Just to Update

Wanted to quickly post to inform those of you who may not have heard... Dad has been admitted to Decatur General Hospital until most likely Monday morning sometime. He had a rough end to the first week of chemo, it really did hit him hard. He was very tired, weak and just not feeling well on Friday. Early Saturday morning (around 2 am) he had gotten up and felt really dizzy. He tried to catch himself as he felt himself falling to the right, but didn't reach the door frame in time. He took a fall and landed on a table/box by the door and cut a pretty big gash in the back of his head! Poor Daddy! Mom called an ambulance to help her and they took him to the ER where he got stitched up. His blood pressure was very low so they ended up keeping him for that along with observation because of the head injury. He is having a tough time with the blood pressure and pain management so he is still there today and most likely will spend the night tonight. They are running different test to try and figure out exactly what the low bp is a result of so they can do something about it. It could be from the chemo, the meds, dehydration...several things. I am glad he is there while he feels this bad so that he can have constant care with fluids, etc. Hopefully tomorrow morning we will get some answers and get him home to rest more comfortably. Thank you for your prayers, I just wanted to let you all know what was going on. I will post when we have a plan as to how long he will be there and what they are going to do about the blood pressure problem.

Love,
Michelle

Chemotherapy Again

My apologies for taking so long to update the blog today. It has been a long day and I am just getting a chance to sit down at my computer. This morning we met with Dr. Becdach again and he confirmed that all three doctors agree that chemotherapy is the way to go at this moment. Apparently, Dr. Spencer told him, based on the photographs and PET scan, she would not be able to do any more radiation at this time. So, as they all said last week, we are going to try to shrink the existing cancer and slow down any new growth with the chemo and then re-evaluate the situation after two rounds. (That will be one week on the pump, two weeks off, then one week on followed by two weeks off in addition to the Monday infusions of Erbitux) Needless to say, nobody around here had an exciting day at all. While we are so glad that the PET scan did not show the cancer to be spreading in to any other organs, we are just saddened for Dad to have to go through all of this....especially the chemo! He is feeling pretty rough trying to manage the extreme pain in his jaw area caused by the bad teeth and the tumor area. Now to add the side effects of chemo is just a bummer. He is tough and will get through it. Please pray now for all of this. The MRI came back and still showed that suspicious "spot" on the neck vertebrae area and also a SMALL spot further down on the back. Again, there is no concrete evidence that this is cancer, just suspicious. Not sure what the verdict will be about going after those. Still many questions to be answered. If Dr. Spencer thinks they are worthy of being treated, it is possible they may do radiation on them just to be sure and this can be done while on chemotherapy. It would be extremely rare for these spots to be caused by the same squamous cell carcinoma causing all the trouble in the left neck, as the cells would have had to travel through the entire lymphatic system through the body and then back up to the neck and spine area to set up camp. It seems that the other major organs wouldn't have been left out of that trip and so far they are clean, so we will pray hard about that and look forward to finding out that it is nothing to worry about.

Dad feels really strongly that the teeth are causing him great pain although the doctors say that it is caused from both the teeth AND the tumor around the jaw bone, etc. He told Dr. Bechdach that he KNOWS without a shadow of a doubt that certain pain is caused by the tooth. He knows his body so Dr. Bechach said if he wanted to have the teeth taken out to go ahead and do so. It does come with some risks and also causes him to have to come off the Zometo, a chemo type drug that helps stop cancer in the bone and the spread of cancer in the bone if that is what those spots turned out to be. Decisions, decisions. We have a call in to Dr. Holmes to give us his opinion and help us to decide what to do there. Again, through prayer, we will know what to do.

Join me as we give it all to God. He will take care of this whole situation. Pray for tolerable side effects from the chemo, clear decisions to be made, the tooth pain, healing...EVERYTHING!

Take care and love on mom and dad!
Thanks from the bottom of my heart,
Michelle

RESULTS of PET

Great news! The cancer has NOT spread anywhere else in the body!!!!! For this we are so thankful and give praise to our Savior! Thank you prayer warriors. What a relief it is to know that after 2 1/2 years it is still contained in the head and neck. I pray every day, expectantly, that ultimately the cancer will be gone from his body and today I am uplifted with even more HOPE! Yippee!!!

So, here is where things are. Some of you may know that last week I have started the ball rolling to go to MD Anderson. I have felt led to do that for some time although it is a lot harder said than done. There is a business to run, a home to take care of and many other details that would have to be dealt with to have treatment there. Last week while waiting for the results of a PET scan and physically watching a spot on his neck increase in intensity I just felt like something else has to be done. We can't just sit her and watch these things happen while we wait on this doctor or that doctor to call and then decide what to do. Things need to be done YESTERDAY! So that very day, I made some calls and then gave it all to GOD. I trust that what needs to be done will fall perfectly in to place whether it is here, Birmingham or MD Anderson.

