Friday, November 19, 2010

Update by Sally (his wife)

Bill had to work tonight and the following 3 nights. So this is the reason I am posting for him. Today, we went to UIC to meet with the radiologist. It's didn't go as we expected. Not that it's a bad thing we were caught off guard a little. We were under the assumption Bill was going to have the tumor ablation. It would be a simple out patient procedure and he would be able to resume normal activities the following day. We found out today the radiologist wants to do a different procedure. He recommends selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT). Instead of using radio frequency energy(which is the RFA procedure) to attack the tumor, tiny radioactive beads are inserted directly in the tumor/tumors.

The reason for the SIRT is because there are two cancerous tumors on the liver. One is about the size of a quarter and the other one is about the size of a pea. The smaller one is near the wall of the liver which can't be treated by the RFA procedure.SIRT will be able to treat both tumors in the liver. SIRT is not as simple to perform as the RFA though. SIRT requires two procedures. The week prior to the SIRT an angiogram is done to map out the vessels. If everything looks good then the SIRT procedure will be performed 7-10 days later. The angiogram would require Bill to be in the hospital for at least 12 hours. He will have to be off work for 48 hours and on light duty until a week after the SIRT is done. He will have to be off work for another 48 hours for SIRT procedure itself but the hospital stay would be much shorter as long as there are no complications. In order for the SIRT to be performed, chemo has to be stopped 2 weeks prior to the angiogram.

A concern which we have about the SIRT is the stopping of chemotherapy. Even though the tumors in the liver will be treated, he still has the cancerous lymph node by the heart. Since September, when chemotherapy was resumed, he still has not had a full dose of the chemotherapy. Which is concerning. Could delaying treatment longer increase the chances of the tumor from spreading or growing? Which is one of our major concerns. The oncologist seems confident the chemo will attack the lymph-node so we don't see why it wouldn't attack the tiny spot on the liver as well. Plus the RFA procedure seems a lot less complicated and a shorter recovery time.

If Bill had to pick of course he would pick the RFA procedure. Spending 6 plus hours flat on the back without moving after the angiogram wouldn't be fun. However, Bil wants what is best to fight the war with in his body. Tuesday, we are going to talk to the oncologist. Hopefully he will be able to answer our questions and give us his honest expert opinion on which one he thinks is best.

Please pray that he is guided to the right procedure for him. Thanks you.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Another visit to UIC and than again.

It's been a busy week to say the least. Went to UIC on Monday and spoke with Dr. Warso, the cancer surgeon. He discussed treatment options and what he felt was best for me. He didn't recommend surgery. He thought right now surgery isn't the best option. The location of the lymphnode will pose a great risk to remove. Right now my oncologist feels the best option is the chemotherapy. If the chemo doesn't work then radiation will be the next option and surgery will remain the last option.

As for the cancerous tumor , the surgeon recommended radio frequency ablation (RFA). Tomorrow I will be going back to UIC to speak with an radiologist and to make an appointment for that. It's an out patient procedure and I should be able to return to work the next day.

As for me, I am feeling well. Tired goes with out staying but I am still able to keep up with life's demands. I still haven't had a full dose of chemo therapy yet which might be one of the reasons I am feeling good. The first round of chemo pills there was a misunderstanding I was only taking half of the dosage. Second round of the chemo pills were cut short because my liver wasn't tolerating it. Today I went into start my third round. There was an error with the infusion medicine and treatment was stopped. I go back in Tuesday and start all over again. Stinks I have to have it on Thanksgiving week but mistakes happen especially to me and I make a couple every now and then.Just a couple mind you,But than again It's usually Sally's fault I make them,I think.

A good thing came out of today though. I had to go into work for a couple of hours this morning.We had a fire drill and I was a auditor, but anyways. When Sally picked me up we went to have lunch which is something we normally do before chemo. It's the only time we really get to spend time alone with each other. Sad but true. We have my mother in law watch the kids for my treatments, appointments and when ever we need a sitter so we feel guilty to have her watch them so we can have a night out. Like I was saying we went out for lunch, there is a new Italian restaurant across the street I have been wanting to try. It's called Ciao Bella Ristorante. I was told this is as authentic to Italian cuisine as it gets.That was told to me by the Italian workers that are working on our new Metallizer machine and they should know. I will say it was very good. I highly recommend it if you want a true Italian meal.

I know I said I was going to write part two of my Halloween adventures but with everything going on I haven't had a chance. I was going to write it today but Sally demanded I write about me. I am sure though the Halloween blog would be more entertaining. The real reason she wanted me to write about me is because she still does not have the Halloween pictures ready for the blog. Bad wife. A punishment is forthcoming.

Will try to write again as soon as possible. Take care and God Bless.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

The turtle and the butterfly Part 1, and No, I don't mean the Turtle and the Hare








My favorite time of the year has always been and still is Halloween. If I were a wealthy man I would have a huge display of grimace decorations illuminating the neighborhood( I don't mean that McDonald's character either). Unfortunately my fortune doesn't even come close to being wealthy or even poor, it's closer to destitute. Which makes me have to decorate on a budget. However, this year I am ashamed to say I didn't decorate at all. Not one solitaire decoration was up. Not even a Halloween cling on the window, but there was a plastic spider in one of Sally's flower pots left from last year. The time had gotten away from me and going back on chemo didn't help matters.

