Can't Get A Break!

Here we are at the end of another road and what a road it's been! Dave finished up his chemotherapy treatments at the end of January, 2011. He had to return to the infusion ctr. weekly for his lab work and to see if he needed any magnesium. Your probably asking why the mag? The one Erbitux medication that he had weekly also depletes the magnesium levels that is in your body. It is very important as it helps with muscles, and your heart, which is a muscle. The first three weeks he had to have 6 grams of it, which means a four to six hour stay. Dave was also experiencing some difficulty with swelling and pain on the right side of his body. The did not do the mag. one week and he started doing better. Dr. Koenig wanted his mag. levels to be at 1.7 at the minimum. At his last blood draw on Monday, March 21 they were 1.5 so he received 4 grams and was there about a total of 4 hours. Dr. Koenig also called for an ultrasound of his right arm to rule out any blood clots due to the swelling and pain there. That test showed no blood clots!

Now to his pet/ct scans that were done in early March, we also got the results of those on March 21. The results were not what we wanted to hear, there is still some residual in the upper thoracic area, and a new spot has showed up adjacent to the right side of his trachea, and some fluid buildup around his rt. lung. Dave says "it seems like I just can't catch a break" so he is going to fight, with me by his side cheering him on.

We also met with Dr. Rezaee on Tuesday from University Hosp. in Cleveland. That was the usual checkup visit and also to go over his treatments and scans. The doctors, meaning, Dr. Rezaee, Dr. Koenig and Dr. Savvides (UH Oncologist) are putting there heads together to see what kind of different treatments can be done. There checking to see if there are any Phase I trials out there, if so we may have to go to Cleveland or Canton (which is a UH satelite hosp.) for them if they can't be done at Cooper Cancer Ctr. (Akron City Hosp). We are hoping they can be done close to home, as my truck can't take much more.

We are keeping close to home as Dave is having some difficulites with his breathing due to the fluid that is around his right lung. He may also have some bronchitis which our family doc. is treating with a strong antibiotic. Dr. Crawford also did a chest x-ray to rule out any pneumonia. That was fine and did show the fluid as well.

Before he and I went to the family doc. this afternoon he looked at me and apologized for being a pain in the butt, I turned to him and said NO, CANCER IS A PAIN IN THE BUTT! He gave me a great big hug and away we went to the doctor.

So as you can see, we are playing the waiting game while the professionals decide what type of treatments Dave should have. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts, we love you and God Bless!