Back Surgery is Scheduled for Today

I  forgot to mention in my previous post that the CT Scan also showed that the inflammation of his colon and the small perforation in the colon that they saw last time, is no longer visible.  So that means that part healed.  That made us VERY HAPPY because that means surgery is not in the future again… which is a good thing.  Surgery is not something we want because that means no chemo for at least 6 weeks after and perhaps even more.  Right now Chemo is what he needs. That was my Christmas Gift! 

Today was Steve’s 3rd Chemo Treatment.  It’s crazy how fast the last 6 weeks have gone by since we first found out he had cancer. Last time there was no issue with the port and the IV went right in with no problems.  This week we had a problem again.  Not getting the IV in, but getting the blood to flow out of the IV.  You see, when they put a port in, sometimes your body realizes this foreign object is in there and doesn’t like it.  So it sort of forms like a blood clot so nothing will flow.  I’m not sure of the exact terms they use but basically it blocks it.  When this happens you can get stuff into the IV, like…

I had a house full of people today.  Just the way it should be.  My brother brought over a bottle of something for shots.  I have no idea what it was, I can’t remember.  But I do remember that I didn’t have any shot glasses so we used wine glasses.  My crystal wine glasses that I got when Steve and I got married.  So they were pretty appropriate to use! We all got together and did a “Shot for Steve”….. it was pretty fitting considering he enjoyed himself a drink or two over the years. A memory I will always cherish!

Steve is doing great.  He’s just tired.  But he feels fine. The side effects from Chemo can come on at anytime but he’s doing really well so that helps.  He had trouble sleeping last night because one of the meds is a steroid – the nurse warned us about it. Steve is also having some back problems which is completely unrelated to the cancer, thankfully.  So his back was also very sore.  After he finally listened to me and took the pain pills they gave him at 2am, he was able to fall asleep and slept through till 10am! Who knew I actually knew what I was talking about! He’s tired still and has napped a few times but in general, he still feels great. …

Well friends…..It’s with a very heavy heart that I have to write the post I never wanted to write, nor did I expect to be writing it anytime soon. Steve came home today with Hospice. Unfortunately the tumors in his lungs have spread more and have taken over about 80% of his lung capacity, which leaves him with about 20% to breath. The doctor doesn’t really know how much more time he has, but from the looks of how much of the cancer that has grown in his lungs over the past month, his guess is about 2 weeks give or take. He’s on oxygen and Morphine to help him be more comfortable. He’s happy to be home and in a place where he can…

On June 18th, we saw the Oncologist and he told us the bone scan was clean and there is no cancer in his bones.  First good news we had received!  I thought for sure it would be so I was pretty happy to hear that. The plan was to start chemo on Wednesday, June 25, 2014 and the doctor planned for the first scans to be done probably in September to see it’s working.   They will be doing blood work weekly or biweekly to make sure the chemo isn’t affecting his white/red blood cells and platelets.  If it does, the doctor will readjust. Really hoping we can put this in remission for a long time.  Only time will tell.