Tom's recovery over the past 2 days has been optimistic although it appears he will be staying in the hospital for a few more days, at least. The doctor's diagnosis of his present condition is not thrush, as we had thought originally, rather it is chemical mucosa. Essentially, the chemo drugs aren't just working on the cancer but the healthy tissue as well. As a result Tom's mouth and throat and have developed lesions, this condition in general terms is often referred to as mucositis. The chemo and radiation treatments have been placed on a hold for now until the lesions begin to heal. Because of the pain in his mouth and throat Tom is still not speaking much. He is receiving pain medication, antibiotics, and additional treatments to minimize the pain and discomfort and ward off any infections. He's still not out of the woods on this one but for now he is in less pain than before. Tom knows so many are thinking of him...thank you for keeping him in your hearts and prayers during this journey!
-posted by Teresa Higgins (Tom's sister)
teresa.higgins@unco.edu
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
An Uphill Battle
This posting was created by Teresa, Tom's sister.
Tom's cancer challenges have been quite rough lately. To date he has undergone 4 rounds of chemo and 13 radiation treatments. Suppressing the immune system and then walloping the body with industrial strength medicines can leave one's body feeling a little beaten up!
In the past 2 weeks he was hospitalized after passing out when he got up out of bed. Turned out he had low potassium and magnesium levels and dehydration. That hospital stay lasted 2 days and once he got into the habit of eating bananas more regularly and keeping track of his water intake all seemed OK and the treatment went on. A week later Tom blacked out again and it seems that time low blood pressure may have been the culprit. Now he tries to maintain his activity level and salt his food more often!
Over this past weekend the side effects of the radiation/chemo appear to have emerged in full force. The multiple doses of radiation have made Tom's throat extremely swollen and sensitive. He has been experiencing a lot of discomfort, pain, a swollen tongue and difficulty in swallowing....and he's got 22 more radiation and 3 more chemo treatments to go! Today when he went to begin the radiation treatments for the week the doctors took an assessment of his vitals which included a slight fever and possible infection and determined that he needed a break from the treatment and time to recoup his energy to fight this battle and eliminate any infections. So it was off to hospital again, this time to get Tom on antibiotics, additional blood work, increased fluids and further lessons on using the feeding tube and making the most of a liquid diet. With so much of his throat and mouth either swollen or sensitive it has also made talking extremely difficult so we rely on Tom's sign language skills (which basically consists of air-writing out words) to figure out what he needs. Cancer is battled by many and Tom's army is huge, consisting of an exceptional team of doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff!
Through the challenges Tom maintains a sense of humor and positive attitude. I'm sure his optimistic outlook is fueled by the well wishes he receives regularly. All the thoughtful expressions of concern and care by Tom's relatives, friends, and colleagues are so greatly appreciated - please keep them coming! Tom may not be able to respond to your cards and notes but he reads them all and is genuinely touched by your encouraging words of support and thoughtful gestures.
Finally, cancer is an insidious disease that affects the whole family, not just the cancer patient. So many thanks to all who have kept Tom's immediate family in their thoughts and prayers, especially our Dad who has carried the responsibility as Tom's primary caregiver through most of this battle. We feel blessed with the support extended to each of us by so many of Tom's acquaintances!
Stay tuned to hear from Tom soon...for now, keep those well-wishes coming!
Tom's cancer challenges have been quite rough lately. To date he has undergone 4 rounds of chemo and 13 radiation treatments. Suppressing the immune system and then walloping the body with industrial strength medicines can leave one's body feeling a little beaten up!
In the past 2 weeks he was hospitalized after passing out when he got up out of bed. Turned out he had low potassium and magnesium levels and dehydration. That hospital stay lasted 2 days and once he got into the habit of eating bananas more regularly and keeping track of his water intake all seemed OK and the treatment went on. A week later Tom blacked out again and it seems that time low blood pressure may have been the culprit. Now he tries to maintain his activity level and salt his food more often!
