We haven't posted much lately because frankly, there hasn't been a lot going on! The swelling around my dad's eye remains under control, his vision has vastly improved and while they haven't hit a perfect balance with his blood sugar, things are much better in that respect as well. Overall, he is feeling pretty good and doing well. A recent visit with his oncologist indicated that his doctors are "cautiously optimistic" and we'll take that for sure!
It's nice these days to see some normal activities resume - my parents were able to travel up to Northern Virginia to visit with Sandi and her family on Sunday. They had a good time seeing the grandkids, watching Carsyn's soccer game and hearing about school and gymnastics and all the numerous other Quackenbush activities!
My mom had posted awhile back that they were going on a New England/Canada cruise with some of their dearest and oldest friends, and they head off on that adventure this coming Sunday. All four of them have or have had various health issues. You know my Dad can't miss an opportunity to crack a joke, and he has been predicting that they will be quite the foursome!
Down in Florida, Jacquie is busy with her final push of training for the 3 day Breast Cancer walk. At the end of October, she will walk 60 miles over the course of three days with thousands of others. She has agreed to raise $2200.00 in donations that will go toward supporting breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment through Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. We are very proud that she is participating and are amazed at the commitment and effort she has put toward this. Jacquie hasn't quite reached her fundraising goal, and while she might fuss at me for doing this without her permission, (it wouldn't be the first time I charged ahead with one of my "good ideas" :o) I thought I would post the link to her donation site and ask for others to help us support Jacquie and this worthwhile cause. http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TampaBayEvent?px=1630848&pg=personal&fr_id=1190&et=jzThlUNbKQ_XvDNc5QlXog..&s_tafId=6181 You can email Jacquie at jrachal425@verizon.net if you have any questions.
All in all, we are happy to be able to report that things are fairly stable and that there are fun and exciting things happening in our family. Thanks for checking in and continuing to pray that the cancer stays away!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Peaks and Valleys
Well what a difference a few days makes! First the swelling -- the prednisone has kicked in and has brought the swelling way down around the eye. It has made such a difference in vision and outlook (ha ha pun intended). But truthfully, my Dad's spirits have been greatly lifted. The increase in the insulin has brought the blood sugar back into acceptable levels and so that is good as well. The PET scan was able to go as scheduled Monday morning and a phone call this afternoon brought the news that there is NO SIGN of cancer anywhere else. Because the swelling has reduced significantly, they were able to see on the scan that the skull bone that had been eaten away by the cancer has begun to regenerate itself.
Clearly we are ecstatic over this news. My Dad has appointments with the Oncologist and the Opthalmologist later in the week and we'll see what the next steps from here will be. Some times these updates are hard to write, but I take great pleasure in being able to share this news! Thanks a million for your prayers and constant concern -- Tami and family
Clearly we are ecstatic over this news. My Dad has appointments with the Oncologist and the Opthalmologist later in the week and we'll see what the next steps from here will be. Some times these updates are hard to write, but I take great pleasure in being able to share this news! Thanks a million for your prayers and constant concern -- Tami and family
Friday, September 5, 2008
Update to yesterday's post
My Dad had a CT scan, ordered by the opthamologist, to determine if the tumor is growing. Unfortunately the results indicate that the tumor has grown slightly larger. However, there is evidence of cells in the middle of the tumor dying off, which is a positive sign. Because the radiation is still a work in progress, there is hope that further necrosis will be occuring. For now, the current plan of giving the radiation another month to continue its job is still in place. Needless to say, the growth of the tumor was upsetting news to us, but we are holding on to the hope that the tumor will continue to die off. The adage of taking one day at a time is so on point, and that's what we are striving to do - although some days it's easier said than done!
It seems that every time you turn around, someone else is struck with this horrible disease. The Stand Up To Cancer campaign and its goal of enabling cutting edge research to find a cure for all types of cancer is certainly meaningful to our family and many others. Oh how we pray for those great minds who are working away to find the cure.
