Cisplatin/Platinol was available for him to get. He got through the five days with lots of visitors and good care from Mom, and Parkridge Hospital. So many wonderful nurses care for him, and good friends ( and granddaughter Karen) come to visit him to help that time pass by easier. He got out of the hospital Sunday, then went to Vanderbilt Hospital on Tuesday for the two surgeon appointments. Even though this surgery is going to be rough no matter what, these surgeons believe his is a concentrated stomach cancer, not esophageal, and will be taking the upper half of his stomach and all stomach lymph nodes, leaving the lower half, and a small part taken of the esophagus. All depending on finding clean, cancer free border tissue. This surgery is a better one to recover from than the previous esophageal replacement surgery that was first considered. Both Drs stressed they believed they are not gong to find surprises and believe the surgery will go as planned. No guarantees ever in medicine but they sounded very positive.
The recovery will be difficult because leakage at the connection site of the stomach and esophagus is usual and problematic. But once that is resolved he should be back to eating normally except that his stomach will be smaller. The road to recovery will be a long one but Dad is a fighter!
He needs many, many prayers to get through this very difficult surgery. He has been through so very much , so much. He has been getting very tired.
The third round of chemotherapy is Jan 17 for another five days, then
after he recovers he will be at Vanderbilt on Feb 10 for pre-op testing and surgery scheduling. He should be in the hospital for a week after surgery.
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