philly-willy
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Hi all,
It has been awhile since I updated on Phil’s progress, but I am very pleased to say that he is tolerating the radiation and Xeloda quite well; much better than he did the Gemzar. He has a little nausea and some fatigue, but nothing like the side effects from the Gemar. He had a couple of mouth sores, but they cleared up and went away by themselves. He does get winded easily, so he has to take it easy and not exert himself too much. He is more engaged and active these days, which is wonderful. The doctors are very pleased with his ability to maintain his weight (back up to 157 pounds), so they all agreed he could have the feeding tube removed, so I took him back to the surgeon and had it removed! He is so happy to be rid of it. It really didn’t hurt him; it was just bothersome to be flushed twice daily and the bandaged changed every day. I think it was a constant reminder of the surgery.
Now we are working on redefining his life since he is unable to work (now on SSDI). This is so hard for him. He used to work like a 30 year old in a 60+ year old’s body. It’s time to slow down and enjoy life! He and I love to fish, so hopefully we can spend a lot of time outdoors now that autumn is almost here and it isn’t so hot. Phil main hobby is collecting Hot Wheels (little diecast cars), so I am trying to teach him to use Ebay so he doesn’t have to drive around and look for them. He is unable to drive because of a visual cut he received from a stroke he had last year and all the medicines he is taking now.
All in all, things are going pretty good these days. Phil still has a bad day every now and then, but who doesn’t?! Today is his 19th radiation treatment, out of 33, so he is well over half done! The drs have decided not to do another CT scan until January or February, so I guess when he completes the radiation, we just enjoy life!
God’s blessing to all,
Barb
Thank you so much for this great website and all the wonderful people who post on it!
Well, I am thrilled to say, Phil had another CT scan on Wednesday and there is no apparent cancer since the last scan done in May! Thank the Lord! His radiation oncologist, Dr. Smalley wants to start radiation treatments in one week. Next Wednesday they will measure his body and figure out how much radiation he will receive at each treatment. He is scheduled for treatments Monday-Friday for 6 weeks. The dr also mentioned that he had talked with his oncologist and that Phil may be taking a piil form of chemo in conjunction with the radiation. We hadn’t hear that from the oncologist, so they are going to discuss that further. Dr. Smalley told us to buy some vitamin B-6 and Phil should take 50-100mg a day while in treatments.
We are praying that the radiation goes better than his chemo treatments went. Everyone on here seems to tolerate chemo well, but that wasn’t the case for Phil. He is still suffering from a very bad rash.
We are wondering if anyone else that reads this has had radiation treatments and how they did with them? How often did you have treatments? Did you experience any side effects and what were they? The dr has told us he is going to watch Phil like a hawk and if he starts getting too ill, he will quit. Does this seem to be the case with others? I’m assuming the dr is thinking more of quality of life than quantity. Any input is appreciated.
Blessings to all.
BarbDear Docherd,
I am so sorry to hear your dad has this insidious disease, but thank you for sharing with us about him. It’s great to hear that he is still very active and tolerating the chemo. Hang in there! My husband who had been so, so active, loved working and helping people, is now forced into disability due to his health. Not easy for a man to lose his identity, but he is a fighter and will get back to normal again.
Thank you for responding about your dad being a medic in Vietnam. As you, we are finding out there appears to be many vets that have gotten this disease that were exposed to Agent Orange. Has your dad filed for disability compensation yet? If you are interested in sharing any info that you come across to support our claims, we’d be happy to share with you what we have gathered up thus far and other contacts. Please let us know.
We saw the radiation oncologist yesterday and he said that he agrees that Phil
