Wednesday night we got to Atlanta and had Jody's labs done. Late in the evening we got the results we had been praying for. The cancer markers have gone down slightly. That is a small indication that this chemo is working.
I want to take a minute to let everyone know what our actual chemo day looks like. We usually get up around 7am, walk the dogs, get ready, and head over to the cancer center. Usually his port is not working right and we have to get something put in it before we see his oncologist to get it working for later. After we see the Oncologist it is usually time to head upstairs to the infusion room. Sometimes we have time for a quick bite to eat before we start. Within a few minutes of infusion starting Jody dozes off from all the meds they are putting in him. There has only been one time ever that we have left infusion before 6 pm. As you can see this is a super long day. When we get back to the hotel sometimes he is feeling ok and sometimes not. The night before chemo we usually don't sleep well from the anxiety. Jody knows how sick he will be after this for a solid week and I will have to watch all of it happen knowing there is only so much I can do for him. It makes for a bad nights sleep. I just want everyone to know why I don't always update the blog the night of chemo. We are usually brain fried and exhausted. If you try to text Jody the day of chemo he is on a lot of meds and no matter what he will say he is doing well. I hate that a lot of our friends have to wait a day or so for news on the blog but, we did the blog so we wouldn't have to repeat everything every time. We did get good news this time but, with the previous 5 trips it was not good news and it is even more draining to repeat that so many times. Many times as well we need to process this information and what we are feeling before we want to update this and deal with all the questions, calls, and text. We always call our parents and send a text to a very few people that need to know before the blog is done. That really is about it. I also rarely update the blog unless we have made a trip to chemo or there is something to update in between. Usually there is not much in between for updates. We pretty much stay at home and try to avoid people because of what is going on with Covid-19. There is almost never a day Jody is not nauseous and tired. Some a little less so and some a little more so. That is why I will go weeks without an update. I do update every time when come to chemo and get news. That all being said thank you to everyone for being patient. I know some of you are anxiously awaiting news. Believe us we are very anxious every time as well.
Anyhow, the cancer markers were slightly down. Jodys oncologist wants to do chemo this time and then one more and then get a pet scan. If his pet scan shows that they have gotten the cancer everywhere else but, the chest then we will move forward with the HiTc surgery as I previously posted about. It is a major surgery but, we think this would give him the best case outcome if we get to this point. It is a one time major blast to the chest cavity of hot chemo. If this is the route that we are able to take after he is healed and if everything goes as planned he would start a maintenance chemo after that. Other than trips over here that would also mean a fairly normal life again. Of course there is always the slight chance that they will do the pet scan and no cancer will show up. I am not going to hold my breath though. We have gotten pretty used to bad news. And we won't go into if it has not gotten all the cancer. As of right now though the markers are going down and and that should be an indication that the cancer is shrinking.
As for the nausea the dr. prescribed a seven day patch that he will wear all month and then he has pills for the ten days right after chemo to hopefully control it. Jody also has another pill for break through nausea. He is exhausted quite often but, the nausea is by far the worse symptom right now. In a day or two I will have to hide all the food in the hotel. Just the thought will make him sick.
He is sleeping right now. We will go back at 4 to get a bag of fluids and put a new 24 hour bag on his pump.
If anything changes or happens I will be sure to update this.