Journey Update

Hi All,

It's been a while... Been busy. Found out I'm expecting my first child in July - so there is that excitement buzzing. 

Wanted to give an update on my dad. I think the last time I posted, he had a severe bleeding incident but came out of it as if nothing happened. During that incident, they stated that his thyroid was out of control, and sent him to the University of Pennsylvania (after a failed removal attempt at the local hospital). His thyroid was massive by time he got to UPenn, but the surgeon is one of the best and decided to take it on, and was successful in removing 95-98% of the tumor/thyroid, which was a huge deal. Unfortunately, there were some complications with the breathing tube, so he ended up in ICU for 3 days, released 5 days after the initial surgery... Once again, was in good shape after this.

Mind you, he still has Stage IV colon cancer during this... 

During his stay, they found out he had medullary thyroid cancer, but weren't sure if it had spread, since the original oncologist never biopsied the lungs or liver. At this point, they hadn't done much, so they did biopsy since there was slight growth over the last 6 months, and confirmed they were from the colon cancer. He went under radiation therapy for a couple of weeks, but ended up with thrush and the threat of a feeding tube, and he refused to continue. The radiation worked a lot better than expected and stabilized the small tumor left. After that, he had no desire to eat or do anything. This caused a lot of fights between him and my mom (his primary caretaker). His doctors still are amazed at how he continuously drove himself over an hour each way every day for weeks to do radiation therapy. 

Now, he goes in for another CT scan on the 27th and an appointment with the thyroid oncologist on March 3rd. He is now eating like a horse again, but not gaining weight and feels that food just goes through him, so he's depressed. The weather isn't helping either, we live in NJ, so it's been kinda nice, but mostly miserable. He just wants spring to come. 

Oh, he also had a cardiac event on New Year's Eve and after an emergency catheterization, they found he had "broken heart syndrome" not a heart attack, but has to be on meds to strengthen his heart. 

It's been quite a journey the last 2.5 years... I saw him today and he does seem to have a lot more energy recently (cleaning the house, going to the store, taking out the trash, etc) but seems so down and depressed. I think he's worried - he wants something to go well for once... I see so many positives... His colon tumors went away (Complete Response) when he had radiation therapy on them. He has already beaten the odds - he was diagnosed at 65, has (as he puts it) almost died 3 times, but comes through it each time. 

I hope he's not getting tired or discouraged. My mom has been under a lot of stress with the whole thing and has been lashing out a lot. I try to talk her down, but I cannot comprehend how she feels, I don't pretend to. Thanks for listening... and any advice on this would be great.