On Monday, Dad will get his first PETScan. Please pray for a good result on the PETScan, strength and good health as he progresses through his chemotherapy treatments. Don't have an exact start date for chemo yet, but I'm sure we will get one very soon.
We had a nice Easter with my parents. Holly wanted to do an Easter egg
hunt at grandma's house, and there was my dad, limping along in the front yard, looking for
eggs along with her.... love my dad. I think my dad felt sorry for her because her BROTHERS found most of the eggs. Next year, she'll get a 10 minute head start.
Dad seems to be getting used to the nephrectomy tube (kidney tube).... not hearing too many complaints about it, other than it's difficult to sleep and shower. The kidney still seems to be working nicely, but I don't know what the magic numbers are the doctors are looking for in terms of urine output. At this point, dad is recording number - the doctors will assess the functionality of the kidney, based on the numbers, in a few weeks.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
There's No Place Like Home
The hospital took forever to release Dad today. He had two IV iron treatments before he went home. Doctors are all still very pleased. Next week: PETScan and soon after that, insertion of the port-a-cath (a catheter inserted in the chest for easier delivery of drugs). He has his down days. Cards and calls lift him up. Once again, we are all exhausted after a few days at the hospital. The crummy food, noise, uncomfortable beds/chairs, constant interruptions, and random screaming patients wear on the nerves after a while. A good night's rest and maybe a glass of wine is in order!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Dad is Progressing Nicely, Coming Home Tomorrow
The weak kidney appears to have jumpstarted itself and the other good kidney is doing its thing too. Lots of aches and pains today, three iv sites shut down at the same time, but a new iv was just put in. My dad has been up walking today, and at the moment, chowing down on a fresh fruit cup I brought up from the snack bar. The urologist and vascular docs have been by--they are pleased and say everything went great yesterday and he's doing fantastic. They call him their star patient who had an impressive gathering of top docs working on him yesterday (eight in all).
After dinner, the oncology doctor came by. Chemo will begin around the end of April/early May, and will last for 6 months minimum. (Two weeks on, two weeks off.) Iron treatments begin tomorrow to build up Dad's strength. PETScan next week.
After dinner, the oncology doctor came by. Chemo will begin around the end of April/early May, and will last for 6 months minimum. (Two weeks on, two weeks off.) Iron treatments begin tomorrow to build up Dad's strength. PETScan next week.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Phase 1 of the surgery went well!
First part of Dad's surgery went perfect! Dad was in a $20M OR specifically designed for risky vein procedures. Both docs came out with huge grins. Stent came out without complications. Phase 2 is underway: inserting a drain tube from the weak kidney. They tell us this is the easy part of the surgery...stay tuned.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Got My Dad to the Garden Today!
What a beautiful day! Dad managed a trip to the garden. While he stayed in the car, he enjoyed the spring breeze with windows rolled down and the car door open, chatting the whole time to Mike and I as we were gardening. We're getting a boat tomorrow... not that I need a boat right now, but dad loves boating, and so do my boys. In anticipation of tomorrow's test drive with the boat, dad made us a checklist of things for us to
inspect. His mind is still
cranking, and his attitude is good. He received several cards in the mail, a care package from Alaska, an Edible Arrangement, and a visit from a neighbor, all of which lifted his spirits and made him feel special. Overhearing my mom talk on the phone to people about the crap going on with him now brings him down... can't blame him. Every time I tell Dad's story, I get a little down too. "Significant chance of recovery," has been my mantra since yesterday morning.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Post Nuclear Scan Follow-Up on Friday 4/11/2014 Another Bump in the Road, a Surgery Planned for Tuesday @ Noon
We met with Dr. Chang and an outstanding, well spoken associate, Dr. Skylar who blew us away with all of the thoughtful consideration they had been putting into dad's situation. All good news to us. They still feel that Dad has plenty of skin in the game: the prognosis with colon cancer is pretty good (a "significant cure rate" was the term used). He just needs for the chemo/radiation to zap any rogue cancer cells. Dr. Skylar said they did an excellent job of removing the cancer cells during the surgery. As I'm writing this, I'm now realizing that Dr. Skylar was probably present during the 7-hour mega surgery too; after all, they told us two urologists performed that surgery.
