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Charlie's Health Update |
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This is the radiation machine. Charlie has to lay very still under this machine. This takes about 20 minutes because the techs will take an x-ray to make sure the radiation is going to the right spot, then they shoot the radiation, then another x-ray for quality control |
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Here is Charlie in the radiation machine. This mold was made for his head (the mesh was hot and they draped it over him and when it cooled it was formed to his head. It is snapped down to the table so he cannot move one bit. When he gets out of here he has a waffle impresson on his face for about an hour |
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This is Charlie taking his chemo. He gets to set in this comfortable leather recliner for 4 hours while it is being administered. He actually gets a liter of fluid with one type of chemo (cisplatin), then other liter of fluid with another type of chemo (5FU). The chemo is hard on your kidneys so they flush it through you. |
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February 12, 2006 - Hello I can finally get this updated - I want to thank Marcus Y for his help getting me on the right page (literally) with this website. It sure is frustrating when you can't just jump online and get something done. We got thru the first week but not with flying colors. Charlie had to be admitted to the hospital on Sunday the 5th for dehydration. They let him out on Monday on time to get his first radiation treatment. Monday and Tuesday he felt pretty good then his throat and mouth started hurting. The throat is definitely from the radiation and some of the mouth is probably that too but we think there is something else going on there (we all think we are doctors and can diagnose our own problems!) So anyway Charlie is having a hard time with food again. He does pretty good with the water but of course doesn't drink as much as I would like him to. Charlie has not been able to make it into work which he would like to be doing. He does insist in stopping in once in awhile on our way out of town. He always seems to feel better when we stop in to see everyone there. We are now 1/3 of the way through! Just 4 more weeks to go! Thanks again for all the cards, e-mails, phone calls, and for stopping in. We can't say thank you enough or let you know just how good it feels to know that so many people care!! I promise you won't have to wait as long for the next update! |
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February 17, 2006 - okay so it took me a while to update. Charlie went in for his morning radiation treatment on Monday February 13th and never left the hospital. When his blood was tested we found out that his white blood count (wbc) was at 1 (it should be 4 - 10) and he had a temperature of 102. He was admitted to the hospital. According to his doctor this is from the chemo. His mouth is sore from the sores caused by chemo and radiation and his throat is raw from the radiation - its like he has a sun burn in his throat. He has not had much in the way of nutrition since Tuesday of his first week of treatment. On Tuesday his wbc was point 6 then on Wednesday it was point 4. Thursday it was up to point 9 and now on Friday it is up to 4. He was in isolation until today so if you came to see him you had to wear a mask and wash your hands before entering his room. He could not have fresh flowers or fresh food in his room. On Wednesday also his temperature got as high as 103.7. On Wednesday his pick line went bad and they had to pull it. It was replaced with a central line in his femural artery. Today we found out he has a blood clot in the arm that had the pick line. Of course his radiation treatment was suspended until his wbc came back up so he started them again today. The sessions that were missed will be added to the end. Charlie will be in the hospital until probably Tuesday. On Monday afternoon he is scheduled to have a peg tube (feeding tube) put in and then they will be able to take out the central line. The good thing this week was they put Charlie on morphine and I don't think he will remember much of what he went through! Thank goodness!! He looks so much better today and actually stayed awake until 2pm before he took a good nap - I won't hear a peep out of him tonight! I found out a couple days ago that the hospital has this computer set up in the 3rd floor waiting room so I can get this update to you. I can't respond to e_mail from here but I can read it. Thanks again for all the words of encouragement! Will add more later. |
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February 22, 2006 We're home!!! We got home about 7pm yesterday. We had to learn to feed through the tube and the medicine they are giving Charlie for the blood clot is given by injection so I had to learn to do that - Thanks to our personal nurse AJ!!! Charlie is a little weak from being in bed for a week but in good spirits. I think he is already feeling better just with the little bit of nourishment he received yesterday. Now that he doesn't have an IV pole to tote around he will be trying to get some strength back. We are half way through the radiation treatment and they will not be giving him any more chemo. The doctor said he would get that sick again, no sense in the treatment being worse than the illness. The mass in Charlie's neck has shrunk considerably and his doctor says the tonsil is going down too. Things are looking good!! Do you think the red is okay? Trying to find a color that is visible on all the background colors, please respond. |
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Update page 3 |
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