Well things are looking up. For the last week Dave has had difficulty sleeping in anticipation of one of the several checkups that he will be experiencing. On Monday we went to the ENT - Dr. Lutz, he was able to do an exam and things looked good. Very swollen in there (from the radiation), but the dr. did not see any sign of the tumor, like I said it is still very swollen around the vocal chords so lets pray that it is gone or very small and hiding behind the swollen areas. Dave and I were never so relieved as to see and hear this news. We can handle whatever is there. We will be seeing Dr. Lutz in 6 weeks and the radiation dr. in mid April. Dave will also be having another pet/ct scan in about 8-10 weeks.
Dave had his blood drawn to check his white blood cell counts today also. There will be no chemo. Dr. Koenig has said that he is finished with it. The chemo and radiation are to be done together for the treatment to be effective. He will not be seeing him again unless recommended by the other doctors.
Dave is still eating very soft foods but beginning to eat a little more as each day passes. I can see his strength coming back a bit at a time. He is a strong man and hopefully will be riding his bike by May. I will update when he goes back to the drs. or when I see more improvement. I want to thank everyone for there continued support and prayers. Each and everyone of you are a blessing, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Dave still has a long road ahead with many doctors visits and tests till he hits that five year mark, as for now we will take one day at a time.
God Bless each and everyone of you, thanks for listening. We love you all.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
It's not over till the dr's sing...
Today was supposed to be Daves last chemotherapy, not so! The day did not start out well, around 8:30 am or so the hospital called to tell us not to show up at 10:00 am as they did not have a bed for him. So we just took it easy this morning and about noon I called to see if there was a bed for him, yay, there was. They told us to be there around 1:30 pm. So we get there and they check him in and his blood pressure is really low, they draw blood and start his IV to help bring his BP up. An hour later they come back and say sorry, no go today, come back next week. Dave will have to have his blood drawn again on Wednesday to be sure his white cell have come up enough to do the chemo. Dr. Koenig had Dave stay to do the one bag of sodium chloride to increase his blood pressure, it brought it up considerable.
Dave is feeling tired but pretty much in good spirits. He goes to see the ENT, Dr. Lutz on Monday, don't know if he will be able to do an exam (down the throat) or not. Dave eats soft food and drinks Ensure, so he is trying.
We were talking with his mom the other day about when he will be able to eat right again. He says he can't wait, as we are going out to the Outback to celebrate with a nice, juicy steak!!!!
God Bless everyone and thank you for listening. We love you all.
Dave is feeling tired but pretty much in good spirits. He goes to see the ENT, Dr. Lutz on Monday, don't know if he will be able to do an exam (down the throat) or not. Dave eats soft food and drinks Ensure, so he is trying.
We were talking with his mom the other day about when he will be able to eat right again. He says he can't wait, as we are going out to the Outback to celebrate with a nice, juicy steak!!!!
God Bless everyone and thank you for listening. We love you all.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The end of the path is near.
Good morning, hope that everyone is having a great day. Dave is now down to one chemotherapy and four radiation treatments left. March 18 will be his last radiation and his last chemo is scheduled. When we saw Dr. Simmons (radiation dr.) on Monday, he said Dave is doing well. Dave does have a pretty serious sunburn going on with his neck, and says he is now an official redneck, lol. There are some places that could be second degree burns, and silvadene was prescribed if it gets to that stage. Dave has started taking the pain meds. that were prescribed, (Advil wasn't working as well). He did awesome up till this past week with his radiation. Unfortunately, Daves voice is gone for now. He speaks in a loud whisper, this is expected to improve after his treatments are done. I am sure the kids don't mind, although I am the one doing all the yelling now :(
We saw Dr. Koenig (chemo. dr.) this morning. He is also happy with Daves progress. Dave has lost about 15 pounds since he started his treatments in January. Dr. Koenig said this is good and glad that it didn't start earlier in his treatments. We talked about his eating, and decided to keep trying food and also nutrition supplements. It has become a hit or miss on food that he can eat. Sometimes he can and sometimes he can't, food just tastes horrible! Dave is not a big guy to begin with, but he can put the food away :) So this experience has been hard for me to see, knowing how he enjoys eating. He has started eating cream of wheat for breakfast and sometimes lunch. If he is unable to eat supper, he has one of the supplements and the cream of wheat or soup. We went to Paneras Sat. evening and he got a bowl of there Chicken Noodle soup, which he ate the whole thing (except about 5-6 spoonfuls). Rachael was sitting across from him and was grinning from ear to ear watching him eat. She was very happy that her daddy ate almost all of his supper (so was I). On Sunday morning I made sausage gravy and biscuits with eggs. He ate one grands biscuit and two eggs. We were all glad to see this. As you can see it is hit or miss here. Dave especially has trouble eating after his chemo treatments for about a week, then his eating starts improving a bit.
