Firstly I wanted to apologise for not having posted any messages recently. I have been reading the messages and printing them off for my parents and they have been a tremendous source of comfort and inspiration.
Well we got that second opinion, the new oncologist said that in his opinion the cancer is limited to the chest region making it a stage III, the cancer the surgeon saw was in the pleural membrane. This is all of course provisional to the combined PET/CT scan, which the hospital is going to give my Dad next week prior to the start of his Chemotherapy (we are all very nervous about this). The course of chemotherapy is likely to be gemcitabine and cisplatin.
The good thing about the new oncologist is his attitude, he is upbeat and says there are many treatment options and he will try anything. He is also very knowledgeable about current research. This is in complete contrast to the first oncologist who to all intense purposes told my Dad to go home there’s nothing we can do for you.
I have a couple of things that I would like to ask for your opinions on and I apologise if I am covering old ground. I noticed a number of you are taking Celebrex, my Dad asked his GP to prescribe his some and he has given him 200mg a day, many of you seem to be taking more than this, what dosage should my Dad take? He is going to ring his oncologist and ask as well.
Also as regards surgery the Oncologist didn’t seem to think further surgery was necessarily an option as he said that removing the pleural membrane is a massive undertaking and that 9 out of 10 thoracic surgeons will not even try to do this in the UK. I was wondering if surgeons in the US were more likely to undertake such an operation and if anybody had any experience of it.
I have put my Dad on a regime of supplements which is growing by the day and currently means he is taking about 30 pills a day is this a lot how many supplements do some of you take?
Since my Dad’s diagnosis a little over a month ago we have had so many ups and downs, good news, bad news, devastating news and then a bit of good news again and we are only at the beginning of the journey. Do you ever get used to this roller coaster and how do you manage to stay on an even keel?
Thank you for reading my message, I think that you guys are the most supportive group of people I have ever encountered.
Thanks
Sarah