Mom and Dad left for St Louis this morning - hopefully they beat the coming severe weather (thunderstorms and tornados likely through this whole area). Dad's first radiation treatment will be tomorrow; he also will be seeing Dr Tan the oncologist, and getting his first weekly chemo treatment for these sessions.
I hope they will be comfortable at the Hope Lodge, and that dad keeps feeling well while getting the results we want with these treatments!
Will post updates after dad's initial treatments there. It will be mightly lonely here in Seneca while they're gone. The dogs are all very sad too; Maggie faithfully watches out the window and never relaxes.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
American Cancer Society Hope Lodge
Here's a link to the Hope Lodge in St Louis where mom and dad will stay for 5+ weeks during dad's radiation treatments, beginning on February 28. It looks like a terrific and very supportive place to stay, so much better than a hotel room (which would be unaffordable anyway!) and all funded by ACS. What a blessing.
HopeLodge/MO_StLouis
HopeLodge/MO_StLouis
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Pictures from our trips to St Louis
Our trip last week was the "postponed" trip, after the "blizzard" the prior week which buried us in 18+ inches of snow (a whole lot more than this area is used to!) and closed everything down for several days. Nevertheless, we were still hit with another 4-6 inches of snow on the "newly scheduled" trip - so we headed out, hoping it wouldn't be too bad. Dad took a few photos along the way - thought I'd share some.
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| shoveled path to the driveway the day before our trip - clear but very cold |
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| downtown Seneca as we headed to St Louis - look at those piles of snow! |
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| a pretty little barn in Seneca |
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| this is the "highway" on the way to St Louis - 4.5 hour drive turned into 6 hour drive |
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| got even worse when passed by crazy truckers (many times - we were slowwwww...) |
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| fantastic view of the gateway arch from our room |
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| skies were clear, returning to Seneca - the piles of snow were even higher! |
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| Returning home to blue sky and a new layer of snow |
St Louis "mapping session" went well! Dad is tattooed
Gary drove mom and dad to St Louis on Sunday, since I had a bit of a cold and didn't think it would be right to sit in a confined space with them for 10 hours of driving. They stayed at the Parkview Hotel which is connected to the hospital by an enclosed pedestrian bridge - that worked out very well.
Dad had his mapping / planning session on Monday morning. This is where they use a CT scanner to map out exactly where the tumor is in relation to the metal marker within, and then mark his chest and abdomen with exact coordinates for aiming the radiation. They actually even made a mold of his body so that he lays exactly the same for each treatment! He has "sharpie lines" all over (which he has to try not to wash off), and then a few very tiny tattoos (which are permanent) for the radiation treatments.
We now have a 2-week break before returning on 2/27 for the radiation treatments. Dad needs to go into Joplin for his blood test next week, but that's it for now. Dad got some cool pics on the road and in St Louis, will post those later.
Dad had his mapping / planning session on Monday morning. This is where they use a CT scanner to map out exactly where the tumor is in relation to the metal marker within, and then mark his chest and abdomen with exact coordinates for aiming the radiation. They actually even made a mold of his body so that he lays exactly the same for each treatment! He has "sharpie lines" all over (which he has to try not to wash off), and then a few very tiny tattoos (which are permanent) for the radiation treatments.
We now have a 2-week break before returning on 2/27 for the radiation treatments. Dad needs to go into Joplin for his blood test next week, but that's it for now. Dad got some cool pics on the road and in St Louis, will post those later.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
St Louis trip went well
The blizzard was over, but we still had snow! Well past Springfield, it was snowy and only one lane cleared on the highway; even through St Louis the road was kinda ugly / wet / snowy. We stayed in Illinois just across the river from the Gateway Arch, with a great view of the river and arch, with a 10-minute drive to the Center for Advanced Medicine / Barnes Jewish.
Dad's procedure on Thursday went great, no problems - he has a new stent good for another 3 months+, and a metal marker placed in his pancreas for the radiation. He felt pretty good afterwards, though with a sore throat. We were very impressed with Barnes Jewish so far; all the medical staff seem knowledgable, helpful, and thorough. They have a great reputation and we will keep hoping for continued good results.
Note: the downtown Barnes Jewish cafeteria was outrageously expensive (1 cup of fruit, 1 yogurt, 2 coffees = $10). We won't be eating there often. I prefer the West location where they had free cappuccinos in the waiting room!
