Well, thanks for all the great prayers folks...God has answered our prayers.
going into today we wanted to know what the cancer is, how long he's had it, and what the path forward is. In addition we also wanted to find a way to reduce the pain he is feeling in his back.
God answered!
Today we met with the Oncologist Dr. Kim...we all felt pretty comfortable with him. He reviewed Dad's files and his imagery (Xray, CT Scan, MRI), he gave us a thorough diagnosis and confirmed what Dr. Sy had told us previously...Stage IV Andocarcinoma...aka Lung Cancer.
They took blood today for labs and then while we there Dr. Kim stepped out and called the radiologist and got us in today for our initial consult. Which was freakin' awesome! Blew all of our expectations away.
The path forward is what we prayed for as well...to remove the pain in the back/hip/tailbone and restore his normal quality of life. The bad news is that the Dr. did confirm that L1, 3, 4, 5 and the Sacrum (aka tail bone) have been attacked by the cancer and are damaged because of that process (cancer eats the bone). So Radiation will help that. We left the appointment feeling better than going in because the Dr. provided answers to all of our questions. We will see Dr. Kim (Oncologist again on Thursday to review the labs and PET scan). We have to be careful and make sure that even though Dad feels better that he doesn't start getting too active because the cancer makes his bones brittle and thus he could suffer secondary effects.
As soon as we left the Oncologist we went to the Radiologist Dr. Madsen in Poulsbo. She was great. Got all the paperwork filled out and then she came in and saw Dad in his pain and said...we'll see you first thing tomorrow and "oh by the way" here's some new drugs to help with the pain...so bring on the steroids baby...it's party time. Dad should be feeling right as rain tomorrow. I'm calling this radiation series 1 which consists of 10 treatments spread out on the upcoming business days. Radiation treatment Series 1, number 1 (S1N1) is tomorrow and will continue every business day until the series of 10 is complete (S1N10). Dad should feel pain relief by this Friday and then serious pain relief by next Friday. Side effects of radiation will be feeling tired and some nausea.
I got the PET scan setup for Wed at 1000AM. This is an important appointment as it will allow us to know the full extent of the cancer...folks..this is the next surprise. But the nice thing is once we are done with it then we'll know the full extent and can make better plans.
Thursday is our next really big answer session (hopefully...need those focused prayers to provide the answers on Thursday). We'll find out the results of the blood work and should also get the full read on the PET scan and thus know what we are dealing with.
Going forward....
Chemo..yup...there are apparently some really new "smart bombs" as Dr. Kim called them that are very effective at attacking the cancer and aren't as bad as what we normally know. Xgeva and Avastin. We'll know more about chemo on Thursday and after Radiology is completed. But it sounded good.
As always I'll ensure that you are all kept in the loop as we move forward.
I'm going to be setting up a prayer conference call this week as our faith says that praying in mass is the way that God can hear our requests. If you are interested please reply to this post so I can pass on the dial in information. I'm thinking Wed night PST would be good so we can focus on getting good answers on Thursday from the Dr.
In Christ!
going into today we wanted to know what the cancer is, how long he's had it, and what the path forward is. In addition we also wanted to find a way to reduce the pain he is feeling in his back.
God answered!
Today we met with the Oncologist Dr. Kim...we all felt pretty comfortable with him. He reviewed Dad's files and his imagery (Xray, CT Scan, MRI), he gave us a thorough diagnosis and confirmed what Dr. Sy had told us previously...Stage IV Andocarcinoma...aka Lung Cancer.
They took blood today for labs and then while we there Dr. Kim stepped out and called the radiologist and got us in today for our initial consult. Which was freakin' awesome! Blew all of our expectations away.
The path forward is what we prayed for as well...to remove the pain in the back/hip/tailbone and restore his normal quality of life. The bad news is that the Dr. did confirm that L1, 3, 4, 5 and the Sacrum (aka tail bone) have been attacked by the cancer and are damaged because of that process (cancer eats the bone). So Radiation will help that. We left the appointment feeling better than going in because the Dr. provided answers to all of our questions. We will see Dr. Kim (Oncologist again on Thursday to review the labs and PET scan). We have to be careful and make sure that even though Dad feels better that he doesn't start getting too active because the cancer makes his bones brittle and thus he could suffer secondary effects.
As soon as we left the Oncologist we went to the Radiologist Dr. Madsen in Poulsbo. She was great. Got all the paperwork filled out and then she came in and saw Dad in his pain and said...we'll see you first thing tomorrow and "oh by the way" here's some new drugs to help with the pain...so bring on the steroids baby...it's party time. Dad should be feeling right as rain tomorrow. I'm calling this radiation series 1 which consists of 10 treatments spread out on the upcoming business days. Radiation treatment Series 1, number 1 (S1N1) is tomorrow and will continue every business day until the series of 10 is complete (S1N10). Dad should feel pain relief by this Friday and then serious pain relief by next Friday. Side effects of radiation will be feeling tired and some nausea.
I got the PET scan setup for Wed at 1000AM. This is an important appointment as it will allow us to know the full extent of the cancer...folks..this is the next surprise. But the nice thing is once we are done with it then we'll know the full extent and can make better plans.
Thursday is our next really big answer session (hopefully...need those focused prayers to provide the answers on Thursday). We'll find out the results of the blood work and should also get the full read on the PET scan and thus know what we are dealing with.
Going forward....
Chemo..yup...there are apparently some really new "smart bombs" as Dr. Kim called them that are very effective at attacking the cancer and aren't as bad as what we normally know. Xgeva and Avastin. We'll know more about chemo on Thursday and after Radiology is completed. But it sounded good.
As always I'll ensure that you are all kept in the loop as we move forward.
I'm going to be setting up a prayer conference call this week as our faith says that praying in mass is the way that God can hear our requests. If you are interested please reply to this post so I can pass on the dial in information. I'm thinking Wed night PST would be good so we can focus on getting good answers on Thursday from the Dr.
In Christ!
I did have a great day and agree with the plan of action. Control the pain, gather more information and then start treatment.Thank all of you for your prayer's and support. Keep in touch. Jim
ReplyDeleteThis is encouraging news! And hopeful for Uncle Jim. Thanks for being so prompt in updating the blog and keeping us in the loop, Jeff. Looking forward to talking/praying on Wednesday. Love you all.
ReplyDeleteLots of positive news - so thankful prayers are being answered. So thankful for your blog Jeff. So thankful for the pain relief and for doctors that are on top of things.
ReplyDeleteWe would like to be included in the prayer conference call on Wed. And of course we are continuing to pray without ceasing...
Our love to you all,
Sue & Jeff
What a day! Prayers are being answered. Sounds like you have some great, caring doctors. Count us in on the prayer conference.
ReplyDeleteKeeping you all in our thought and prayers,
Kris and Jeryl
Jeff you are awesome for setting all of this up...thank you! This all sounds great and very positive. I hope, Uncle Jim, you are out of pain or at least in less pain soon. My dads was in C7 and they did surgery,radiation,and Chemo also. He ended up doing bone marrow transplant using his own blood through fred hutch. I hope to talk to him tonight and will pass on Jeff's number so you can talk. Great news and keep it comin :) Definintly count me in on the confrence call.Hugs and Kisses-Darby
ReplyDelete