Something else in the Scan

Sean was suppose to have chemotherapy Thursday morning but instead we ended up at the hospital being admitted. When he woke up Thursday morning we were rushed because his schedule had been altered due to him missing radiation the week before. We realized both his chemotherapy and radiation both were scheduled for 10 a.m. When we realized this I began putting Sean some clothes togather to wear while dressing myself so we wouldn't be late. He asked me for the trashcan and before I knew it he had vomited in the floor. He threw up clear fluid and after a moment seemed fine. He told me he thought he had sat up too quickly and was now okay. Once we were at radiation he threw up again in the radiation room. He came out carrying a pink tub and the doctor there told us that she thought it would be best for him to go to the downtown hospital for admittance on arrival. She explained due to the past mets of Seans cancer she was being cautious. Once we arrived at the hospital we went to the Chemotherapy floor and instead of his chemo Sean recieved some fluids through his PICC line. We sat there waiting for him to be admitted until almost 2:30 pm. Once in his room they took several vials of blood and scheduled for Sean to have either an MRI or Cat scan. Around one in the morning they took Sean down for his MRI then took him later around five in the morning for his CAT scan. We were expected only one of the scans but ended up with both. Near 10 am on Friday one of the hospital doctors came in and spoke with us and said she believed the old "dead" lesion in Seans brain was the same and nothing was new. A few hours later another doctor came in and told us otherwise.After looking at the MRI and CAT scans they determined there was another mass in Seans brain on the opposite side. They were suprised that it had not been bothering him and that he had only vomited Thursday morning. The paper called it"A new large peripherally enhancing right parietal occipital lobe mass with diffuse surrounding vasogenic edema and with mass effect on the occipital horn of the right lateral ventricle". They gave him Zophran,Compazine and Decadron. They decided to schedule him for Simulation Sterotactic Radiosurgery this coming Monday morning. They decided also to discharge him Saturday around lunch time because all of his symptoms were well under control and in great shape considering. His chemotherapy has been placed on hold as his doctor said the brain takes priority over the lung but they will continue the radiation on the lung which is scheduled to end next Thursday. I will update when I have more. I also added apicture I took of him during discharge.

Appointments and Transfusions

Sean had an appointment with his oncologist Monday. She was positive about how Sean has been doing with his treatments and told him she wanted him to get his blood drawn at cottage (the smaller hospital closer to our home) Once at cottage they went ahead and drew a few vials of blood and told Sean they would call him Tuesday morning if his count/hemoglobin looked good enough to not need a transfusion. Tuesday morning we arrived at cottage at eight a.m. His hemoglobin was up so they called his oncologist to see if she still wanted Sean to recieve the blood transfusion,she did. They began the transfusion around quarter to 9 and it was the longest trasfusion ever. They did not use the pump(claiming it damages red blood cells which we have NEVER been told before)which made the transfusion take ridiculously longer, over three hours for Sean to recieve one unit of blood and he was scheduled for two. They started the second bag around noon and he did not finish until close to 3:30 p.m. Sean was upset with the length of time that the transfusion took. Afterwards we took the elevator down to the first floor and Sean was able to have his radiation treatment while we were there which he was happy to be back on schedule. His last radiation treatment should be next Thursday which is great. He had his radiation treatment today and we have Chemotherapy scheduled for tommorow. After tommorow Sean has three more actual days of Chemo to our knowledge. I will update as I know more.:)He weigh is around 170 at the moment and he is still eating fairly well.

Seans Update on White Blood Cell Count

Sean was told he has around nine more radiation treatments and two more cycles of chemotherapy to be expected. They drew blood at his radiation appointment and said his white blood cell count was down so tommorows radiation was put off until he has his appointment with De Sousa Monday. He says he feels fine but has spent alot of time on the couch napping the pass few days. He is complaining about his throat due to radiation so I am making him chocolate shakes with peanut butter and wheat germ to try and keep his tummy full. I went andalso bought some carnation breakfest and several other things to help him get through the next few weeks. I amhoping his count can get back to normal between now and Monday so he won't need another transfusion and won't miss anymore radiation. Thank you to anyone who is keeping up with this blog and Have a Happy Halloween.

Sean Update

Seans chemotherapy went fine and his blood count and electrolytes were awesome compared to times before. After his chemotherapy we returned home and he had a pretty good lunch. His weight before this began was around 191 and since dropped down to 174. They weighed him the other day and he is near 180 again thankfully. He has had an appetite and hasn't been sick yet which is suprising but great. I have been giving him his neuprogen shots the pass two days and he has to recieve three more shots to help keep his blood count where it is next week.He is napping at the moment on the couch and is doing pretty good. We have about two more weeks of radiation and two more cycles of chemotherapy.

Seans appointment with the surgeon

Sean had an appointment this morning with the surgeon. The surgeon decided that it would be best to remove the "infected" lobe or perform an Lobectomy. The date is set for next week and they told Sean he could spend a few days obviously inpatient afterwards. Once he is out of the hospital he will have a recovery period of 6 to 8 weeks. Pneumonia is one concern after the surgery as well as the "scary" risks I stressed about during his biopsy such as internal bleeding and so forth. I looked up any other complications that could be a worry and came across something called lymphocytopenia which is a chronically low white blood count. I am keeping as positive as possible and with a little faith and prayer everything should be alright afterwards. I will keep this up to date when I have more to share.

New on Sean

Sean went to his appointment Thursday to speak to the doctor about his port a cath and its healing as well as the scans recieved on his chest. Also his doctor mentioned the result of the scan on his brain. From what the doctor said the mass in Seans brain is gone and they have completely killed it which is good news. The kind of gray news was about the effects of the chemotherapy on his lung. I realized that before that more treatment was possible but had not really discussed this with Sean as I try hard to keep a positive attitude constantly. The chemotherapy did not shrink the mass and it even grew a very very small amount. The fact he only had two cycles of treatment leaves me to believe they were trying to see if that particular chemotherapy drug was a good match for Seans type of cancer. They told Sean that he will have to have a new port placed in his chest which he is not happy about and that they may try radiaition and chemotherapy together for his second line of therapy. We both agree that this is not bad news as much as disappointing as we hoped that it would of did at least something to the mass. I will post more when I know more. Sean has another appointment on Monday with the neurologist and then we will go from there.