OHSU Appt

Sorry this may be a little jumbled or fuzzy...it's been an extremely long day. If you have any other specific questions, please feel free to email me @ toryccarnahan@gmail.com or tccarnahan@yahoo.com

Today we had dad's much anticipated appointment. Dad had his radiation "simulation" first. He was tattooed. Yep, really marked permanently. Hopefully, Aaron can fancy the plain boring dots up a bit, eventually. He was injected w/a dye & was put in a Cat Scan machine thing & was fitted for his "cast." The "cast" (I truly have no idea what it's called) and dots are so for every radiation treatment, the beams go in the exact same spot so the Drs. can zap the tumor good.

After he went through that process (an hour), we met w/Dr. Hung (the radiation expert that will be treating dad). He informed us that after much deliberation w/his peers at MD Anderson, he felt that chemo would be the most positive place to start. He said that if he was in dad's position, it's what he would do. There were obviously many things to think about w/treating w/chemo before radiation. The obvious side effects of chemo as well as putting off the radiation treatment & risking the tumor increasing in size, or spreading. Dr. Hung said that there is a large chance that chemo won't work, but the 25% chance that it does work would make radiation that much more effective. He said that there may be a chance chemo doesn't work (obviously a 75% chance), but radiation will work -there is no doubt, but it's a matter of how much radiation can zap the tumor...the point with chemo is to throw everything at this cancer before starting the radiation.

Armed w/that info & Dr. Hung's recommendation (he's a great Dr. w/an incredible bedside manner, by the way), we headed down to see Dr. Ryan (the chemo expert). Some of us took the tram...others wussed out & drove down to the waterfront because the tram was too scary. Not naming any names...you know who you are. :)

When we met w/Dr. Ryan he was pretty bleak (or should I say that he was just blatantly honest & told us things we have all read & heard before). He reiterated all the negatives, rather than focusing on the positive chances & the positive things the chemo could do for dad. He was very honest (which is definitely a plus - there will be absolutely no surprises when treatment begins), & obviously chemo is VERY rough on your body. It's meant to kill the cancer cells & any possible "micro" cells that are floating around & haven't visibly appeared.

Long story short....dad starts chemo either Thursday or Friday. He will be hospitalized for 3 days (most chemo treatments are administered as out-patient, but nothing but the most intense for dad) for the type of chemo they are administering. He will have his first treatment up at OHSU & depending on how his body reacts to it, the remainder of them may be at the Salem Hospital. He will have treatment for 3 days, go home for 3 weeks & then have another treatment for 3 days. In another 3 weeks, they will run tests to see if the chemo is working (blood tests - these will also be given weekly, especially after dad's transfusions & scans). If it is working, they will continue with this regimen for another 3 sessions, I believe (3 days on, 3 weeks off). After that, they will start the radiation. If the chemo isn't working after the first 2 sessions, they will start w/radiation at that point. The radiation (in either circumstance) will be for 7 weeks. Monday thru Friday for 15 minutes. Where the radiation is (it'll be in the sacrum/back & pelvis), there shouldn't be any severe side effects - which will be so nice for dad!

We did find out today that angio sarcoma is rare...which we already knew...cases exactly like dad's - there has only been 1 recorded & it was in Japan. The Drs. did say that dad's case would probably be published in medical journals...that's how rare it truly is. There are no numbers & chances they can give us because they've never come across it.

Only our dad/husband/friend/mentor/brother/son/etc. would be diagnosed with this. &, more importantly, he's going to beat this! It's going to be a very long tough road for all of us. Remember that none of us are in this alone. We thank all of you for the offers to help out in any way - around the house, grocery shopping, tv watching, cooking us meals, etc. As well as the cards you are constantly sending dad and mom...it definitely is the highlight of their day. Mom & dad have them displayed on their mantle. The words of encouragement, support, & love are vital to both of our parents. We all thank you and are very thankful you are in this amazing support system we have.