Very Busy Week with a New Plan

So much has happened since my post of January 6.

Last week Larry had his first chemo treatment and became the proud owner of a navy blue man-purse. He did quite well with the chemo. Mild nausea was the only side effect and it was only in the morning and not every day. Not bad at all.

We had a quiet weekend – attended Mike's basketball game on Saturday and Larry's family visited on Sunday. Then the fun began!

• Monday and Tuesday – work
• Surgeon from Cleveland Clinic called on Tuesday – appointment scheduled for next day (unexpected!)
• Wednesday – traveled to Cleveland Clinic to see two oncologists and a surgeon that specializes in esophageal surgery (the one who spoke to us on Tuesday)
• Thursday – three appointments at home – chemo oncologist, family doctor and another surgeon
• Friday – Cleveland Clinic for testing and meeting with surgeon – all to determine whether Larry is fit for the difficult surgery (he is)

We feel that the Cleveland Clinic surgeon is the right surgeon for Larry as he does more of these surgeries in a week than anyone in Toledo does in a year. So we have committed to Cleveland Clinic for all medical care. The Clinic requires that all testing and treatments be done in Cleveland. They use a different chemo / radiation regimen, so we need to start over.

Chemo in Toledo has been stopped – Larry was happy to turn in the man-purse! Radiation was scheduled to start Thursday – it was postponed to next week, but will be canceled. We had a good conversation with the Toledo chemo oncologist – he agrees with our decision and will be happy to take us back for follow-up care.

So what's next? A couple more single day visits to Cleveland for radiation planning sessions. Then on January 31, Larry will begin a two week stay in Cleveland for aggressive chemo / radiation treatment. The first week will be inpatient chemo and radiation treatment. The second week will be outpatient and will be radiation only, but the radiation is twice daily so we need to stay locally. We have been offered free housing through the American Cancer Society. Our wallet says THANK YOU. We're hoping to come home on the weekend between treatment weeks but that will depend on how Larry feels.

After treatment, there will be a waiting period before surgery. We're guessing surgery will be in late March or early April. Following some weeks of recovery from surgery, Larry will repeat the two week chemo / radiation regimen that was done pre-surgery. The only dates we know for certain are the two weeks of treatment starting January 31. All other dates depend on how Larry's body reacts to the treatment and how quickly he can recover from treatment and surgery.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. Both will be needed over the next few months.

Pat