My Story - Part Nine

Things started off good in 2008. There was no inkling of things to come later that year at the beginning of the year.

I was still off work after being laid off the previous June. I was enjoying the time off.

In early January, I watched the KU football team beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. It was a great win for the football team!. What was even better was watching the football team destroy Nebraska in football that season.

On April 7, 2008, the Kansas Jayhawks won their third national men's basketball title. I remember watching the game with family and friends that night.

The week of the national championship game, my dad asked my mom to make him an appointment with their internist. My dad was not feeling well. In fact, I don't think that he felt that well all winter long.

On Thurs., April 10th, my dad went to the doctor. The doctor told him he may have seen a possible tumor on the x-ray. But then the doctor said he did not see anything like that on the chest x-ray. He diagnosed my dad with pneumonia.

In a week, my dad went back to the doctor. This time, my mom went to because she was not feeling well. She had a chest x-ray which showed nothing. The doctor decided to do CT scans on both since my dad was not feeling any better. They both had CT scans the week of April 21st. On Monday, April 28th, my world crumbled. My mom came into the bathroom and saw on the toilet and told me that that both of their scans showed suspicious spots. My dad had spots in one of his lungs and on his liver. My mom had a spot in her upper left lung. I knew that they both had cancer. I just knew it.

The internist got my dad into the pulmonary specialist on Thurs., May 1st. He went to the appointment and she pretty much told him that he had cancer. She scheduled a biopsy for the next afternoon. My middle brother and I took Dad for the biopsy. She came out and told us that whatever he had it was angry-looking. On Tues., May 6th, we got his results. My dad had extensive small cell lung cancer. It is an aggressive form of lung cancer that responds initially to treatment but can come back and will not respond to treatment once it comes back. On Wed., May 7th, my dad had a PET scan to see how much the cancer had spread.

Dad's pain became unbearable that day. We had to admit him to the hospital on Thurs., May 8th for pain management. The day he was admitted to the hospital, we met with the oncologist. I had already looked up the oncologist's name and his credentials on the internet beforehand. The oncologist came walking in the door and I greeted him. I told him that I had seen his photo and credentials online. The oncologist gave us the prognosis of one to three years with treatment and a matter of weeks without treatment. Dad had cancer in his lungs, on his liver, and in his bones. My dad opted for treatment. They started my dad on radiation treatments during his three-day hospitalization. My dad had ten radiation treatments. He had three rounds of Carboplatin and Etoposide. My dad developed severe esophagitis from the radiation.

On Fri., May 9th, my mom had an appointment with the pulmonary specialist. My sister-in-law and I went to the appointment with her. I saw her CT scan and it clearly showed a spot on the upper lobe of her left lung. There were also some lymph nodes that were swollen in the chest area. My mom was scheduled for a biopsy and a PET scan the following week. On May 15th, we received her results... Stage III or IV lung cancer. She was referred to the same oncologist as my dad. Mom had to undergo a colonoscopy because an area lit up on her colon on the PET scan, My mom's diagnosis was Stage III lung cancer (adenocarcinoma) My mom underwent the following treatment: Four rounds of Carboplatin/Taxol/Avastin over the summer of 2008, two rounds of Cisplatin and Etoposide along with thirty-five radiation treatments to the left lung over the fall of 2008, two rounds of Alimta in July 2009, and 60 days of Tarceva from August to October of 2009.

In the midst of all of the diagnosis and treatment, my oldest niece got married on June 14, 2008. It was a lovely outdoor wedding. My dad had to have some blood the day before the wedding, He managed well at the wedding.

The day after the wedding, I got my dad signed up with pallative care. It was Father's Day and my birthday. I loved Pat, his primary nurse. She was great. We eventually had a wonderful social worker named Peggy. Peggy was a Godsend for me.

My dad did not handle his diagnosis or treatment very well. My mom did not want to deal with his mental or physical issues because she was dealing with her own. It was very emotional draining for me as I was the primary caregiver.

In July 2001, my oldest brother found out that his kidneys was failing. He was told that he would more than likely need a kidney transplant within twenty years. In May 2006, my brother was told that he would need a kidney transplant within the next 18 to 24 months. I was not found to be a match due to blood type.. He is O+ and I am A+. Our middle brother was found to be a perfect match. Our middle brother went thru the testing and was chosen to be his donor in the summer of 2006. In May 2008, my oldest brother was told that it was time to do the transplant. With my parents' treatment schedule, the transplant was not done until September 12, 2008. On Friday, September, 12, 2008, my middle brother's right kidney was removed and placed in my oldest brother. I was at the hospital the day of the surgery. My middle brother was released from the hospital four days after surgery and my oldest brother five days after surgery. My oldest brother had to be re-admitted to the hospital for a couple of days due to dehydration issues. Since the transplant surgery, both of my brothers have done well.

Later in September, we found out that my dad's cancer was growing again. He was given the option of trying Topotecan or not pursuing treatment. Dad decided not to pursue treatment and I switched him from pallative care to hospice care on October 1st. By October 7th, my dad was in an inpatient hospice facility. He passed away peacefully at 6:25 AM on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

In the meantime, my best friend and her partner decided to build a home in a small town in Missouri. Construction was started on the home in July 2008 and completed in October 2008. In fact, they moved in the day my dad passed away.

My mom continued on with her treatments through part of the fall of 2008. The four rounds of Carboplatin/Taxol/Avastin failed to work on the cancer. She got a reprieve from treatment beginning in mid November. In February 2009, she flew out to see her birthmom who was not expected to live very long. After she got home, Mom had a bad cold. She had a CT scan in March 2009 that showed an enlarged lymph node. Everyone thought that it was due to the cold that she had just had. The oncologist scheduled the next CT scan for June 2009. In April, Mom got really sick with a flu-like virus that kept her in bed for several days. On June 15, 2009, she had a CT scan. We got the results a week later showing that the cancer was growing once again. Mom had two rounds of Alimta that failed to keep the cancer in check. In August 2009, she went on Tarceva, an oral chemo. Her cancer continued to grow while on Tarceva. In the fall of 2009, the oncologist tried to get my mom into a trial but her LDH was too high. In late November 2009, Mom decided to stop treatment. I admitted Mom to hospice on Sat., Dec. 5th. We had a great hospice team, which I am forever grateful for. On December 25, 2009, I admitted my mom to an inpatient hospice facility. At 7:45 PM on Wed., December 30, 2009, my mom passed away peacefully. Some of my family were eating at a nearby restaurant when we got the call that my mom had passed away.

In the meantime, my best friend lost her mom on July 13, 2009. Her mom passed away due to heart issues and other medical issues.

The years 2008 and 2009 were not the best years of my life. They were full of anger and sadness. Don't get me wrong... There were some good times in there too.