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| Charlie's Health Update | ||||||||||||||||
| February 25, 2006 Everything is going well. We are feeding Charlie by tube so he is getting stronger. He does have a problem with bleeding around his feeding tube because he is on blood thinner for the blood clot in his arm, but as long as he takes it easy he doesn't bleed to bad. I do get to give him two shots a day, watch out Florence Nightingale!!! I'm not sure who was more scared him or me! I told him that everytime I give him a shot that something on my list of things from the past gets dropped though I would have to give him a shot from here to eternity to clear the whole ledger - just kidding, he is a great husband and father. We did look like amateurs last night - I was trying to feed him but even the water would not go down. I thought the tube was plugged so I tried to clear it then we tried just water again. We were getting worried because we were not sure how to clear the tube then I realized that I was using a new syringe and had not taken the plastic cover off - we had a good laugh! We found out yesterday that we have 7 days of radiation left. A week from Tuesday we have only 1 session that day then we are done - for good we hope. We will have to go back to Ann Arbor for re-evaluation and to see what the next step is. Right now we think it will be surgery to remove what is left of the mass on Charlies neck. There is not much left there, if you didn't know what you were looking for you wouldn't see anything wrong. Charlie is trying to eat but his tongue burns when he puts anything in his mouth but he has been drinking a little water each day. He needs to use the jaw muscles because the radiation can deteriate them and he needs to swallow because the doctor says his throat muscles will forget how and he would have to relearn. Thanks again for the prayers. thoughts, cards, e-mail, and visits they are all greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!! | ||||||||||||||||
| March 2, 2006 Things are going great! Charlie is gaining some weight back and is feeling much better. I think we have the tube feeding down pat and giving the shots is not so bad either (atleast for me). Charlie has 8 more treatments so next Wednesday morning when we leave the cancer center at 10am we hope he will not have to go back for radiation again. He is pretty excited about that. The radiation machine broke down this week so he missed 2 treatments or we would be done on Tuesday. After that, in the following week, we will go back down to Ann Arbor for re-evaluation and will post the findings. Hopefully we will get the surgery scheduled and not have to go back for more treatments - we are kind of worried that more radiation will be added because they are not doing chemo but we will cross that bridge when we get to it. Charlie was returning e-mails today and he got outdoors while my brother was here cleaning the driveway. It is great having Charlie wanting to get up and do things. He is still not able to eat because of his tongue burning but we are controlling the pain with medicine - but it still doesn't make it pain free, it still hurts when he puts something in his mouth. He says as soon as that goes away we are going to Gern's for a burger - that is all he has wanted for about 2 weeks now - a cheeseburger and a pop. Will write again soon. | ||||||||||||||||
| March 7, 2006 - We only have 2 more treatments to go!!!! Tomorrow morning when we leave at around 9:30am Charlie will be done with radiation. The doctor here in Mt Pleasant told us definitely no more radiation because when Charlie is done they will have given him as much as they can. We will have a couple follow up visits in Mt. Pleasant within the first 2 weeks then on May 3 we will go down to Ann Arbor to see the surgeon for re-evaluation and pre-op. By then Ann Arbor will have a surgery date for us. The tell us that radiation is like the gift that keeps on giving because it will still be doing it's thing for about 4 weeks after the last treatment. Hopefully Charlies throat doesn't stay sore that long! Charlie is still getting nourishment through the feeding tube. Toward the end of last week they changed his radiation so that it is focused mostly on his tonsil. So as you might imagine his throat is even more sore than before. He had a rough night last night as he was sick again which he hasn't been for over a week. He is wondering where that came from and he also said that irritates his throat. He missed dinner and breakfast this morning so I feed him as soon as we go home today and now he is sleeping like a log. He is getting stronger though, as a matter of fact we went to Traverse City for the weekend. Charlie got up Saturday morning and said he felt good so he wanted to go to his sister's. She was having a 40th birthday party for her husband and Charlie's whole family was up there - is was a nice get away. Thanks again for all the thoughts, cards, phone calls, e-mail and prayers - they are gratefully appreciated!! | ||||||||||||||||
| March 8, 2006 - What a day of ups and downs!! We went in this morning for Charlie's last treatment and we had a little celebration. Bought everyone flowers and the radiation girls a fish named Charlie for their tank. A few tears where shed and hugs all around. We went home and had lunch and Charlie was just getting settled in for a nap when the phone rang. It was the doctor from the cancer center saying a mistake was made in the calculations and Charlie would have to do 8 more treatments. So now we have a new countdown going - 7 more treatments to go (he got one today). Next Tuesday morning will be the last treatment - for sure. This sure messed up our evening! Charlie was going to take me to the movies for the first time in 20 years but he said his bubble was burst. Now I might have to wait 20 more. Ha ha ha. Plans have not changed for the trip to Ann Arbor but we did find out that surgery will probably b scheduled for June. | ||||||||||||||||
| March 16, 2006 - Charlie had his last radiation treatment Tuesday afternoon (missed a treatment last week because the machine was down) now the healing begins! His throat and mouth will probably be sore for a couple weeks we are told. I know that if the inside of his throat looks like the outside it is pretty sore. They were consentrating on his tonsil the last 8 treatments so his neck is raw in that spot but we are putting aloe gel on it and it is looking better already. He is having a problem with getting sick the last few days and is very frustrated with that - don't know why but it just comes on all of a sudden. We know it can only be up from here. Keep the thoughts and prayers coming! Thank you! | ||||||||||||||||
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