SCAN done which I am not aloud to be with him at that point. It will take a couple hours. Then I will drive back down to the main hospital and go to Jennifer Dr. appointment at 9 then after her appointment we will both go back to where Dennis is and wait for him. Then believe it or not then I have to go back to the main hospital because Dennis has appointment at 1 with his Dr. down at MD Anderson then we are done with him I guess so I it is finally time to come home. So just to say that day is going to be a long day for everyone. I will give you another update on Dennis and Jennifer after the 31st and let you know what both of their Dr’s. say. But please keep saying the prayers for us. Thank you for everything ans sorry about such a long letter.

Dad had an EKG, an Echocardiogram and a stress test on his heart. All came back normal. In fact, the doctor said that there is no blockage and even though my dad is still in A-fib, his heart is like a 22 year old. The results go back to the chemo Dr. Dad should be allowed to get his 3rd round of chemo on the 31st.

Dennis went to Dr. at MD Anderson today for a routine ck-up Dennis has had some more pressure on his chest after 2nd Chemo treatment so the Dr. wants him to go to his heart Dr. and get a stress test to make sure that everything is OK with his heart. He was suppose to have chemo today but they postpone it till he gets a stress test and the results come in. His next chemo treatment is on the 31st and I think they are going to keep that one there. But he was schedule for a pet scan on the 10th of Jan. now that will probably be pushed back because they like to have 4 treatments done with before they run that test again. Anyhow hope the stress test comes back OK because if the chemo is interfering with his heart he might have to change chemo or stop it all together. So say a prayer that the stress test goes great and that his heart is not being affected by the chemo.

He went to his 2nd Chemo treatment so far so good. He gets his pump off today then the nausea will start for a couple days to a week or so. He noticed yesterday he is loosing a few strands of hair from his head. Until he starts loosing more or it starts thinning out more he will not shave it. He is getting tired, yesterday he laid down in bed most of the day. He said he wasn’t sleepy but tired, but every time I checked on him he was asleep. So far he hasn’t loss any weight but starting to become more tired. We won’t know how the chemo is actually working until Jan when he gets another pet scan. Keep the prayers coming in as they are helping. God Bless each of you.

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.

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.