Well, dad started round two of radiation yesterday. It all went well. I met up with him and my mom afterwards and socialized with him for a couple of hours. The lump on his neck has gotten bigger, but we have gotten better at managing the pain and yesterday seemed to be an ok day for him.

Today was radiation AND chemo day. So he gets to the hospital, checks in at the chemo desk and procedes to radiation. They do the radiation and it's back to the chemo area to wait.

A few minutes after he got in the chair he started complaining to mom that he felt sick. She thought - Great! And we haven't even had the chemo yet. Then he started complaining that he was hot and feeling sick. So she moves the trash can over to him - just in case - and looks back at him and he is sweating profusely, his eyes have rolled back in his head, and his hands are shaking. Mom called his name, got no response from him and she goes over to the desk and explains that he is a cardiac patient and is having a heart attack and to get a doctor QUICK.

They started working on him, couldn't find a pulse, called the crash team and got him to the main hospital ER. I got the call about 10, moments after it happened and rushed right over. Around noon they let us back in the ER to see him. He is alert and doesn't remember really any of what happened. They did some type of test using nuclear medicine to look at his heart and they say it is in "pretty bad shape".

So, I've left the hospital. Dad's still in the ER waiting for a room - mom's there with him. She just called to make sure that I'm home safe. She will be spending the night with him. Doesn't look like he will be moved to a room until tomorrow.

They want to do more tests to find out why this happened and to make sure it wont happen again. Guess thats how the next few days will be.

So, long story short - two radiation treatments, no chemo yet and the cancer patient has once again become a cardiac patient.

Who knows what tomorrow brings.....

At least when dad decides hes going to have a heart attack he does so in the most convenient places. I am convinced had this happened at his house he would be dead. He lives in a rural area and the response time isn't that great, plus its about a 35 minute drive to the nearest hospital.

As far as continued treatments are concerned anyones guess is as good as mine. I called the RO to let them know the situation and that the RO should contact one of us to let us know what do to do next.

I'm want this ride to stop so I can get off.

Hugs,

Joy

Joy...my heart aches for you....I cannot even imagine what you and your family are going through at this time....

Keep us posted, and KNOW that all of you are on the top of our 'list'...


Lois & Buzz

Thanks Lois. We appreciate being at the top of the list more than you know. While some would think that it's not working because of what we are going through now, we know that it's because of all the prayers that dad was at the hospital when this happened.

I'll post when I can. It's going to be a long few days.

Joy

Joy, I will put your dad on my prayer list also. Goodness, what an experience today, and what a journey you and he and your mother have had this year! Post when you can, but know that we are pulling for him in the meantime.

XO

Am thinking of you and your family Joy, so sorry for you to have all this right now.

Brenda

Joy,

All of you have your plates full of challenges. Lets hope all turns out OK.

Now I'm by no means any kind of authority but I remember how my heart pumped when I had my first couple of clamp downs and I had a resting heart rate in the high 50's. I got over the anxiety quickly without meds but maybe with his heart condition he needs something to calm him down during Tx ?? I know many on this site that have taken anxiety meds without any heart problems. Just a thought.

They'll certainly have to "tune him up" cardiac wise before they will proceed and David has a great idea about those antianxiety meds. I took them all throughout Tx, and they helped a LOT.

Joy - If I had the key to "turn off that ride", I would certainly share it with you. Please tell your Dad the OCF forum is in his corner and pulling for him. Warmly, JaneP

Joy,

Also have him listen to his favorite music while getting the rad Tx. I had them crank the volume up as loud as they could stand it. It not only drounds out the sound of the machine but it does wonders to pass the time especially on those dreaded measurement days. My tech would occasionally slip in her favorite country & western CD and I would yell at her to no avail. I did grow to like a few of those sounds but some were just as bad as the damn Tx. LOL

Colleen, Brenda, David, Gary and Jane....Thank you all for your words of wisdom and caring thoughts and prayers. They really do mean so much to me right now.

Finally at 10 last night they got Dad settled in a room. He slept on an off, not very good, and this morning he was sent for a stress test. The contrast dye they used made him sick to his stomach, but they gave him some anti nausea meds which seemed to help. After the last part of the test they took him to radiation and about 3 minutes after they got him off the table he was sick on his stomach again. He also was having some of the same symptoms that he had the day before after radiation - hot, nausea, etc. Mom finally went home around 4 and dad wasn't back in his room yet, but I showed up at 5 and he seemed to start feeling better after I arrived.

The cardiologist and the RO seemed to differ on whether or not radiation should take place again. Finally the RO took the cardiologist into the hall and when they returned the cardio doc said that they would continue with radiation. It seems that the RO thinks that the problem is occurring because the tumor is squeezing the carotid artery in his neck. When the tumor has radiation put to it, it draws up, putting pressure on the artery. This causes the sweating and nausea because of the restricted blood flow. Forget the radiation for a moment and just remember that it's increasing in size all the time and that alone is causing a lot of pressure on the artery.

Tomorrow they will have the results of the stress test. If they can't find any blockages then they will go with the theory above. The RO talked today about going to radiation twice a day to speed up the shrinking of the tumor. The RO also said that he thinks that maybe a feeding tube should be put in. While dad had been opposed to this in the past, tonight he said to me that maybe it would be a good idea. He's down to almost 200 pounds now which he probably hasn't seen since high school. He's always been a big man, not fat, just solid like a football player. I knew when and if the time came for the feeding tube he would be open to it and to try to talk him into it before hand would be pointless and only upset him. Tomorrow mom plans on talking to the RO about it and if that is the way they plan to go then she wants it done before he leaves the hospital.

Chemo has not been mentioned since he missed his appointment yesterday. I'm not sure if that is out of the question at this point.

So that's all the news I have for today. It's emotionally exhausting. I had tears tonight for the first time in front of him since this whole thing started back in March. I told him if I could go through this for him I would. In true dad fashion he said everything was going to be ok.

Thanks all for everything.

Joy