A Change in Plans

(Dad bonding with our new puppy - Willie)

After many doctor's appointments, tests and procedures- we still cannot definitively determine the pain in Dad's leg. Last Thursday and today was spent consulting with the doctor's about pain, the cancer and how we would proceed.

We have determined the two most likely culprits:
1. The pin in Dad's leg is rubbing on soft tissue, causing inflammation and ultimately the pain. The surgeon who performed the surgery gave dad a steroid shot to reduce inflammation. While this gave Dad a small amount of relief, it wasn't significant.

2. With all the new tests, we have identified a growing tumor in Dad's sacrum(hip/butt bone). The tumor is double the size it was in May. This tumor could be hitting a nerve and causing the pain. Treatment for this would be radiation to the spot to hopefully relieve pain and reduce the tumor in size.

We are moving forward with radiation which will begin tomorrow and be everyday for five days. In addition, we are increasing chemotherapy to once a week (instead of every month) and changing the drugs in order to blast these certain cancer spots that are still growing (sacrum, liver, etc.)

We hope that these changes to our plan will mean improvement for Dad's overall health and decrease his leg pain.

Pain in the Leg

Last week, Dad suddenly began having severe leg/hip pain on his left side. The pain has slowed him down quite a bit, forcing him to depend on crutches once again. Dad's orthopedic surgeon was able to see him last week and could not find the source of the problem.

Yesterday, we saw Dad's oncologist who is extremely thorough and has promised to try find the source of the pain. Over the next few days, Dad will have a series of tests and meet with the doctors again next Thursday. We hope that the problem is not serious and can be easily remedied.

On a fun note, we have also made Dad's travel arrangements for this Thanksgiving Holiday. He will be flying home with us on Wednesday, November 21 - arriving in Kansas City in the morning. He will be staying in Kansas City until December 15 and hoping to have a chance to see lots of friends and family on his visit. If you are going to be in the area - we know he would love to see you.