On Sunday July 12th we were looking forward to getting out of the hospital. We did everything possible to clear the methotrexate (MTX) and get to discharge criteria level: less than .10. Nick walked around, …
I woke up very early this morning and it occurs to me that we have a tendency to bury our feelings in the midst of great challenges. After all, dads are supposed to be tough …
We are back for chemotherapy at El Camino Hospital and we have a nice big “corner suite.” I am not sure there is an additional charge for single rooms that have 2-sleeper sofa’s but the …
Nick just completed 6 week of Volumetrical Arc Radiation Therapy. For those of you that do not know that much about radiation, he received 5,400 Centigray to kill this tumor. This is the equivalent of …
The New Year started with two seemingly simple medical tasks that were to take place during one hospital admission: placement of a port in his chest and a 3-4 day in hospital chemotherapy treatment. The …
The one thing that makes battling cancer difficult is that everything about the journey is unpredictable. In Nick’s case we knew we were looking at 30-40 weeks of in-hospital chemotherapy and we had been through …
November 10th is supposed to be a good day and should be a day to remember. The day started in celebration and ended in absolute chaos, confusion and uncertainty. Joey (oil portrait on left at …
Neulasta and/or Neupogen are the brand names for a product made by Amgen that was administered to Nick to stimulate his production of white blood cells following chemotherapy. It is also known as G-CSF (Granulocyte-colony …
Nick underwent radiation therapy twice a day for 4 weeks and 4 days. The amount of radiation delivered to the location of the tumor was 5,500 rads. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is method of radiotherapy …
I don’t think that there are enough words to describe how thankful we are for all that we have been blessed with. When I was writing about “darkness” and finding the light, the light came …