more to come after today...
Joe sees the oncologist today. It's been over a month now (well, 4 weeks?) since he got the first go round of beads... They'll be running a CEA to see where his cancer markers stand (they were over 2000 when he had the first implantation). I'm excited, and nervous, to see where we're at!
We thought they were going to do another scan before treating the left lobe, but I reckon' not... Joe got a call last week, and we're set up to head downtown Friday morning for the procedure! I reckon' after 3 or so weeks, THEN they'll do a scan... see what can be seen. I'm thinking a PET, since that seems to be more accurate as far as LIVE tumors.
All of this is really exciting... knowing that there's got to be good results... that the cancer can NOT fight and mutate around the radiation... I can't wait to see how good of results we've gotten so far. Praying, praying... I'll update just as soon as I know something tonight!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sheesh! Where the heck is the time going?
Well, as I'd said previously, Joe went on March 30th and had his 6 million little radioactive beads planted... Still amazed... 6 million!!! 1/3 the diameter of a human hair!!! AMAZING!!! Came right out from the procedure to recovery, hungry as a bear! We were heading home by about 5:30. A MUCH faster day than the day they did the vein study.
We went to the oncologist's this past Wednesday... Still weren't sure whether he was going to get full chemo with the last available, just the 5-FU, or the Xeloda. I'd called and asked the doc's assistant the week before Joe was implanted, but she never did get back with me. Actually, I emailed her, but still... she never let us know. So... when the doc asked if Joe'd gone back on his Xeloda, I told him that I'd contacted Niki to ask her exactly what he was supposed to be doing, 'cause the PA had talked about infused 5-FU with the other chemo... Dr. S kept saying 5-FU... Xeloda is a pill that creates 5-FU in the body, but it's not compatable with the infused 5-FU in all situations. It was the Xeloda. So Joe got a little later start on it, but he's cookin' with both now... Doc upped the Xeloda to 4 pills twice a day. We'll see if Joe can maintain that. That stuff just eats his hands and feet up!
He doesn't got back for 3 weeks now... we just let everything percolate... When he goes back they'll check his CEA (cancer markers... they'd done them the day of the procedure and they were over 2200, up from a little over a thousand a few weeks before. Hard to imagine we'd ever been all the way down in the 60's!)... I guess he'll get with Dr. S and discuss whether they are going to do another scan (or scans), and determine whether they're going to do the procedure on his left lobe, or just let the Xeloda take care of it. If they do another PET scan, they can see exactly what is live and what isn't. Those things are SOOO cool!
Anyway... that's it for now... We just wait. God willing, all with do what it's made to do and get those tumors DEAD! Since we're not running hither and yon, hopefully Joe will be able to maintain at work and actually get a few full weeks in. Those 3-4 day weeks have just about killed us! He's had some days where he's come home wiped out, but doesn't just fall out when he hits his chair. He's more sociable. That's a good thing for me! Not necessarily complaining, but considering that I'm home alone all day, then he comes home, sits down and basically passes out until bedtime... It can get kind of lonely! It's been nice to have him come home and chat with me... to be able to watch TV together and him be knowing what's going on... I love my husband. I've missed him... the whole him...
Aside from all of that... we're just waiting for grandbaby 5's arrival. She's due May 8th, but they've told her basically anytime in the next 2-6 weeks. Stacy is hoping that Ashley goes around her due date... Chase's birthday is the 14th, and she's planning him a big outside bash. She doesn't want to have to cancel it while we all troop off to the hospital. LOL!
Keep praying that things are on the right track, and I'll update you again when I know more...
We went to the oncologist's this past Wednesday... Still weren't sure whether he was going to get full chemo with the last available, just the 5-FU, or the Xeloda. I'd called and asked the doc's assistant the week before Joe was implanted, but she never did get back with me. Actually, I emailed her, but still... she never let us know. So... when the doc asked if Joe'd gone back on his Xeloda, I told him that I'd contacted Niki to ask her exactly what he was supposed to be doing, 'cause the PA had talked about infused 5-FU with the other chemo... Dr. S kept saying 5-FU... Xeloda is a pill that creates 5-FU in the body, but it's not compatable with the infused 5-FU in all situations. It was the Xeloda. So Joe got a little later start on it, but he's cookin' with both now... Doc upped the Xeloda to 4 pills twice a day. We'll see if Joe can maintain that. That stuff just eats his hands and feet up!
He doesn't got back for 3 weeks now... we just let everything percolate... When he goes back they'll check his CEA (cancer markers... they'd done them the day of the procedure and they were over 2200, up from a little over a thousand a few weeks before. Hard to imagine we'd ever been all the way down in the 60's!)... I guess he'll get with Dr. S and discuss whether they are going to do another scan (or scans), and determine whether they're going to do the procedure on his left lobe, or just let the Xeloda take care of it. If they do another PET scan, they can see exactly what is live and what isn't. Those things are SOOO cool!
Anyway... that's it for now... We just wait. God willing, all with do what it's made to do and get those tumors DEAD! Since we're not running hither and yon, hopefully Joe will be able to maintain at work and actually get a few full weeks in. Those 3-4 day weeks have just about killed us! He's had some days where he's come home wiped out, but doesn't just fall out when he hits his chair. He's more sociable. That's a good thing for me! Not necessarily complaining, but considering that I'm home alone all day, then he comes home, sits down and basically passes out until bedtime... It can get kind of lonely! It's been nice to have him come home and chat with me... to be able to watch TV together and him be knowing what's going on... I love my husband. I've missed him... the whole him...
Aside from all of that... we're just waiting for grandbaby 5's arrival. She's due May 8th, but they've told her basically anytime in the next 2-6 weeks. Stacy is hoping that Ashley goes around her due date... Chase's birthday is the 14th, and she's planning him a big outside bash. She doesn't want to have to cancel it while we all troop off to the hospital. LOL!
Keep praying that things are on the right track, and I'll update you again when I know more...
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