Today was treatment 3 of 3 for my dad. He will go back in 2 or 3 weeks for a checkup, and 3 months for an MRI.
Category: perSonaL
Cyber Knife Treatment 2 of 3 and a Package from Korea
Today, Gary brought my parents in for my dads second cyber knife radiation treatment. He has one more in this series and then he will begin his Chemo treatment.
Package from Korea
In the morning I picked up a package from the post office from Korea. My 엄마 sent me hair accessories, a key chain bunny, and a cosmetic mirror for me and a card case for Gary. It was all wrapped in pretty pink or red paper with hearts.
I love everything – I don’t think in the U.S. there are any hair accessories that are all sparkly like these. I wore the first one in the pic, the purple-ish one today ^^
Gary said he is going to use the card case so his business cards stay nice, and I think I will keep the mirror in my make-up case.
Cyber Knife Treatment 1 of 3
Today was my dad’s first cyber knife radiation treatment, 1 of 3
There was about an hour delay because all neurosurgeons were in emergency surgery, and one had to review the cyber knife setup.
They give you something to make you sleep for the treatment so your head and body are still so they can pinpoint treat the area.
Afterwards Gary took them to On the Border for lunch, and my dad had a good appetite 🙂
Kidney Oncologist Update
We met with the Kidney Oncologist yesterday (Monday 7/18/2011)
The pathology came back and my dad’s kidney cancer is the most common type – not a rare type or anything which is good.
Labs/bloodwork came back and they were fabulous, perfect even.
Hemoglobin, LDH, and calcium markers were normal which puts him in a better risk group which allows him to be on a chemotherapy pill, and not an IV drip.
He will begin his Chemo pill next week after his radiation treatment which is this week (tues/wed/thurs) and he will likely be on it indefinitely.
He will be monitored after the radiation with another scan at some point. 3 weeks to check how everything is going with his medication and again in 2 months to check on his kidney and likely another scan to check the progress of his brain.
The Kidney Oncologist told me that it was really great that my dad was even a candidate for the cyber knife targeted treatment radiation (versus whole brain radiation treatment), and she wasn’t expecting his lab work to come back so great which allows him to be on a chemo pill which is portable and doesn’t require him to have to go to the hospital to get each treatment.
We are still taking everything day by day, and prayers from all are so appreciated.
Dinner with my Parents
Last night also, Gary, Adrienne and I went to my parents house for dinner where we flew the helicopters I got at Brookstone on sale, had dinner, watched a movie, fixed my moms computer,
and I put together a plane I got in Virginia. We are going to fly it in a large open field at some point soon, along with another plane my dad had made for me when I was little ^^
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles . . . minus the planes ^^
In Roanoke, there is a Transportation museum – not too big, but a decent size in an old train station. They had a working model train, a section with old cars like the Studebaker, Herbie the Love Bug, and some other cars from movies, and a train section. It was neat to be able to go out to the train yard to see the trains up close. Ones that have been renovated, and some that are in the process.
Added Note: actually there was one small plane they were rebuilding in another section, but it was blocked off 🙂
Virginia Mountains
Yesterday, I drove my parents to Virginia to see the mountains. We stopped off at Natural Bridge first. 20 stories of natural rock was pretty impressive and really pretty to see in person. We got to see where George Washington Carved his initials in the rock, as well as a few other people from long ago.
I liked that they had a bus to transport you down to the start of the trail, which was great for my parents or you could have taken the trail down. We got the basic tickets, which was for everything except the caverns.
The ‘Butterfly’s at the Bridge’ wasn’t as big as it sounded on their website – mostly it was a small room with plants and butterfly’s but it was also good so my parent’s didn’t have to walk too much, but could still see the butterflys.
The toy “museum” wasn’t much to look at, but really we went to see the bridge and the butterfly’s. Afterwards we drove to Roanoke which was only about 45-ish minutes away.
We found a hotel in Roanoke, a nice Mariott and then got some dinner close by. We stopped off and got a deck of cards after dinner and in the evening, we played cards and watched TV. I found a regular size deck with cute lil’ doggies, and then I found a smaller Coca Cola deck that I’m going to keep in my purse. 😀
Doctor Visits for Dad and the Car
Yesterday I took my parents in for my dad’s MRI, and today we had an appointment to get the mask and scans done
The way it was explained to me was: picture a flat wire mesh, like a tennis racket that they soak in warm water that conforms so it dries in the shape of your head. This will help hold my dads head very still when they do the cyber-knife (radiation) treatments. Three treatments each an hour long starting next week that are crisscross-ing beams to target each area internally.
They took blood before doing the scans to check his creatnine for his kidney function, and his levels were good.
When I dropped them off, I ran a couple errands before returning to work. One was to bring one of our cars in to get the seat re-calibrated and they gave me a Hyundai Sonata to use while it was in the shop. Luckily, I only had it for 5 hours . . . though I still do miss my Tiburon
Huge Zucchini from the Garden
Yesterday after dropping my parents off, they showed me the huge zucchini (서양 호박(?) that was from their first year garden (정원).
I think we are eating it with dinner tonight 🙂
Second Set of Doctors (의사)
We met with more doctors today to discuss options. Radiation, chemo, cyber knife (which is a type of radiation), and surgery. Some options are not as recommended, while others are. There is risk with all of them because they are dealing with the brain.
Their review of the MRI is that there are lesions in the back of the brain, over the left ear, and possibly another small one. There is cancer that is in the bone, kidney, brain, and lungs.
The best option it seems for now is to go with the cyber knife (3 treatments each an hour long) and then start treating the kidney with Chemo. It will depend on how my dad’s body reacts to all this treatment and we will see how things go from there.
