The plan for now.

Hello everyone, I have lots of news today. It seems that dad is going to give these doctors a challenge.

Here is what we know:

1. He had prostate cancer that was considered low grade and then removed. As I said in an earlier post it should have been limited to just prostate without any complications, or lymph node involvement.
2. Found Sarcoma which is in 50% of the liver, they are not really sure if it is outside the liver or not, more information needed. CT/PET test is limited in giving us this information.
3.  Lymph node positive for cancer that is different from the liver,  but is in the same family as the prostate, however it is not typically the path that prostate cancer would spread. The doctors seem to be a little mystified by this. They are basically waiting for pathology to tell us more about these cancers but we have enough information to be able to start some treatments.

Here is the plan for now:

Dad will get to go home today, and his pain seems to be better managed thanks to palliative care. We are happy to get him home with his pain managed and resources to help us if we need it.

The next plan for now will be to start chemotherapy to shrink the cancer and to get more information about these cancers. In order to do that on Tuesday morning he will come back and have a port put in during which time they will also do exploratory laproscopic surgery. The port is so that he will be able to receive his chemotherapy through a central IV, which will make it easier to get the chemotherapy in his body. We are very fortunate that a specialist in Liver surgery will be putting the port in because he will also do the exploratory surgery to see if he can determine if the cancer is in any other organs that are by the liver. This will help them decide if surgery to remover the tumor in the liver will be an option in the future.

Meanwhile, we are waiting to see Dr. Livingston, he will likely be taking over dads case because his specialty is sarcoma cancers. He will also educate us about the type of chemo he will be receiving and the side effects that we can expect. 

Although we still don't know everything we know enough to get things started. We are hopeful that therapy will be beneficial in shrinking  the tumor and that they can surgically remove the tumor. Pathology should be able to tell us more about the cancer found in the lymph node in the next couple of weeks.  One of the things we keep hearing is that they need to know the primary source of the cancer, we think they are still trying to figure this out. This is all a lot of information to take in and explain. 

Today's prayer submitted by Jan Blanton

A Prayer for Strength by Rachel Wojnarowski 

Our Father,

Sometimes the cares of the day

seem to multiply,

while the blessings fade so quickly.

Our bodies grow tired

and our minds even more tired.

Jesus, help us.

Give us the strength You’ve promised

in Your Word.

Give us the power

to take the next step.

Give us your grace.

For we know in our weakness,

your strength is revealed.

May we receive it today.

Amen.