Friday morning, Dad got to "ring the bell" at Barnes Jewish in honor of his last treatment of radiation. This is a nice ceremony to celebrate completion of a treatment plan. We got home Friday afternoon - I drove mom and dad, while Gary drove the truck. All happy to be home.
The plan for surgery has been adjusted a bit. Since radiation continues to shrink the tumor for a significant time frame after stopping the treatments, they want to wait 8 weeks before surgery. In the meantime, he is supposed to get chemo every two weeks - we're trying to get these scheduled in Joplin rather than St Louis - a half hour drive vs. a 5 hour drive and two night stay - that's a big difference.
They want a CT Scan done maybe at 4 weeks, and definitely at 8 weeks. For that, we'll have to go to St Louis. Also, it sounds like Steven Strasberg will be the surgeon - glad to hear that since he was very highly recommended as one of the best in the nation (though any of their 3-4 surgeons who do these twice a week would be terrific).
Nice and warm here - 80 today but dangerous weather threatening (tornados, etc.) tonight. Good to stay home and relax.
Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
One more week of radiation
Sorry for the lack of updates - got a virus on both home computers (yikes!) and just got them back today from the Neosho Computers shop. My laptop is with mom and dad in St Louis, so we were offline for a while.
Dad's still doing very well - they were home in Seneca for this past weekend (didn't bring the laptop home unfortunately), then returned to St Louis on Monday. It was good to have them home (the dogs were very happy!) and I am sure they enjoyed relaxing at home. We had fantastic warm weather.
Dad has 5 more treatments this coming week; Gary and I will go to St Louis to accompany them on the drive home, this coming Friday. They will be home for 4 weeks, before having to head back for a CT scan and one more chemo treatment. We thought he would have the CT scan in 3 weeks, but they said 4 weeks - apparantly, the tumor continues to shrink for several weeks after radiation. Then they will schedule the surgery - possibly for 2 weeks after than - perhaps the week of May 9? It's been a long tough road for Dad but he is doing great. The radiation department there at Barnes Jewish says he's making them all look good. :-)
Dad's still doing very well - they were home in Seneca for this past weekend (didn't bring the laptop home unfortunately), then returned to St Louis on Monday. It was good to have them home (the dogs were very happy!) and I am sure they enjoyed relaxing at home. We had fantastic warm weather.
Dad has 5 more treatments this coming week; Gary and I will go to St Louis to accompany them on the drive home, this coming Friday. They will be home for 4 weeks, before having to head back for a CT scan and one more chemo treatment. We thought he would have the CT scan in 3 weeks, but they said 4 weeks - apparantly, the tumor continues to shrink for several weeks after radiation. Then they will schedule the surgery - possibly for 2 weeks after than - perhaps the week of May 9? It's been a long tough road for Dad but he is doing great. The radiation department there at Barnes Jewish says he's making them all look good. :-)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Almost half way and still doing well...
Dad is still feeling well though a bit tired (understandable). His radiologist suggested he take anti-nausea medicine just in case, because the treatments build up on you. Two days after starting that pill, his ankles started swelling up (similar to what would happen a couple days after he took anti-nausea pills with his Joplin treatments). He thinks it's related to that med and I think he's right! He stopped taking it, but it takes a while for the swelling to go down. In the meantime, walking is difficult so they opted not to drive over to my cousin Ron's house in Wentzville this past weekend, which had originally been the plan. (Plus Kimberly has a bug, so it's best not to get too close.) Sorry they missed the visit - missed out on more of Kirsten's great cooking!
Also, his red cell count was a bit on the low end, so they skipped one of his weekly chemo treatments (while continuing the radiation). I think he's not eating enough red meat!!! Also supposed to have lots of green leafy vegetables - but unfortunately those are not allowed in any large volume due to his blood thinner medicine (slight conflict of interest which presents a challenge). Hopefully with a 2-week break in-between, his red cell count will come back up for the next treatment. He always had a 2-week break for his Joplin treatments.
We are all hoping for the best, that his results from these treatments will be as good or better than in Joplin. Shrink that tumor by another half!
I am sure Dad is looking forward to a break, and they are both looking forward to coming home. They are planning on driving back to Seneca this Friday (St Patty's Day) and then driving back early Monday morning. If he's not feeling up to the drive, I can take the bus from Joplin to St Louis to help out on the drive back, or the other way, or both. Will post later in the week.
Also, his red cell count was a bit on the low end, so they skipped one of his weekly chemo treatments (while continuing the radiation). I think he's not eating enough red meat!!! Also supposed to have lots of green leafy vegetables - but unfortunately those are not allowed in any large volume due to his blood thinner medicine (slight conflict of interest which presents a challenge). Hopefully with a 2-week break in-between, his red cell count will come back up for the next treatment. He always had a 2-week break for his Joplin treatments.
We are all hoping for the best, that his results from these treatments will be as good or better than in Joplin. Shrink that tumor by another half!
I am sure Dad is looking forward to a break, and they are both looking forward to coming home. They are planning on driving back to Seneca this Friday (St Patty's Day) and then driving back early Monday morning. If he's not feeling up to the drive, I can take the bus from Joplin to St Louis to help out on the drive back, or the other way, or both. Will post later in the week.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
So far so good for the radiation in St Louis
Dad has had no ill effects so far, after one chemo treatment Monday and several radiation treatments. The Hope Lodge is comfortable and working out well, with a shuttle to Barnes Jewish for treatments, and several restaurants and grocery store nearby.
Mom and dad are planning on coming home for one weekend, if all goes well.
I think they miss the dogs - who went to the vet today for rabies shots - so the dogs don't particularly like me right now. Plus, we don't have any donut seeds (cheerios) to give them - oh the heartless neglect. However, I have been putting left-over prime rib in their meals, so that should make up for the cruel lack of cheerios. These dogs are so spoiled....all pets should have it so good.
Mom and dad are planning on coming home for one weekend, if all goes well.
I think they miss the dogs - who went to the vet today for rabies shots - so the dogs don't particularly like me right now. Plus, we don't have any donut seeds (cheerios) to give them - oh the heartless neglect. However, I have been putting left-over prime rib in their meals, so that should make up for the cruel lack of cheerios. These dogs are so spoiled....all pets should have it so good.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Mom and Dad off to St Louis...
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.
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.
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 |
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