Hanging in there

Hello everyone, it's time for an update on how Dave is doing. He finished all of his treatments on Oct. 18, 2010, with two doctor appt. shortly after with Dr. Rezaee (ENT from Univ. Hosp.) and Dr. Koenig, oncologist. Both Dr's. are very pleased with how he is doing, they both said he looks good and has even gained a couple more pounds. We are hoping that this is a good sign. Dave is doing well, appetite is definitely improving and he is slowly getting his stamina and strength back.

The Pet/ct scans have been scheduled for mid November with Dr. appointment following after Thanksgiving. We would rather wonder about the results so that we may be able to enjoy our Thanksgiving more this year.

All in all were hanging in there. Will be updating again after we get the results of the next set of scans. Thank you for all your prayers, we do try to keep everyone in ours. God Bless and we love you.

Keeping The Faith On This Path

Just an update on how Dave is doing. The kids have more or less settled into their school routine and doing well. Dave, the kids and I were able to get out a little last weekend. It was nice to be able to do something together for a change.

Dave had his third round of chemo. treatments this past Monday 9-13-10. We also had a doctors appointment with the Oncologist and Dr. Koenig was pleased with how he's doing, especially with the two pounds that Dave gained. We are hoping that's a good sign. Dave is usually tired, and grouchy with some nausea for a few days afterwards. His anti nausea meds work really well. He is naturally bored with not being able to work or do the things he wants to do, but he does do little things that don't require a lot of stamina. When he has the erbitux treatments every Monday he does pretty good after those.

We did have some car problems last week and just wanted to thank those involved for helping us with the repair. We are keeping the faith that all continues to go well during this time.

We love you all, God Bless.

Were Walking

What a week last week, getting kids ready for school, Erbitux treatment, surprise assistance from the Stephen J. Communale Foundation (helps cancer patients and families) for new backpacks and general school supplies, thanks so much for the help!

Whew! that said, on to business. Dave had his second chemotherapy (Taxol, Carboplatin) and fourth Erbitux treatment on Monday, the 23rd. Dave seems to be tolerating the treatments pretty well right now, no nausea yet, just some days where he is tired and on the grouchy side. He is eating well and seems to be maintaining his weight. He is having some pain on the right side, not sure what it's from yet. Will be seeing the Thoracic doctor on Friday as well as the ENT from Univ. Hosp. He noticed last week that his hair is falling out and today we went to the local Harley Store and picked up some dew rags to cover his head.

Will update again after the doctors visits. Please continue to keep Dave in your prayers for healing, patience, strength, financial, and anything you think we need. We love you and God Bless.

The Second Week of Daves New Path

Wow, what a couple of weeks! Dave has had one chemo. treatment and two Erbitux treatments down. The week after chemo. was kinda rough but Dave did well in handling it. This week he is doing pretty good after just the second Erbitux.

On Monday Dave went to see the speech guy, Gary to get his TEP (voice prosthesis) changed out, that wasn't to be. Gary was unable to do it due to stenosis of the stoma (overgrowth of skin covering a portion of the TEP. Gary called Dr. Rezaees office at UH and we spent the afternoon in Cleveland.

We went to Dr. Rezaees satellite office in S. Euclid where he was able to remove the TEP and temporarily put a spacer in till we could get to Univ. hospital. We then drove over there to the speech lady, Gina. She's great, with a wonderful sense of humor. The TEP was replaced with lots of laughter and good humor. By the time we were leaving it was almost 5:00, y'all know what that means TRAFFIC!

I was able to get in touch with my dad who lives on the west side of Cleveland and go spend some time with him and Terri and my step nephew Jaiden. Thank you Dad and Terri for letting us wait out the traffic with you, enjoyed seeing you.

Treatments To Begin Soon...

What a busy week this has been! On Monday, we met with Dr. Joseph Koenig, Daves oncologist for his chemotherapy.

We had met with Dr. Savvides of UH Ireland Cancer Ctr. on July 15Th to determine if we were able to do treatments closer to home. This was a yes and Dr. Savvides contacted Dr. Koenig to discuss Daves treatments, he will be following Daves progress closely.

Dave, Dr. Koenig and I discussed his course of treatments for this round of chemo. Dave will be getting a port placed on Monday, the 26Th, this is an outpatient surgical procedure. He will be receiving the following chemotherapy drugs, Carboplatin and Taxol every 21 days, (the carboplatin is a cousin of the cisplatin medication that Dave received last year). He will also be getting Erbitux on a weekly basis. This medication is a targeted therapy drug, and is classified a "monoclonal antibody" and "signal transduction inhibitor" by binding to epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR). It is used to treat metastatic cancer that over-expresses the EGFR.

