Optimism is present on the 5th floor of the South tower in room 21 at Banner Thunderbird hospital this morning 🙂 Dad is in better spirits after having received a nights worth of TPN, his IV nutrition. We were also lucky enough to have the smoke detector tested and nearly every bell and whistle and light operated once or twice an hour last night… The staff is great though and are merely keeping tabs on Dads progress. Please forgive the lack of sleep induced grammatical errors that are sure to follow.
Dr Rakkar, a Palo Verde Oncologist, met with us this morning for a second opinion regarding cancer treatment. He reviewed the existing procedure results, scans, and notes. Dr Rakkar provided a review based on his understanding and interpretation of all results. He explained that the scans show cancer spots on the outside of the intestine in the greater omentum, or intestinal ‘packing material’ which is normally just tissue and fat. Some of these cancer nodules are on top of the bowel which is causing a bowel obstruction. The pathology report says the cancer started somewhere in the bowel, but there is no clear or definitive point of origin. The blood tests are not very helpful as they showed nothing significantly abnormal.
This leads us to believe that the cancer is indeed colon based for which the treatment is chemotherapy; however, the biggest problem at the moment is the bowel obstruction. Dad has ileus which means the bowel is obstructed and or paralyzed and there is no movement. Dr Rakkar explained that if there is a suspicion of obstruction it is not a good idea to start chemotherapy; the blockage should be resolved first. After Dad has healed from surgery and is able to eat again (one to two weeks), then Dr. Rakkar suggests starting a chemotherapy that is specifically designed to work on bowel cancer. This specific chemotherapy combination is referred to as FOLFOX.
At this point, Dr. Patel (Colorectal Surgeon), Dr. Mafi (General MD/ Hospitalist), and Dr. Rakkar (Oncologist) are all in agreement as to the best plan and order of treatment. We have listened to multiple opinions and have selected the above team based on their experience, optimism, and overall sense of competence we felt from them.
Phase one will be surgery to resolve the obstruction, which will be scheduled as soon as practical and will hopefully take place this weekend or early next week.
As we gather specific dates, times, and locations, we will certainly share them. Details of subsequent phases and potential experimental trials will be shared as they draw nearer.
Thank you again for the tremendous outpouring of love and support.
Love love love love love,
Richard
The Upside of Down - an update on hope, love, and oncology 