The walk down the new path has begun. Dave was admitted to the hospital this week to begin his chemotherapy and radiation. He checked in and got settled in for his overnight visit. They started what they call a pre hydration about 10:30 (sodium chloride drip), then about 1:30 they administered the nausea meds and then the Sisplatin (chemo meds). This only took about an hour or so. After this was done they did a post hydration drip. The Sisplatin is a very toxic chemo med and can do damage to the kidneys if not hydrated well. He had his first radiation treatment shortly after the chemo. He took a shot of adavan before he went to radiation. He did well there. He had his second radiation on Friday before he came home. He did not take any meds. before this treatment. He did well without the adavan, and says he should not need it again during the rest of the radiation treatments. Dave did say the food was pretty good, I would have to agree as I made a trip to the cafeteria myself.
We returned home Friday afternoon to quiet, we watched a movie before the kids came in from school. After the kids did their chores and packed a weekend bag, I took them to their grandparents till Sunday. Dave and I are both glad they are not here as he has been very ill. The nausea meds. the doc. sent him home with were not working very well for him. I called the doc. and asked for them to prescribe something else and explained that he is not wanting to eat or drink. The doc. prescribed another med. which seems to have helped. I did get him to eat a piece of toast and drink a 12 oz Gatorade as well as some water and sprite. He is sleeping on and off and feels terrible. I pulled the muscles in my lower back on Thurs. so I have been trying to take care of me and him. He knows I hurt my back and does ask if I am OK. I am feeling much better today (ice/heat and Advil).
Dave will be returning in about 21 days for his second chemo treatment and overnight stay. He now has 33 radiation treatments and 2 chemo. treatments left. Thank you for listening and God bless you. We love you all.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
The beginning of a new path
Well Dave is on vacation this week so that he can get some of the tests done and start his chemo this week. He follows up with the dentist tomorrow for his partials. Thanks again to the ones who helped in getting this done.
We went to the radiation doc. this morning so they could make a mold or mask for Davids head and shoulders. This is to hold his head in place during radiation treatment, he will have to hold completely still. He also had another pet/ct scan. Dave started having some anxiety about the process and they gave him an injection of xanax. The nurse came out to let me know why it was taking so long, and I had a bit of a panic attack, I went outside so that I could better deal with it. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours, an hour longer than we should have been there. Dave was very pale when he came out of there (he wasn't able to eat before the test).
When we arrived home to let the dogs out at 1:00, he decided he wanted to eat out. We went to a local eatery. He wanted breakfast, he ordered pancakes but they did not serve pancakes or french toast after 11:00. He said OK and ordered something else. I was expecting him to say lets go because he couldn't get what he wanted. He didn't even get upset, I like that medication, he was very calm most of the afternoon.
When we finally got home, he decided to go play on the Playstation 2. He has a game that he can play war and fly airplanes. He seems to really like it. So I left him there and ran some errands for about an hour. He was still quite calm from the earlier medication. I hope that he will be ok going through all of this. It's just a matter of getting it started and getting it over with. Thank you for listening and may God bless you. We love you all.
We went to the radiation doc. this morning so they could make a mold or mask for Davids head and shoulders. This is to hold his head in place during radiation treatment, he will have to hold completely still. He also had another pet/ct scan. Dave started having some anxiety about the process and they gave him an injection of xanax. The nurse came out to let me know why it was taking so long, and I had a bit of a panic attack, I went outside so that I could better deal with it. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours, an hour longer than we should have been there. Dave was very pale when he came out of there (he wasn't able to eat before the test).
When we arrived home to let the dogs out at 1:00, he decided he wanted to eat out. We went to a local eatery. He wanted breakfast, he ordered pancakes but they did not serve pancakes or french toast after 11:00. He said OK and ordered something else. I was expecting him to say lets go because he couldn't get what he wanted. He didn't even get upset, I like that medication, he was very calm most of the afternoon.
When we finally got home, he decided to go play on the Playstation 2. He has a game that he can play war and fly airplanes. He seems to really like it. So I left him there and ran some errands for about an hour. He was still quite calm from the earlier medication. I hope that he will be ok going through all of this. It's just a matter of getting it started and getting it over with. Thank you for listening and may God bless you. We love you all.
Friday, January 23, 2009
The time has come!
Hello everyone, hope that your all doing well. Felicia has been home for the better part of this week due to no heat at the high school, she finally went back today. Shanna has left for TN this morning to visit her grandma. She is going to be making her veil for her wedding in August. Shanna will be returning on Monday and then on Feb. 1, leaving for Vancouver B.C. Canada for 3 months. Dave has been doing OK so far.
Dave has had his teeth taken care of, thanks to a very understanding oral surgeon. He had his most recent extractions done for free. Our friend Sherry Z. is his assistant and spoke to him about Dave and he helped out. Thank you so very much Sherry and Dr. Kimberly. The only thing left to do is get his partials made. Our dentist will be doing this on Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who assisted in this area.
Dave will be taking some vacation time next week to cover the dentist appointment and to get another pet/ct scan on Monday. He will also have the mold made to hold his head in place during his radiation treatments.
Dave will also be starting his chemotherapy treatments this week. He will be admitted into the hospital for a 24 hour period. He will also be starting his radiation treatments. The treatments will be intense for him and I hope that this will shrink the tumor to non existent so that he will not have to have surgery to remove his larynx (voice box). If this doesn't work, his larynx will have to be removed.
Please keep him in your prayers that the treatment will work. I will update when I can. God Bless you and thank you for listening, we love you all.
Dave has had his teeth taken care of, thanks to a very understanding oral surgeon. He had his most recent extractions done for free. Our friend Sherry Z. is his assistant and spoke to him about Dave and he helped out. Thank you so very much Sherry and Dr. Kimberly. The only thing left to do is get his partials made. Our dentist will be doing this on Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who assisted in this area.
