November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Follow the link below to see how you can help raise awareness (and funds) to fight this disease.

Thanks!!

http://www.pancan.org/raiseyourvoice/index.html

October 24

Dad and mom went to St. Louis today. Dad had the temporary stint in the bile duct that drains from the liver replaced with a permanent one. The procedure went well and they will return home tomorrow morning. Dad has to remain on a liquid diet for the next several days. Monday, he will receive a port through which the gemcitabin treatments can be facilitated with more ease. He will receive chemo again Tuesday.

The oncologist wants dad to receive two more treatments of gemcitabin before re-imaging him. So, the CAT scan will be scheduled a few weeks out. His appetite is very poor, and he remains fatigued. His potassium was low on Tuesday, but other levels looked good! Dad's spirit and optimism remain strong.

We're at the two month mark now. It's incredible how much we've learned and experienced in these two months. Our vocabularies have changed, as have the nature of our conversations. When I have free time, I find myself browsing cancer blogs, research abstracts, and clinical trials updates rather than overstock.com. I am also much more aware of the extensive network that inhabits cancer survivors, patients, and caregivers. It's hard to believe we are now in that web. It seems more people than I ever realized have loved ones with some type of cancer. This network spans all ages and cultures. I met a woman online from L.A. whose father also has pancreatic cancer with lung metastasis. She and I exchange any new information we find. We continue to explore medical and alternative treatments, supplements, etc. that are being tested with patients with pancreatic cancer.

Thanks for your continued support of mom and dad.

10-18-08

Uncle Don went with dad and mom to Cape last Tuesday to get a treatment. Thursday, mom took dad to the hospital because his fever went up and blood pressure went down. They took some blood, gave him some antibiotics, and sent him home. The last couple of days he's been resting.

Tuesday dad will go to Cape to get fitted for a port, he's not planning on getting a treatment. Thursday he'll be going to St. Louis to get the plastic stint in the bile duct replaced with a metal one. They may or may not keep him overnight.

Have a good weekend!

Tall Cotton.....

We took Ben to John's cotton field for his first lesson in picking cotton. He demonstrated natural talent that surprised us all! He didn't want to leave! Here's part of his lesson....Click on the arrow to view.

Hello from Gary

I just want to thank everyone for your responses and comments here on the blog, and for people calling, sending cards and food, and for coming by to visit.

On October 9th, I had been retired for exactly one year. Since that time I've had some great times with different people including travelling to the Grand Canyon and LA, visiting with Angie, James, and Ben in Tuscaloosa, attending Angie's graduation from her Ph.D. program in Florida, helping Tim get settled into his new home and job in Columbia, visiting with Craw and the Springfield crew as often as I could, hanging out with Joyce and Merlin, and many other wonderful experiences. I definitely have made the most of retirement.

It's exciting that Tim is working for the Department of Conservation. I told him to be sure to print plenty of deer tags for the family. :-) As I am writing this, Tim just called me from his deer stand. Wish I was with him.

Ben and Angie are here now and we're having a great time. I'm pretty fatigued this weekend, but doing ok. Lou Lou and my children, my brothers, sister, church family, and good friends have been so very supportive. To my past coworkers, be safe and take care. All of you are so helpful in many ways and are very special people. This is no step for a stepper. That's all the scoop for now.
Gar-o is still the man!

10-08-08

The appointment went well yesterday. Since the cancer has spread, radiation was taken off the table. So was the Oxaliplatin. The doctor said that we could quit doing treatment or continue with the Gemcitabine and Tarceva. Since dad has been tolerating the chemo fairly well he decided to proceed with a treatment yesterday and continue taking them for the next couple of months before doing another CT scan. Although the cancer has spread the doctor said it looked to him like the tumor around the pancreas had decreased in size a little. Dad's at home and as far as I know should be there throughout the weekend.

Pickin' and a Grinnin'

Good Evening!

It's amazing how experiences in life have the ability to change the definition of a "good day." It reminds me of a quote an old family friend used to say. "All days are good, some are better than others."

The last couple of days have been good. I met mom and dad at Springfield and we attended my buddies 3rd Annual Fish Fry. Uncle Craw and Aunt Joe came to the fry as well. There was plenty of food and drinks along with a band and bonfire. We caught some of the Mizzou game, went to church at my cousins church on Sunday morning, and went to my cousin's B-day party after church. Mom and dad came home Sunday night. It surprised me that dad made the trip. I spoke with him Saturday morning and he said he wasn't coming and called back an hour later and said he was on his way. I'm glad he came. Besides some chills he didn't have any problems and we had a real good time.

Tomorrow is time for another trip to the doctor. Uncle Craw will be with them. Hopefully he'll be able to continue his treatment. Besides a possible low white blood cell count I don't see any reason why they should stop treatment. A lot of heart goes a long way and as that tumor grows so does the size of dad's heart. Hospice will not be getting a call tomorrow. Not unless they have a generator and a camper and plan on going hunting with us next month.

Throw one up for dad if you get a chance, even if you haven't in a while. Also, be sure to thank God for what he has done in your life. We don't want too many requests and not enough thanks going up. We need a good balance.

Later

10-3-08

Dad has an appointment with his oncologist on Tuesday. Hopefully, we will get everything cleared up at that time. Dad's been pretty tired the past few days, which is expected. However, he is keeping his spirits up thanks, in part, to the wonderful displays of care and concern from all of you. Thank you.

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!"
~ Dr. Seuss