New X-Rays...Pathologic Fracture...Radiation Oncology Appt.

16 years 4 months ago #10261 by fightcancer
Laughter definitely is the best medicine, maybe it will even him out....

thanks for the wishes and advice. As long as he does go through any prolonged pain, I will be at peace with it. We had some enlightening and even light-hearted conversations planning his memorial service with him this past weekend. All so surreal, but a unique opportunity that most people don't get. Heck, he even said he might write his own obituary, I bet it will be a good one... :)

Good luck on the radiation, our thoughts were the same as your doctors, double it up and maybe it will be even more effective. I think they didn't do that with my dad because he had not strarted any chemo yet.

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16 years 4 months ago #10218 by momof4
Hi Toms Son,

Thanks so much for your reply. I know what you are going through at the moment and how hard it is. I went through it with my Dad 2 yrs. ago Sept. Although it wasn't Cancer it still was a very slow agonizing process. He did end up in Hospice, and they were wonderful. I hope you get to tell your Dad everything you want, and that he gets the same chance. Not a bad time to ask family history questions, my Dad loved to tell stories about his family in his last days, he would reminisce and smile. It helped ease some pain keeping his mind on something else, and there were less "Sad" faces in the room too. It also helps to keep the stories going from generation to generation...you have to know them to re-tell them. I am praying for your family, and your father.

Thank you for the Radiation info. I hope that it will ease some of my husbands pain, and kill a lot of cancer too. He is actually doing very good today. Whenever he has chemo it seems to take a lot of the bone pain away, go figure. I think that the Radiation is more palliative than anything but whatever it takes to get through this.

He is very constipated from the chemo, and pain meds, so if the radiation gives diarrhea usually then maybe the combo will make him regular? LOL

He loves to watch me post! so that one was for him...

His Dr. told him that the Radiation in combination with the Chemo sometimes makes it MORE effective? I think it is the "Verblastim" I love the name it sounds like someone saying "we blast them" with a German accent. That is how I say it, and we get a kick out of it.

Thank you again for taking time, in the middle of everything in your life, to keep us updated on whats going on with your father, and to help people like me know what may be in store for us. It is a very generous thing to let strangers into your life even if it is via the Internet.

Karen

Caregiver for my Wonderful Husband Angelo, who has Metastatic Bladder Cancer.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

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16 years 4 months ago #10214 by fightcancer
My dad's bladder cancer metastisized into his liver and pelvic bones, we found both at the same time. So rather than start chemo for all of it, they opted to do radiation on the pelvic area. He had a small fracture on his right front pelvic bone (cannot think of the medical term for that bone). At the time it was diagnosed, he was having trouble walking and was using a cane, a fair amount of pain in that area.

He had 15 radiation treatments in the course of 3 weeks. They focused on the pelvic area and hit the bladder while they were doing it. It was pretty intense and the biggest side affects were problems with his bowels, I think that he pretty bad extremes of diarhea and constipation. We asked about him starting his first chemo at the same time and they discouraged us because it would be diffult to deal with the side affects from both. The results were great, he did not have pain in the pelvic area again and he started chemo for the tumors in the liver and elsewhere within a couple weeks after radiation.

One thing the doctor explained to us about radiation is that it was unlikely that he could go back for more radiation treatments after this one, that stuff is very hard on the organs in that area. So I took it that we had a one-time shot with radiation and then the chemo would help as a follow-up.

Dad also was put on Zometa, which is a Bisphosphonates. This helps slow down cancer growth in the bones. I think he got that IV when he received his chemo. There is some info on the metastic portion of this website.

I was not the primary caregiver, but my dad did stay in town with my sister while he received radiation, so he was not at home. All in all, the process was not as bad as side effects from some other chemo. One hard part is the fact that you have to go to appointments every day (at least in his case).

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16 years 4 months ago #10202 by momof4
My husband was admitted to the hospital for his CMV Chemo Treatment. He was admitted Thurs. and got home yesterday afternoon. He was experiencing alot of back, butt, and shoulder pain when he went in. Since the Bladder Cancer has Metasized to his bones, it is always a concern when there is new bone pain. They decided to do a X-ray prior to the administration of the Chemo. The preliminary results show that he has a pathologic fracture in the left ischium (The part of the pelvis that is your "Butt Bone"). He received his Chemo as planned, and so far so good on the reactions (typical for him, hiccupps, stomach pain, loss of appetite). He is down in weight a bit, but nothing too drastic.

He is scheduled for a consult with the Radiation Oncologist on Tues. Not really sure what to expect, Radiation is an unfamiliar territory for us, so the learning experience will continue. A few things I would like to know:

1. Is it true that you get permanent "tattoos" when undergoing Radiation Therapy?
(maybe they can remove an ugly one he go when he was in the navy?)LOL

2. What are the biggest side effects others have experienced? I know what I read but I would like to hear first hand accounts.

3. Also has anyone personally experienced or been a caregiver for anyone that was getting Chemo & radiation at the same time?

4. Benefits/Risks of doing both Therapies at once?

I will post next week when I get more info as to how they are going to progress. But for now I at least feel that we are dong everything we can to get as much time, and quality of time as possible...God be with us and show us the way.

Karen

Caregiver for my Wonderful Husband Angelo, who has Metastatic Bladder Cancer.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

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