We go for an MRI tomorrow and then a meeting with one of the doctors do discuss the pan for cyber knife on Friday.
My Dad has Kidney Cancer (신장암)
High Level: My dad has Kidney Cancer which has metastasized into the brain, and a little bit into the lungs.
I have been keeping track of things as they happen, but I wanted to wait for more information before posting. I will be updating my blog as treatment and consultations arise. Please pray for a quick and simple treatment and recovery for my dad, as well as the rest of our family who is worried.
The Beginning
My dad bumped his head on the garage door the week of June 20th.
The week of the 27th, my mom noticed his right foot dragging a little. They went to the doctor to make sure it wasn’t mini stroke related since this can lead to full out strokes.
June 30th Thursday they went to get an MRI pre request of family physician
July 1st Friday the MRI results found there were two masses (tumors?) in his brain and therefore a CAT Scan was scheduled for today.
July 2nd to 4th Saturday to Monday = 4th of July Holiday Weekend, have to wait til after the holiday weekend
July 5th Tuesday didn’t hear anything all day which isn’t helping with the anxiety and stress of everything
July 6th Wednesday Heard from the Family Physician in the evening. Found out it is kidney cancer. Hopefully with treatment this can be taken care of which would also take care of what is going on the brain.
My dad had called his sister, and found out an aunt or cousin had kidney cancer and it was treated and she lived or is living for 40 years+ more – they are distantly related though, but it is still in the family.
July 7th Thursday this morning, an appointment was made for tomorrow at 9am with the Oncologist where we will find out treatment and severity.
Trouble Walking
July 7 Thursday 2011 – Dinner visit with my parents and my friend Adrienne
Dad had a little trouble walking. After getting up the stairs, he was in the doorway to the kitchen and swaying back and forth like his brain knew he should walk, but his leg wasn’t advancing. It took a few minutes, but then he was able to walk and went to sit down to rest. They had been running a lot of errands that day.
Visit to the Oncologist
July 8 Friday 2011
We met with the oncologist at REX in the morning. We found that the MRI showed there are abnormalities/lesions in the brain and the swelling is affecting his balance. They put him on a steroid prescription for the swelling in the brain and another prescription to take to prevent ulcers from the steroids.
The CAT Scan showed the Kidney Tumor (4cm) which is the largest one. There are scattered tumors in the lungs which are very small. She is presuming Kidney Cancer (which is a random mutation) and slow growing. A biopsy is needed to determine exactly what stage it is in now.
Because it has spread, surgery only to take out the one kidney does not seem to be an option. He will also need chemotherapy to also address the lungs and radiation for the brain. The brain, being the most important organ is the first to be taken care of via radiation for brain lesions. May be two or six weeks of treatment? It will be based on treatment prescribed which is un-determined until we meet with the Radiology Oncologist.
Kidney Biopsy will be scheduled for Monday (June 11th)
A prognosis will be based on lab work and reviewing MRI additionally. Blood was taken today for lab review to check hemoglobin and calcium, etc. results possibly this afternoon.
They will meet with a dietician in a week or so.
Because he is a good weight, does not smoke or drink, and is in good health, there are more options available to him which is really good
My dad said “I feel like wall-e, just find the right parts and pop them in”
For now, what he is supposed to do is maintain his current weight and eat lean protein such as chicken and fish, and Do NOT Take Aspirin or Motrin, because he is more at risk for bleeding
Biopsy
July 11 Monday 2011
I woke up at 6am-ish to pick up my parents. We got to the hospital around 7:30am since he was supposed to be there for 8am – the biopsy was scheduled for 9:30am.
We expected him back in an hour-ish, but it took about 2. We found out they took 3 passes with the small needle and then they used a larger needle to get enough tissue samples of his kidney. The procedure is to take a pass > send it to the lab > wait to hear back to see if they got enough tissue (takes about 10-15 minutes) keep doing this until they get a large enough sample. He is awake for the whole process, they numb the area they are sticking the long needle into.
He got back to his cube/room around noon. It took about an hour longer than expected, and he has to rest until 1:30 or 2:00pm to walk a bit and then we are going straight to see the Oncology Radiologist for his consultation and treatment. They should have biopsy results in about 2 days.
Because the biopsy took longer than expected, our original appointment with the Radiology Oncologist had to be moved and they were working us in, so we waited until around 3:45pm and Met with met with the Nurse and then the Doctor
Treatment
There will be 14 treatments of radiation that last about 10 minutes each to the brain will start tomorrow (12 July Tuesday 2011) with a 70-80% shrinkage rate. Afterwards, he will likely go on a targeted agent chemo pill for several months.
At 4:30pm he got a head scan/simulation mask of head for the radiation which is so the head will be completely still during radiation. Side effects MAY be: loss of hair where radiation was done towards the end of the treatments (likely to grow back), and short term memory loss which would be later on, and there is only a 25-30% chance of that.
Change of Plans
July 12 Tuesday 2011
My dad was supposed to start his radiation treatment today, but this morning I got a call from the Radiology Oncologist. There has been a change in plans. We will need to go to UNC tomorrow to talk to another doctor who specializes in Cyber-Knife to discuss several options (radiation only, cyber knife/surgery, both? treating the whole brain versus partial, etc,).
I need to get a copy of the disc with the MRI results today to bring with us tomorrow. Picked up the disk around 1:30pm
Around 3:00pm got a call from UNC. We will be meeting for consultations, a Neurosurgeon at 9:30am tomorrow and then the doctor who specializes in cyber knife at 1:00pm. Another long day.
Thoughts and Prayers
As mentioned above, I will update my blog with details and such at some point since things change fairly often. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
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