Second Round of Chemo is Done!

This morning I did the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I said good bye to my husband Steve. He peacefully passed away at 6:20 am and is no longer suffering. His soul is free from cancer, so he won! Thank you all so much for your prayers, friendship and love over these past 2+ years. Steve’s Obituary    

Steve’s surgery last week was a success.  The spine surgeons were able to remove the tumors that were compressing Steve’s spinal cord without having to insert the titanium rods.  His bones were surprisingly strong.  They did insert a little cement into the spine where they removed the tumors, just to give it a little more strength. Because they didn’t have to insert the rods, the recovery was much easier.  Steve was up walking around the following day and then doing the stairs a day later. Two days after his surgery, his heart rate was still high – it was running 115-120.   Come to find out it was because he has a blood clot in his lungs.  He was at a high risk for getting one,…

The doctor called to tell Steve today that his CEA number is 12.  Last time it was 11 but the doctor says that’s still great and it will go up and down a bit, but doesn’t really mean anything.  So Steve was happy. Steve also noticed at 1pm today that his pump wasn’t working and we don’t think it pumped anything since we left the infusion center yesterday at 1pm.  🙁  So  now he’s hooked up until Saturday instead of Friday.  We weren’t very happy but nothing we can do.  Now we know to make sure it’s working like all the time.

I had to take Steve to the hospital today. His breathing hasn’t been very good and I just knew it needed to be addressed. I’m so glad we went because his oxygen level was VERY low. They did a CT scan to check for a new blood clot, but found nothing. There is a little fluid in his lung but the doctor thinks it’s old and doesn’t believe it is related to this. They did hear some crackling in one of his lungs so perhaps it’s a little collapsed but again, he didn’t think it would cause this much distress. There is some progression of disease in his lungs so it could be a combination of everything. They admitted him and have him on oxygen…

Steve had chemo last week and once again his side effects weren’t that bad since the reduction.  He’s even been able to maintain his weight, which is exactly what the doctor wants right now.  It’s been nice outside the last few days so that’s been helpful too.  On the cold days we had a week ago he had a very hard time.  Once his hands and nose get cold, they hurt.  He’s trying to bundle up the best he can, but if he bundles up too much he sweats.  Over time he’ll find a balance.  It’s something new to get used to. He sees the Oncologist next Tuesday and he will then make an appointment for another CT Scan.  I’m very hopeful that we will…

Today was Steve’s first day of chemo and it went well. We are getting chemo at the Infusion center at Kent Hospital and I have to say we really like them there.  Plus it’s nice and close to the house which is a huge plus. The doctor told us we’d be there for a couple of hours but when we arrived they told us that wasn’t true, we’d actually be there for about 5-6 hours.  Steve wasn’t very happy at first but it is what it is and nothing we can do about it.  Eventually we’ll be down to about 3 hours.  So perhaps that’s what he was thinking about. Since Steve had the port placed just 2 days ago, the area is still very…