Dave will see Dr. Lutz this month for a checkup and he will determine if we need to see Dr. Rezaee from University Hospital. We are hoping that these treatments destroyed the tumor on his larynx (voice box) so that no other procedures or treatments need to be done. God bless you and thanks for listening. We love you all.
We saw Dr. Koenig (chemo. dr.) this morning. He is also happy with Daves progress. Dave has lost about 15 pounds since he started his treatments in January. Dr. Koenig said this is good and glad that it didn't start earlier in his treatments. We talked about his eating, and decided to keep trying food and also nutrition supplements. It has become a hit or miss on food that he can eat. Sometimes he can and sometimes he can't, food just tastes horrible! Dave is not a big guy to begin with, but he can put the food away :) So this experience has been hard for me to see, knowing how he enjoys eating. He has started eating cream of wheat for breakfast and sometimes lunch. If he is unable to eat supper, he has one of the supplements and the cream of wheat or soup. We went to Paneras Sat. evening and he got a bowl of there Chicken Noodle soup, which he ate the whole thing (except about 5-6 spoonfuls). Rachael was sitting across from him and was grinning from ear to ear watching him eat. She was very happy that her daddy ate almost all of his supper (so was I). On Sunday morning I made sausage gravy and biscuits with eggs. He ate one grands biscuit and two eggs. We were all glad to see this. As you can see it is hit or miss here. Dave especially has trouble eating after his chemo treatments for about a week, then his eating starts improving a bit.
Dave will see Dr. Lutz this month for a checkup and he will determine if we need to see Dr. Rezaee from University Hospital. We are hoping that these treatments destroyed the tumor on his larynx (voice box) so that no other procedures or treatments need to be done. God bless you and thanks for listening. We love you all.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Half way there!
Well the 2nd round of Chemotherapy is done. We were preparing to leave for Daves 21st round of radiation when they called to say the radiation machine was down. Dave let them know that he would be in the hospital for his chemo treatment and they could come and get him when the machine was fixed. So we were off with a quick stop at McDonalds for an egg Mcmuffin for him and a bagel for me. We arrived pretty much on time and they immediately got his hydration started about 10:30 am. I had a busy day so I left and picked Felicia up from school for her appt. and then she and I stopped by for a short visit. While we were gone they took Dave down to radiation (machine was fixed). They had not done his chemo yet. Felicia and I left to head home (laundry was calling) and to get Rae. Tommy was on a camping trip with the entire 5th grade. He was not due back till Friday afternoon. The girls and I had a nice evening (girls night), and also a nice visit with Dad.
On Friday morning I went to pick him up, he was not feeling the greatest. He did not even want to get some lunch when we left the hospital. We came home and he laid down. I told him to take the anti nausea meds and he did not. He waited till he was getting nauseated before he did, he ended up not feeling well at all. The doctor has said to take these when he gets home, he can be to stubborn for his own good.
Saturday was not to bad, but bad enough, he was taking the meds. and sleeping most of the day. He did not eat or drink.
Sunday I had him get up to shower and try to eat something, he did not feel well at all. He ate a bit but very little.
