Figured I should update you guys. To make a long story a bit shorter, here it goes:
After the second round of chemo, dad was hospitalized again due to dehydration. At that same time, he developed pneumonia in one of his lungs. His white blood cell count dropped so low that they put him in isolation. Not long after recovering from that bout, he started having some stomach pain related to bowel blockage. After being hospitalized yet again, they did a scan on his stomach. While they got his bowels working correctly again, sadly they revealed to him that the cancer in his liver had spread. Thinking things were going downhill quickly, we were all very concerned. He had begun planning for his funeral arrangements.
About a week afterward, my dad went back to the cancer doctor. He had requested that they evaluate the scans to determine where he stood regarding the cancer spreading. During our visit, we came to find out that the local hospital had totally misled us all. They were comparing the wrong scans. Based on the numbers, the cancer doc said the results of the most recent scans showed a fairly significant shrinking of the cancer. He then scheduled to meet with the radiologist later that week to evaluate the actual images of the scans, & he confirmed that progress had been made. He said there was 70-90 % improvement between the most recent scans compared to when he was first diagnosed. As you can imagine, this was a huge boost to morale' & a completely new outlook on things.
We met with the doc again, just before the 3rd treatment. Doc was so impressed with the progress that he decided to cut back on the chemo a bit. He did this to try & help keep dad from facing another hospitalization due to getting dehydrated. He had done well so far, even though there are 2-3 days that were pretty rough with nausea. His appetite has improved some, but he still has a hard time eating solid foods. Nothing tastes right, therefore he has no desire to eat. He's been doing protein shakes with ice cream for most of his nutrition, but anything he can eat solid is a benefit on top of that. The doc didn't seem too concerned as long as his weight is staying steady, which it has been. He had actually gained 3 pounds last week. However, he has lost almost 60 pounds since getting sick.
Since we got moved to TN, I have been going down to stay with him some each week. I get to play nurse & chauffeur. He felt really good the two weeks before his 3rd treatment, & he was able to actually get out & do some things. We've been able to get out several times since then as well. At times though, I think his mind forgets how weak his body really is. It's hard to keep a hard-headed man down though, lol. While it's not the best of circumstances, I'm thankful that we're able to spend time together.
He was scheduled to have a PET scan done on the Dec. 30th, just before the 4th treatment the following day. We knew that scan shows much more detail & would really give us a clue as to how things look.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I took dad to Memphis for the PET scan. I took him back to the local cancer clinic that following Wednesday, Dec. 31, for his 4th scheduled chemo. He was set to meet with the cancer doc beforehand to discuss results of the scan. Doc came in smiling & gave a great report. There was no visible cancer in his lungs anymore, nor no notice of the spots on the lower back muscle. There's 90% improvement in the liver, & it has significantly shrunk in the lymph nodes as well. Doc plans to keep pushing forward without changing anything at this point. He told my dad to continue working on his eating, & he's supposed to schedule a meet with the nutritionist. Right now that's one of the biggest obstacles he has, aside from typical nausea due to chemo. Doc told him to get out & be active as much as possible, living as normal as he can. He isn't putting any restrictions on him. So, just keep praying that we can get his weight & strength back up to par & keep that cancer shrinking. Compared to what we knew in the beginning diagnosis, this is such great news! Just wanted to share with you all.
