It's Finished

This posting is a little late. Thank you for your concern and your prayers.

Tuesday, December 28th, the last day of radiation finally arrived. Praise God, Hallejuah the treatment phase is behind us (Bobby has had to do the hard work of receiving the treatment and mom and dad have had to watch him go through it). We met with Dr. Eisenberg before going to radiation. He said Bobby made the right decision to not have the third round of Cisplatin because as it turns out, his blood counts were so low, he wouldn't have been able to have it anyway. That was nice to hear. Dr. Eisenberg is satisfied that they have done everything possible to beat this. He said if the cancer comes back it's just "bad luck". There are more scans and test and doctor visits in Bobby's future but Dr. Eisenberg said he's had enough for now and he can wait a couple months to get another CT or PET scan. Dr. E told Bobby he'd done well.

Radiation was to the head and neck and was over in 20 minutes or so. They rewarded Bobby by giving him a graduation certificate and his radiation mask. He said he might put a hat and sunglasses on it and prop it up in the passenger's seat of his car....or he might burn it. He looks a bit like a Storm Trooper with his mask on. I think he should keep it.

The staff warned Bobby that the days to come would probably be the worst that he's had regarding side effects. They were right. His throat had been very sore to the point that he was using the feeding tube exclusively and couldn't imagine it would get worse but it did. He had to increase his meds to keep ahead of the pain. The fatigue has been overwhelming. His blood counts have continued to drop even lower which is the cause of the fatigue. The doctors are wanting his body to recover on it's own without additional boosters. If the counts continue to drop, he'll need a blood transfusion which would require an overnight stay in the hospital. He doen't do well with the hospital stays so we are praying that his numbers will start to head back up. He is staying steady with his weight. Holding at 150-152.

Bobby had planned to come home for some R&R but he had to see what his blood counts were first. His labs were done on Sunday. Monday he let us know that the doctor told him to put any travel plans on hold for now. His blood counts are still very low. His immune system isn't up to fighting off anything right now. Besides the fatigue, he is experiencing equilibrium and balance problems. He'll be checking in with the doctor to see what that's about.

We're all looking forward to Bobby feeling better. He does have good days. We want more of those. When he calls to say he's going to the canyon for a week, alone, I'll know he feels strong again.

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,"
Philippians 3:13