Got dad over to the local hospital for an IV infusion of Zymeta. While waiting for the serum calcium report (12), dad just kept looking at the floor, bent over, totally fatigued and horrible looking. I almost hoped they would keep him there. He hasn’t hardly eaten in the last 2 weeks. Not much anyway. Finally they got him in and decided to infuse a liter of fluid with the med. He really seemed to feel a bit better right away. By that I mean, he didn’t just look at the floor and he seemed a bit more animated. I think mom said he ate almost a whole fried egg, 2 strips of bacon and several different juices for supper last night. I’m sure the liter of fluid helped too. We go back on Thursday for another dose…if needed…which I’m almost sure we will.
The PET scan showed several ribs with “activity” and several “new areas” and oddly no sign of the primary tumor. Several nodes with “metabolic activity” and lost of pleural activity now. Not good. Although I hate PET scans because they practically show a freckle I have a tendency to believe this one as Dad’s condition has suddenly escalated and he is extremely frail, in pain and unable to eat much. We may be looking at hospitalization soon. We will talk with the oncologist on Monday. I actually talked to the oncologist on Friday, and saw the report of the scan late Friday but I wanted to wait until MOnday to talk with Mom about it. Spare the weekend for her. Well…she found the report anyway. I hope we can keep the pain at bay. Dad looks so thin…can’t weigh 130 now. The weight is just dropping off. Cancer loves calories. shit
Dad got through the PET okay. He didn’t use O2, but we packed it just in case. He then had zymeta. He is SOOOOO thin. Mom and I went to Walmart and picked up SMALL sweat pants for him. I bet he doesn’t even weigh 130. We don’t even weigh him at home anymore. We don’t want to know. I imagine he will get weighed next Thursday. We will find out then what the PET shows. Dad’s calcium level was 12.4…the highest it’s ever been. NO wonder he has been so lethargic this last week. If the cancer is in the bone I dont’ know what we will do. But if not…he has GOT to have that surgery. When we got home dad was hurting and he took pain meds and ate only a little bit. Later, I was surprised to hear that he drove over to our house (though he stayed in the car) and dropped off some curtains that mom had been working on for me. He couldn’t even get off the couch for 5 days, has Zymeta and ta daaa he feels a bit better. I don’t think it will last many days but he will have to take advantage of his normal calcium level while he can.
Going to Kearney for Dads PET scan. The last Oncologist appointment she said we need to find out if Dad’s cancer has spread to the bones or if the hyperparathyroidism is causing the hypercalcemia. If there is no mets to the bones than she would feel comfortable reccomending the surgery to remove the glands. If the cancer has spread, of course, than this is the reason for the hypercalcemia. Dad looks bad. Really bad. No edema whatsoever. He is shrinking, eyes wide and not talkative at all. He barely moves off the couch. You can tell that the zymeta helps the calcium stay in the norm for about 5 days and then…you can see Dad “melting”, for lack of better word. Just 2 weeks ago…Dad mowed the lawn! On his rider of course…but…still…he hadn’t done that for about 2 seasons. Now…he can’t even face taking a shower. He is on O2. He is barely eating. He probably weighs less than 140 at this point. The PET scan will take over an hour and then we have to go to the Oncologist for the Zymeta. He will be totally exhausted I’m sure. I hope we can get him there without problems.
On February 24 and February 27, 2006, EWG (Environmental Working Group) purchased the following drinks at four major retail outlets in Washington, DC. They all contained ascorbic acid and either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate—the ingredients that the FDA and the beverage industry have said can mix together to form benzene, a known human carcinogen. The actual levels of benzene formed in these products may be at trace levels and well within legal limits for drinking water.
Country Time Lemonade Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange Diet Pepsi Twist Diet Pepsi Vanilla Diet RockStar Energy Drink Fanta Orange Fanta Pineapple Fruit20 Plus 10 Natural Apple Giant Fruity Punch Cooler Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red Hawaiian Punch Lemonade Hi-C Blast, Orange Supernova Kool-Aid Jammers Blue-Raspberry Kool-Aid Jammers Cherry Kool-Aid Jammers Grape Kool-Aid Jammers Orange Lo-Carb Monster Energy Monster Energy Pepsi Twist Lemon RockStar Energy Drink Sierra Mist Sunkist Sunny D Sunny D Baja Sunny D Intense Sport Cool Punch Sunny D Orange-Fused Strawberry Sunny D Smooth Sunny D Smooth + Calcium Tampico Citrus Punch Tampico Grape Punch Tampico Tropical Punch Tropicana Twister Diet Soda (Diet Orange) Tropicana Twister Soda Grape Tropicana Twister Soda Orange Tropicana Twister Soda Strawberry
Occupation: Running with scissors and drinking espresso ie…I own a coffee shop now and once worked as a registered nurse in many different areas such as…home health, surgery, med surg, hospice to name a few.
