My Dad's story so far

Chemo Marriage and a Baby

2010-06-18T22:56:25Z

At the start of this week we announced to mum and dad about getting married in november, the day after my brother and his wife announced a baby due on january 8th and dad had his 2nd last chemo today .

They brought him up on wednesday for his bloods and again up today for the chemo but this time he had it during the day and got out for home at around 4.30pm.

I think he prefers to be at home at night , he really couldn't wait to be away from the hospital today.

They also reduced his chemo by a litre and a half (bag and a half?) either way itmeant he wasnt staying til 8 like he had thought.

Next weekend I'm hoping he's recovered enough for us to come down with the prospective in-laws to look at our venue and go to the jewellers with me.

I've noticed one thing about him though , his hairs going grey really fast. I wonder if it's the stress or the chemo, probably natural lol.

Summertime

2010-06-09T15:49:23Z

Dad has now had 4 rounds of chemo , this last one has really affected him .

They have decided to give him a further 2 treatments along with his radio but he is considering not taking the final chemo session as he has found it incredibly hard to bear.

There's a small part of me that thinks quality of life is more important , he needs to be active and happy and if that is what he chooses for however long he can do it then I will stand by him and his choices.

The good weather has been a boost at times , we were able to sit out in the garden on sunday and enjoy some wine and company though dad was unable to get up before 2pm , the recovery is getting longer and harder. He's also had a severe throat infection that's knocked him even further sideways.

There are many family issues , people treading on toes , oversensitivity , contempt and animosity in small small doses. People around who would NEVER have been around otherwise and we all grin and bare it for his sake, he's worth it.

Resting

2010-04-16T15:53:29Z

I called today to check up on things , today has been a tired day though sitting resting in the garden in the sunshine, Mum seems upbeat on phone which is good because I know she struggles a bit from time to time , thats only to be expected.

Little sis was on phone , nervous about coming back for many reasons but I told her you are coming back to spend time with your daddy nothing and no one else matters. Think it helped her a bit. She's worried about the round of visitors that might be in etc .

Am glad the weather has been sunny , it helps them feel more positive , in this way I am glad the chemo started at this time of year and not on into autumn or winter.

We are talking about a large family holiday to Spain in September, maybe booking a villa , I loved it last time in Spain with Mum and Dad. Keep positive everyone my thoughts are with you all as well as my Dad.

Be back soon :)

Chemo round 2

2010-04-14T19:52:16Z

Today marks round 2 of Dads chemo.The first round was rough , he's alittle like me in that nausea is the worst thing ever . He found it so hard to deal with and we had to get a doc out to help one night .

Side effects haven't been so awful as yet as it was the first round , who knows what this round will be like.

Dad has on good days been out doing stuff like digging a veg patch , there really is no telling folks :) but its good and positive and normal to see him doing these things.

Little sis is due back 19th of May so she will be here for a round of chemo and the after effects , it's important for her to see what goes on . Australia is far enough away that day to day not seeing these things, well we worry that its out of sight out of mind to a certain extent and we worry that she may think she didn't spend enough time with him later on.

Here's hoping tonight is comfortable .

Also we got a good result back from his liver scan, whatever they thought was there is now gone though his livers a little enlarged ( doesn't drink much at all)

So we shall see what this week brings.

Further on

2010-03-18T16:46:06Z

Today we got the chemo appt for the City Hospital next Wednesday morning, he's to have a blood test and tehy will find him a bed on the day ( he has to stay over) on a plus note he's a photographer and my cousin has offered him a free kitchen in exchange for brochure photos , now thats something nice.

Will update more on the chemo etc as and when.

The Oncologist

2010-03-17T12:51:28Z

Its been a while since I updated but here we go.

Oncologist was last week , he put it all in black and white .

Hard to hear but not anything we didn't know , said things like " I don't know if giving you chemo will do you any good and I will probably never know"

"We are trying to give you time " etc so was pretty hard on us . We knew it all but there it was , irrefutable in it's cruelty .

Mesothelioma , time, terminal.

So now we wait for chemo , Dad's had his injection and so far seems ok .

55 .

Too young.

Appts

2010-02-22T14:08:00Z

8th of March for the Oncology thank god , Doc to ring today about liver scan results.

Fingers crossed for that result!

Am going to take part in the mesothelioma book review and when I go back to work after my hols I am going to try and volunteer depending on my shifts . I really do want to give a little back and hopefully help people in the same situation.

Mind you I think my stress levels are right up there with Easyjet at the minute lol , last night was a major cleaning spree between 11pm and 3am and today as well oh my god will it ever stop!!!!! lol

My Dad

2010-02-21T12:40:29Z

Like all daughters ( or most!!) my Dad is my superhero so needless to say this came as a total shock to us.

There are no words to convey just how awful it feels .

I have some blog entries I made on another site that I will copy and paste here , I suppose to show the harsh effect its had so far.

Dad was a joiner by trade at 18 and contracted the mesothelioma from the asbestos they worked with at the time, for a number of years now he has been aware that he could fall into that group who develop this illness.

All his lfe he's been a strong capable man , moving from one thing to another , joinery , farming etc . Whatever he's done its usually been manual and we have only ever had to look to him for help with domestic issues . He's always known what to do and he's always stepped up to the plate where us kids have been concerned.

Another awful thing is age , he's only 55 , seems so harsh especially . I don't think any of us ever feel ready to stop being someone's child. We always need our parents no matter what.

November - start of was roughly when we were made aware something was wrong. A few years ago he had pneumonia , now we know that was the start of the mesothelioma starting to show itself. Mum came up that day and was obviously distressed telling myself and my sis, my brother at that time having heard already that they knew there was something there , it had shown on an xray as a shadow. Cue plenty of appts and MRI etc .

We found out it was cancer , they thought it may have been one of two - mesothelioma or adenocarcinoma ( it apparently mimics other cancers) we then discovered just before christmas 09 that it was the mesothelioma so the next step was the surgery which he had just over 2 weeks ago.

The surgeon found more inside than he expected - the scan only showed one tumour but it was 2 he removed plus the pleural lining and three parts of the diaphragm .

At the moment we are waiting to hear from Oncology as they want to start radiotherapy first and fast then it will be chemo.Everything else we have to wait and see .

So fingers crossed he responds well and we can learn to live it and that he can continue for the most part as normal. At the moment he is out walking every day to help his lung recover ( yes yes he is , he's a fit man!) and though he's tiring easily thats likely because he's still recovering from the operation.

I'll try and keep this updated as we go. I hope that it can help others in the same situation.