Here are the options, all of which revolve around removing that shifting J stent and the addressing what to do with the weak kidney.
1) save the kidney
2) remove the kidney
3) get rid of the ureter and leave the kidney alone in the body (no harm done they tell us)
Benefit of keeping the kidney: the intensity of the chemotherapy is based upon the strength of the kidney since the chemotherapy is excreted through the kidneys. In layman's terms, your body gets rid of the unwanted/unused/unneeded chemo drugs through urinating. More kidney function means more chemo drug can get in and do it's job of killing the cancer.
At present, dad's good kidney operates @ 79%, the bad kidney operates @ 21%, which is pretty good by their account; at 15% function, they recommend removing the kidney.
Here's the game plan:
Dad reports for surgery on Tuesday. This is what they're going to do:
1) they're going to look at ways to remove the J stent. It's shifting and could cause blood clots or a puncture in a major vessel if left unattended or gets damaged during chemo/radiation. Dad is on blood thinners now to prevent blood clots. He's been instructed to walk to minimize the clots as well.
2) they're going to do some type of fluoroscopic test in the OR to test once again the viability of the weak kidney, and if they decide to keep it, they will insert a drain tube from that kidney. The drain tube will come out of his back, it will be thinner than a coffee stirrer/straw, and it will collect urine in some type of colostomy bag. The bag will be either attached to his hip or on his upper thigh, and this will stay in place until after the chemo. Although the kidney is weak, it can still benefit dad through the chemo. They will perform reconstructive surgery after the chemo to fix that ureter tube.
At present, there are no blood clots, more good news, but they need to be very careful during the removal of the J stent at the top of the kidney, it comes close to major arteries. Five very skilled surgeons will work on Dad Tuesday. There are some risks with bleeding, infection, clotting, and creating a hernia, but they explained how they work carefully to minimize and control all of those risks.
Best case, dad will be in & out within 90 minutes with a small incision in the the groin and another in the lower belly. Worst case, they'll re-open about 4" of his upper abdominal incision to stop bleeding, if necessary, and he may possibly have another large incision on his side if they remove the kidney. We left the appointment feeling grateful for the many excellent doctors who are doing so much work to help dad through this "bullshit" (doctor's term) which by their accounts, has a good success rate. We are hopeful.
We went to breakfast after the consult and covered many topics of discussion: acceptance of what is, what will be, faith, salvation, boating, the military, and how impressed we were that the doctors are doing so much for Dad. Mom & I reassured him repeatedly he is worth it and the doctors obviously think so too. We are all tired from sleepless nights and vowed to spend the next few days catching up on much needed rest as we gear up for the Tuesday's surgery. They expect dad to stay overnight for observation.
Here are the options, all of which revolve around removing that shifting J stent and the addressing what to do with the weak kidney.
1) save the kidney
2) remove the kidney
3) get rid of the ureter and leave the kidney alone in the body (no harm done they tell us)
Benefit of keeping the kidney: the intensity of the chemotherapy is based upon the strength of the kidney since the chemotherapy is excreted through the kidneys. In layman's terms, your body gets rid of the unwanted/unused/unneeded chemo drugs through urinating. More kidney function means more chemo drug can get in and do it's job of killing the cancer.
At present, dad's good kidney operates @ 79%, the bad kidney operates @ 21%, which is pretty good by their account; at 15% function, they recommend removing the kidney.
Here's the game plan:
Dad reports for surgery on Tuesday. This is what they're going to do:
1) they're going to look at ways to remove the J stent. It's shifting and could cause blood clots or a puncture in a major vessel if left unattended or gets damaged during chemo/radiation. Dad is on blood thinners now to prevent blood clots. He's been instructed to walk to minimize the clots as well.
2) they're going to do some type of fluoroscopic test in the OR to test once again the viability of the weak kidney, and if they decide to keep it, they will insert a drain tube from that kidney. The drain tube will come out of his back, it will be thinner than a coffee stirrer/straw, and it will collect urine in some type of colostomy bag. The bag will be either attached to his hip or on his upper thigh, and this will stay in place until after the chemo. Although the kidney is weak, it can still benefit dad through the chemo. They will perform reconstructive surgery after the chemo to fix that ureter tube.
