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!

An Update on Roxy

If  you missed the sad news about my dog Roxy, you can read about it here. Thank you to everyone for your nice comments and offer of prayers for me and Roxy. I took Roxy to see an oncologist on Friday to get a better idea of what was going on with her and to find out what my options were as far as treatment.

I feel really bad about the whole situation since I was listening to my primary vet and testing for other conditions that were all skin allergy related. I guess cancer is tricky like that and sometimes presents itself as an allergy related problem. I feel like I wasted a lot of precious time and thousands of dollars trying special diets and other tests related to allergies. Live and learn. Now I know better. If the problem does not clear up in a short period of time, head to a specialist. The dermatologist that diagnosed Roxy was very knowledgeable and had a pretty good idea of what was going on. She wasn't cheap but I felt like she was worth every penny that I spent because she gave me what I wanted, a diagnosis. It wasn't what I was hoping to hear but I am glad that I now know what is wrong with Roxy.

So on to the appointment with the oncologist. We took Roxy not really knowing what to expect but we knew it was not going to be cheap. The oncologist had already spoken to the dermatologist about the results of Roxy's biopsy and he really spent some time to talk to us about his recommendations and the treatment available to Roxy. I really like him and he was very thorough. He was knowledgeable and I felt like he honestly cared and wasn't just about the money.

The oncologist recommended that we do a complete blood panel to make sure that Roxy would be able to go through the treatment and that there were no other issues going on. Her blood work came back with no major issues so we decided to go with a less aggressive treatment. The aggressive treatment was just too expensive ($6,330) and I just could not justify spending that kind of money since there is no cure. We are hopeful that Roxy will go into remission and even if that happens she may only be in remission for 3-6 months before the cancer returns.

Roxy will be going through a 15-week course of oral chemo which is in the form of a pill. Every three weeks she will go to the oncologist, they will draw her blood and if everything looks good she will be given another dose. The treatment is still incredibly expensive ($410 per treatment) and if the 5 treatments do not put Roxy in remission then we will stop and give her the best quality of life for as long as it is humane to keep her with us on this earth. 

Roxy handled the first round of treatment pretty well. She did not have any major side effects such as vomiting, diarrhea or nausea. We are giving her anti-nausea just in case and I have medication on hand to deal with all of the other side effects should they ever be a problem. Roxy has a follow-up appointment this Friday which involves more blood work to see how her body is responding to the treatment.

This is a huge sacrifice for us. I just could not live with myself if I didn't try some kind of treatment. I know that there are lots of pet owners out there who cannot afford to or are not willing to do half of what I am willing and able to do for my fur babies so I have nothing to be guilty of should she not make it through the treatment.

In the meantime, I am hopeful yet fully aware of what Roxy is up against. We are spoiling her to death, giving her more love than we already have been for the past 13 years and she is really happy about her new high protein diet of boiled chicken breast. The other dogs are jealous and just don't understand why they can't have it to!

Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for healing and that Roxy's body is receptive to the treatment.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today my Dad turns 62. I am feeling so grateful today that he is still here with us. I am not sure how my Dad handles it all. He is still fighting his battle with cancer but refuses to let it win. This man never complains, he is still able to work and he tries to stay as active as he possibly can. He recently spotted a local weather anchor while he was working and she put him on the Sunday morning news because he was helping her out with her shopping. She told me that he was so nice. I was watching the news on Sunday morning and all of a sudden he was on the TV! He didn't even tell me about it!

My Dad truly inspires me. Whenever I feel like my life is tough, I always think of him and those thoughts quickly disappear from my mind. He motivates me to keep going and he is always in my thoughts when I  run. He is the reason why I never give up! He is the force that pushes me to that Finish Line!

Today I celebrate you Dad and everything that you stand for...everything that you have taught me. Thank you for always believing in me. Please continue to fight. Together we can win this battle. I love you Daddy!

Please wish my Dad a Happy Birthday! I am sure he will love it!

What a Week It Has Been!

This week has been a little crazy to say the least. I am glad it's Wednesday since tomorrow is the last workday of the week for me. Work has been a little hectic this week but the days have flown by. I manage a small department so when one person goes on vacation we all have to cover for one another. I have been super busy this week doing the job that I used to do before I was promoted to the manager of the division. I almost forgot what doing that job was like but it was good to take a step back and re-train myself on those tasks again. I love my job and I know that I am blessed to have it. I get really annoyed when people complain about their jobs because I know that their lives would be worse if they didn't have a job at all! Don't you agree?

I haven't mentioned this on the blog because I have been trying to let it settle into my mind but I just found out about a month ago that my step-father now has cancer. So now both my father and my step-father have cancer. I am pretty bummed about it to say the least. My parents divorced when I was really young so I spent a lot of years with my step-father. He is a good man and accepted us as his own. I feel bad that this has happened to yet another person in my life that I love. Please keep him in your prayers as he is really worried and scared about what is going to happen to him. I am sure that must be a terrible feeling and must consume his every thought.

Thank God for running which gives me an outlet to relieve some of the stress in my life. Having said that, I have been absolutely obsessed with the 7-Day Forecast lately! I can't believe that the lows have been in the mid 50's this week. I seriously try to plan my runs around the weather, especially my longer runs. I can't hardly wait to go for a long run on Friday and be able to enjoy the cooler weather! I have been dragging my other half along on most of my run lately or at least a part of them until he increases his mileage and I am kind of enjoying it. Yesterday he mentioned that he doesn't mind if I have to run without him because he doesn't want to mess up my training. Isn't he smart sweet? I might just have to do this on my long run this week. I think I might feel bad leaving him behind. I have a hard time with that.

So how is the weather where you live? Has it started to cool down at all?