Over this past weekend the side effects of the radiation/chemo appear to have emerged in full force. The multiple doses of radiation have made Tom's throat extremely swollen and sensitive. He has been experiencing a lot of discomfort, pain, a swollen tongue and difficulty in swallowing....and he's got 22 more radiation and 3 more chemo treatments to go! Today when he went to begin the radiation treatments for the week the doctors took an assessment of his vitals which included a slight fever and possible infection and determined that he needed a break from the treatment and time to recoup his energy to fight this battle and eliminate any infections. So it was off to hospital again, this time to get Tom on antibiotics, additional blood work, increased fluids and further lessons on using the feeding tube and making the most of a liquid diet. With so much of his throat and mouth either swollen or sensitive it has also made talking extremely difficult so we rely on Tom's sign language skills (which basically consists of air-writing out words) to figure out what he needs. Cancer is battled by many and Tom's army is huge, consisting of an exceptional team of doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff!
Through the challenges Tom maintains a sense of humor and positive attitude. I'm sure his optimistic outlook is fueled by the well wishes he receives regularly. All the thoughtful expressions of concern and care by Tom's relatives, friends, and colleagues are so greatly appreciated - please keep them coming! Tom may not be able to respond to your cards and notes but he reads them all and is genuinely touched by your encouraging words of support and thoughtful gestures.
Finally, cancer is an insidious disease that affects the whole family, not just the cancer patient. So many thanks to all who have kept Tom's immediate family in their thoughts and prayers, especially our Dad who has carried the responsibility as Tom's primary caregiver through most of this battle. We feel blessed with the support extended to each of us by so many of Tom's acquaintances!
Stay tuned to hear from Tom soon...for now, keep those well-wishes coming!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Radiation Days 2 & 3
Well, day 2 of radiation was cancelled on Wednesday because of a power failure the day before at the cancer center. They couldn't get the machine back online until around 2:00 p.m. and my appointment was for 8:30 a.m. so I'm a day behind what I should be.
Thursday and Friday's treatments nos. 2 & 3 were pretty routing, except because of my face and neck being swollen, probably from the chemo, leaves me with a temporary waffle face after they remove the mask that is used to keep my head in a specific position on the table. It is bolted down pretty tightly, so much as to I cannot speak that's how tight it is on my lips.
So I now have the weekend off and treatment no. 4 will be Monday morning. Til then God Bless everyone for their thoughts and prayers!
Thursday and Friday's treatments nos. 2 & 3 were pretty routing, except because of my face and neck being swollen, probably from the chemo, leaves me with a temporary waffle face after they remove the mask that is used to keep my head in a specific position on the table. It is bolted down pretty tightly, so much as to I cannot speak that's how tight it is on my lips.
So I now have the weekend off and treatment no. 4 will be Monday morning. Til then God Bless everyone for their thoughts and prayers!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Radiation - Day 1 of 35
All in all my first radiation treatment went fairly well with the only discomfort being the mask covering my face to down below my collarbone. It is bolted down to the table and was so tight it actually left impressions in my forehead and chin. It gives you a suffocating feeling!
The treatment machine moves 360 degrees around your head and the radiation beams for my plan are inflicted at nineteen different angles. This will be consistent for the remaining 34 treatments. So it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the complete treatment. They also take x-rays before beginning the treatment to make sure I am positioned correctly on the table to minimize the killing of too many good cells. There were no immediate side effects to the first treatment and none should start to appear until after the first or second week.
Following that I went to oncology for my chemo treatment which lasted about 7 hours. Fortunately there were no problems with the port this time which made me and the nurses staff quite pleased. I expect the normal side effects to take place over the next week as the dosage was increased a little bit to give as Dr. Balaban said, "More bang for your buck on the radiation treatments". So I guess it is kind of a booster to the radiation.
Radiation will continue tomorrow and through the rest of the week at 8:30 a.m. and continue
the following Mon- thru - Fri until we get through 35 treatments. Stay tuned for daily updates!