However, the kids were in the Halloween spirit. Or should I say Zach was in the spirit to dress up and get candy. He doesn't fair well with scary things. Kaity on the other hand, loves everything that comes with Halloween. In September Sally asked the kids what they wanted to be. Right off Zachary's tongue, without any hesitation, rolled out "a turtle". Not just any turtle but he wanted to be a Mary river turtle. Kaity blurted out she wanted to be a witch again( I guess dressing up like mommy once wasn't enough). Through out the weeks, Kaity was a typical female and kept changing her mind. From witch it turned into a ballroom dancer, super girl. Zachary's response to that was , Kaity could protect him since he will be a lonely old turtle. She finally decided she was going to be a butterfly and stuck to that. Zachary was determined to be a turtle. I laughed every time Sally asked Zachary if he was sure. Sally kept trying to get him to change his mind but he wouldn't budge. Devilish me was glad he didn't. I just wanted to see how Sally was going to pull this one off. Zachary had high hopes he would turn in to an exact replica of a turtle. That Sally was the Betsy Ross in costume turtle making. I expected it to look more like something Charlie Brown would wear.

What was also funny about costume situation is that for years Sally has been wanting to sew a costume. Every year Zachary has insisted he would rather have a costume bought from the store. This year though, now that she is going to school full time, he wanted her to make his costume. As Halloween approached, Zachary continued to talk about what he wanted his costume to look like. He even took out the turtle book to look through and show Sally which turtle he wanted to be specifically.I had to tell poor Zach that there wasn't any Merry river turtle in my book(obviously a over site). He should think of another turtle. Ok, Dad I will be A Mississippi Map turtle. I thought that Zach and I may have gone through the turtle book one to many times. Most kids who wanted to be made up after some sort of wild life animal would be happy just looking like a turtle ,bear,lion ect. Not Zach he wanted to be a specific turtle,a Mississippi Map Turtle. I was enjoying his persistence to be as close to looking like a turtle as he possible could be and the fear Sally had on her face every time Zach would discuss his costume with her. I looked in the book with Zach at the Map turtle he wanted to be. I mentioned to him that this turtle has a lot of intricacies in the face. Dad, what is intricacies,never mind, the face would be to hard. Do you have another turtle you want to be, Red Eared Slider Dad!!!! Ok Sally get to work , you heard the boy. I must admit when Sally showed me the costume I was impressed except she left out an important part of the costume, I had to rescue her. I was delegated to make the Plastron(turtles under shell). Sally did the Carapace(the turtles top shell) and it looked very close to a Red Eared Sliders carapace. Of course it's nothing near what you would see on tv but it did look like a turtle. Everyone could tell he was a turtle but they kept asking him if was a teenage mutant ninja turtle which annoyed him. Which really got me going after the hard work that was done making it. One time I had to say something. "Look lady it's obviously a Red Eared Slider costume. I guess you don't know your turtles. "She was just staring at us with her mouth wide open. That is probably when she realized yeahhhh, I see it now, A Red Eared Slider.

When it came to Kaity's costume, Sally had started making it this summer without ever realizing it. My wife through the years has bought many craft projects which she barely started and never finished. She has a sewing machine which has been rarely used. She did have a brain storm this past summer. She was going to start making and selling tutus and hair bows. They are in great demand along with all the beanie babies that are shoved away in totes throughout America and taking up my garage space. She did finish making one. Kaity was so proud of it. I told Sally she shouldn't bother going back to school because she can make millions if not billions selling tutus. I could just see all the Ballerinas lining up at our door, I want a red one, I want a blue, will you autograph mine? Sally just gave me the look and never made a tutu after that. The tutu did manage to reappear for Halloween. Kaity did have one demand for her attire. She wanted a butterfly on her face as well. For all the painting and house projects Sally has made me do over the years, I just felt the kids costumes this year was a tiny payback for all the grueling things she had made me do. When Sally showed me the butterfly wing and said she was going to pair it up with the tutu, I couldn't picture it working. However, Kaity looked really cute and she was proud of the way she looked. Her preschool teachers mentioned a couple of times how they loved her costumes.

Having home made costumes for my kids this year brought back a lot of memories from my youth. I took a lot of pride in my kids this year. Even though I was getting annoyed when Kaity was continually being asked if she was a princess or a fairy godmother. When I was a lad, it was rare to see someone wearing a store bought costume. Now it's rare to see a child in a home made costume. I think kids today's are missing out on a lot of fun. Part of the Halloween fun was making your costume. Now it seems like all the kids are wearing the same costumes. Kids have lost their individuality except for my kids. They didn't mind being unique and for that I loved that about them.

As for trick or treating there is a lot more to write about that. My fingers are getting tired and I am sure your eye balls are getting tired from reading my ramblings. So I will give us both a break and continue tomorrow.