When it rains, it pours

Well, the day started off....let's say "interesting". I got up early to do my 3 mile walk/run before going to the oncologist's today. I left around 6:45 and as I started running, it was misting. Well, within about 10 minutes it had turned into a torrential rain with lighting and thunder. I was about 3/4 mile from my car so I pulled out my cell phone and called Dad to come pick me up and take me back to my car (because of the lightning...that's one thing I don't mess around with). So I'm waiting for Dad to meet me where the road crosses the trail and I get a call from Sara...very upset. It turns out that Dad, in his haste to come rescue me...knowing it was lightning...got into his truck with a big umbrella...so he wouldn't get his picc line wet. He fumbled getting the umbrella in the truck and it was pouring and dark out and he failed to think about Sara's brand new car behind him...and he rammed into the front of her car (oh, and he had also taken his first dose of prednisone...so the roids were raging already). Sara had just come outside & saw the whole thing happen. I'm just thankful that she wasn't somewhere inbetween her car and Dad's. So of course, Dad felt awful. So Leo came and picked me up and I'm dealing with Sara crying and driving in torrential rain to work...very upset...and then Dad, who's blood pressure probably was over the top...going in for a chemo treatment...and not exactly in the best of mental conditions to be in having just crashed into his daughter's new car....and then me...well, I was drenched from standing out in the rain for a while (which was minor compared to the others' situations).
Well, Sara made it to work. I tried to settle Dad down. He went upstairs to go to the bathroom and I heard him going up and down the stairs, and the toilet flushing 3 or 4 times, and water running...he had plugged up the toilet! Like I say, when it rains, it pours! By the time he came downstairs and told me (although the good part was the water did not overflow over the edge of the toilet before the magic wand was used!)...all we could do at this point is start laughing! He settled down...and Sara dried out and found out that the only damage to her car was a bent license plate...she was just mostly worried that Dad was going to be upset over this. So by the time we got to the oncologist's, Dad's blood pressure was something like 120 over 70...so he was back in control.
He is currently receiving his round 6 (of 6 rounds) of chemo and is doing fine....he's a bit pale right now...that happens during the chemo. He gets his color back by later today or tomorrow. He's had his lunch and as soon as the nurse finishes both of the push chemicals that he gets...and he gets back on the drip...then he wants to have his laptop to do some work. He took a little nap this morning after the benedryl. He is off chemo after this and is scheduled to go to the hospital for a CT/PET scan on Sept. 23 which will detect if there is any activity in the remaining cells...which would indicate remaining cancer. We're hoping for the best at that point. The chemo will have another 3-4 weeks to do it's final thing and then we'll know the results. His picc line will stay in until after the results of the test.
So that's it from here right now. I'll keep you posted.

Wed. round 5 of chemo

We met with the dr. this morning and he walked in the room and said "good news" and then told us of the CT scan results. The lymph nodes in his neck and groin have virtually gone away and the massive tumor on his abdomen (actually it's 2 masses together) have shrunk about 70% and the doctor was pleased with that. The measurements went from 10 X 13 cm down to 8 X 5 cm and the other mass went from 10 X 8 cm down to 6 X 4 cm. Considering Dad has had 2/3 of the required chemo treatment...that's doing good. He has today and one more to go. Then after the last treatment they let him rest for a month and then they'll do a PET scan to not only check the size, but the activity level...that is..whether there are any active cancer cells still remaining. The doctor said that with a tumor that large, there is a certain amount of "structure" cells...non-cancerous ones that support the cancerous tumor...so even the remaining mass at this time could be just that...but we'll know more after the PET scan in late September. If it shows up as non-active then there would be no more treatment...the structure mass would just slowly be assimilated into the body. If it shows up as active, then they would go to plan B with stem cell treatment and other forms of chemo. So at this point we let the next 2 rounds of chemo do their thing and then get results from the PET scan. Dad is very encouraged with this info and that's good. He's currently hooked up to the chemo treatment this morning and is doing fine...the benadryl has knocked him out for a few hours...so that helps the day go by a bit faster. Guess that's it for now.

Monday CT scan

Dad went in for his CT scan this morning and he got along fine for the procedure. He came home afterwards and had some breakfast (since he hadn't eaten or drank since 9:00 last night) and then off to work he went! After dinner tonight he was zipping around the yard ...mowing! He's amazing! We're anxious to see the results of the CT scan on Wednesday morning when we meet with the doctor before his chemo treatment that day. I'll keep you posted as soon as I can...so check back here Wed. mid morning or so. Keep those positive thoughts coming!