Yesterday, Dad was officially 1/2 done with his 20 treatments!!  He is doing remarkably well and really only side effects he is experiencing is being exhausted.   This could be from the 4 hours in the car a day, or his body telling him he needs to sit in his rocking chair and catch up on the "new" Gunsmoke episodes with his eyes closed! He also has the start of some bowel issues, and the bladder issues he was having are getting better, but he still has his days that are rougher than others.

The Doctors and nurses tell him to prepare for the next 2 weeks and the 2 weeks post last treatment because the side effects will likely rear their ugly heads the worse during those 4 weeks.  With the bladder under control for now, we have ideas they have given us to try when the bowel stuff gets worse, but we will go day by day and eventually reach December 6th!!  Unfortunately, the ugliness doesn't start getting better and continues to worsen until about the 3rd week in December.  The goal is to be on the upswing by Christmas.

With that being said, tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  We all cannot be Thankful enough for all of you following and supporting Dad through this crazy ride.  The messages, the calls, the people just stopping in to say Hi, and the cards he has gotten in the mail are all pieces that keep us going! THANK YOU. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

We are all so very Thankful for whatever told him to bring up a PSA test at his routine Doctor appointment in July.  Without that test, we would have had no idea that the Evil C was having a tea party in Dad's prostrate.  Without that test, we would be chillin' and living our daily lives, with no idea the Evil C would be getting bored in there soon and start moving elsewhere.  We would not have caught this as early as we did and have a great outcome to look forward to!! 

Our PSA on PSA tests:
ALL Men over 50 (and those Woman that love them), ASK FOR A P.S.A (Prostate Specific Antigen) test at your next doctors appointment!!  Catch it early!  Don't wait until you have symptoms, because it might be too late at that point.  It's a simple blood test that insurance should cover!!  You can do 1 (PSA test) without the other (digital a.k.a finger) test!  Do it for Dad if nothing else.  There are mixed reviews from the experts on screening everyone or the doctor bringing it up, so they don't.  But IF you bring it up, they will have no problem ordering it with your other labs!  The worse that can happen is you will have an elevated PSA and then they will do more tests to see if its cancer, but then they will hopefully have caught it early!  That's the most important!!  

We are also very Thankful for the doctors and nurses at Rochester Mayo!  Every Doctor we have seen has been wonderful!  There are not enough words to describe the AMAZING team of nurses that we see every day!  The team that Dr. Lehrer has around him have been awesome to work with also and do not hesitate to answer our 1000 questions!  We are even thankful for the 1 doctor that we didn't see eye to eye with, but without her, we wouldn't be where we are today!  So, we are THANKFUL!!

Enjoy every moment with your loved ones tomorrow and just be Thankful!!  Eat the dang pie, heck have one of each!  Argue over who gets the best piece of turkey (at a Flynn function that would be the asshole...lol aka the tail) and about who gets to be in line first!  It's a great day to just be present and have fun! We will be enjoying the big turkey and stuffing meal deal that Wendy and Tyler have cooked up and just being with each other!

I'll update again next week or sooner if anything comes up.  
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU will never be said enough, and on Thanksgiving, we are Thankful for YOU!!

Love you all!
Melissa (And Dad, Wendy, Jeff, Tyler, & Raeiah)