Jun. 12, 2003 - 21:59 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Little By Little

Unlike yesterday we did a little work around the apartment doing things to get ready for our daughter and her family's visit in July. Gotta be sparkling clean and up tight, all right.

Not too long after noon we went out to hospital where our youngest son was going to get his consultation and instructions and appointments from his cancer doctor.

They went through a mass of paperwork first, same questions from a different department, apparently they don't pass the word around or something.

The doctor then came in and to make it short he told son he has stage 2 cancer and that he would undergo eight weeks of radiation 5 days a week. From what doctor said, stage 2 cancer has a faint possibility of invading lymph nodes in the neck, stage 1 less possible. Doctor also discussed aspects of the procedure and affects, one is that his lower salivary glands will no longer function and the upper ones will still work, dry mouth almost a certainty. His neck will always be sensitive to sunlight and have to have at least SPF 15 protection when out in the sun. He will be seeing a dietician to receive instruction on the kinds of food he should eat.

Then in another room son had a (Laryngoscope ?) fed through his nose down into his throat. What was being seen showed up on a screen visible to all of us. Two pictures were printed and put in his file. The growth was plain to see and also explained why he had been having trouble breathing at night. It was big enough to interfere with the operation of breathing.

They took him into another room, made a cast of his face, leaving holes at the nose area so that he could breathe. That will be fixed in place to hold his head steady in the same position each time he has radiation treatment done.

His appointment schedule was set up, happily to his convenience at four PM treatments. At this time the doctor didn't discuss x-rays or such to be done during treatment but I expect that progress will be looked at in some way or another. Son will be able to work as much as he feels able to. There are some things at his work that only he knows how to do. If the radiation makes him too tired he said he will go in, do the necessary and go home.

There was a man in the waiting room where Heather and I were waiting who listened a bit and volunteered that he was some number of weeks in radiation for the same thing and said he was doing well, which encouraged son much.

The technicalities taken care of, it was about five thirty PM and the three of us went to eat. We discussed various things about his treatment and future life style, finished the meal, arose he gave us a hug and Heather and I went home.

The stress showed up in Heather when we got home. She went to bed at about eight thirty. Hope she gets decent rest tonight. I am at the keyboard as a form of stress relief and in an act of communing with myself and you all.

We pray that his treatment eliminates the cancer from his throat and system completely so that he can have a happy old age. We pray for success with the radiation and his peace of mind. Step by step we go, hopefully there will be success Little By Little . . . . . . . . . .

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