OFF TOPIC

Mom & sister got to see him last night in SICU - he was asleep and they didn't wake him, but his nurse says he has the sweetest smile (yes) and that he was able to communicate with nodding & signals that he had some abdominal pain from that incision. Sis actually WAS able to get mother home to sleep last night - I didn't think Pep, Jenks & Kemo could accomplish that. You guys are great, thanks for all the good mojo.

 

Malapoo,

I was out of town yesterday and didn't see this until this morning. Your father, you and your family are in my prayers and thoughts.

Not to scare you, just a question for when I'm praying for him: Do they think this tumor was the only spot of cancer, or are they looking at other parts of the body? Will he be undergoing chemo/radiation treatments?

 

They did both a cat scan and P.E.T. scan before considering surgery - full body on both. Certainly there's a chance there are stray cells here & there because it was also in one thyroid gland which was removed as well. He's already had radiation this year for the first throat tumor first of the year so radiation is out and chemo isn't very effective against this cancer. The options they offered were 1. do nothing, 2. surgery and 3. chemo which MIGHT slow it a LITTLE. They have several friends who are doctors and one who has been "consulting" and steering them to what he considers the "best doctors" for this go round (he had mouth cancer about 10 years ago) and this doctor/friend said he'd go the surgery route for sure. While I'm not real up on human cancer, I've been through it with pets (I work at an animal hospital) and we know this isn't a guarantee he's free and clear - it's more likely he's not, but all his team of docs felt the surgery was a very good option and not just a stick the finger in the damn desperation effort. We've got a client at the vets who had stomach & throat cancer last year - stage 4 and he had similar surgery and is now back in the hospital most likely end stage. So yeah, I realize with cancer tomorrow is NEVER guaranteed - my cat had 9 surgeries over 4 1/2 years and lasted about 6 with cancer. Clean margins on the first 7 surgeries but it always came back though for the type he had, he lived an impressively long time.