No immediate follow up treatment

All cancer is terrible, and kidney cancer is a particularly tough form of it. While often cancer surgeries are followed up with chemotherapy or other treatments designed to knock out any lingering cancer cells, we have learned that these type options have proven to be ineffective in treating metastatic kidney cancer. So now that the kidney and its tumor are out, and the radiation to the skull tumor is complete, this leaves us in a wait and see mode. Full body scans will be done every three months to determine if the cancer has recurred. If the cancer comes back, the primary treatment option is an oral medication that works to slow or eradiacte the progression of the cancer. It's difficult to sit and wait to see if it will crop back up and we wish there was an additional step that would take care of any potentially missed cells. I am mindful though that there is a greater plan in all of this and our proactive treatment will be to continue to rely on everyone's constant prayer that the cancer simply stays away! That would be the best outcome of all. We will remain ever vigilant with my dad in this ongoing fight and watch for signs like loss of appetite, pain, weight loss etc. in addition to the quarterly scans.
Some further news is that the recent MRI of the skull was inconclusive. There is so much inflammation and fluid build up right now around the area that they were unable to get a good read on what's going on with the tumor. We had been worried about all the swelling, so it was good to hear that this is not unusual and that it will eventually subside. Another MRI will be done at a later date once the swelling has gone down.
The life of a cancer patient is filled with Dr. appts and my dad is no exception. In the next few days he has a PET scan (this will be the first repeat full body scan since this all started and will be the basis for the quarterly schedule), and a number of various other appointments that I couldn't begin to remember what they all are. It goes without saying that this is a difficult time for my dad, but please keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers too as she takes back over the role of primary caregiver and strives to be organized and upbeat. Dealing with the emotion of the situation and the task of keeping all the information straight is difficult to say the least. She is a tough solider, but it takes its toll...
Over the years, and especially now, so many people have noted how fortunate it is that I belong to such a close and loving family. I couldn't agree more and while we lean on each other, we are so privileged to have our extended family and friends involved in helping us navigate through this perilous time. Thanks for caring about us. ~ Tami and family

One week later

and we've come a long way! Its amazing how well the recovery process is progressing. Today the sutures were removed at the Urologist's office. His incisions are healing and he can now drive, but its still another two weeks before he is "supposed" to swing a golf club. So far he has behaved and only putted...
The Urologist also had the pathology report and he shared the results with my mom, dad and Jacquie (by the way, we've had another change in sisters, Sandi is gone and Jacquie is there now until next Wednesday). Things were pretty much as expected. The report did confirm that the tumor was confined to the kidney, which is good news. Having said that, and knowing that the cancer had already moved to his skull, we aren't exactly sure what that means. So that's one of several questions on the list for the oncologist. As previously mentioned, that appointment is scheduled for Tuesday. Another big day coming up is the MRI on Monday and we'll be anxious to hear how much the skull tumor has shrunk.
Thanks for checking in, and we'll be sure to provide an update as soon as we know more!

Recovery is going great

Jack is recovering very well from his surgery, and we might have to tie him down in a day or so! He has gone with Sandi when she takes our pooch, Snickers, for a walk, albeit they're not gone too long. He even drove the golf cart today! But he may have discovered that the golf cart bounces around a bit. He's sleeping well--for a few days he had his days and nights mixed up and would be wide awake at bedtime. Sandi drove him out to our cabinet shop yesterday where he just wanted to see what was going on; and today, she took him to the bank with her and to a sporting goods store! It is wonderful to see his strength returning. We have been so blessed this week with wonderful meals, cards and visits. I am unable to completely explain how happy we are to have the radiation and now the surgery behind us. And now we're preparing mentally for whatever treatment will be recommended, based on the pathology report.

Tami organized a 3-ring binder for us while she was here and this will assist us in keeping our medical records, etc. straight. There was a small voice recorder with it--that's so we can record what the doctors are telling us. Every once in a while we've been noted to have not heard the same conversation! Sandi is a good worker and organizer, too. I'm afraid we'll become too accustomed to all this pampering, but for now, we'll just enjoy every minute of it.

As I look back over the past 3 months, I marvel at what the experiences have been and what all we've learned, let alone the wonderful medical care that is within our community here. We know God has a definite plan for Jack and we're ready to follow His walk, having the confidence and hope that God is equipping us for the rest of this journey. There is a passage in Ephesians, Chapter 6, which we refer to as "putting on the spiritual armor of God." The Message Bible refers to this part of that chapter as A Fight to the Finish, and that's how I would categorize this journey we've been given. God wants us to be strong and to use all the "weapons" he has provided so that we will be able to stand up to everything this cancer throws our way. I've paraphrased this, of course!

Please continue to pray with us for complete healing and that the cancer will stay away.

Love and hugs to all of you,
Karen

Shift Change

This morning I left my parents in Sandi's very capable hands. They will enjoy having her there to keep them entertained with her silly sense of humor. Every day my Dad seems to be doing a little bit better. The last few days his blood pressure and sugar levels have been pretty good. He is moving arould fairly well, although he is still pretty sore at his incision sites. He is actually starting to get bored, so we take that as a good sign!

