Rick had his first Chemo treatment on Monday 11/26th, all went well. The following day he had surgery to insert a port in his chest that they will continue to use for the infusions. His treatment plan at the time is every 21 days. He has labs at day 7 & 14 to check his blood count levels. Unfortunately, with the side effects it can cause a lot of the counts to drop and that has to be monitored. The first lab draw pre chemo showed his thyroid levels to be through the roof, a normal count is about 4.0- 4.6 and his were 45+ so the Dr. thinks the radiation must have also wreaked havoc on the Thyroid as well because it's pretty much not functioning and hasn't been for quite some time. Now he has been started on a medication to try and get the proper levels which is an art form so to speak, start out low then add to it if needed. He had the first post chemo 7 day blood draw that showed low White blood cells which is one of the most common side effects. He will go again Monday 12/10th for the 14 day draw then on 12/17th he will receive his second round of Chemo. If my memory serves me correct he is scheduled for 4-6 rounds with a new scan done after the 2nd to check the progress. There was so much information at the initial visit that I could have misunderstood but I'm going with this for now subject to change.  Rick is doing well, he is a strong, humble and determined man and doesn't plan to let a little cancer keep him down! He is tired, had some varying degrees of unpleasant side effects but all in all he's done well. Rick's positive outlook and his Faith in God is keeping his mind, body and soul in a consistent motion towards healing and being comfortable. We have chosen as a family to follow his lead, we remain positive and hopeful and know we are not in control of this awful disease. We pray for his comfort and healing and know that God is the one in control, we are along for the ride and wasting our energy on being negative and doubtful is useless. At this time we are in need of nothing, we ask only for Prayers and Positive thoughts.
Peace,
Tari