Re: Update On My Uncle Don Who Has Esophageal Cancer :(
02/28/06 04:18 PM
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Sand
Reged: 12/13/04
Posts: 4490
Loc: West Orange, NJ (IBS-D)
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I'm sorry your uncle had a bad reaction to the pills. I'm glad, though, that he's doing well enough to get out and about to the Coast. The cruise sounds like a fabulous idea - definitely something to look forward to for him and your aunt, a way to mark time other than "when is the next treatment".
It sounds like your uncle is getting intravenous chemo instead of or in addition to the pills. If so, the thing inserted in his chest may be a portacath or something similar. A surgeon has inserted an access port into a major vein or artery with essentially a rubber cap just below the skin. It sounds kind of creepy, but it's a very smart decision. It means he can get chemo treatments and blood draws without the nurses having to search for a vein every time. Also, because the chemo will be going into a larger artery or vein it won't cause the burning and scarring he would get if he got it through his arm. If that's what's going on, it sounds like your uncle's doctors are giving him good advice and he's taking it.
I love the story about the ponytail. How clever of him to think of that. Hmmm, I wonder if he could rig up something so he could wear a baseball cap and somehow have the ponytail attached to the cap so it "pokes through" the opening in the back. (I always meant to paint my head blue with gold stars when I lost all my hair, but I never followed through. Tell your uncle he can borrow that idea, but if he does I want to see pictures.)
I know it's tough, Shell, but all you, your uncle, your aunt, and everyone else in your family can do is take it one day at a time, do what the doctors say, enjoy the good days, and look forward to the future. Eventually you get enough "one days" strung together and you're past this.
Take care.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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