SUNDAY - SO MUCH BETTTER

Today was a much better day - some of the pains from surgery have started to dissapte and it was so good to see my Dad up and about and eating and enjoying watching TV! We are thankful for a better day :)

Saturday -- Home Sweet Home

My Dad was discharged from the hospital this afternoon and is so glad to be back home! Although, he is definitely feeling the effects of having had surgery and is not feeling very well :-( He is sore and tired. His blood pressure medicine has been changed and that has helped bring his pressure down some. His blood sugar remains high, and he will now have to take insulin shots to help control it. That was discouraging to him as prior to his cancer diagnosis, he was controlling the diabetes really well with diet and exercise. At this point, however, the steroids have just made it impossible to control the sugar levels with diet alone. He had a crash course today on monitoring and administrating the insulin doses and as he is tapered off the steroids over the next few weeks, he hopes that he might be able to get back to controlling the diabetes via diet. He will visit with his primary care doctor either Monday or Tuesday to ensure that his recovery is on track, and he sees the surgeon for a follow up visit on Friday.
We are being blessed with yummy dinners from my parent's church family. It is nice not to have to worry about cooking as we get prescriptions filled, schedule and attend Dr. appointments, keep the cabinet shop running and process all the information pertaining to what treatments are next. All the love and support that have been showered on us is just amazing. Your calls, cards, flowers, prayers, visits and hugs are much appreciated. The last three months have been difficult, but its nice to have that part of the journey behind us. We know that there is more ahead and we ask that you continue to pray that we will have a clear idea on how to proceed with beating this terrible disease.

Friday Evening

Hello again after another long day. Things are for the most part still going well. They were able to remove the catheter today and start my dad back on some food. He was also up and walking around some as well. His appetite was huge, but the food didn't end up sitting very well on his stomach, and has caused him some discomfort. He probably ate a little too much too soon. His blood pressure fluctuates, but still remains on the high side. We are hoping that it will settle down by tomorrow. He is tired and sore, but all in all he is doing OK. He kicked us out early tonight so that he could get some good rest with an eye toward us bringing him home tomorrow. We're keeping our fingers crossed that he can get home where he will be more at ease and comfortable! ~Tami and family

Late Thursday update

My mom and I just returned from the hospital after a very long but productive day! My Dad is doing quite well. He has a moderate amount of pain that is being controlled with demerol. His blood pressure and blood sugar levels have both been on the high side throughout the afternoon and evening, so this is cause for a bit of concern. They will be monitoring this and tweaking his various medications as appropriate to try and get both back under control. His remaining kidney seems to be functioning fine, and it's highly likely that it has been doing all the work anyway for sometime now.
My dad is a fairly charming patient to begin with, but we have to say that he got excellent care throughout the day today which we are very grateful for.
Jacquie and Louis were in Northern Virginia for a golf tournament, and they were able to drive down and visit for a few hours tonight. He had several other visitors today also, along with some cards and phone calls and we appreciate so much everyone checking in on him. Hopefully he will continue to do as well tomorrow so we can start working on bringing him home in the next few days! Much love from Jack and family ~

"Couldn't have gone better!"

Is exactly what the surgeons said. The laparoscopic surgery lasted just over two hours. They removed the kidney without difficulties, very little blood was lost and the cancer appears to have been contained to the kidney, not affecting any of the surrounding organs. He is still in recovery and we hope to see him shortly. Thank you all for your concerns, prayers and support. We'll update more later.

Revised Sugery Time

Just a quick update to let everyone know that the surgery has been moved up to 10:00 am tomorrow. Provided all goes well with the laparoscopic procedure, the surgery should last approximately 2 hours. If they find that they can't do it via laparoscopy, then it will be a bit longer. We'll let you know how he is doing as soon as we can! ~ Tami

Surgery Week

This is the week for the kidney surgery, and Jack is ready. He had his pre-op and pre-lab visits at the hospital a week ago, and is wearing his admission bracelet already. Surgery is scheduled for 1:00 pm on the 14th, and length of stay is to be determined. If the surgeons are able to do the planned laparoscopic removal of the kidney, then he may be home by Saturday. If, however, they are unsuccessful with that procedure, then he'll have it removed "normally" which is through the incision he already has from kidney stone surgery in 1981. We're praying that the latter is not the case as his recovery will take longer.

Jack had been told he could begin reducing the Prednisone (steroid) about 2 weeks ago, which he was doing slowly. The steroid was to help keep the swelling in the area of the tumor and eye to a minimum. However, he had an increase in the swelling around his eye, so it was apparent that he needed to stop decreasing the medication. He did see his ophtahamologist and there has been some optic nerve damage. I've talked with the radiation oncologist, Dr. Kersh, and he explained that the swelling may take a couple of weeks to decrease after radiation has ended. The radiation indeed has a cumulative effect, and there is most likely some inflammation around the tumor. Jack went back up to 20mg daily of the steroid, and that has helped. But, that's just 1/2 the dose he had taken for several weeks, so it's good that he doesn't have to increase the dosage back to 40mg. His vision in the left eye is a little worse than previously, but that was expected due to the radiation. Dr.Kersh was not surprised at that as he says the tumor goes right through the optic nerve. We're definitely praying that this is not a permanent situation with the eye.

Tami arrives on Wednesday, the 13th and will be here until the 19th. Then Sandi will drive down for a few days, and then Jacquie arrives on the 21st and will be here until the 27th. Tami's birthday was 8/7, so we'll celebrate while she's here. I'm not allowed to tell anyone how old she is now! It will be wonderful having our daughters here--Jack loves having his "little girls" around him. And, for me, they do my thinking! Back in May, when this journey began, I had difficulty keeping my focus, and the girls just stepped in and did the focusing for me. Jon has been a tremendous help also with the cabinet shop. With the vision difficulties Jack is having, Jon has been able to help him read building plans and assisting with the bids that always have a deadline attached to them.

We are grateful to have this kind of help, and feel very blessed by our family and our many friends who are walking through this journey with us. Please continue to pray for the continued shrinking of the tumor, for a successful kidney surgery, and that the cancer will stay away from Jack's body and not return.

Love and hugs to all of you,
Karen