So here's the new schedule:
Sunday 2/13: Drive to St Louis for 1-night stay at Parkview Hotel which is connected to the hospital by an enclosed walkway; we got a referral for a special hospital rate.
Monday 2/14: Planning / mapping session (radiologist using scanner to map exact dimensions around metal marker to plan and tattoo for the radiation); drive home Monday afternoon
Two weeks wait
Sunday 2/27: Drive to St Louis; mom and dad will stay at Hope Lodge (only accommodates 2 people) during dad's radiation treatment. They are booked there for 6 weeks (though dad's treatment should be only 5 weeks). The lodge is 2 blocks from the hospital, and has a free shuttle; they provide breakfast and dinner daily. It's a wonderful service for folks with extended treatments.
Monday 2/28: Start radiation 5 days a week (15 minute sessions) for 5 weeks. There will also be a chemo treatment once a week, 4 of those 5 weeks. Hope dad weathers the treatments without being hit by the side effects!
April 1: Radiation should be complete, and mom and dad will come back to Seneca; then we wait 6 weeks so dad can rest and recooperate.
May 16: Possible date for surgery
Dad's procedure on Thursday went great, no problems - he has a new stent good for another 3 months+, and a metal marker placed in his pancreas for the radiation. He felt pretty good afterwards, though with a sore throat. We were very impressed with Barnes Jewish so far; all the medical staff seem knowledgable, helpful, and thorough. They have a great reputation and we will keep hoping for continued good results.
Note: the downtown Barnes Jewish cafeteria was outrageously expensive (1 cup of fruit, 1 yogurt, 2 coffees = $10). We won't be eating there often. I prefer the West location where they had free cappuccinos in the waiting room!
So here's the new schedule:
Sunday 2/13: Drive to St Louis for 1-night stay at Parkview Hotel which is connected to the hospital by an enclosed walkway; we got a referral for a special hospital rate.
Monday 2/14: Planning / mapping session (radiologist using scanner to map exact dimensions around metal marker to plan and tattoo for the radiation); drive home Monday afternoon
Two weeks wait
Sunday 2/27: Drive to St Louis; mom and dad will stay at Hope Lodge (only accommodates 2 people) during dad's radiation treatment. They are booked there for 6 weeks (though dad's treatment should be only 5 weeks). The lodge is 2 blocks from the hospital, and has a free shuttle; they provide breakfast and dinner daily. It's a wonderful service for folks with extended treatments.
Monday 2/28: Start radiation 5 days a week (15 minute sessions) for 5 weeks. There will also be a chemo treatment once a week, 4 of those 5 weeks. Hope dad weathers the treatments without being hit by the side effects!
April 1: Radiation should be complete, and mom and dad will come back to Seneca; then we wait 6 weeks so dad can rest and recooperate.
May 16: Possible date for surgery
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
St Louis rescheduled to next week
Because of our little blizzard (20 inches of snow here in Seneca, while they only got 4 inches in St Louis - the opposite of normal), the Joplin Freeman cancer center was closed yesterday and today, so dad's chemo treatment was cancelled. We will reschedule it when they re-open tomorrow. We also rescheduled the procedure in St Louis (getting a metal marker for the radiation, and replacing the stent for the pancreas) from this Thursday to next Thursday, which basically pushes the whole schedule out a week.
One unfortunate result of the storm: they had taken dad off warfarin pills and put him on the Lovinox injection to prepare for the St Louis surgery - and now he's on it for extra days. The med is fine for him medically, but it is VERY expensive; 10 day supply was over $100 copay. We'll talk to the cancer center tomorrow to see if they want him to take it all the way to next Thursday.
Today Gary and I may do a little snow shoveling (a novelty for us SoCal kids), maybe make a snowman and some snow angels. It's warm out there - all the way up to 8 degrees today.
One unfortunate result of the storm: they had taken dad off warfarin pills and put him on the Lovinox injection to prepare for the St Louis surgery - and now he's on it for extra days. The med is fine for him medically, but it is VERY expensive; 10 day supply was over $100 copay. We'll talk to the cancer center tomorrow to see if they want him to take it all the way to next Thursday.
Today Gary and I may do a little snow shoveling (a novelty for us SoCal kids), maybe make a snowman and some snow angels. It's warm out there - all the way up to 8 degrees today.
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