Saturday, April 11, 2009

I hope your Easter is better than mine.

I am traveling up to Reston to see my grandparents for Easter. For those just tuning in, my grandfather was diagnosed with adeno.carcinoma several months ago. Reports from my family since the diagnosis are mixed. My aunt and grandmother are doing everything they can to deal with the cancer. They had an appointment at George.town's cancer center, and through them my grandfather is on chemo, and possibly heading toward either radiation or a cyberknife procedure. There is about a 50% chance he could get rid of the cancer, provided the origin of the cancer is the colon. Apparently they have no idea of the source of the cancer. I think he is due a PET scan before long, but I am not sure what that could tell us that the other scans have not shown us. My mother and sister are a bit more pragmatic about the situation. My sister visited about a month ago and reported that my grandfather seemed like a shadow of himself. Apparently he is not eating much, he is sleeping a lot, and he forgets things. A neurologist exam showed no Alzheimers, but there is some memory dysfunction. Also I think he is having problems with his vision and hearing aids.

Yeah, I think my family will be trying deperately to pretend everything is normal. I have a hunch it will be hell.

And I start stims today. I start to taper down my lu.pron and start taking folli.stim. Hormone city, here I come. Between the my grandfather's cancer, and my hormone stimulation, this is not going to be fun. I want to call in sick, but this may be the last Easter I get with my grandfather. I think it is sort of important I be there.

3 comments:

Queenie. . . said...

I'm sorry you're facing such a tough situation. I hope is goes more smoothly than expected.

Megs said...

That really is a tough situation. I hope that everything goes well and your visit turns out well. Enjoy your time with your grandfather...I miss both of mine dearly.

annacyclopedia said...

I hope it was ok and you got to enjoy some peaceful moments with your family and that the hormones didn't hit you too hard.