Safe in Texas

I wanted to give everyone a quick update, we arrived in Texas earlier today. We are hopeful for a great week and great possibilities for treatment. I don't think we will have any news until Tuesday or Wednesday but I will keep you updated. 

Dad on Airplane

Texas - HERE WE COME!

Hi everyone, we are so excited, finally some prayers have been answered and we got some good news today! The paper work needed from the Dr's office and the insurance company was completed today and dad has an appointment for MD Anderson THIS Monday. It just so happens that the delay in getting the Soafenib is in our favor because it may have made him ineligible for possible clinical trails. (If this does not make a lot of sense - please read the previous post.)

Also for anyone that may want to visit dad this weekend (he is at home) we wanted to let you know that anytime after 4:00 on Saturday afternoon would be best. Becky asked that you please call one of us or send a message (her number is 265-710-1518). We will have a busy weekend getting ready to leave town and will fly out sometime on Sunday, we still have yet to book our flight.  

This has no doubt been a difficult week but dad is feeling better everyday and even more so after getting the blood transfusion today. Keep those prayers coming our way!

More information about treatment plans

Hello everyone, I wanted to give another update about dad and what our treatment plans are. It has been a busy week thus far and will continue to be that way for the next week and half. The last week has been really difficult for us as we try to process all of this information and deal with the insurance company. Some of this information is repetitive from the last post but these things have been repeated to us so it's worth repeating. 

We continue to learn that there are a lot of factors to consider when treating cancer. The type of cancer it is, size, if it has spread, and how well your liver and kidneys are working seem to be the most important things for us right now. As of yet we have been unable to get a detailed explanation of dad's cancer. To be honest I think the doctors are a little perplexed themselves, but I have decided that those details are not as important because we know it is a liver cancer and the treatment options are the same depending on all of those factors I just mentioned. 

I would have to write a book to even begin to explain all of the details that we have been given but I can fill you in on what our treatment plans are. We are still waiting to start a specific oral chemo, we were excited last week that there was one thing they thought could slow down the progression of the cancer but we are still waiting on the medication because of the insurance paperwork. All of that has been done now so we hope to get it by FedEx tomorrow or Friday. 

Next we are waiting to get things in order to go and get a second opinion from MD Anderson. They are considered the best choice for the possibility of a clinical trial and Levine is helping us get in. Again, once the insurance paperwork is completed we will get an appointment with MD Anderson made. We are hopeful that they can see him very soon. 

We met with the liver surgeon's NP yesterday for surgical follow-up and we asked every possible question imaginable just like we have done with any doctor we see. We want to make sure we explore every possibility for treatment and there are actually a lot of treatment options out there but, in dad's case it keeps coming back to 'what is the risk versus the benefit'. The liver is such an important organ and needs to be working it's best so he doesn't get toxic. All surgical options are too risky for bleeding.

Today dad met with his oncologist again and had more lab work done. The doctor is concerned for the kidneys and has referred us to a specialist. We are waiting on that appointment to be made. He is still anemic and will be getting another blood transfusion tomorrow. Overall, dad says he feels better everyday and his fluid retention is decreasing everyday so we don't understand why the labs are off some, as I have said this is all very complicated. 

Please continue to pray for comfort and healing for dad. He appreciates your visits, cards and messages. I will post again when I have more news. Please pray that any news will be good news. 

I wanted to share another scripture;  

"Surely he hath borne our griefs (literal Hebrew = “sicknesses”),

and carried our sorrows (pains):

yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities

the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Isaiah 53:4-5

Be sure to check out the new pages.

The Plan

We finally have a treatment plan! I really wanted to post this yesterday but duty calls for me to be a dance mom this weekend, so I am updating in-between our busy schedule.

As we have learned over the last couple of weeks, there are a lot of factors to consider when treating cancer. From the type of cancer it is, if it has spread, and how well your liver and kidneys are working (just to name a few). Dad has a complicated case and finding the right treatment has been challenging. One of the nurses from Thursdays visit even made the comment that he was one of the most complicated cases that they had ever had. I say all of this to tell you that our treatment options depend on numerous things that can change day to day and week to week. Without going into a lot of details I will explain as much of this as I can.

First things first though, I would like to say that after spending some time with dad on Thursday and Friday it seems that he is finally starting to feel better. He is taking a little less pain medicine so he can move around more and and more and any activity is good for his health right now. His spirits are also well, he is absolutely determined to beat this so we are supporting him and are willing to do all we can for him. We know there are a lot of people praying for him and we ask that you keep that up, we never know what God as planned for us but we know it is with-in his power to heal.

Due to the type of liver cancer that dad has, he is unable to take certain types of chemo. We did find out on Friday that he is able to take an oral chemotherapy that we hope his cancer will respond to. Depending on how this chemo works will determine what our future options are. This means we just have to wait to see how things go. They are going to FedEx this to him directly from the pharmaceutical company, as of now he still hasn't received it but hopefully he will on Monday.

