Last night Dan didn't look too good.  He has been experiencing pain since Sunday and the meds don't see to touch it too much.  I woke up this morning to find him in the recliner.  That's never good.  That is his "I'm in pain" chair.  He looked worse this morning than he did last night.  I was very concerned.  His pain level increased exponentially over night. You could see the pain on his face.  It was also difficult for him to take full breaths because it would cause pain from the area of his liver up his chest to his neck and shoulders.  That is indicative of a swollen liver.  He has not had enough chemo to help shrink it and it is very inflamed now. At 7:30, I called the cancer center and spoke to the oncologist on call since they were closed.  He asked a bunch of questions and said that Dan may need another CT scan and to call the center when they open.  He will let them know what is going on and he will also talk to someon...

Dan didn't get out of bed all day yesterday and only ate a little snack.  Drank lots and lots of water.  Feeling pain and discomfort all day.  By nighttime, he was feeling a bit better.  He probably was dehydrated.  I keep encouraging him to drink Gatorade or Pedialyte but he drinks mostly water.  He slept alot too. Dan is going to call the cancer center today.  The pain meds they prescribed is not doing anything.  When Dan is in pain, he doesn't eat and when he doesn't eat, he doesn't remain physically strong. And we still don't have his February schedule so we need to know what time he needs to get blood drawn and then when his chemo is on Thursday. He will be receiving chemo each week for now to see how he does on the new meds.  Dan is tired of feeling crappy all the time.  He asked himself whether or not it's worth it. I know some of you know how difficult it is to see a loved one in pain and wish you could help them and take it away...

Two appointments today and the roads were crappy! Dan had to get a blood draw today. Proteins are high again so there is one thing he cannot get tomorrow with his chemo.  Dr. Khan mentioned having Dan see a kidney doctor because of this but the bloodwork for the kidneys were fine.  But then he said he thought it was because of the medication that they had him stop at the hospital weeks ago and Dan will need to take again.  SO CONFUSING. Weight 190. He lost a few pounds from two weeks ago which isn't bad but our scale had him lower because he didn't have shoes and clothes on.  His blood pressure wasn't bad at 134/69.  That's good.  And all of the other bloodwork was good. We asked Dr. Khan some questions.  After the appointment we are to go see the cardi-oncologist for the heart ultrasound.  See what she had to say before seeing if Dan was to get chemo tomorrow.  I didn't know this but Dan was receiving 3 chemo's every two weeks not 2 chemo's....

Dan has been feeling pain and discomfort this week in his liver.  When this occurred before, it was because the cancer was growing.  This is concerning to say the least. The cancer center called yesterday.  At first, Dan's heart ultrasound was scheduled for late February.  They wanted to move it up and have it done before his treatment next week to see if it is okay to proceed. Next Wednesday he already had an appointment in early afternoon for the customary blood draw and to see the oncologist.  Now he also needs to go get the heart ultrasound later that day.  If all is well, he will receive his next rounds of chemo the next day. Dan is adamant that he will NOT do the 5FU chemo anymore as that is the "second" round of chemo we think causes his heart episodes.  We are going to talk to the doctor and see what other option there is, even though the 5FU is the most active for his cancer. Dan continues to rest and is eating.  He is bored at home thoug...

Today is Saturday. Thursday, Dan was sent home with the 5FU chemo ball to administer chemo for 48 hours.  If you read my previous posts, you would know that he had a bad reaction (similar to a heart attack...and ongoing for hours) the last time he took it and ended up in the hospital for two days.  This time, he had been taking meds to prepare for this treatment to either avoid or minimize the side effects he experienced before.  It didn't work. 9 hours later into his treatment he again felt the tingling in his left arm and the pain in his chest and shortness of breath.  This type of side effects mimics a heart attack.  Imagine going through that every 30 to 60 minutes for HOURS.  At 5:00am, Dan had enough and stopped the catheter from feeding additional chemo into his body.  He couldn't take it anymore.  It was so bad that he was taking nitroglycerin every hour up to 3 hours.  That is not good.  Too much nitroglycerin can cause an actua...

Dan received a chemo treatment at the cancer center and is now home with his second chemo with the "ball" as earlier explained in a previous blog post. We are very much hoping that he will not have an bad heart reactions!  Dan is currently resting as well as he should be right? And I don't know if I mentioned before, but the finance department stated it would cost $900 out of our pocket for each event of chemo Dan receives.  Therefore, that is $1800 per month!  I can't imagine what people do who cannot afford that.  Something needs to change in our healthcare system!  Thankfully, we are okay for now.   Nothing else to report for now.  However, I did want to thank those of you who have graciously left wonderful comments on the blog posts.  Many times these posts are listed as "anonymous" because you have to login to an account to leave your name.  So if this happens and  you don't have an account or don't want to login, please be sur...

We went to the cancer center yesterday like we do every other Tuesday in the week that Dan is to receive chemo. We stated our concerns of the heart issue side effects of the 5FU chemo (received in a ball and done at home).  The oncologist stated that it is the most active chemo for this type of cancer that Dan has.  Needless to say, Dan didn't want to hear that.  He didn't want to take that chemo ever again.  He felt like he was having a heart attack and apparently that is what it feels like as the 5FU constricts the arteries in the heart.  Dr. Kahn stated other people have experienced this before but continued with the treatments.  Because of the meds they were on (and now Dan is on), they either never experienced that again or it was mild.  So, Dan decided he will try it again. They also have a pill form of this where he would, I believe the doctor said, take 2 pills a day for two weeks straight opposed to the chemo infusion of the 5FU at home. ...

Sorry for the delay in this blog.  There hasn't really been that much to report on Dan and this week has been difficult one. Can you believe NO ONE from the cancer center has reached out to Dan to see how he is doing??  He has called twice because we wanted to speak to someone there about what occurred and what the next treatment strategy should be as Dan is never going to take that 5FU chemo again!  The only doctor who called was his primary!  His oncologist was in constant communication with the doctors at the hospital but other than that, we have not heard from them or the center.  Not happy to say the least. Dan is feeling so much better and has no more "heart" issues.  So we know it's from the 5FU chemo.  We have an appointment with the cancer center on Tuesday so I guess we will have to wait until then to see what other chemo he will be receiving.  His next treatment is supposed to be next Thursday. Meanwhile, we both ended up with a sinus ...

Picked Dan up at the hospital this morning.  Yayyy!  He's at home resting and glad to take a shower and finally relax at home. He is feeling better.  Lost more weight though and now down to 194.  Thanks to those who went to visit him in the hospital.  Much appreciated! One doctor thinks most likely the chemo caused his symptoms while another said he didn't think so.  Therefore, we do not know for sure exactly what caused this.  Go figure.   They want to do an ultrasound on his heart to see if they can see anything else.  Dan needs to make an appointment for that.  They would have done it there, but no one was available due to the holiday! It wasn't an emergency so Dan can do it as an outpatient.  He has to go to Walgreens to get various meds to help control his symptoms.  And of course the hospital only gave him one dosage to control the symptoms not realizing that due to the holiday, the pharmacy is not open but hopefully...