A New Med to Deal With

Fred and I just went to the medical oncologist - Dr. MS - and she is adding a second chemotherapeutic medication to the regimen. Paclitaxel (Taxol®) wil be given on a weekly basis along with the Cisplatin in order to enhance the effect of the radiation. Taxol is usually used for ovarian cancer, but it being used for many other cancer therapies as well.

It is really pretty neat that Fred is going to be getting Taxol because our son, Jon, has worked with one of the major researchers working on Taxol. The research he worked on centered around finding other sources for Taxol besides the Pacific Yew tree.

I am really glad that Fred has the portacath now that his chemo is going to be weekly instead of only three times during his radiation. Good to listen to your intuition!

This is the best day Fred has had since his diagnosis! He is managing his pain well and the side effects and post-op complications have been reduced to a reasonable minimum. He only chokes once or twice a meal, as long as the food is soft and well-chewed. Last night, he actually got out the screwdriver and put up the new toilet paper holder I bought for the guest bathroom. I almost cried when he called me to the bathroom to see how it looked...and it looked great!

Chemoradiation will probably start next week, so we have about a week to enjoy his improved health before things start to change due to the radiation and chemo effects. I am feeling more hopeful and positive. It has been exactly one month today since his diagnosis. All of this has happened in only 30 days! It is unbelievable that just 31 days ago, we didn't even know this was ahead of us. But, I think we're going to make it.

K