Listening to the National

My body got the best of me and I had to sit down for a few minutes just now. I have been feeling pretty good for the past few days. It lasts about 9 hours and then my gut says, "Hey all surrounding organs, we are in bad shape and bad moods. On top of that Mr. Brain up there decided to shoot us full of radiation and make us this way. So let's kick some booty and make him feel bad again." Then I am generally done and have to sit down. Case and point as I sit here typing in my blog.

Today I am solo as my lovely wife has just left for a highly-deserved trip to a get-away with some high-school friends. I seriously cannot even remember most of my high-school friends, but hers are literally some of the most special people in the world and we are sooooo lucky to be able to count them among our close friends. She is going to a health spa for yoga in the morning and evenings. Don't worry. The resort just got its liquor license so they'll have some other distractions as well. Who can do that much yoga without actually losing some limbs? She is out until Friday. I am hopeful she is still able to string together sentences when she comes home.

I am bravely facing the week-long task of solo child care by having my boys shuttled all over Austin by our dear friends and my in-laws, and by supporting Cate with her finals. It is a piece of cake and I feel wildly indulged to be able to do this right now.

Also, I actually feel a little bit guilty to be sitting down right now. Which is a great sign. There is no better indication that I am getting better than that I feel guilty that I am not busily doing something to add value somewhere. I suppose I can debate that I am adding value to the digital economy with my blog --- hard to justify the investment though…

I know you all care since you're reading this. So just so you'll know, I am feeling better lately -- the past two days. I went to a dinner party. I didn't have to sleep all day to recover. I went to a kid's birthday party. I talked on the phone. Danger. I could be recovering from the gentle balms of MD Anderson.

Thank you all for prayers and reading. I will begin to post happiness here soon.

Wade

Stent Update

The update is both good news and other news. The good news is that stent is in excellent shape and my labs look very good. That means that there is no extraneous build-up on the stent and it is doing its job very well after 2 and 1/2 months. There was no need to replace it. This is very good news in light of the other news below.

The other news is that my insides are pretty torn up by the radiation. Dr. Lee said my intestines and stomach are really inflamed and that to replace the stent would have been impossible if it had been required. So thank God that the stent is looking good and doing its job. In the words of Dr. Lee, "It's the Porsche of the stent world; a 2015 model in great shape and doing its job."

The next step is to let the inflammation heal/reduce for about 5-6 weeks and then try again. This will be the same week that I am down here again for testing in mid December. What's my Christmas present?? A new stent and a good-lookin' CT scan.

Thank you all for your prayers and positive thoughts. While the stent is still in there, it's in good shape and I don't have the tube!

Update and Schedule

Hello everyone. I have not been posting because honestly I have been feeling pretty low. The radiation and chemotherapy ended on Oct 30. My doctor told me that the radiation would continue to build and the nausea and discomfort would as well. I hoped he was wrong. Turns out, that decade of training he had and the daily experience are worth something, and in fact I have continued to go downhill on my physical state. I really do not encourage anyone to try this at home. The good news is that now that I am no longer adding to the chemotherapy or radiation with daily doses, so it must be on some half-life schedule and therefore I will be feeling better before long. When that happens I don’t know. I figure if I feel as bad as I do the cancer must be getting a major walloping since this stuff is targeted to kill it and only do damage to me.

The next steps on this journey begin quickly. I go back to Houston this Friday, November 7 for another procedure to replace the bile duct stent placed in mid August. It’s time for this one to be removed. This was not an unpleasant event but it’s risky because the passage through which the camera and new stent must go is constricted due to inflammation from the cancer. If it’s too constricted, then I could end up with a tube in my abdomen again. Referring back to what God said, I don’t believe this will happen. I believe I will get the new stent uneventfully and return home on Saturday.

After that the next visit to Houston is in mid December for a check on the treatment’s effect on the cancer. I mentioned earlier that my cancer markers have been coming down during this treatment. This is a good sign but the real check point is December. The delay comes from the doctors letting the radiation percolate for about 6-8 weeks. The doctor will use this information (which is hopefully very good) to present my case to the liver transplant boards in Houston. They apparently have visibility into other lists around the nation and may or may not be willing to put me on their lists. Their decision criteria is not clear to anyone including my doctor. (Prayer here is appreciated.) Once presented I will either go on the list or begin a series of chemotherapy treatments for a second shot 6 months later, or a combination of the two if the list is long and we need to control the cancer with more chemo while we wait.

The new chemo will be on a bi-weekly dose administered here in Austin. Its side effects will be more intense at the time of administration but will slacken and I should feel better after a couple of days. This will continue until we get a liver for transplant.

To everyone who has been praying for my family or taking care of them in some way THANK YOU. I cannot begin to tell you how important you have been during this process. It has been very hard, and continues to be. Thank you so much for your caring and love.