All three of these medications are to be given by (IV) at the infusion center at the Cooper cancer center in Akron. All of the treatments are to start on Monday, Aug. 2, 2010.

Our next visit was a scheduled visit with the radiation oncologist for followup. We were released to an as needed basis with him.

Would like to send special thanks to my mom for sending us a new pool liner for our pool, and to Dave for helping get it finished. It has been set up and is now swim ready, the kids and I had a great time swimming for the first time in one and a half years. The pool had been taken down for maintenance in 2008, just before we found out Dave had stage 4 laryngeal cancer. Thank you mom, we love you.

Thank you for your prayers of strength, healing, and patience on this new path. We love you and God Bless.

The Walk Has Begun Again

Once again I find myself sitting here trying to find the right words to write, so I will just start from the beginning. In Nov. 2008 my husband Dave was diagnosed with stage 4, level 3 squamous cell laryngeal cancer. In July, 2009 (prior blogs) his larynx was removed and there was no evidence of cancer. Dave returned to work in Nov. 2009 and was doing well, then in Feb. 2010 he was laid off. Dave no longer has health insurance now and was still undergoing follow up Pet/Ct scans and dr. visits at University Hosp. and the radiation oncologist here. Daves last Pet/CT scans in April, 2010 showed areas of concern on his lungs and an area of lymph nodes next to his esophagus. A biopsy was scheduled in May at which time we found out that Dr. Rezaee his ENT was unable to do, due to the location of the areas. We were then referred to a thoracic dr. by the name of Dr. Carsten Schroeder, also located at Univ. Hosp. Ireland Cancer Ctr. He performed the biopsies on his right lung, the dr. actually took about 7-10% of volume of his right lung, he also did a pericaridal window (drained fluid from the cardiac sack)of and Dave was in the hosp. for 5 days. I was fortunate enough to stay at Hope Lodge next to the hosp. for those 5 days. Dave has recovered from that surgery and doing well.

Now fast forward to today. It seemed like it went by really fast because of all the activity. We left for Cleveland this morning to see Dr. Rezaee for Daves usual follow up and to discuss test results, not in detail though that was done by Dr. Schroeder. Things moved fast from there, Dr. Rezaee had a oncologist stop in to see Dave and work out a time to see him, which is next Thur. the 15th. Dave then had to zip up to radiology for a chest x-ray, and then on to Dr. Schroeders office.

We all set down to discuss the results of Daves biopsies. Unfortunately it was not the news we wanted to hear. Dave has metastatic squamous cell carcinoma, meaning metastasis that is away from the original location. The cancer cells in the lung were delivered there by Daves bloodstream. They are considering it stage 4, which is what the laryngeal was staged. Dave does have fluid in his lungs which also takes away from his lung function. The next step is the appt. with the chemotherapy dr. on Thursday at which time we will find out all treatment options available to Dave, and also the prognosis and any further details. Thank you for all your prayers, we love you and God Bless.

What's Next?

Hello again everyone, been awhile since you heard from me. Just wanted to send an update as to what has and is happening at this time. Daves pet/ct scan showed some areas of concern in April, 2010 in the lymph nodes next to the esophagus and in the lungs. Dave had been in for an attempt to do a biopsy in May, 2010, which Dr. Rezaee was unable to do at that time. He thought he would be able to do a needle biopsy with ct scan, nope not that either! Dave was referred to a Thoracic Dr. by the name of Dr. Carsten Schroeder also with the Ireland Cancer Ctr. located at University Hospital in Cleveland. Dave was scheduled for a lung biopsy June, 17, 2010. Dr. Schroeder was unable to get to the lymph nodes in question, he did to the biopsy to the areas in question in the right lung. Dave also had some fluid build up around the heart in the aortic sack, this fluid was drained and also biopsied. Dave spent 5 days in U.H. and we are now home. Dave is doing OK and I guess I am to. The preliminary results showed some necrotic (dead) tissue in the right lung, then the big one, there is cancer in his right lung. We are currently waiting once again for the final report to find out if the cancer is metastatic or a new cancer. As of now the plan is chemotherapy and the appt. has been made with the oncologist here in the Akron area for mid July, by then all the reports and the game plan should be in place. We are thankful that this cancer has been caught early!

Please keep Dave in prayer for the strength to fight another battle! We love you and God Bless.