dr. appt

My appointment for Friday with the general surgeon here in KC was cancelled due to an emergency surgery he was called on. I have rescheduled for tomorrow AM.

better late than never

Well it's been over two months since my last post, pretty much par for me. Surgery went very well and recovery did also. Nicole was there for the first 6 days and my mother was there for the next 4. I got released after 7 days in the hospital. The other three days was spent in Houston before the Dr's would release me to go home.

I have pretty much healed up from the surgery but am currently having some GI issues. Over the past three weeks I have visited my general practitioner, GI specialist, oncologist, and have an appointment with the general surgeon on Friday. I have had several blood tests, a CT, and small bowel series done in the past week and a half and none of the Dr's can figure out why I am having "gastric gurgling", random vomiting, and diarrhea.

I am hoping the general surgeon can shed some light on the situation as this is becoming very frustrating.

More updates to follow.

all systems go!

I met with my Dr's on Friday and everything is set for surgery on Monday AM. The latest CT did not show any new areas of cancer and that was GREAT news.

Surgery could take 6-8 hours. My first estimate was way off as I really was just guessing. I'm not looking forward to being sore afterwards but will be glad that I'll be back on the road to recovery.

Hopefully this is my last surgery!

I will have Nicole make a post after I get out.

LiveSTRONG,
darin

heading back to Houston

Well, I'm done with radiation and now have surgery scheduled for March 2nd. Being away from Nicole & Carter was the hardest part of radiation. I did get to come home a couple of times, including Christmas.

With surgery, the plan is to remove the two lymph nodes and repair the hernia. There will be three surgeon's on my case and the surgery, as I guess, could take between 2-4 hours. Usually I have had a very early check-in time on the day of surgery, around 6am.

I will post more updates as they become available.

LiveSTRONG,
darin

treatment schedule

I will be starting 30 rounds of radiation on Dec. 17th. and will be also taking an oral chemo pill that will help the cancer cells be more receptive to the radiation. This treatment will be done at M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX.

I plan on being home for Christmas but will be in Houston for New Years. My schedule is still somewhat in flux as I am unsure what weekends I will be coming back to KC. I will miss being at home and spending time with my wife and son.

LiveSTRONG,
darin

upcoming trip to Houston

My doctors at M.D. Anderson have all spoken and determined the best treatment path for the affected lymph nodes is to radiate first along with oral chemotherapy. I plan to have appx 28 treatments, adminstered once a day during the weekdays. I would not be getting radiation on weekends or holidays. My appointment with the Radiologist is Wednesday Dec 10th and I could start treatments as soon as Monday the 15th.

Once the radiation is complete I will rest appx 30 days and then they will attempt to surgically remove the affected lymph nodes. I will be back and forth to Houston several times over the coming months as all of my treatment will be at M.D. Anderson, not here in KC.

That's what I know for now.

LiveSTRONG,
jupe

update from trip to Houston

I returned last night to KC after spending two days at M.D. Anderson in Houston. The results of my latest CT showed some activity in the lymph nodes still. This was expected and as of now the plan of action calls for radiation, more chemo, then surgery.

Both Dr. Kopetz and Dr. Feig remain optimistic about my prognosis as the cancer is still localized to one area.

I will post again when I have dates and confirmation of the treatment path.

Cheers,
darin