Saturday, August 11, 2007
Ups and Downs
The good news is that my father, Dick McBrine, was only in the hospital a few nights, does not need surgery and was just put on a new medication.
Other good news is that Gary finished his final chemo treatment on Wednesday and now has a month off before he starts radiation.
Mark had one of his most difficult weeks in memory but it was extreme exhaustion and weakness more than anything else. One day, he got up to shave before his daily radiation treatment and he was TOTALLY worn out from that simple activity. He slept about 20 hours a day all week and had a low grade fever all week. He had radiation every day, he still has pneumonia and we change dressings on his burn twice a day. The biggest problem is that the antibiotics which he has now been taking since mid-June have caused him so many stomach problems, he has trouble eating anything and has begun to lose weight. However, we visited Dr. Aviles this afternoon and he has decided the advantages of stopping antibiotics outweigh the benefits that the antibiotics may deliver at this point. So, Mark is stopping those immediately and now has compazine for upset stomachs and Attivan which is a tranquilizer which calms the entire nervous system. These drugs, along with the halting of the antibiotics should address the stomach problems and help him to regain his appetite. Although Mark really needs chemo in addition to the radiation, Dr. Aviles can not forsee starting that with the condition Mark is currently in and the expected burn he will develop from radiation treatments for the next 6-7 weeks. So, he is putting off chemo treatments and will reevaluate in a few weeks following blood tests.
Despite Mark's daily radiation trips to Hyannis and almost constant sleeping when home, we have been able to have a few fun nights with the kids while Kevin is home for his short stay. Kevin leaves this evening to start college next week so we were even able to drag Mark out to New Seabury for dinner Friday so we could all gather for Kevin's final night. All the food and the smells were a little overwhelming for Mark who really couldn't eat but it was fun and comical to be with the kids as always. The Sheehan clan may be interested to know that their cousin, Janice Murphy, who has a house in Osterville, was at New Seabury Friday night too, recognized Mark after not seeing him for about 15 years and came over to talk. It was nice to be able to introduce her to the boys, Steph and Kristina but she was devastated with our sad news.
Unless there are any dramatic changes, I will wait to update the blog until after Mark's appointment with Dr. Aviles on August 27th. He will probably be sleeping a lot with the daily radiation treatments but hopefully, he will be able to regain his appetite and not be quite as sensitive to sun by then. The photodynamics therapy effects were supposed to gradually diminish over a six week period.
Our sincere gratitude goes to our many neighbors who have been offering to cook meals to help us out. I rarely cooked anyhow, so it will be nice to have some home cooked meals! Also much appreciation for our incredible sons who have kept us laughing through it all and especially to Dr. Aviles, Mark's oncologist, who we adore because he is so compassionate, explains things so well to us, gives us the most logical and sensible advice of all the doctors we've seen and is able to bring calm to us and rejeuvenate both of us every time we visit. And, best of all, he is curing Gary of cancer!
As always, if you want to communicate, the best way is to e-mail me at sheehan@cape.com. I print out all messages which are specifically earmarked for Mark. And, if you want to be added to the list of those who are notified every time I publish a new post, send me an e-mail requesting to be added to the list.
Other good news is that Gary finished his final chemo treatment on Wednesday and now has a month off before he starts radiation.
Mark had one of his most difficult weeks in memory but it was extreme exhaustion and weakness more than anything else. One day, he got up to shave before his daily radiation treatment and he was TOTALLY worn out from that simple activity. He slept about 20 hours a day all week and had a low grade fever all week. He had radiation every day, he still has pneumonia and we change dressings on his burn twice a day. The biggest problem is that the antibiotics which he has now been taking since mid-June have caused him so many stomach problems, he has trouble eating anything and has begun to lose weight. However, we visited Dr. Aviles this afternoon and he has decided the advantages of stopping antibiotics outweigh the benefits that the antibiotics may deliver at this point. So, Mark is stopping those immediately and now has compazine for upset stomachs and Attivan which is a tranquilizer which calms the entire nervous system. These drugs, along with the halting of the antibiotics should address the stomach problems and help him to regain his appetite. Although Mark really needs chemo in addition to the radiation, Dr. Aviles can not forsee starting that with the condition Mark is currently in and the expected burn he will develop from radiation treatments for the next 6-7 weeks. So, he is putting off chemo treatments and will reevaluate in a few weeks following blood tests.
Despite Mark's daily radiation trips to Hyannis and almost constant sleeping when home, we have been able to have a few fun nights with the kids while Kevin is home for his short stay. Kevin leaves this evening to start college next week so we were even able to drag Mark out to New Seabury for dinner Friday so we could all gather for Kevin's final night. All the food and the smells were a little overwhelming for Mark who really couldn't eat but it was fun and comical to be with the kids as always. The Sheehan clan may be interested to know that their cousin, Janice Murphy, who has a house in Osterville, was at New Seabury Friday night too, recognized Mark after not seeing him for about 15 years and came over to talk. It was nice to be able to introduce her to the boys, Steph and Kristina but she was devastated with our sad news.
Unless there are any dramatic changes, I will wait to update the blog until after Mark's appointment with Dr. Aviles on August 27th. He will probably be sleeping a lot with the daily radiation treatments but hopefully, he will be able to regain his appetite and not be quite as sensitive to sun by then. The photodynamics therapy effects were supposed to gradually diminish over a six week period.
Our sincere gratitude goes to our many neighbors who have been offering to cook meals to help us out. I rarely cooked anyhow, so it will be nice to have some home cooked meals! Also much appreciation for our incredible sons who have kept us laughing through it all and especially to Dr. Aviles, Mark's oncologist, who we adore because he is so compassionate, explains things so well to us, gives us the most logical and sensible advice of all the doctors we've seen and is able to bring calm to us and rejeuvenate both of us every time we visit. And, best of all, he is curing Gary of cancer!
As always, if you want to communicate, the best way is to e-mail me at sheehan@cape.com. I print out all messages which are specifically earmarked for Mark. And, if you want to be added to the list of those who are notified every time I publish a new post, send me an e-mail requesting to be added to the list.
# posted by The Sheehan Family @ 12:03 AM 
