After surgery to his arm

Dave's surgery went very well, he was hospitalized for a few days, one day longer than he was supposed to because he was still bleeding alot. But it was successful.







He was tired but glad it was over. Below is a picture of his arm before they removed his stitches. Not a pretty sight.

Then here is a picture of his arm after radiation was completed.

He had no more chemo and no more radiation. Scans showed spots in his lungs had no change and they were basically thinking these were not related to the cancer and the arm was clear, but to be on the safe side they sent us to a Thoraic Surgeon at Washington Hospital Center. He wasn't sure what they were either but also said they were too small and he wasn't confident he could even pluck one out and that the biopsy alone was too risky.

So we thought he was free and clear, but when he had his scans approximately June of 2009, we again were shocked to find out that the spots in his lungs had grown and had multiplied. I biggest fear had occurred and we didn't know what to do. Again sent to the Lung surgeon and again he said he wasn't confident. Nobody wants open lung surgery if they aren't confident so they decided to again do chemo. At least this time he could have chemo in Frederick MD with Dr. Taimur. They decided to try Temodar and Irotecan for weeks. Dave kept his hair, and his main side effects were bloating, and diarrahea. And he was grumpier this time around, not sure if its due to the fact that he was still fighting this crap or if it was related to the chemo. But it was also M-F, for a couple of hours a day for two weeks, and then one week off. Then he had this for 9 weeks. The spots didn't shrink or grow. So they then decided to increase the drug but it was causing too many issues with his liver enzymes so they lowered it back down again. But again the spots didn't grow or shrink but his hilar lymph node in his right large was enlarged. (Dr. confirmed it most likely meant it had spread to his lymph node as well).

So we waited for about 3 weeks for the Dr. in DC to determine what to try next. Again more chemo in Frederick, which is where we are now. Dave is now on Taxotere and Gemcitabine.

He has completed 3 weeks, and just did week #4 treatment today. And now his hair is falling out again. Next week on Monday he will have both drugs which takes about 4 hours and then the following week he has no chemo. By the end of the week he usually feels better, but then it will be time for round 3 of this chemo. So basically in about 6 weeks he will get scans again to see if the chemo is working.

He isn't feeling very well today after chemo but not sure if its the bloating from the chemo iv's or if its nausea or what the issue is.

Then he was scheduled for 7 weeks of radiation and physical therapy to his arm.