Joe went to the hospital last Monday nite by ambulance. He was not getting any fluid in and he was in a lot of pain. Since he's on chemo, he has to get approximately 64 ounces of liquid into his body some how, every day. Since that wasn't happening, he was admitted into the ICU at Brigham & Womens. He was given delauden (sp?) intravenously for pain and had all sorts of xrays, scans, etc. And he was given nutrients intravenously. Today, Dr. Jackman (oncologist) met with Joe and Joan to discuss next steps. Jeff was there (not sure if others were there as well). There is a tumor on Joe's esophogus which is rather large (not sure if this is from the same mass or it's new - I didn't ask). That is preventing Joe from swallowing and getting food/water into his stomach. Based on the discussion with Dr. Jackman, Joe is going to try radiation to shrink the tumor. Joe has decided to leave the chemo open for now. When it's time for the next chemo treatment, the doctor will assess Joe at that time and they (Joe, Joan and Doc) will decide if he will have chemo then or maybe wait a bit. Right now Joe is being tattooed for his radiation treatment. He will be radiated 5 days a week for 3 - 6 weeks. If I've got this correct, Joe will have radiation on his front one day, his side the next day, the back the day after, etc. I think they are alternating sides every day. Hopefully, the tumor shrinks and Joe can start swallowing and get food/water into his body. I also think, although I could be wrong, first radiation treatment is tomorrow.
I will try and update this again on either Saturday or Sunday.
I will try and update this again on either Saturday or Sunday.
