At least that's how long it feels since my dad was diagnosed. In all reality it has been 16 weeks and 2 days...it feel like it all started yesterday, yet it feels like it also happened a lifetime ago.
So now I am going to attempt to update on as much as I possibly can on what happened between last friday ( January 3rd) through now (January 12th).
So leading up the 3rd, things were going okay. My dad was weak but he was still moving along. He had his 4th and last treatment of the yervoy on monday the 30th and actually drove himself to and from that appointment. Then came Friday. Sometime around 4 or 5 pm he got up to go to the bathroom and in walking there got extremely weak and collapsed. I was not home at the time but had been told there was nothing I could've done. My mom called 911 and they took my dad to st. mary's. During the entire ordeal my dad was completely conscious and aware of what was going on and has remained that way.
Once at the hospital they did an ultrasound on his heart and a ton of bloodwork. They were worried at first about his heart due to fluid around it but we later learned that it wasn't too much fluid and it was just irriatation from the tumor in his lungs but was not threatening. At this point the on call oncologist decided that my dad did not need to be admitted, but my dad disagreed and they put admitted him under observation.
The following morning we got to see the on call oncologist. He seemed to be honest with us until I went to leave and he pulled me aside and sugguested that I get hospice involved and that he may only have a couple weeks to a couple months to live, MAYBE a year if we were REALLY lucky. Up to this point we were still expecting at least 4-5 years.
The next couple days were filled with phsycial therapy and waiting for monday to come.
Finally Monday came and we were able to speak with my dad's oncologist who is probably the BEST oncologist EVER and I LOVE her. She is awesome. She was completely honest and very caring with us. She agreed basically with the on call oncologist, that not only was my dad so weak from the treatment of the yervoy but also the cancer, and that any more treatment to him would be too toxic. They decided to do the scans they had scheuled for later this month that day.
The next day we found out that while my dad's tumors had shrunk in his brain, they had also spread. At this point she confirmed that he had a very short time remaining, and that we should get hospice involved.
So after another day of meeting what seemed like a gazillion people from the hospital, physical therapy, occupational therapy, hospice, etc, we finally got to go home, diagnosis in hand, ready to give my dad as much as we could for the rest of his life.
Since then we have a hospital bed in our family room, and either a CNA or a nurse comes everyday during the work week.
According to my dad, he is not in any pain but he has a greatly decreased appetite. He gets up occasionally throughout the day but spends most of the time in bed. He is still talking and even had enough energy to get really mad at me when I was out late the night of the ice storm (haha).
The outpouring of love from friends and family has been overwhelming and we are so grateful to have everyone's support as we deal with all this.
I'm going to do a seperate blog post on common questions that we are asked, as well as one that addresses how my mom and I are feeling, since that seems to be a popular question as well.
Again we are grateful for all the love and support during this time, and ask that everyone continue prayers/positive thoughts.
Susan
The Elephant in the Room: Learning how to live with this "New Normal"
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