(no subject)
My poor Dad has appointments every day this week, to get his heart, brain, and lungs checked out, monitor his diabetes, and what-have-you. He seems to be under the impression that if everything checks out, they'll be scheduling him for surgery within a week or two. That strikes me as a bit optimistic, but I honestly don't have a clue how these things work, so...
I do know that the PET scan results showed that the cancer was limited to the spot on his lung and showed no sign of being spread anywhere else. The spot is, if I remember right, three centimeters in diameter. I guess that's considered pretty small?
Dad's pretty cynical about the test to make sure he'll have adequate lung capacity after they cut off a piece, saying "they have to cut it off anyway, so what's the point?" This is the part that worries me. The man's about 150 pounds overweight and can't walk from one end of the house to the other without getting winded. He's got several other significant health problems, of course, most of them stemming from diabetes complications, though, so I'm more worried overall about just the prospect of him having to undergo surgery at all.
He had to be taken off Plavix a few weeks ago because of the sinus infection that wouldn't die. He's been on Plavix for five or six years, I guess, for his heart. Several months ago he started taking another medication that has blood thinning properties, so the decision was made that he could go off the Plavix for awhile, until he got the throat infection healed up. Of course, now he has to stay off the Plavix until further notice because of the impending surgery. That's great, and I understand the point, here, but meanwhile, what the fuck about his heart???
For himself, Dad seems to be doing okay, mentally. He's frustrated over being several weeks off work and feels that pressure building up, and he's getting impatient to go ahead and get the surgery over with and radiation therapy begun, if needed, but as far as having cancer itself, he's taking that in stride as a fact of life. I wish I could share his acceptance.
I do know that the PET scan results showed that the cancer was limited to the spot on his lung and showed no sign of being spread anywhere else. The spot is, if I remember right, three centimeters in diameter. I guess that's considered pretty small?
Dad's pretty cynical about the test to make sure he'll have adequate lung capacity after they cut off a piece, saying "they have to cut it off anyway, so what's the point?" This is the part that worries me. The man's about 150 pounds overweight and can't walk from one end of the house to the other without getting winded. He's got several other significant health problems, of course, most of them stemming from diabetes complications, though, so I'm more worried overall about just the prospect of him having to undergo surgery at all.
He had to be taken off Plavix a few weeks ago because of the sinus infection that wouldn't die. He's been on Plavix for five or six years, I guess, for his heart. Several months ago he started taking another medication that has blood thinning properties, so the decision was made that he could go off the Plavix for awhile, until he got the throat infection healed up. Of course, now he has to stay off the Plavix until further notice because of the impending surgery. That's great, and I understand the point, here, but meanwhile, what the fuck about his heart???
For himself, Dad seems to be doing okay, mentally. He's frustrated over being several weeks off work and feels that pressure building up, and he's getting impatient to go ahead and get the surgery over with and radiation therapy begun, if needed, but as far as having cancer itself, he's taking that in stride as a fact of life. I wish I could share his acceptance.