Monday was pretty much the same as Sunday. Dave and I went to radiation and he also sees the doctor. Dave had blood drawn to make sure his white blood cell count is still good to take the radiation treatments. His blood pressure was on the very low side, but still OK. They were very concerned about him not eating or drinking. The nurse told him the dr. just may send him upstairs to be hydrated by IV. Dave did not like that idea so said he would eat and drink. When we got home he did try to eat some soup and drink some Gatorade. Not much success, although he did drink an Ensure with success.
Tuesday I had errands to run so after his radiation I had him go with me. We grabbed a sandwich, and apple juice with some success. We walked around Sams Club so he got some exercise as they are pretty big. We took our time and looked at a lot of things. We did buy what we went in for and nothing extra. I had made homemade chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner last night, he had no success there. He is supposed to be taking the nausea meds but hasn't been, so I had him take one and he did drink an Ensure without getting sick.
It is Wednesday morning and he is doing better, he drank an Ensure and went off to radiation. I asked if he would like me to make him some breakfast when he gets back, but he said he would rather eat oatmeal. It's not heavy and that's what he wants.
When Dave started this he weighed about 165 lbs, he is now about 150lbs. His weight does fluctuate between 150 and 155, but that was before he quit smoking in November. He will start eating better in a few days, even though everything taste like sh**. I pray that he does not lose any more weight. If he does he will have to have that feeding tube, he does not want that either. I am thinking of things to do as the weather improves here, maybe I can get him to walk the dogs around the block!
Here is a note about me, I smoked my last cigarette on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009, so that means I have been smoke free since Feb. 15. I am very proud of myself and Dave is proud of me to! God Bless you and thank you for listening, we love you all.
On Friday morning I went to pick him up, he was not feeling the greatest. He did not even want to get some lunch when we left the hospital. We came home and he laid down. I told him to take the anti nausea meds and he did not. He waited till he was getting nauseated before he did, he ended up not feeling well at all. The doctor has said to take these when he gets home, he can be to stubborn for his own good.
Saturday was not to bad, but bad enough, he was taking the meds. and sleeping most of the day. He did not eat or drink.
Sunday I had him get up to shower and try to eat something, he did not feel well at all. He ate a bit but very little.
Monday was pretty much the same as Sunday. Dave and I went to radiation and he also sees the doctor. Dave had blood drawn to make sure his white blood cell count is still good to take the radiation treatments. His blood pressure was on the very low side, but still OK. They were very concerned about him not eating or drinking. The nurse told him the dr. just may send him upstairs to be hydrated by IV. Dave did not like that idea so said he would eat and drink. When we got home he did try to eat some soup and drink some Gatorade. Not much success, although he did drink an Ensure with success.
Tuesday I had errands to run so after his radiation I had him go with me. We grabbed a sandwich, and apple juice with some success. We walked around Sams Club so he got some exercise as they are pretty big. We took our time and looked at a lot of things. We did buy what we went in for and nothing extra. I had made homemade chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner last night, he had no success there. He is supposed to be taking the nausea meds but hasn't been, so I had him take one and he did drink an Ensure without getting sick.
It is Wednesday morning and he is doing better, he drank an Ensure and went off to radiation. I asked if he would like me to make him some breakfast when he gets back, but he said he would rather eat oatmeal. It's not heavy and that's what he wants.
When Dave started this he weighed about 165 lbs, he is now about 150lbs. His weight does fluctuate between 150 and 155, but that was before he quit smoking in November. He will start eating better in a few days, even though everything taste like sh**. I pray that he does not lose any more weight. If he does he will have to have that feeding tube, he does not want that either. I am thinking of things to do as the weather improves here, maybe I can get him to walk the dogs around the block!
Here is a note about me, I smoked my last cigarette on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009, so that means I have been smoke free since Feb. 15. I am very proud of myself and Dave is proud of me to! God Bless you and thank you for listening, we love you all.
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