Dr. Holmes called Dad to check on his teeth/pain. He had the results and they talked about them briefly agreeing that the radical surgery idea is not out of the question, but should probably be put on hold while we use more chemo and/or radiation to get the area back under control. Dr. Bechach talked on the phone with Dr. Holmes this morning while we were there and they conversed with Dr. Spencer through email!! (Now we are talking...all 3 doctors discussing this together to make decisions on what to do next!!!) We have not gotten final word from Dr. Spencer (the UAB radiologist) as to whether or not she wants to go back in with more radiation or if that is even an option. All doctors are in agreement that the chemo worked the last time in that it shrunk the tumors and got the spread under control. We are well aware that chemo will not cure this cancer, but getting it smaller and under control would increase our success chances with more radiation and/or the radical surgery later on. That is the treatment plan that I feel they are all leaning to.

Mom and I just left Dad there to get his regular Erbitux infusion today. If chemo is the decision plan we go with, they would like to start it next Monday along with putting him back on Zometo for that pesty little spot on the vertebra that doesn't go away. One of the doctors isn't worried or concerned about that spot based on its behavior, while another wants to order an MRI to look at it from another point of view. We will go along with the MRI to be on the safe side.

As for the teeth and the pain, we still have no solution for that right now. Surgery to remove the teeth simply is not an option at this point. We've got to attack the cancer first and foremost and both chemo and radiation therapy would make surgery to remove teeth impossible. So for now he will continue to try different pain management regimens to see what works.

Thank you praying friends! Lets offer our Praise to God for answered prayers. Continue to pray for his complete healing..praying BIG! Pray for the doctors to talk and come together with a clear plan that works! I'm still so excited about one day "knocking their socks off" with the good news that the cancer is gone!

While listening to one of the doctors explain to us about how chemo won't cure this cancer, radiation can kill it, surgery is a risky chance...might work, might not, I spoke up and said, "and there is always a miracle". He stopped talking, nodded his head and said, "this is true". Let us never forget the Great Physician! He is always my number one option!!

Love,
Michelle

Short and Sweet!

I will try to make this short and sweet because there are sweet little children waiting for a party and lots of chocolate to be eaten! We met with Dr. Becdach this morning to get the PET scan ordered so some decisions can be made. The PET scan is this WEDNESDAY at 11:30 in Huntsville. PLEASE pray for this scan. We want to know that there is no cancer anywhere else in the body so we can give this stuff in his neck one more punch!!!! The doctor also ordered a bone scan for Friday morning to check that ever so nagging suspicious spot on the vertebra. Hopefully, Dr. Holmes will get the results as we have requested and get in touch with Dad as soon as he sees them and converses with Dr. Spencer. Otherwise, we will get the results from Dr. Becdech early Monday morning next week. There are so many things to consider at this point and talking to all the different doctors with their "different" points of view is about to drive me nuts! (I'm smiling..ha!) Please pray for a CLEAR, DECISIVE plan! Thanks to all!

Happy Valentines Day!

PET SCAN

Wednesday, Feb. 16

11:30

Visit to Bham

Sorry to keep you all waiting so long. In the last post I had mentioned that Dr. Holmes wanted to talk to Dr. Spencer and get up to date and then see what he could possibly do to help with the tooth situation and the cancer that is left. He called on Monday and said that he had not talked with Dr. Spencer yet but wanted to work dad in Thursday (today). So that was the plan. During the week we had some issues with eating and the feeding tube, but I am pretty sure it has been taken care of with a visit yesterday to Dr. Short. (It seems that the pain patch he was given two weeks ago has caused his stomach to have some problems, but hopefully that is all working good now.)

Our appointment with Dr. Holmes was late today. Basically, we know that cancer is still there on the neck. We aren't sure if the area was directly hit by the radiation or not, we assume it was. So the first thing Dr. Holmes did was take a picture of it and send it by email to Dr. Spencer. She wanted to see it before commenting on the next step... if and when more radiation could be done. Dr. Holmes explained lots of medical jumbo as to what is happening in the neck area and how going in and cutting out the "spots" will not work very well at this point because the cancers just keep popping up right outside the areas that have been treated. He then examined his two teeth in the back on the left side that have been causing so much pain and agreed that they are bad and in trouble. The teeth do need to come out, but healing is an issue at this point and if more radiation can be given, then taking them out would not be wise right now.

He did give us some new and very interesting options! First, he wants to talk to Dr. Spencer and see if any more radiation can be given at all in that area. If it can, he offered an option of removing some good "healthy" skin from somewhere else and placing it over the area to be radiated, acting as a conductor for the radiation to be more effective. (Trust me, it was a lot more elaborate when he explained it, but for simple conversation..I am going with this!)

When Dad asked about cutting the lastest "spot" out he offered the following. He said he would not sit there and tell us there were no more options because there are! (answered prayer!) He said that he could actually go in and cut out the ulcerated area along with the other two areas of concern and then take a healthy flap of skin from his chest and FLIP it over to grow and cover the wound! Can you believe it? Again, he went in to a lot of detail, but the bottom line is since his cancers keep coming back in the same general area and have not traveled past the clavicle bone, this may be a workable option for him! Dig it out and replace it with new vessels an capillaries from totally healthy skin. I'm amazed. There is a huge chance that it would work and a huge chance that two weeks afterwards he could find another spot..that's the downside. I say lets give it a try! If more radiation is not an option..why not? I'm telling you this man knows his head and neck cancer stuff. Whoa!

