Resting Up

Beautiful day out here in SoCal - sunny, and 65, slight breeze - cool by Cali standards, but man, does it feel good for a guy from back East. And did I mention the 2+ lb grapefruit that Jen and I found at the farm stand yesterday?



Several folks have asked about how the chemo works. I included a picture from the first treatment last Tuesday. Andy rests pretty comfortably in a chair, and receives the chemo drugs (2) as well as bone strengthening (1) and a second line cancer drug (1) through an IV. He can get up, listen to music, read, eat, and harass the nursing staff about all the UCLA gear... He's allowed 1 visitor at a time, and as mentioned before, Jen and I split the last time.

Andy has been resting, which is good. None of us slept well on Friday night, all restless, all taking turns waking up - apparently my snoring on the couch caused Andy to move from the chair downstairs back to the bedroom - but we all hit the hay early last night and slept well. His rest is really important for his recovery, and pure exhaustion is probably the biggest impact of the chemo and meds that Andy has seen in the past week.

Andy met with his Radiation Oncologist (actually more like a team) on Friday for a few hours. Given that the cancer has spread to several sites, he will be receiving radiation treatment in addition to the chemo. He will start a radiation regimen of 15 total visits, daily, for 3 weeks. These will target several sites on his ribs, one on his lower right shin, a couple on his middle spine (T4, T7), and one up on his neck (C3). He will go for a "simulation" this week, during which they will measure him for and build a special pillow that he will lay in each time he goes for radiation. Each daily treatment will take around 30 minutes or so, and will not hurt, should not have adverse effects that he has seen with the chemo. The radiation is targeted, very precise, and designed to knock out the cancer cells. We are hopeful that these treatments will kill these sites, which will help him with the pain that he has been in, and allow him to rest and be comfortable.

In the meantime, he is on some new pain meds, and again, we are hopeful that these will help him manage the pain and allow his him to rest his body as the chemo takes the fight to the cancer.

Old and new friends, local and distant, visited over the weekend. It was great for Andy, as well as Jen and I, to see everyone. He managed it pretty well, only falling asleep a few times :). It can be tiring for him to talk about this ordeal but it lifts his spirits and is further testament to Andy's impact on our lives.

I head back East this week, and our Dad will rotate out for a long weekend. Andy and Jen get a few days break after our Dad heads back and then my Mom will head out for Andy's second chemo treatment.

Thank you to all those that have reached out, offered help, provided support, and asked how to help. We're still sorting it all out, getting insurance, appointments, disability worked out. Once we have that done, we'll probably have a better sense for how everyone's offers can be incorporated in Andy's fight against cancer.

Tim