DeBary, FL.
74 deg. Partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High 91F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.
Yesterday, Jim had an appointment with the Chemo Doctor, (Dr. Gupta), and so he and Linda finally got some answers!!
You see, Jim took a disk of his PET Scan to the hospital and answered a bunch of questions way back on the 20th. He was told that the doctor would look at the scan and then they would call him and let him know when he should come in for the biopsy.
Well, , , , , he waited and waited. Linda finally called the hospital but never could get an answer. She then called the chemo doctor, (who had ordered the biopsy), but got no answer there either. Both places said that "they'd get back to her", but never did! :-( However, at one point, someone did say that they didn't know if Jim was a "good candidate" for the procedure as the left lung was "compromised" and he does have some emphysema.
Anyway, yesterday, he had an appointment with Dr. Gupta and he and Linda finally found out what was going on. The doctor at the hospital didn't think it was a good idea to do the procedure, but somewhere along the line, there was a lack of communication and that fact was never relayed to Jim and Linda. There was one more option, but it involved surgery and it would be risky as well, so it was decided to just go ahead and treat the new spot on the lung as though it was a worst case scenario.
This next Tuesday, Jim will go to the chemo doctor's office for "Patient Education" and then on Friday, he'll have his first treatment. They will be using the new drug, OPDIVO, and it will be given to him every other week for at least 9 weeks. At that time he will have a "scan" and any further treatment will depend on that.
There are some side effects of this drug, but he was told that most patients were able to tolerate the drug very well. Hopefully, the treatments won't be too bad.
Also, either sometime this next week, or possibly the first part of the next, Jim will start radiation treatments. It sounds like they will be scheduled just like they were the last time. 5 days a week, Monday through Friday.
So, , , , , , now you know just about all of what I know. These last few weeks have been very stressful, but now that we know when and what these treatments will be, it takes a lot of the stress out of it. Hopefully everything will go fairly smoothly and we can get back to a more normal life.
A Quote to Ponder : "Look up to the sky. You'll never find rainbows if you're looking down"
Charlie Chaplin
Woof!!!
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Finally Something To Report
DeBary, FL.
Wednesday 10;00 pm EDT - 72 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast Thursday = Mostly sunny skies. High near 85F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.
Well, I finally have something to report.
In my last post, I told you that Jim had had a CT Scan and the doctors had found a spot in his right lung. Since then, he has had a PET Scan on the 13th of April, and it was determined that in addition to the spot in that lung, there was also evidence of something in the same place that had been treated before in his left lung. He has since been to see the Chemo doctor, and now is waiting for an appointment to have a biopsy on the spot in the right lung preformed at the hospital in Orange City.
There is some evidence that the spot in the right lung looks different than the spot in the left lung. That is actually good because if it is, that would possibly mean that the original cancer has not spread to a different part of his body, but is in fact, a different cancer. If that's the case, it would mean that the original cancer is not in his blood stream and going to other parts of his body.
So, we wait for the biopsy and then the diagnosis. After that, there will be radiation and chemo very similar to what he had a little over a year ago. :-( If that's the case, we won't be traveling at all this summer.
Jim's not doing too bad. He's "down" at times, but for the most part, he trying to keep a good attitude about all of this. He's very disappointed and is dreading having to go through the chemo treatments again, especially since he still has some side effects from the last treatments he had, just over a year ago.
Linda is very worried about Jim but is also trying to keep her spirits up. She knows that she'll have to try to stay strong and be there for moral support for Jim.
So, , , , , that's about all I know for now. As soon as the results from the biopsy come in, I imagine they'll start treatments. At that time, we should find out more about how long the treatments will last and possibly get some idea of what the summer will bring as far as any plans Jim and Linda can make.
Please keep Jim and Linda in your thoughts and prayers. I'll post update here as often as I can to try to keep all of you up-to-date.
Woof!!!
Wednesday 10;00 pm EDT - 72 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast Thursday = Mostly sunny skies. High near 85F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.
Well, I finally have something to report.
In my last post, I told you that Jim had had a CT Scan and the doctors had found a spot in his right lung. Since then, he has had a PET Scan on the 13th of April, and it was determined that in addition to the spot in that lung, there was also evidence of something in the same place that had been treated before in his left lung. He has since been to see the Chemo doctor, and now is waiting for an appointment to have a biopsy on the spot in the right lung preformed at the hospital in Orange City.
There is some evidence that the spot in the right lung looks different than the spot in the left lung. That is actually good because if it is, that would possibly mean that the original cancer has not spread to a different part of his body, but is in fact, a different cancer. If that's the case, it would mean that the original cancer is not in his blood stream and going to other parts of his body.