The treatment machine moves 360 degrees around your head and the radiation beams for my plan are inflicted at nineteen different angles. This will be consistent for the remaining 34 treatments. So it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the complete treatment. They also take x-rays before beginning the treatment to make sure I am positioned correctly on the table to minimize the killing of too many good cells. There were no immediate side effects to the first treatment and none should start to appear until after the first or second week.
Following that I went to oncology for my chemo treatment which lasted about 7 hours. Fortunately there were no problems with the port this time which made me and the nurses staff quite pleased. I expect the normal side effects to take place over the next week as the dosage was increased a little bit to give as Dr. Balaban said, "More bang for your buck on the radiation treatments". So I guess it is kind of a booster to the radiation.
Radiation will continue tomorrow and through the rest of the week at 8:30 a.m. and continue
the following Mon- thru - Fri until we get through 35 treatments. Stay tuned for daily updates!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Going Nuclear
Well, it is now time for the final surge. Beginning tomorrow radiation begins at 8:45 a.m. followed by the first of my three last remaining chemo treatments. I'm currently scheduled for thirty five radiation treatments that will run Monday thru Fridays which should take me up to about Thanksgiving.
Chemo treatments will be one every three weeks and will be administered in a one day treatment. So the plan and schedule is in place to rid myself of this insurgent once and for all!
Chemo treatments will be one every three weeks and will be administered in a one day treatment. So the plan and schedule is in place to rid myself of this insurgent once and for all!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Friday
After feeling somewhat better in my chest since taking the 400 mg of Ibuprofan I had been taking an afternoon nap when I awoke and slowly walked to the desk in my bedroom and stood there for about thirty seconds when I immediately blacked out and dropped to the floor. I immediately awoke and tried to orient myself as to where I was as a decorative plate was lying next to me on the floor. It had fallen from a height of about 8 ft from a hutch that I must have struck on the way down, although I sustained no injury or bruising from the fall.
My father and sister who were downstairs in the house and heard me hit the floor thought that I had dropped something but they were immediately on the scene to assist me in getting to my feet. I myself remember hitting the floor so I was only out for a few seconds, although that was scary enough.
A call was placed to the Cancer Center and a call was returned by Dr. Balaban who again suggested that I go immediately to emergency room to get checked out. I was obviously reluctant as I had just been through this and figured we'd go through the same thing all over again only to be sent home again. This time however, Dr. Balaban was going to see me in the E.R. this time instead of just the regular staff there.
So again they drew blood, did a chest x-ray and an electrocardiogram as my heart-rate was still racing and gave me the saline solution I.V.
After the tests were complete Dr. Balaban came to see me and said that I was dehydrated and they wanted to keep me overnight to monitor my heart and get my systems back online with rehyrdration. By the time I finally got to my room in the P.C.U. (Progressive Care Unit) it was
after midnight and I was immediately given a Potassium solution I.V. Potassium is irritable to the veins during injection so sleep was not possible until after 2:00 p.m. when the I.V. was switched to a normal saline solution mixed with a diluted amount of potassium that was less irritable than the straight potassium solution. Sleep was now possible.
At 4:30 a.m. the vampires from the I.V. team came in to get their vials filled so sleep was for a very short period. At 6:00 the nurses aid came in to get vital signs so again my rest was interrupted and the sun was about to come up. The I.V. bags were changed as they were emptied and the nurses aid and the nurse herself made regular stops so it was constant activity in the room not allowing for much rest time. Not to mention I had to empty everything that was being pumped into me and with the I.V. and the heart monitor attached this was no easy task.
At least the heart monitor was cordless, meaning I only had to contend with a device the size of a transistor radio hanging from my neck, which then had all the wires going to the various areas of my chest and stomach to monitor my heart.
At 9:00 a.m. Dr. Balaban came in said that I would probably be in for another day until my hydration levels returned to normal through the I.V. treatments.
The day continued with all the ongoing things listed above just being repeated along with a finnicky I.V. pump that would stop pumping continuously for no apparent reason and that required the nurse be called time and time again to restart the pump and no sooner would she leave the room the pump would shut itself off. The I.V. team finally realized I had a port and decided to access that to administer the I.V. through that instead of through the traditional arm I.V.
