These are the thoughts of a Texas transplant in West Michigan who makes his living as a newspaper reporter by evening, and a struggling novelist by day.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

back on the chemo

it's the same thing all over again with my dad. he started his first chemo treatmetns again this past week.

i talked to my mom late friday to get an update on what's going on. i found out from my sister that he'd been taken to the emergency room because his blood pressure was 70/40. things turned out okay but it was alos determined he had a urinary tract infection. so it was a good thing he went. and he was stubborn about it, too. he just didn't want to go to the hospital or doctor.

the reports of what's up with my dad are very reminiscent of what he was going through two years ago during the fall when he first started undergoing chemo. he was tired, sleepy and got the hiccups side effect.

he's going three times a week for chemo and has a pump connected to him, the same as before.

to me, it's almost like starting over again right after part of his colon was removed and his begen his first chemo treatments.

i talked to him today and yesterday and he sounds hoarse, although after awhile he sounded a bit better. but during the end of the conversations, he started hiccuping and he had to hang up.


i don't know how to feel about this whole thing. it looks like his situation would worsen if he wasn't on the chemo. his marker was at 400, so more than three months without chemo didn't do him any good. and it appears that any prolonged period without chemo will not work for him. so he will have to continue to be on the chemo.

this is a really bad situation. he can't be off the chemo. but when he's on it, he feels crappy and isn't able to function as well as when he's not on it. but if he's not on it, the cancer in his liver will go out of control. catch 22? sounds like it. damned either way with the stupid cancer.

i guess this year will be telling, then. let's see how much good the chemo will do and how much it brings him down.

my mom is very stressed and tired. the whole week she had to drive my dad somewhere because of his illness. on top of that, she's worried about him. then, she isn't able to sleep all that much because he's got the hiccups, even at night. but she can't do to the only other bedroom in the house (our old room upstairs) because if something happens, they'll be on opposite ends of the house.

so my mom sounds bad right now. she's caught in something she can't really escape from.

let's see how the next few months look for my dad.