At present, there are no blood clots, more good news, but they need to be very careful during the removal of the J stent at the top of the kidney, it comes close to major arteries. Five very skilled surgeons will work on Dad Tuesday. There are some risks with bleeding, infection, clotting, and creating a hernia, but they explained how they work carefully to minimize and control all of those risks.
Best case, dad will be in & out within 90 minutes with a small incision in the the groin and another in the lower belly. Worst case, they'll re-open about 4" of his upper abdominal incision to stop bleeding, if necessary, and he may possibly have another large incision on his side if they remove the kidney. We left the appointment feeling grateful for the many excellent doctors who are doing so much work to help dad through this "bullshit" (doctor's term) which by their accounts, has a good success rate. We are hopeful.
We went to breakfast after the consult and covered many topics of discussion: acceptance of what is, what will be, faith, salvation, boating, the military, and how impressed we were that the doctors are doing so much for Dad. Mom & I reassured him repeatedly he is worth it and the doctors obviously think so too. We are all tired from sleepless nights and vowed to spend the next few days catching up on much needed rest as we gear up for the Tuesday's surgery. They expect dad to stay overnight for observation.
Post-Op Updates
Monday, April 7, 2014 - Post-op appointment with his general surgeon went fine. His cancer, by definition, is classified as "advanced," since it invaded multiple organs and was found in one lymph node. But one lymph node is better than multiple lymphnodes, so we'll take it. Doctor said they got all of the cancer, but they'd need to do chemo/radiation. He also alerted us that the cancer, being cancer, could come back, but they are hopeful the chemo/radiation will kill off rogue cells. We were instructed to move forward with scheduling an appointment with his oncologist - that first meeting is scheduled for the first week of May.
Tuesday, April 8 - Follow-up appointment with Dr. Chang, the urologist who worked on Dad during his 7-hour mega procedure, was more involved. Dr. Chang hinted to concern about the movement of the stent and the function of the remaining kidney that was being supported by the J stent. That was the tip of the iceberg.... After we left the appointment, Dr. Chang was busy behind the scenes consulting with his team to re-assess my dad's situation. After several phone calls dad received during the evening, he was instructed to have a nuclear study done on Thursday morning, April 11, to evaluate the function of the kidney. Chemo/radiation has the potential of dissolving the J-stent, so they needed to assess whether all of the trouble with the J stent was worth it: a non-functioning kidney would have made the J-stent work useless.
Tuesday, April 8 - Follow-up appointment with Dr. Chang, the urologist who worked on Dad during his 7-hour mega procedure, was more involved. Dr. Chang hinted to concern about the movement of the stent and the function of the remaining kidney that was being supported by the J stent. That was the tip of the iceberg.... After we left the appointment, Dr. Chang was busy behind the scenes consulting with his team to re-assess my dad's situation. After several phone calls dad received during the evening, he was instructed to have a nuclear study done on Thursday morning, April 11, to evaluate the function of the kidney. Chemo/radiation has the potential of dissolving the J-stent, so they needed to assess whether all of the trouble with the J stent was worth it: a non-functioning kidney would have made the J-stent work useless.
Background
On March 21st, dad (aka Hambone) underwent a major, 7-hour surgery to remove cancer growing around his colon and blocking one of his kidneys. He's recovered remarkably well, the doctors are positive and have not given up on my dad yet, which gives us hope. Before Dad was released from the hospital on a Sunday evening, March 29, he had a catscan to check the placement of what's called a "J-stent" which was temporarily put in place to encourage tissue growth around the ureter tube which stems from kidney to the bladder. The attending doctor who read that report said the stent did indeed move a little, but the stent was fine. Dad continued to recover well at home and had a visiting nurse and physical therapist a few times a week which gave him peace of mind and helped him recover with appropriate exercises to make him stronger.
Why Hambone? All of my dad's friends call him Hambone. Makes for a better blog name than "Go Daddy" or "Bill's Adventure."
Why Hambone? All of my dad's friends call him Hambone. Makes for a better blog name than "Go Daddy" or "Bill's Adventure."
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