Good Update
He's eating and drinking again. He's even cooking dinner on his own. His leg strength is coming back and so is his cognitive function. He declined hospice because he's feeling better and less weak (his decision, not ours). His doctor was shocked when she saw him this week and found he had stopped losing weight and was on the upswing. She checked him out and said he's suffering from seasonal allergies and gave him a steroid shot... I think she wants to see if it makes him eat even more. Seems to be doing the trick. She also made him get his TDAP vaccine since the baby is almost here and he also has been fiddling around again trying to fix things... We don't need tetanus on top of everything else.
Another thing - she went from suggesting hospice to saying I think if you get stronger, they may have some new therapies available that aren't Stivarga... All of us were really afraid of Stivarga... I'm pretty sure if he started it my post would be very different right now.
His coughing has improved quite a bit, so I guess it was allergies. He has no symptoms from the lung tumors, but they are still small and there aren't a lot of them. Now he only coughs after smoking a bowl.
His doctor also said she doesn't understand his bloodwork. If she didn't know him, she'd think he was perfectly healthy. CEA is a different story at around 56, but that's also not a routine screening for a non-cancer patient...
On another note, they made an addendum to the brain MRI and stated that based on previous scans, there is no evidence of disease... however they also mentioned he has mastoid sinus disease, which must have been taken care of when he had the UTI and was on antibiotics.
Comments
-
Wow! He's one tough cookie!
Wow! He's one tough cookie! Good for him! An emotional roller coaster for the family but the good news is that he's on the upswing. My dad was very sick for years before he eventually passed away. He'd been a lifelong smoker and had COPD and was on oxygen for his last 5 years. The steroids made him seem quite healthy and helped him put on weight. It was false but the fact that it made him feel better was all that mattered.
For the record, my dad did not die of lung cancer despite smoking over a pack a day since he was young. Go figure...
0 -
It's really interesting... MyJanJan63 said:Wow! He's one tough cookie!
Wow! He's one tough cookie! Good for him! An emotional roller coaster for the family but the good news is that he's on the upswing. My dad was very sick for years before he eventually passed away. He'd been a lifelong smoker and had COPD and was on oxygen for his last 5 years. The steroids made him seem quite healthy and helped him put on weight. It was false but the fact that it made him feel better was all that mattered.
For the record, my dad did not die of lung cancer despite smoking over a pack a day since he was young. Go figure...
It's really interesting... My dads father died of horrible lung cancer, but smoked 3 packs a day, yet his grandfather lived until he was 99, never had cancer, and also smoked 3 packs a day. The only difference is my grandfather was around a lot of asbestos and my great-grandfather wasn't... My dads brother is a full blown alcoholic and, as far as we know, doesnt have cancer (he's afraid to be checked).
My dads doctor said she wants to write papers about him because some of this **** is nuts. Men generally don't get medullary thyroid cancer, especially not in conjunction with colon cancer. Brain mets generally don't disappear, but his did. It's all weird, but I'm thankful for the weirdness.
0 -
Yup, if it's good news don'tSilentRenegade said:It's really interesting... My
It's really interesting... My dads father died of horrible lung cancer, but smoked 3 packs a day, yet his grandfather lived until he was 99, never had cancer, and also smoked 3 packs a day. The only difference is my grandfather was around a lot of asbestos and my great-grandfather wasn't... My dads brother is a full blown alcoholic and, as far as we know, doesnt have cancer (he's afraid to be checked).
My dads doctor said she wants to write papers about him because some of this **** is nuts. Men generally don't get medullary thyroid cancer, especially not in conjunction with colon cancer. Brain mets generally don't disappear, but his did. It's all weird, but I'm thankful for the weirdness.
Yup, if it's good news don't question it, just be happy! My brother also smoked and passed away last year of esophageal cancer. He'd had COPD worse than my dad and smoked despite having asthma. He says the onc said his esophageal cancer wasn't from smoking but I don't see how it couldn't be, I think he just didn't want to have to blame himself. Sadly, he'd stopped smoking years before and had a miserable death because of the things they couldn't do to make it easier for him due to the previous smoking. I've been an ardent anti-smoker my whole life. I wish I could get my husband to quit...
0 -
"fiddling around trying to
"fiddling around trying to fix stuff" was the part I liked hearing. Good for him, and you, that he gets to feel a bit more normal again. Good news.............................Dave
0 -
smoling
tTo quit smoking is very difficult. I smoked 3 packs a day. Quit 3 times! Once for 9 months,but went back to them at a cocktail party. The second time, Iquit for a little over a year. But again went back to it. The last time I quit was nearly 50 years ago. I realized that the one I couldn't have was the first one.
0 -
Good for you!! I reallydanker said:smoling
tTo quit smoking is very difficult. I smoked 3 packs a day. Quit 3 times! Once for 9 months,but went back to them at a cocktail party. The second time, Iquit for a little over a year. But again went back to it. The last time I quit was nearly 50 years ago. I realized that the one I couldn't have was the first one.
Good for you!! I really admire people who are tough enough to quit and stay that way. I can't imagine the draw of it, to me it's so disgusting, but I understand that it's very difficult.
Jan
0 -
People I've talked to sayJanJan63 said:Good for you!! I really
Good for you!! I really admire people who are tough enough to quit and stay that way. I can't imagine the draw of it, to me it's so disgusting, but I understand that it's very difficult.
Jan
People I've talked to say they are just as addictive as heroin. I laugh because there was a time that it was thought to be "healthy"
0
Discussion Boards
- All Discussion Boards
- 6 CSN Information
- 6 Welcome to CSN
- 121.6K Cancer specific
- 2.8K Anal Cancer
- 446 Bladder Cancer
- 308 Bone Cancers
- 1.6K Brain Cancer
- 28.5K Breast Cancer
- 395 Childhood Cancers
- 27.9K Colorectal Cancer
- 4.6K Esophageal Cancer
- 1.2K Gynecological Cancers (other than ovarian and uterine)
- 13K Head and Neck Cancer
- 6.3K Kidney Cancer
- 671 Leukemia
- 791 Liver Cancer
- 4.1K Lung Cancer
- 5.1K Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin)
- 235 Multiple Myeloma
- 7.1K Ovarian Cancer
- 56 Pancreatic Cancer
- 487 Peritoneal Cancer
- 5.4K Prostate Cancer
- 1.2K Rare and Other Cancers
- 534 Sarcoma
- 719 Skin Cancer
- 647 Stomach Cancer
- 190 Testicular Cancer
- 1.5K Thyroid Cancer
- 5.9K Uterine/Endometrial Cancer
- 6.3K Lifestyle Discussion Boards