Back in the Mountains

We returned from Denver last night, hauling Vic with us up the mountain.  Thanks to Lauren Ciarallo (that's Kip's better half for those who don't know her last name, like me) for hooking Vic up with a room at the Cascade. Not too shabby.

Vic is going to help Tony work on his finances and on a living will this week before he leaves.  I know it seems morbid but it needs to get done...

Tony's Bucket List

Tony seems to be very bravely accepting his mortality. I'm sure there will be days ahead when he is very pissed-off at the hand he has been dealt... But today he was giving serious thought to his personal Bucket List.

For anyone who hasn't seen the movie The Bucket List, a bittersweet drama/comedy, here's the scenario:
When corporate mogul Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and mechanic Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) wind up in the same hospital room, the two terminally ill men bust out of the cancer ward with a plan to experience life to the fullest before they kick the bucket.

So far, the Top 2 items on Tony's bucket list are (1) following the Tour de France 2011, and I mean in France in a Motorhome, not on the Versus Channel, and (2) playing golf at Pebble Beach.

Followed by:

• Spending quality time with our families (extended families included) and close friends
• Golfing in Maui with Brian and Dennis.. and generally just playing as much golf as possible
• Fishing in Mexico with Phil and Michelle Bennett (and hopefully Jamie and Gareth Insull)
• Visiting the Umbria region of Italy with the Manueles following the Tour, maybe followed by a trip to Croatia
• Climbing Kiliminjaro
• Visiting his homeland of Australia and seeing his Mum and stepbrothers

What's in your Bucket List?

Merry Christmas!

Unexpected Visitors for Christmas

Wow, what a great Christmas gift for Tony - Brian and Dennis decided to make a roadtrip from Vail on Christmas morning!  Thanks guys for making his day and sharing the Christmas Spirit.

Heartbreaking Christmas

There is no easy way to say this...

On Wednesday night we drove down to Denver for a PET scan first thing Thursday morning, in preparation for surgery Thursday night.  We stayed at Amy and Matt's house (thank you!) and exchanged presents, knowing that Christmas Day might be a little hectic at the hospital, and went to bed early.

The PET scan went according to plan. We had some lunch with Sean Fraser and beautiful little Elsa and shot over to Sprint to check out their corporate deal on new cell phones.

En route we got a call from Dr. Imola with some very bad news.  In addition to the tumor due for removal in his neck, The PET scan showed at a minimum 28 tumors in Tony's lungs.

There was no beating around the bush. Tumors in the lungs are inoperable, and mostly uncurable.  Dr. Imola gave us the heartbreaking news, that in his opinion, Tony probably has 6-12 months to live.
We were dumbfounded and sat by the road and cried a little bit.

Further chemo is an optional treatment plan, but will likely just make Tony sick again and not do much good.

Tony did go through surgery, although not the full neck dissection that was originally planned. The new plan was less traumatic and surgery went off without a hitch on Thursday night.  Tonight he is resting comfortably at Swedish Hospital in Denver.

We are adjusting to his likely "expiration date" (Tony's words, not mine).

Friday (today) we are trying to deal with the inevitable. Tony's spirits were good today, but i'm sure there are going to be lots of highs and lows in the coming days.

My dad arrived in town last night and is helping us through this with his matter-of-fact perspective. 

Kip and Lauren came for a visit today.  Amy was an angel and brought us a Christmas tree and lights to brighten up Tony's room. It is the little things right now that will make all the difference.

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers. We wish you and your family a happy holiday.
Cheers...

MRI & Big Night Out

Tony had an MRI today at the VVMC in preparation for the surgery on Thursday.  Wendy and Brian Lews, two very good friends are moving to Maui, so we got together tonight to say good-bye. 

Below are Brian Lew, Tony and Dennis O'Halloran.

Black Friday and I'm not talking about shopping discounts

Today we met with Dr. Mario Imola the Surgeon in Denver who did the initial surgery back in June 2010.   There is no messing around this time-- this 2nd tumor was totally resistant to chemo and radiation (after the most intense chemo and radiation schedule you can imagine) and it continues to grow since the last Cat-Scan on 11/29. General consensus from the docs is that it's the same cancer that came through the throat/neck down into the other side - squamous cell carcinoma.  Everyone is perplexed at the rate with which it moved and grew (and shrunk briefly) and grew again...

Surgery scheduled for 5:00 pm next Thursday, Christmas Eve-Eve.   We'll be at Swedish Hospital for the holidays if anyone is in the neighborhood.  Ho Ho Ho....  Merry Fucking Xmas (SORRY DAD!)

The surgical team will need to chisel away at Tony's jaw to get the tumor away from his jaw -- it's in there good.  Not sure yet what that will mean for future reconstructive work, but that is the least of our worries.  :)   We'll take that as it comes.

The tumor is also right up against the skin, so skin grafts from the chest are likely.  I hope his chest hairs are the same color as his facial hair... haha... sorry, lame attempt at a joke.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.  We hope that your holidays are brilliant!

Cheers and good night.

Sandie and Tony.

Chemo and Radiation Didn't Work: Next Steps

On Tuesday we met with Dr Hardenberg, the Radiation Oncologist. She is not recommending further radiation, rather recommends Tony return for surgery as soon as he is healthy enough.  Healthy means recovering from the radiation damage to his neck, and also getting protein, weight, energy back so he can endure surgical trauma.

As a last ditch effort and wing-on-a-prayer, we met today with Dr. Strahan who is the ENT locally. He did several needle biopsies which resulted in ZERO fluids, meaning that the mass is not fluid in any form, no infection or an abscess. Who would have thought we'd be praying for a stinky, pussy, infectious fluid to come out. Gross, but NO!   It is diagnosed now to be just a mass of cancer.  Boooo.....

Tomorrow Tony is scheduled for a CT-Scan at the Shaw Cancer Center, which will again measure the size of the mass.  Everyone is recommending we start planning for surgery again as it will take weeks to get on a surgeons schedule, and plus Tony needs reovery time.

So Friday we drive back to Denver to Dr. Imola who did Tony's first surgery, for a consultation.

We are expecting that Tony will undergo surgery again, sometime in early-mid January 2011.

Happy Crappy New Years...

Treatment Extended

On Tuesday, Tony had another session of chemo that was not part of the original treatment plan. You can tell the doctors are perplexed... wondering why this heavy chemo and radiation is not killing this tumor. It's very frustrating and scary for us too.

We've discussed two alternatives. One is more radiation which will probably result in deterioration of the jawbone, requiring reconstructive surgery of the jaw. The tumor is locked right under the jaw bone, and there is no way around traumatizing it with further radiation.

The second alternative is to wait a few weeks to see results and heal from the radiation, and then surgically remove what they can.  Given Tony's first experience with sugery, you can imagine he isn't super excited about that option any more than the first. 

We want to thank Leeza, Tony's chemo nurse, who finally suggested a drip tube for fluids and nutrition.  Tony has barely been able to hold anything down once it was "forced" into the feeding tube with a syringe and a push. The slower drip feeding/drinking is working much better which is really helping him stay hydrated and somewhat "eating". He can sit there for an hour and not even be bothered with it... it's much less invasive and traumatic.

We've been watching alot of the Food Channel this week, particularly a show called "Man vs. Food".  Last night they featured Reading Terminal Market with cheesesteaks, pork sandwiches, hoagies. Tony is building up a huge appetite for when the time comes.  Yesterday he had a bit of a grilled cheese sandwhich and some soup, but it tasted yucky and he wants to stay on liquids for a little longer. It sucks to eat something that smells so good, and have it taste like metal.  Booooo.....

Good night.