Plan C

I’ll give you one guess on what his post is about and if you are surprised, then join the club.  Because that is what cancer does.  It shows up again when you aren’t looking and bites you on the rear.

The majority of this year has been great.  Dad has been in complete remission for 7 months.  We got to do some traveling and made memories, and the best part, we had laughter.  We had a few months of normal again.

The only thing we’ve really been dealing with is fixing his teeth because the cancer and treatment have done a number on them.  And for the most part, things have gone pretty well.  No shattered jaw bone.  No major complications.  Then in August dad started to have his one year check up post transplant.  They found precancerous cells in his esophagus and for the past month and a half he has gone to different doctors to have it looked at and how to proceed.  Also in August, they saw movement in his blood work.  Nothing major, but definitely something to keep an eye on.  But the blood work from this month’s check up confirmed it.

The cancer is coming back.

This means he is no longer in remission.  This means the chemo is on is no longer working.  This means we start all over again.

And so onto Plan C we go.  He will be having surgery this week to have the cells in his esophagus removed.  Nothing too major, just preventing them from becoming a major problem in the future.  After this surgery we will proceed on what to do with the cancer.  There are still many more drugs and drug combinations dad can try.  He may be able to participate in a study for a new drug that isn’t on the market yet; one that is more fine-tuned and that the doctors think would really benefit dad’s case.  There is also a possibility of a third transplant, but this one would be from a donor, which could have just as many complications.

Into the waiting game we go.  We still have options, but this news is always hard to digest.   Thankfully dad is still acting normal and this news hasn’t stopped our world again.  It is just a big bump in the road and we are trying to figure the best way to cross.

As always, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for keeping my dad in your prayers.