The Latest

I so wish I was writing this update with fabulous news on the treatment front for our dad... but unfortunately that's not the case. We are still doing all that we can to remain optimistic and keep positive... but we are going to need the prayers and the positive mojo to go into overdrive with the latest news we have received. Just before the holidays we met with the surgeon and talked about either continuing with more chemo or going straight to surgery... we played the waiting game for quite a while with lots of doctors out of the office for the 2 weeks over the holidays. My dad got the last round of chemo and then the team of doctors (that seems to be getting bigger and bigger... which is great to have so many smart minds all talking about what’s best for my dad) decided to do one more PET scan and determine from there if they would go straight to surgery (if the cancer wasn't shrinking) or do one more round of chemo (if the tumor was responding well to the treatments.)

When we went in for the PET scan results we were super bummed to learn that the cancer is not only not responding to the chemo... but it has spread and is more active. They found a new spot on his liver and a new spot on his left femur... never what you want to hear from an oncologist. The doctors have come to the conclusion that because this is a "radiation induced tumor" (meaning, the radiation he received for the Hodgkin's Disease 20 years ago, caused this cancer-- how lame... right?!!) it is drug resistant, aggressive, and clever... it is finding away to keep thriving despite the drugs being pumped into Tommy Boy (what BASTARD cancer cells!) SO what does all that mean??

It means that curing this is no longer an option. Surgery is off the table... and we try to manage the bastard cells taking over. We meet with Dr. Ko at UCSF on Thursday and will learn more about what this means and what our dad's quality of life will be like. We are all feeling like we got punched in the stomach and a little pissed that we really can't seem to catch a break with this. My dad is still his same old self... and being our rock (go figure?!) Thank goodness he can hold it together... because it’s hard for us to at some points. He started a new chemo yesterday... and this one is supposed to be pretty gnarly (horrible side effects, and kind of just going to beat him up for about 6 weeks). So please pray that this chemo kicks some cancer ass... and that my dad tolerates it well... and that we can all remain optimistic despite the bleakness of the situation.

Thank you all so so so much for all of the love and support you have given us thus far... and for continuing it was we trudge down this new road of managing this bullshit cancer, instead of curing it.

Lots of love,
Whitney