So, we wait for the biopsy and then the diagnosis. After that, there will be radiation and chemo very similar to what he had a little over a year ago. :-( If that's the case, we won't be traveling at all this summer.
Jim's not doing too bad. He's "down" at times, but for the most part, he trying to keep a good attitude about all of this. He's very disappointed and is dreading having to go through the chemo treatments again, especially since he still has some side effects from the last treatments he had, just over a year ago.
Linda is very worried about Jim but is also trying to keep her spirits up. She knows that she'll have to try to stay strong and be there for moral support for Jim.
So, , , , , that's about all I know for now. As soon as the results from the biopsy come in, I imagine they'll start treatments. At that time, we should find out more about how long the treatments will last and possibly get some idea of what the summer will bring as far as any plans Jim and Linda can make.
Please keep Jim and Linda in your thoughts and prayers. I'll post update here as often as I can to try to keep all of you up-to-date.
Woof!!!
Saturday, April 8, 2017
New Tires For Big RED, Good News and Some Not So Good News
DeBary, FL.
45 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Plentiful sunshine. High 76F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
When I last posted, I mentioned that Big RED needed new tires. Well, Ray, (a man who used to live across the street from us here in the park), e-mailed Jim and told him about a local tire shop (Big T. Tires), a little North of here. Jim took Big RED and headed over there and really liked the place. And, on top of that, they had a good price on a set of tires!!!
So, now, Big RED has a set of nice new tires that should last a good long time. :-)
This past Monday, Jim went in to Dr. Graham's office, (Jim's radiation doctor), for that CT Scan that I told you about a while back. He had the scan and then on Wednesday, he and Linda went back to see Dr. Graham and get the results of the scan. So, what's the results? you ask???? Well, there's good news and some not so good news.
First of all, the scan showed that the left lung that was treated before was clear and looked good. But, , , , , the scan showed a very small spot in the right lung!!! :-(
Now, this spot may be nothing at all, but now, Jim is scheduled for a PET Scan this coming Thursday, April 13th, to find out for sure. Then on Monday, the 17th, he and Linda will go back to get the results.
If it is malignant, it will have to be treated. If it is only that one small spot, Dr. Graham says that he's sure he can treat it with radiation and that because of where it is and how small it is, the treatments should not take long and we should still be able to travel this summer, possibly still leaving during the first part of May.
So, , , , , things have kind of been put on "hold" until we find out more.
On the other hand, Linda had a visit with her surgeon yesterday, and everything looked real good, so there's good news there.
I'll post again as soon as Jim and Linda get the results on the 17th. Jim seems to be doing pretty well with this disturbing news, but as you can imagine is pretty worried. Hopefully everything will come back negative and we can resume out summer plans.
A Quote to Ponder. "He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not".
Woof!!!
45 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Plentiful sunshine. High 76F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
When I last posted, I mentioned that Big RED needed new tires. Well, Ray, (a man who used to live across the street from us here in the park), e-mailed Jim and told him about a local tire shop (Big T. Tires), a little North of here. Jim took Big RED and headed over there and really liked the place. And, on top of that, they had a good price on a set of tires!!!
So, now, Big RED has a set of nice new tires that should last a good long time. :-)
This past Monday, Jim went in to Dr. Graham's office, (Jim's radiation doctor), for that CT Scan that I told you about a while back. He had the scan and then on Wednesday, he and Linda went back to see Dr. Graham and get the results of the scan. So, what's the results? you ask???? Well, there's good news and some not so good news.
First of all, the scan showed that the left lung that was treated before was clear and looked good. But, , , , , the scan showed a very small spot in the right lung!!! :-(
Now, this spot may be nothing at all, but now, Jim is scheduled for a PET Scan this coming Thursday, April 13th, to find out for sure. Then on Monday, the 17th, he and Linda will go back to get the results.
If it is malignant, it will have to be treated. If it is only that one small spot, Dr. Graham says that he's sure he can treat it with radiation and that because of where it is and how small it is, the treatments should not take long and we should still be able to travel this summer, possibly still leaving during the first part of May.
So, , , , , things have kind of been put on "hold" until we find out more.
On the other hand, Linda had a visit with her surgeon yesterday, and everything looked real good, so there's good news there.
I'll post again as soon as Jim and Linda get the results on the 17th. Jim seems to be doing pretty well with this disturbing news, but as you can imagine is pretty worried. Hopefully everything will come back negative and we can resume out summer plans.
A Quote to Ponder. "He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not".
Woof!!!
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