karenulijohn

Only three more days until we see the surgeon, Dr. Graves, who will decide the course of treatment that best suits Harvey’s cancer.  Dr. Suhag gave us a quick summary of the possible options.

The first option, and the one we think we want, is surgery.  This is only possible if there is no spread of the cancer, and Harvey falls into that category as shown in the PET scan.  It involves removing the affected portion of the esophagus, and then re-attaching the stomach.  Of course, any surgery has its risks and this is no exception.  However, with this option, once the surgery is completed, there is no further treatment required.  He just has to recover!

The second option would be to shrink the tumor with radiation and low dose chemotherapy.  He would have to endure six weeks of radiation treatments five days a week, and chemotherapy one day a week for 5-6 weeks.  Once the tumor is reduced in size, the surgeon will proceed as in option number one.  These treatments would seriously weaken him, and I worry that he would be less able to withstand a long and complicated surgery. The radiation will most certainly affect his ability to eat, and the chemo will probably make him nauseated.  Obviously, this is a major concern I plan to discuss with the surgeon on Wednesday.

We continue to live as normally as possible.  Eating has become more difficult but, we are scouring the grocery store for soft foods, eggs, soup, pudding, ice cream, and V8 for vegetables.  We had to cancel our plans to go to Hawaii in June with our daughter and her family.  It was to have been a celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a difficult decision, but we knew that neither of us would be really comfortable postponing treatment for this cancer, and with his limited ability to eat normal food, it just seemed to be the wrong time.

Thank you to all who are following us with your thoughts and prayers, and if you are so inclined, please pray for Option #1.