The next step

Sorry I haven't been keeping up on the blog. We've had a lot of changes in my office and it's been a little stressful and I'm exhausted by the time I get home.

First off Eddie met with the physical therapist and she took one look at him and said he was not ready and she would see him in 10 days.

On Tuesday we met with oncologist. Two fantastic doctors. Eddie had one lymph node on each side of his neck test positive for cancer. That means radiation treatment. He'll go 5 days a week for 6 weeks. He'll also meet with a speech therapists, nutritionist and more physical therapy. He had to go see our dentist and have him sign-off for the treatment.

Good news is NO CHEMO!

Our dentist Dr. Oto and his staff have been great through all of this.

We were given three options for treatment. Two are different trails. Eddie choose this trial because it was less radical. The type of radiation he'll receive is call Proton Radiation. Here's a link that explains it better than I can. It reminds of something from Back to the Future movie.

"In proton therapy, energy is carried by protons — the positively charged particles in an atom. Protons are raised to a high energy level by a powerful machine called a particle accelerator."

Proton Beam Therapy

Monday Eddie has to be at Mayo by 6:40 a.m. they will make this mesh mask that hooks to the table along with some other tests. Not sure when the radiation treatment will start. I'm assuming soon. 

Eddie is hoping that radiation will be done so he can get back to what he loves "Vipers and race cars." The new race season at Inde Motorsports in Wilcox starts mid October.

Maria is headed back up to NAU on Tuesday, August 21. Life will definitely be quieter around the house.

I'll write more soon.

I forgot to mention

On Monday when Eddie got his feeding tube out he called me and told me all he wanted was a chocolate shake and mashed potatoes. I told him to stop at Boston Market. I guess those were the best mashed potatoes ever or so he says. He did get is chocolate milkshake. Thank you Slade!

Surgery Follow-up

Not much to say. Doctor said everything is looking good. Eddie has a little too much fluid built-up where they took out the lymph nodes. He has to go back on Thursday it see if it builds up again. If it has built-up the doctor is recommending putting the drain back in. Eddie told him he doesn't mind driving up to Mayo every couple of days to have it drained. He really doesn't want it put back in. I can't say I blame him at all.

He starts physical therapy on Monday for neck and shoulder mobility.

No word on radiation yet. Insurance has to approve just to get a consultation. If I was listening to the doctor correctly it's a 50/50. My fingers are crossed that he doesn't have to have it. The doctor did mention a clinical trial for radiation that only lasts for 2 weeks. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

Today was a good day. Eddie went for the swallow test and did so well that they took out the feeding tube. He said he wants mashed potatoes and chocolate shake.

Now we get to try the awesome gift that our friend Slade gave Eddie.

I'm doing the happy dance!

Results are in...

August 1

So today hasn’t been a very good day. We received the pathology report for Eddie’s right side lymph nodes. One lymph node on the right side test positive. This means radiation. We don’t have any other info about it until we meet with the radiologist. Other than that he’s doing good. 

I can’t say enough good things about Mayo Hospital and their staff.  We requested to have physical therapy take a look at him because of his neck limitations which he still had from the first surgery. The doctor was all for it and they’ve already called to set-up physical therapy.

Eddie has appointments on August 2, August 6, August 7 and August 13.

Oh, and my hair is still falling out. And, I think the weight Eddie has lost, I've gained!