So here is where we are....Dr. Holmes is going to email the pictures to Dr. Spencer (radiologist/UAB) and they will converse through email about what to do. Meanwhile, Dad sees Dr. Bechach (chemo doctor) here on Monday for a check up and we need to request a PET scan because Dr. Holmes would of course need to know that the rest of the body is clear before performing either one of the surgeries. We were due one soon anyway, we just need to step it up. As for the teeth, he said "if we do the surgery, I may want to go ahead and get those teeth out. If we don't do the surgery, I may want to get those teeth out." Apparently, the teeth need to come out! Ha! It may take all through next week before we know anything concrete. I promise I will let you know as soon as we do!

I will end tonight with this thought:

I follow another blog written by the husband of a 37 year old mother of 2, who had a stroke at the beginning of January. His faith is unbelievable and she is slowly but surely coming out of a coma and beginning to improve. He wrote this on his blog last night and I'm going to leave it for all of us to think about, inserting "Dad" where he wrote "Joanne". It is a powerful thought.

Written by Toben Heim:

"Last Sunday at church our pastor said, 'When we pray, we should pray BIG', so let's pray BIG tonight! Let's pray for nothing less than Dad's complete healing and restoration. That may be a scary prayer because we are putting it all on the line, but I believe that God loves nothing more than blowing peoples socks off as He reveals HIS glory! See you later socks!"

Thank you Toben...pray BIG!
Love,
Michelle

Biopsy Result

It seems that the cancer is there in that spot. Dr. Willis called Dad this evening with the results. It showed that the area had squamous cells but "it has not invaded the muscle or the blood vessels". I am going to assume this is good news about those cells. Since the CT scan showed "dying cancer cells" in nodes on left neck, we are left with the question, "Are these new or are they dying?" Hmmmm... Dr. Willis conversed with Dr. Holmes and brought him up to date on everything since April of last year. He (Dr. Holmes) is going to call Dr. Spencer (radiologist) at UAB and talk to her himself to see exactly what areas she treated. He wants to know the specifics about the radiation treatment before he decides anything about what to do with the bad teeth and/or the spot that is still left after radiation. Dr. Holmes said he would call Dad when he has talked with Dr. Spencer. It could be as late as Monday before he gets her, so I will post AS SOON as we here anything!

Love,
Michelle

Update

Dad had an appointment with Dr. Willis in Madison this morning to look at his tooth/jaw and give his opinion on whether or not he thought the pain was from decaying teeth or the decaying jaw (side effect of Zometo). If you remember, Dr. Willis is the oral surgeon who finally made the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma over two years ago. When Dr. Becdach wanted an opinion of a dental specialist, we decided we would call him to let him have a look. He gathered as much background information from the past two years as he could and then examined the teeth. He definitely agreed that the teeth are in trouble. He also said that the doses of antibiotics he has been on lately have helped the teeth from being in worse shape than they are. Radiation can help to kill cancer, but it also takes its toll on good things like YOUR TEETH! He did some xrays to look at the bone and decided that everything looked ok there, but that the teeth needed to be tended to. That being said, he wanted to contact Dr. Holmes (our original surgeon in Birmingham). He wanted to bring him up to date on what was going on and see if he could see Dad pretty soon. There is no question that the two teeth need to come out (and some other minor dental procedures) and he thought that Dr. Holmes should be the one to do it because he has done all the other work. We agree. Having said that, he took a look at the spot on his neck that has been our concern over the past couple of weeks. It is obvious to the eye, as I have said, that something is going on there. He agreed with all the doctors that it could be scar tissue and/or hardening tissue, but based on what he has seen before it looked like cancer was still hanging out there. Since it has been nearly 12 weeks since radiation, he was rightfully concerned. Remember, HE is the one that actually (FINALLY) diagnosed the original area!! As I said in the last post, the only way to know would be to biopsy it. He offered to do that for Dad today so we would all just KNOW what we are dealing with. Turns out to be a great idea, because if we are sent to see Dr. Holmes in Bham, the first thing he is going to want to know is what we are dealing with so having the biopsy already done will speed the decision process up. We just need to know what step is next. In the last CT scan (3 weeks ago) it showed dying cancer in that area, and no new spots. However, it appears to be changing in an odd way so no one knows what is going on. The biopsy will tell us, so pray for that biopsy.

So, both doctors (Willis and Holmes) were busy with scheduled surgeries today and as far as I know at this point have not been able to communicate with each other yet. Dr. Willis will call in a few days with the biopsy results and then we will decide what step is next. We don't know if it will be the teeth and other dental issues, or dealing with the spot on his neck. We will just pray about it.

On another note, I think his reflux is acting up a bit. The feedings and some food are not sitting well at some times so please add that to your prayers. Tonight I pray for each of you, for your thoughtfulness, for your prayers for my Dad, for your families, for your loved ones who are sick and/or facing difficult times, for those I don't know who are fighting cancer! I also send praise for the wonderful things that God has done and will do!

I will keep you posted!
Michelle