The family celebrated John's (J.T. - but only the babies can call him J.T.) birthday. He'll be nine on Monday. Basketball is the sport and John's pretty good at making baskets!!!! The little kids all had a great time in the pool, including using their squirt guns on each other and anyone who came close, namely me. Bubba had the best seat in the "house" because he brought his own chair. The weather was great and so was the food.

Until next time,
Jan

This picture was taken on Tuesday, July 27, 2010. The blue + mark, center, right and left are the initial marks for radiation placement. Kemma and Graham decided to add their own artwork. The "don't hurt Bubba" was a hit with the radiation therapists.

Today was the real deal. Tom had his radiation treatment early a.m. then to the oncologist's office for chemo. The whole rigmarole of chemo lasted about 3 1/2 hours. This will happen once a week for five more weeks. However, as you can see, Tom had a comfortable place to be while those drugs were dripping through the IV. Next time we are bringing earphones, lap top and snacks!!

Until next time,
Jan

We got together with friends last Saturday for a BBQ. We were having such a good time that I forgot to take pictures. Fortunately, we were just finishing up some great desserts when the thunderstorm rolled over us. We got the worst of the storm driving home through Washoe Valley. Can't wait for the new section of freeway to be completed!

As I said before, plans change. Tom saw the oncologist today and due to a published study that has better results than the planned treatment, he is changing the chemo regime. The good thing is that Tom won't need a PICC line inserted. The chemo mix is now Carboplatin and Taxol, which will be given once a week. This study was done specifically with patients that have Tom's stage and type of esophageal cancer and showed good results.

J

After reading our last post I wandered around the site and checked the View My Complete Profile and had to laugh at "age: 43". The date we entered was our anniversary!!!! I guess that was the start of this Davis family.

What we know today is that after many appointments and another endoscopic ultrasound, chemo and radiation treatments will start next Wednesday, July 28. We are both sighing with relief that we have a real start date. I must say that we have met some very nice people on the way. Most have been extremely helpful and haven't seemed frustrated with all of our questions and concerns.

Otherwise, we are still working on our woodworking projects and enjoying the summer heat, the flower garden and the vegetable garden. What I should say about the garden is that Tom does all the work and I thoroughly enjoy the results, both flowers and vegetables.

Three of the six grand kids have summer birthdays. Graham's was last week and he wanted a giant cookie instead of a cake. It was yummy. John (JT) is next with a party next week-end. Then Kemma Jo. Kemma thought it was pretty cool that her Bubba might glow in the dark. What's really nice is we get to see them all together at each of the parties. Graham's party was an exception because Maria was one day post op for tonsils, adenoids and ear tubes. It sounds like she's enjoying the "sick card" and gets her brothers to run errands for her.

We got to enjoy a nice lunch with Andee today. We had intended to take her to Craig's but low and behold there is no Craig's anymore. So we had Sinbads hot dogs instead and Tom had about 2/3 of a Kraut dog. Whoopeeeeee

I'll close with saying that Tom is actually feeling pretty good and maintaining his weight.

Until next time........

Jan

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Tom and I thought we could have a place for family and friends to visit and to "hear" the latest in our battle with esophageal cancer.

Tom was diagnosed June 18th during a gastroscopy. He was having difficulty swallowing. When they put us in a private consultation room after the procedure instead of talking to us in the recovery room was my first clue to news they would impart.

It has been a whirlwind since that day. We left the procedure center with pending appointments for more testing and different doctor visits. Each time we found out what the next step would be, it entailed waiting for that next doctor visit or next procedure. Tom has had an endoscopic ultrasound, a CT, a visit with an oncologist, a PET CT scan and a visit with a surgeon and the radiation oncologist. The one thing we have learned is plans change. Some days they seemed to change by the minute.

What we know today is that, hopefully soon, Tom will start radiation therapy with adjunct chemo therapy. The chemo drugs are cisplatin and 5FU. Please ignore any misspellings, particularly of drugs and procedure names. I think the chemo will be given the first week and fourth week of 5-7weeks of radiation treatments. I think they will do retesting and if all is as it should be, a month or so of rest, then surgery.