Light at the end of the tunnel ...

There have been some changes to dad’s cancer treatment. Rest assured though … the cancer has not gotten worse or spread. The doctor wants to get rid of the fluid in his abdomen since that is where all of his other problems are stemming from. Draining the fluid caused the dehydration that initially put him in the hospital two weeks ago which consequently caused his blood pressure to drop. Although the doctor was trying to avoid it, dad is going to have to undergo chemo for three weeks. Luckily it is only for a short period of time. By doing chemo, it will eliminate the fluid in his abdomen, which will thus make his other treatment run smoother and allow dad to be more at east. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable he has been having a tube permanently stuck in him. I know it was quite painful at first, but I would think it would become simply irritating and annoying after a while.

Dad started his chemo Saturday morning around midnight. He will only be receiving a low dosage of it, since the main purpose of the chemo is to reduce the fluid so that he can start his other form of treatment. He only made it through half of the treatment because the port itself make to uncomfortable to bear. Before the chemo, he drained the fluid at 10pm Friday night. After only doing half of his first chemo, he hadn’t drained any fluid as of 2:00 Saturday afternoon! I knew that chemo was powerful, but I had no idea it was that powerful.

Luckily for dad, modern medicine is truly amazing and there are medicines out there to help reduce the side effects of chemo. However, none of these medicines will prevent the hair loss that comes with chemo. That being said, dad is going to lose what little hair he has left (which he is not happy about). For me, it is crazy to think that the next time I see my dad he will be completely bald, but it is a sacrifice he has to make. The doctors are keeping him in the hospital for a few days just to monitor his vitals during his first few days on chemo to make sure they stay at the levels they should. Dad has been moved to the cancer wing at the hospital, which is quite sad. Other than that, dad is healthy as a horse. Once he finishes his three rounds of cancer, he can start his next treatment, which is a series of shots that takes 12 weeks to complete. My family (especially dad) is finally able to see light at the end of this very long tunnel. Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers. They have truly been a blessing to my family and have given us so much strength to fight this battle.