This all continued throughout the night and into Sunday morning when Dr. Balaban came in around 9:00 a.m and said that I would be discharged sometime that day but that I was now showing somewhat anemic and he wanted to me to receive two units of blood. That process takes 3 to 4 hours per unit, and thats after the I.V. team does what they do to make sure you are getting the right stuff.
The blood transfusions started around 11:15 and there were numerous delays with the pump again. The first transfusion took almost 4 hours which is the time limit on blood being unrefrigerated and not being transfused. The I.V. team finally decided that the port was more of the problem than the pump so they suggested I lie down as that position was the one that worked the best, so I lied for four straight hours without moving to finish the first and second units of blood. It worked because the second unit was transfused in two hours fifteen minutes and I finally left the hospital at 6:00 p.m.
Next up is my cat scan on this Wednesday at 10:15 and we'll see where it goes from there!
My father and sister who were downstairs in the house and heard me hit the floor thought that I had dropped something but they were immediately on the scene to assist me in getting to my feet. I myself remember hitting the floor so I was only out for a few seconds, although that was scary enough.
A call was placed to the Cancer Center and a call was returned by Dr. Balaban who again suggested that I go immediately to emergency room to get checked out. I was obviously reluctant as I had just been through this and figured we'd go through the same thing all over again only to be sent home again. This time however, Dr. Balaban was going to see me in the E.R. this time instead of just the regular staff there.
So again they drew blood, did a chest x-ray and an electrocardiogram as my heart-rate was still racing and gave me the saline solution I.V.
After the tests were complete Dr. Balaban came to see me and said that I was dehydrated and they wanted to keep me overnight to monitor my heart and get my systems back online with rehyrdration. By the time I finally got to my room in the P.C.U. (Progressive Care Unit) it was
after midnight and I was immediately given a Potassium solution I.V. Potassium is irritable to the veins during injection so sleep was not possible until after 2:00 p.m. when the I.V. was switched to a normal saline solution mixed with a diluted amount of potassium that was less irritable than the straight potassium solution. Sleep was now possible.
At 4:30 a.m. the vampires from the I.V. team came in to get their vials filled so sleep was for a very short period. At 6:00 the nurses aid came in to get vital signs so again my rest was interrupted and the sun was about to come up. The I.V. bags were changed as they were emptied and the nurses aid and the nurse herself made regular stops so it was constant activity in the room not allowing for much rest time. Not to mention I had to empty everything that was being pumped into me and with the I.V. and the heart monitor attached this was no easy task.
At least the heart monitor was cordless, meaning I only had to contend with a device the size of a transistor radio hanging from my neck, which then had all the wires going to the various areas of my chest and stomach to monitor my heart.
At 9:00 a.m. Dr. Balaban came in said that I would probably be in for another day until my hydration levels returned to normal through the I.V. treatments.
The day continued with all the ongoing things listed above just being repeated along with a finnicky I.V. pump that would stop pumping continuously for no apparent reason and that required the nurse be called time and time again to restart the pump and no sooner would she leave the room the pump would shut itself off. The I.V. team finally realized I had a port and decided to access that to administer the I.V. through that instead of through the traditional arm I.V.
This all continued throughout the night and into Sunday morning when Dr. Balaban came in around 9:00 a.m and said that I would be discharged sometime that day but that I was now showing somewhat anemic and he wanted to me to receive two units of blood. That process takes 3 to 4 hours per unit, and thats after the I.V. team does what they do to make sure you are getting the right stuff.
The blood transfusions started around 11:15 and there were numerous delays with the pump again. The first transfusion took almost 4 hours which is the time limit on blood being unrefrigerated and not being transfused. The I.V. team finally decided that the port was more of the problem than the pump so they suggested I lie down as that position was the one that worked the best, so I lied for four straight hours without moving to finish the first and second units of blood. It worked because the second unit was transfused in two hours fifteen minutes and I finally left the hospital at 6:00 p.m.
Next up is my cat scan on this Wednesday at 10:15 and we'll see where it goes from there!
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