Wednesday we had an appointment with the nutritionist and one of the gastro doctors. Everything went really well. They had originally scheduled those appointments because for a short time Bob had a feeding tube down his nose to his stomach. But that came out after only a week when they put the stint in his throat. But also, since this is a cancer of the gastric system, they wanted to follow up as well. Bob was having a lot of trouble eating at first, and had lost around 35 pounds.
So at yesterday's appointment everything was greatly improved though. Bob has gained 8 pounds, and we were really glad for that. One of the most important things for someone who is undergoing chemo to do is to get proper nutrition and keep their weight up. When he had dropped the 35 pounds, I was getting very worried. Now that he's headed the other way, I feel a lot better.
They were also happy that he has been eating so well. They even told us that we don't have to schedule another appointment with them unless something changes or we want to. So that's at least one doctor we don't have to see for awhile. Anyway, we were really happy that there have been some improvements.
Tomorrow we see the oncologist for a checkup. I'll try to post tomorrow sometime about how that went.
Later, Carol
Friday, June 29, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Chemo day 6
Bob had his sixth chemo treatment today, and everything went fine. It's kind of hard to figure out what to give him to eat on chemo days. I make a nice breakfast for him before we go. But while there he just doesn't want to eat anything heavy. I think the hospital setting makes him lose his appetite. He'll eat yogurt or breakfast bars, but nothing really filling. But the bad thing is that by the time we get home he is ravenous and I can tell his blood sugar is low. This was the case today and I made him a nice big meal when we got home, but he was really tired and feeling rough by that time. I would like to think of something to give him at the hospital that would be more filling, but not so heavy that it bothers him, but so far we can't seem to figure out what that would be. He seems to feel even a sandwich would be too much. So, I'm open to suggestions.
We see the nutritionist on Wednesday, although we expect her to just look at him and go "OK, great, see you next month." On Friday we see the Oncologist, Dr. Posada. We will decide then how we will proceed with treatment. I expect him to give Bob the week off and then resume the chemo.
So anyway, this is a super busy week for us, but like I said, next week we should have the week off.
By the way, thanks so very much for all the sweet comments. It is so comforting to have such supportive friends. You really are such special people.
Carol
We see the nutritionist on Wednesday, although we expect her to just look at him and go "OK, great, see you next month." On Friday we see the Oncologist, Dr. Posada. We will decide then how we will proceed with treatment. I expect him to give Bob the week off and then resume the chemo.
So anyway, this is a super busy week for us, but like I said, next week we should have the week off.
By the way, thanks so very much for all the sweet comments. It is so comforting to have such supportive friends. You really are such special people.
Carol
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Letting the world know stuff
Hi Everyone,
I've been talking about starting a blog to let those that care about Bob and myself know what is happening with his health. So I've finally begun work on it. I'll try to update it at least every few days or as we learn important things.
The current situation so far is this: As most of you reading this blog know, Bob was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. The cancer had also spread to his trachea and his vetebra right behind there. Because of the involvement of his trachea, surgery was not an option for him. You can replace an esophagus, but there is not currently a replacement for a trachea. Also, radiation was not an option for us when treatment started. Again, because of the involvement of the trachea, the doctors were afraid that if they shrunk the tumor too fast, as radiation might do, that it might leave a hole in his trachea where the tumor had been. This would have been a very dangerous and life threatening emergency.
So at present the treatment Bob is undergoing is chemotherapy. For those of you inclined to be curious, specifically, Taxol and Cisplatin. Taxol is derived from the bark of the Yew tree and Cisplatin is a heavy metal. So far the chemo is going very well. He has been tolerated it well, with few side effects. Sometimes his stomach is a little bit upset that day, but he has had none of the bad nausea you hear about. There are a couple of smaller issues. He is losing his hair. It's not falling out in clumps or anything, just getting very thin. And, his hands are very cold a lot of the time. We have been doing the chemo every Monday and it takes about 5 hours to administer.
Bob is defintely feeling better than when this all started. When he was first diagnosed, he could only swallow liquids because his esophagus had gotten so narrow. When he was in the hospital for the week in May they put a stint in his throat that helped to open it up. We also suspect that the chemo has shrunk the tumor some as well, because now is able to eat just about anything he wants. When he couldn't swallow he had almost totally lost his appetite. Now he eats as much as he ever did. Though he is still very tired, he has more energy than before. And also, he had developed a pain in his upper back in the spot where the tumor had spread to, but now that pain is gone. He still has a cough, but that is also somewhat better than before.
So, we have along way to go, but right now we are happy with the improvements. I'm thankful that he is enjoying eating again, and is feeling better. That's where we are up to the minute.
Tomorrow we go for the 6th session of chemo, which is the last in the second series. We will see the oncologist on Friday and decide where we go from there. My feeling is that he will order another round of chemo since it seems to be helping and Bob is tolerating it so well. I'll let you know when we know.
And let me say to everyone reading this, Bob and I are both so thankful for all of you concern, love, good wishes and kind words. It makes us feel so much better to know there are people out there who care about us. Right back at you.
Carol
I've been talking about starting a blog to let those that care about Bob and myself know what is happening with his health. So I've finally begun work on it. I'll try to update it at least every few days or as we learn important things.
The current situation so far is this: As most of you reading this blog know, Bob was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. The cancer had also spread to his trachea and his vetebra right behind there. Because of the involvement of his trachea, surgery was not an option for him. You can replace an esophagus, but there is not currently a replacement for a trachea. Also, radiation was not an option for us when treatment started. Again, because of the involvement of the trachea, the doctors were afraid that if they shrunk the tumor too fast, as radiation might do, that it might leave a hole in his trachea where the tumor had been. This would have been a very dangerous and life threatening emergency.
So at present the treatment Bob is undergoing is chemotherapy. For those of you inclined to be curious, specifically, Taxol and Cisplatin. Taxol is derived from the bark of the Yew tree and Cisplatin is a heavy metal. So far the chemo is going very well. He has been tolerated it well, with few side effects. Sometimes his stomach is a little bit upset that day, but he has had none of the bad nausea you hear about. There are a couple of smaller issues. He is losing his hair. It's not falling out in clumps or anything, just getting very thin. And, his hands are very cold a lot of the time. We have been doing the chemo every Monday and it takes about 5 hours to administer.
Bob is defintely feeling better than when this all started. When he was first diagnosed, he could only swallow liquids because his esophagus had gotten so narrow. When he was in the hospital for the week in May they put a stint in his throat that helped to open it up. We also suspect that the chemo has shrunk the tumor some as well, because now is able to eat just about anything he wants. When he couldn't swallow he had almost totally lost his appetite. Now he eats as much as he ever did. Though he is still very tired, he has more energy than before. And also, he had developed a pain in his upper back in the spot where the tumor had spread to, but now that pain is gone. He still has a cough, but that is also somewhat better than before.
So, we have along way to go, but right now we are happy with the improvements. I'm thankful that he is enjoying eating again, and is feeling better. That's where we are up to the minute.
Tomorrow we go for the 6th session of chemo, which is the last in the second series. We will see the oncologist on Friday and decide where we go from there. My feeling is that he will order another round of chemo since it seems to be helping and Bob is tolerating it so well. I'll let you know when we know.
And let me say to everyone reading this, Bob and I are both so thankful for all of you concern, love, good wishes and kind words. It makes us feel so much better to know there are people out there who care about us. Right back at you.
Carol
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