Dave will be taking some vacation time next week to cover the dentist appointment and to get another pet/ct scan on Monday. He will also have the mold made to hold his head in place during his radiation treatments.
Dave will also be starting his chemotherapy treatments this week. He will be admitted into the hospital for a 24 hour period. He will also be starting his radiation treatments. The treatments will be intense for him and I hope that this will shrink the tumor to non existent so that he will not have to have surgery to remove his larynx (voice box). If this doesn't work, his larynx will have to be removed.
Please keep him in your prayers that the treatment will work. I will update when I can. God Bless you and thank you for listening, we love you all.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
It's a snowy day out and were just chillin!!!
OK, here I sit on a very snowy day out, were watching a video and just plain chillin! Shanna was supposed to lifeguard at the YMCA today, and they closed so she is home. Felicia and I went out earlier to shovel the drive, my wonderful neighbor Dick came with his snow blower and did it all. Thank you and may God bless you, hope you drank some hot cocoa as Felicia suggested? I know that we all will be out later to do it all over again! I took a walk out to the back of the yard where we have a picnic table that had not been put away and measured the snow at approximately 12:30 we had 8 inches of the white stuff and it is still coming down. Felicia, Tommy, and Rae all got hot cocoa with their lunch. They will be going out soon to play and have fun in the snow. I see a sledding trip in their future.
Now down to the visit with the Radiation doc. on New Years Eve. That visit was not such a good visit. Dr. Simmons is nice and very understanding and very infomative. He wanted to examine Daves throat but the numbing medication that he used did not work on Dave. That did not go over well with Dave and he refused the exam. Dave can have a very nasty temper and he let the dr. know it. Dr. Simmons did not know what to say or do, he told us he has never had this problem before and that is the usual stuff they use. Dr. Simmons is going to have to get something else if he wants to do the examination.
We got through that problem and were able to discuss the radiation treatment and when it should begin. There again laid another problem, Dave has to have 4 teeth removed so off to the dentist he goes. Dr. Simmons got his appt. moved up for the extraction, Dave got there and did not have the teeth removed and rescheduled the extractions for a week later. He told the dentist we couldn't pay for it. We are getting help from his family to help with the cost of this, but Dave is worrying over it. When all this is done he will have to have 7 teeth put into his upper and lower partials. That is another cost of about $1300 to do, which he will need his teeth before treatment and during his early treatment. The dentist did explain to him that it will become difficult for him to wear them during the radiation treatments. This also means that his treatments will probably not begin till mid February.
Dr. Simmons told us that the first couple weeks of treatment will be ok, but as the teatments go on, it will be rough. Daves neck is going to get burned, like the worst sun burn you have ever had. I do believe they give a lotion to help with the burn. His mouth is going to change, saliva will not be made like it is now. Then there is the swallowing, Dave will have to swallow, swallow, swallow, to keep that reflex in shape. Swallowing could become difficult, his diet will change, no meat, I could see that didn't set well with him. He will also have to have a feeding tube at some point if he starts losing weight. I hope that when all of this is over that he will be able to eat like he does now. My husband loves to eat, especially meat and potatoes with gravy.
I certainly hope that I got this information as close to right as I can. I did not have my notes to go by this time. I'm waiting on them and will add or make any corecctions. My sister in law Roseann who lives in WI went to the dr. with us that day. Her oldest son joined the Navy and graduated from boot camp the first of January and she had to be there. I know how proud she is of him as we are to. If I have left anything out let me know. May God bless you all and thank you for listening. We love you all.
Now down to the visit with the Radiation doc. on New Years Eve. That visit was not such a good visit. Dr. Simmons is nice and very understanding and very infomative. He wanted to examine Daves throat but the numbing medication that he used did not work on Dave. That did not go over well with Dave and he refused the exam. Dave can have a very nasty temper and he let the dr. know it. Dr. Simmons did not know what to say or do, he told us he has never had this problem before and that is the usual stuff they use. Dr. Simmons is going to have to get something else if he wants to do the examination.
We got through that problem and were able to discuss the radiation treatment and when it should begin. There again laid another problem, Dave has to have 4 teeth removed so off to the dentist he goes. Dr. Simmons got his appt. moved up for the extraction, Dave got there and did not have the teeth removed and rescheduled the extractions for a week later. He told the dentist we couldn't pay for it. We are getting help from his family to help with the cost of this, but Dave is worrying over it. When all this is done he will have to have 7 teeth put into his upper and lower partials. That is another cost of about $1300 to do, which he will need his teeth before treatment and during his early treatment. The dentist did explain to him that it will become difficult for him to wear them during the radiation treatments. This also means that his treatments will probably not begin till mid February.
Dr. Simmons told us that the first couple weeks of treatment will be ok, but as the teatments go on, it will be rough. Daves neck is going to get burned, like the worst sun burn you have ever had. I do believe they give a lotion to help with the burn. His mouth is going to change, saliva will not be made like it is now. Then there is the swallowing, Dave will have to swallow, swallow, swallow, to keep that reflex in shape. Swallowing could become difficult, his diet will change, no meat, I could see that didn't set well with him. He will also have to have a feeding tube at some point if he starts losing weight. I hope that when all of this is over that he will be able to eat like he does now. My husband loves to eat, especially meat and potatoes with gravy.
I certainly hope that I got this information as close to right as I can. I did not have my notes to go by this time. I'm waiting on them and will add or make any corecctions. My sister in law Roseann who lives in WI went to the dr. with us that day. Her oldest son joined the Navy and graduated from boot camp the first of January and she had to be there. I know how proud she is of him as we are to. If I have left anything out let me know. May God bless you all and thank you for listening. We love you all.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)