It seems that every time you turn around, someone else is struck with this horrible disease. The Stand Up To Cancer campaign and its goal of enabling cutting edge research to find a cure for all types of cancer is certainly meaningful to our family and many others. Oh how we pray for those great minds who are working away to find the cure.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Busy Days
The days seem to be consumed with many, many Dr. appointments. Some appointments bring good news, others cause concern and apprehension. To say it's a roller coaster would be an understatement. Recovery from the kidney surgery continues to be on track and all is going well there. Blood pressure seems to be good. Swelling around the eye, not so good. Blood sugar levels, not so good.
My Dad was weaned off the prednisone, in hopes that the swelling around his eye would naturally be decreasing and that his blood sugar would become more stable. Unfortunately, neither thing happened. One of his Doctors expresses concern over this, another one says its too soon to sound the alarm. Because of the continued swelling, his opthamolgist believes that the tumor is growing. On the other hand, the radiation oncologist says that he does not believe that the tumor is growing. His assessment is that the area surrounding the tumor is just really inflamed from the radiation, making the eye remain swollen, and it will probably be another month to a month in a half before we will be able to tell if the tumor has shrunk. The radiation fails ony 5% of the time, so we remain hopeful that the results will show that the tumor in fact has shrunk.
So the new game plan -- its back on a high dose of the prednisone to get that swelling down with an increase in the amount of prescribed insulin plus an additional oral medicine to keep the blood sugar at a stable level throughout the day.
In my previous post, I had mentioned that there would be a PET scan performed this week to determine if the cancer has metastisized to any other areas. However, prior to the PET scan, an injection of a glucose solution that contains a radioactive tracer is given. You may guess where I'm going with this...because my Dad's blood sugar level was too high, they were unable to inject him with the solution and the scan could not be performed. The PET scan is now rescheduled for Monday morning - which will be after several days of the increase in the insulin dosage, and at a time of day when the blood sugar is typically at a lower level. Hopefully it will go off without a hitch this time and the scan will not show any spread of the cancer.
A kaleidoscope of emotions seem to have become our new kind of normal. We try not to careen out of control over a set of results or the lack thereof, but sometimes its just hard to remain calm, cool and collected! Thanks for checking in and supporting us in thought and prayer.
My Dad was weaned off the prednisone, in hopes that the swelling around his eye would naturally be decreasing and that his blood sugar would become more stable. Unfortunately, neither thing happened. One of his Doctors expresses concern over this, another one says its too soon to sound the alarm. Because of the continued swelling, his opthamolgist believes that the tumor is growing. On the other hand, the radiation oncologist says that he does not believe that the tumor is growing. His assessment is that the area surrounding the tumor is just really inflamed from the radiation, making the eye remain swollen, and it will probably be another month to a month in a half before we will be able to tell if the tumor has shrunk. The radiation fails ony 5% of the time, so we remain hopeful that the results will show that the tumor in fact has shrunk.
So the new game plan -- its back on a high dose of the prednisone to get that swelling down with an increase in the amount of prescribed insulin plus an additional oral medicine to keep the blood sugar at a stable level throughout the day.
In my previous post, I had mentioned that there would be a PET scan performed this week to determine if the cancer has metastisized to any other areas. However, prior to the PET scan, an injection of a glucose solution that contains a radioactive tracer is given. You may guess where I'm going with this...because my Dad's blood sugar level was too high, they were unable to inject him with the solution and the scan could not be performed. The PET scan is now rescheduled for Monday morning - which will be after several days of the increase in the insulin dosage, and at a time of day when the blood sugar is typically at a lower level. Hopefully it will go off without a hitch this time and the scan will not show any spread of the cancer.
A kaleidoscope of emotions seem to have become our new kind of normal. We try not to careen out of control over a set of results or the lack thereof, but sometimes its just hard to remain calm, cool and collected! Thanks for checking in and supporting us in thought and prayer.
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