Well, it’s been a couple weeks since I last updated. I apologize for keeping you in suspense. Les did go to camp the week of 7/7/03 – 7/12/03. Les also finished his radiation treatments on Friday July 11, 2003. YEAH!!! No more 7am appointments and being away from home so much!
There were a few “big” things that have happened.
The first “big” medical thing that happened, and it wasn’t a huge deal, was that Les needed a blood transfusion on July 8th. His blood test after the first day of camp showed very low hemoglobin counts, so he had to skip the second day of camp and go to the hospital instead. He had a great time that day because I let him watch television all day long. The transfusion went smoothly with no complications. He looked a little “pinker” after he received all those new red blood cells. The neat part was the next day the camp went on a field trip to the Rueben H. Fleet Science Center and Les was shown an exhibit that let him “fly through a heart”. He got to see where all those red cells had gone and what they did inside of him.
The next “big” thing that happened was that my grandpa passed away on Wednesday, July 9th. He had been battling Parkinson’s for many years now. He was in a convalescence hospital since Christmas of last year after experiencing a stroke. Over the last 6 months, we all had a chance to express our love to grandpa and start preparing for his passing. Grandma is doing well.
The last “big” thing is that my cousin is having his surgery today at UCLA Medical Center. He is having his cancer tumors removed from his lungs. This is a big deal, so please pray that all goes well with surgery and recovery. [Update- they were not able to get the big tumor out, didn’t even try because of its size and proximity to the heart. They are going to try to shrink it with chemo and if successful will try the surgery again.]
Where are we now in the process of Les’ treatment? We have completed the radiation and the first session of chemo. We are currently in a 3-week “break” from treatment. Les will get another MRI on July 28th as well as a hearing test and maybe some other tests. The next round of chemo starts the first week of August. It will start with an overnight stay in the hospital where they will give Les an IV chemo drug called Cisplatin. Then for a total of 21 days he will get Etoposide (the same chemo he has been on already) at home. There will be a break of about 7 days and then we go back to the hospital and start this cycle all over again. We will be on this regimen for 3 cycles (12 weeks). After this is complete, we will start a different regimen. I’ll fill you in on that one when it gets closer. Of course, Les’ blood counts will need to be at certain levels before they start each cycle, so we have been told to expect delays along the way.