Settled in for the Winter

We moved to a larger site last Sunday since we will be here for awhile. Sure is much nicer to have neighbors a bit further away! We met with his cardiologist this past week. At first he didn't feel they should do anything since the meds were controlling his heart rate. That was before he looked at the EKG and the meds he is taking. His heart rate is still high and he raised one of the meds another 120mgs a day. He is now taking enough of these meds to control an elephant! So now he is sleeping 24/7 instead of 20/7! We meet with the electrophysiologist on Nov. 6. He is the doctor that does the procedures, so will see what he recommends. The cardiologist feels the problem is in the AV node and if they fix that he will likely have to have a pacemaker. Then off to the surgeon to have his incision checked. He has had a hole at the bottom to drain an infection. The infection is gone, but needed to see what to do next. Just let it grow together and will be fine now. Yea - no more packing, just bandage everyday! Since we were there the surgeon decided we should schedule his surgery to put in a power port for chemo so he can start taking warfarin again for his heart. So yesterday we spent 4 hours at the hospital and he now has a sporty port below his collar bone on the left! The first time he has been at the hospital for a procedure and actually got to come home afterwards! This week is a CT scan and followed in a couple of days with another meeting with the oncologist to schedule his chemo. All the ducks are finally lining up in a row and we are making progress toward an eventual full recovery! We will have lots of company in this park for the winter - they only have a few empty sites!

Long Term Plan

We met with the oncologist this morning. This doctor had worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston TX (a leading cancer center in the US) and after talking to him about various treatments Ralph has decided to stay here. The protocol for his cancer would be the same anywhere and the only difference would be if he wanted a clinical trial. This oncologist is the head of oncology at Skagit Valley Hospital and is part of the Seattle Cancer Alliance which includes the University of Washington and Fred Hutchison Cancer Center. His treatment will be 2 days on infusions and 12 days off for a total of 12 cycles (6 months). There are practically no side affects to these drugs. His 2 day infusions start at the center for about 4 hours and then continue at home for a total of 48 hours. He will have a baseline CT scan and then meet with this oncologist for a start date. After treatment they will do another CT scan and then every 6 months. He will have another colonoscopy next August and then every 3 to 5 years for that. The oncologist will work with our travel schedule for follow-up appointments. His a-fib will not affect his chemo schedule which they like to start no sooner than 4 weeks from surgery and no later than 6 weeks from surgery. He will be closer to the 6 weeks since they would like to give his wound as much time as possible to heal. So, cardiologist is next Tuesday and hopefully we will have a time for the ablation. The 27th is the surgeon for followup and consult on a "port" then a CT scan and the oncologist is on the 30th. We will be staying at our wonderful little RV park here in Mount Vernon just 10 minutes from the medical centers! We are getting ready for winter and will be warm and comfortable in our little house on wheels!

Home

Ralph came home Sunday afternoon. He is still moving a bit slow, but getting out and around. He still has a hole at the bottom of his incision that has to be packed and bandaged. Not sure what the long term plan for that is since his surgeon is on vacation and another surgeon saw him in the hospital. He takes naps, but more because of his heart than surgery. Everyday is better!!!!

Coming Home Soon

It has been a difficult few days to get his digestion working again. They finally had to put an IV "pick-line" in his arm and feed him nutrients that way for 2 days. Friday they started on liquids again and he did well on them. Over night they weaned him off the nutrients and yesterday he had solid food and did well. He still has a hole at the bottom of his incision from when he had an infection. Now to get it to heal, they are doing some minor work on it today - they said it needs to wake up again and realize it needs to grow together. Our bodies are amazing! His heart is now between 100 - 140 with very high doses of meds. Cardiology was supposed to see him yesterday and no one came - surprise! Everyone just wants to know what meds he is to take at home. The path report was about what we expected given the surgeons report after surgery. When removing the tumor, they went far enough to get to clean and cancer free tissue. About 1/2 the lymph nodes removed had cancer cells. He will be ungoing chemotherapy at some point. The timeline for everything is a bit fuzzy right now given his heart rate and the need for ablation to correct that. They said he might get home today, but his surgeon on Friday noted in his chart that he would be released probably Monday. They may want to watch the wound for 24 hours to make sure it is OK.