News past and present

Hi, Marcia (Anne’s sister) here.  Those of you coming to this site for the first time likely arrived via a link in Anne and Gary’s Christmas Greeting.  For you, here is the Reader’s Digest version of the events of the last several months.

Last spring, Gary was diagnosed with stomach cancer.  As he learned more about this disease and his treatment plan, he started this blog…

a) to keep friends and family informed

b) as a means to process through this significant challenge in his life and

c) as an excuse to use his “unique” sense of humor

When he has not felt like updating it, I have filled in.

Gary’s treatment began with nine weeks of chemotherapy.  This included carrying around a device he named Picard (after a contest on this site) which administered the chemo 24/7 and an additional three mega doses he received three weeks apart.  The mega doses, of course, were the difficult ones, and the few days after he received each one were pretty miserable for him.

In September, his stomach was robotically removed by the amazing Dr. Tseng.  A part of his small intestine became his new stomach and he spent the next several weeks recovering from surgery.  This included both tube and TPN (directly to the veins) feeding and was not without complications – a leak, an infection scare, etc.  Being able to eat again has been challenging as he can only eat very small amounts (and so must do so several times a day) and much of the time just hasn’t felt that well. Fortunately, this gets better over time.

The good news – Gary’s tumor did not like the chemo and all but disappeared as a result of the chemotherapy.  The doctors believe that they removed what little was left when they did the surgery and optimism abounds.

Throughout all of this, Anne has been amazing.  The fact that she is a dietitian combined with her attention to detail and devotion has made an unbelievable difference in this extremely difficult situation.

THE LATEST NEWS

This brings us to where we are today.  Gary started his last nine weeks of chemo last Wednesday.  Although it is still not easy, this round seems no worse than the first.  Through a combination of new information and trial and error some of the drugs he is taking are not only helping him feel better, but are also allowing him to sleep better at night.

Anne and I have this image of a paper chain in our minds – you know, the kind we used to use as children to count down the days until Christmas.   This chain, instead, counts the days until Gary is finished with his treatment and some normalcy can begin to return to their lives.  There are still several links on the chain, but today there is one fewer than yesterday and tomorrow there will me one fewer than today.  And, there are certainly fewer than there were last spring! Many thanks to all of you for your support, past and future, as the chain gets shorter and shorter.