An Update on My Dad

A few weeks ago I mentioned that it was time for my Dad to have his scan to see how things are going with his cancer treatment. Recently it seems like my Dad had become really burned out with the chemotherapy. The side effects are pretty bad and he deals with things like sores in his mouth, constipation, nausea, constant urination, fatigue and the inability to taste food as it should really taste. He always tells me that his food tastes like metal and only certain things taste good to him but he forces himself to eat so that he stays healthy.

He talked to his doctor and asked if he could skip his chemotherapy the week of Christmas because he just wanted one week of the year to just feel normal and be able to eat and taste his food. His doctor said that he could not make that determination without seeing how things were going with the cancer. The results of the scan were in a few days before my Dad found out the results. His doctor never talks to him over the phone and prefers that they talk in person. I kept calling him because I was anxious to know the results but he said he would call me a soon as he knew something.

My Dad finally called me with the results a couple of days ago and when I saw his call coming in I got really nervous. I am never prepared to hear bad news. Well, I have to tell you that God is good. My Dad's scan came back as stable once again. The cancer has not spread but unfortunately it is still in his body. He also had a CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) test which measures the amount of protein in the blood for those who have certain kinds of cancers. The production of CEA stops before birth, and it usually is not present in the blood of healthy adults. When we first found out that he had cancer, his CEA reading was 47 and this time his reading came back at a 3-4! This is exciting news for us because it looks like the treatment is working and his doctor is going to allow him to skip chemotherapy the week of Christmas! He will be coming to visit me that week and we are already planning to make some of his favorite foods so that he will actually be able to taste him in a normal way.

We are so thankful and blessed to be spending another Christmas with my Dad. His attitude is just so positive and he has a great willingness to live. I know that is a big part of it but the blessings from the Man above really make it all possible. Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!