Hurricane Dean/Chemo Take 4

(Photo of Hurricane Dean - which hit land this week. We saw lots of coverage of the storm while we were waiting in the hospital this week.)

Much like Hurricane Dean- our dad Dean has been proving his strength to a lot of people. Last week, we had another good eye appointment. His retinal tear seems to be healing wonderfully. In addition, on Thursday he had a bunch of tests including CT and PET scans.

Aaron, Dad & I all met with Dad's oncologist yesterday. Upon examination, the doctor thinks Dad is doing better - he is walking better, exercising more and feeling good Dad has lost nearly 75 lbs in 3 months. And while this is not a great way to do it, we feel that the less weight on his leg is good - along with overall a healthier body, heart, etc. Dad is still anemic and so another blood transfusion was scheduled.

Then we began reviewing dad's new labs in comparison to his old results with the doctor. Dad's cancer is the same or smaller in his brain, lung and bones. This is great news. However, it appears to have spread/grown in his liver.

There are two possibilities for these results:

1. The cancers have mutated and are not reacting to the chemotherapy in the same way.

2. The doctor's who did his two sets of tests read the results differently.

We had two options on moving forward with chemo:

1. Stay the course of current treatment/drugs and get more tests in two months to see how the liver is doing

2. Aggressively treat the liver cancer with a drug that has serious side effects for Dad's situation

The doctor was leaning toward the less aggressive treatment, because dad's liver function still appears to be good. As a family, we have decided to go with Option 1 and keep the same treatment for the next two months. At that point, if the liver is worse - we will consider the aggressive treatment plan.

After our appointment yesterday, Aaron & Dad stuck around for chemo - ending their long day of waiting and waiting rooms around 5:00. Today, they headed back to the hospital for a immune booster shot and blood transfusion.

We consider this a milestone in Dad's treatment and we have been so lucky to be all together as a family this week.

Little Visitors

(Taylor with Dad - in-between a marathon Ring Around The Roses session)
(The Birthday Girl Madison- up and walking around!)

With my brother in the vicinity, we have had some visitors this weekend. Along with Aaron, we have hosted his wife Niki, mother-in-law Pauline and two daughters Taylor & Madison. So along with our new puppy, our house is quite full these days- which has been so much fun. Dad has really enjoyed the visitors - especially his granddaughters who have grown so much!

Dad has several appointments this week including a series of tests on Thursday that will evaluate how he is responding to the treatments. Aaron will be staying with us all next week, so we are looking forward to that - as well. We hope you all are doing well - Thanks again for all the support.

Road Trip

(Image from WWII Memorial in Washington DC, which we saw this weekend- photo courtesy of AudeVivere)

Dad is currently between treatments and my brother Aaron is working in Virginia - so we thought a road trip was in order. Leaving Friday after work, we traveled to Alexandria, VA and left dad with Aaron and family friend Jim. The guys had a nice relaxing weekend, including a trip up to DC to see the new WWII Memorial. They also spent some time with Marine Corps/Platte City friends Greg, Michelle & Lauren.

Overall, everybody had a wonderful weekend which was a nice break from our ordinary routine. Aaron will be visiting us again in Durham soon & Dad has this week off from all doctor's appointments.