Meanwhile we are working on a few other problems that we can do something about, it just takes time and some patience. It is our goal to keep him as healthy as possible because a lots of things are dependent on his health. For example; he was having a hard time eating last week because of some medication he was taking, we were able to get the medication changed and now he can eat more. Another example is the edema that he has had, we don't want to put any undue stress on his heart, liver and kidneys so we needed to adjust some medication, work on getting him active, and hopefully massage therapy will be beneficial. It seems that one problem can cause another and we want to prevent that as much as we can.  

I promise I will keep updating, I also have several new pages in the works so be on the look out for those. I am trying to make this site informative as well as a place to share things about my dad that you may not know or a memory that may hold a special place in your heart. As I have said before everyone has been so supportive and we all need your prayers, well wishes, and to be able to laugh and cry with joy and love in our hearts for this special man. 

I wanted to share this picture that I have been waiting on, this is my dad (Billy) with some old friends as well as some new ones! We cherish each and every friendship ever made over the years!

Old friends and new ones! Thank you all for your love, support & visits!

Many of you have asked me for his address and I wanted to let you know what it was. 721 Anchors Bend Cove, Clover SC 29710.

Tonight's Scripture, I selected from many sent to us from the our friend and Reverend, John Ware. 

"...and he...healed all that were sick, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

Matthew 8:16-17

Update March 20th, still waiting...

Hello everyone! I know you have been waiting on an update. Dad still didn't get to start chemo today, we are so disappointed. We are still waiting on the pathology results. The doctor stated that pathology was really taking their time with getting him the final results. He does think we could find out tomorrow but it could be Monday.

We did have a long visit with the Dr. today. Dad really has a couple of issues that are troublesome for him. One of those is the amount of swelling he has in his legs and the other is keeping the blood work within normal ranges. We are thinking the two are related and talked about different things that could be done for comfort and/or relief until we can start some type of treatment. 

Please continue to pray, I am working on some news pages for the blog, one of those is a collections of prayers, you should be able to view it soon. Sorry this post is short, I wish I had more news. 

Weekend update. March 16th

Hi everyone, I just wanted to give a quick update. I think dad has been feeling better the last couple of days. He is able to move around more without as much help so that's good news. He just needed some time to recover from last weeks surgery. He is still needing a lot of pain medication and still needing a good amount of rest but it's good to see him feeling better when he is awake.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has helped out with Alex and brought over food while Becky as been gone, we really appreciate it. We also really appreciate your prayers, well wishes, cards and just making us smile or laugh. It's amazing how much love and support he has been shown over the last couple of weeks. Please continue to keep him in your prayers he still has some hurdles this week. Some of the medication he is taking makes it difficult to eat, and drink fluids. It's important for him not to be dehydrated on Thursday so they can start his chemo. 

I hope everyone has a good week! I have a busy week ahead but I will definitely give another update sometime Thursday. 

Update Thursday March 13th

Hello everyone, I wanted to check-in and tell you how our last few days have been. I am sure many of you are wondering how our doctor visit went today so I will fill you in on that as well.

On Tuesday dad had his port put in and a laparoscopic procedure done. He has definitely been feeling the effects of being poked and prodded for the last month. It was just 4 weeks ago today that he had his prostate removed. Now he has about 3 areas that cause him pain. He is feeling better today than yesterday so hopefully by this time next week he will be ready to start his chemo.

Speaking of chemo, we did see his lead oncologist today. We were hopeful for more information, but we just didn't get much. I will tell you what I know for sure; We have 2 areas of concern, the most important is the tumor in the liver. The second area is the lymph node in the chest. Preliminary pathology tells us that these cancers are different but they could be related, or maybe not. The doctor's exact words were 'it's complicated' Although we really want to know as much information as we can, it doesn't really change the overall plan. Pathology is needed so the doctors will know exactly what kind of chemo to give him.

First things first, we need to treat the liver tumor with chemo and we need it to respond. So please pray that this tumor responds to chemo. If it does, then it will greatly increase the possibility of removing the tumor surgically. It is also our hope that the lymph node will respond to chemo as well.

We were initially told that the liver tumor was a type of cancer called sarcoma, there are at least 50 different types of sarcomas and with-in those types are sub-types. We have been given some more details about that, but he said that there is a chance that final pathology will tell us something different. I do know that this is a rare type of cancer, it is even more unusual to have this 1 single lymph node that just doesn't fit into the puzzle. I say all of this to tell you 3 things; (1) I don't want to post anything that I don't know for sure about, (2) I have asked every single question I can possibly ask and then some twice. (3) Although information is limited we are still very confident that the doctors have done the many necessary test that need to be done in order to give dad the best treatment available, and we remain hopeful that we will win this battle. We all know it won't be easy and that we have a long road ahead of us, but like anything else in life dad has done, he is ready to face it head-on.

Please continue to pray, there are daily needs for comfort and healing. Please pray that his liver and kidney functions will remain strong so that his body can receive the chemo. Please pray that the chemo will work. 

I will continue to post daily or every other day but he will not start treatments until next Thursday. We were hopeful to start sooner than that but his body does need time to heal from the recent surgeries. 

Dad is working from home, I am forcing him to drink
stuff he doesn't like, but he's trying and still smiling!