moving forward

Today has truly been a great day, and evidence that prayers do not go unanswered! Sean had a great day, even ate dinner on his own, holding his own fork, which sounds so minor, but really is an accomplishment. We were blessed to have our dear friends David and Rachel Lys come to visit today and, since they are both in the physical therapy field, were able to spend about two hours giving us exercises that we can do together and some that Sean can do on his own. It was so wonderful to see them and their beautiful baby Brighton and we felt so excited to be getting some help that is really useful.

Prudy and Brian worked together to find a physical therapist today and contacted a local VA office, where we spoke with a very nice gentleman who is going to put us in touch with a physical therapist and, if necessary, transportation, and a counselor. Sean rates a lot of free services because he is considered 100% disabled through the VA.

And, finally, we spoke to Dr Raj, Sean's oncologist, this evening and she is calling in the prescription for Tamoxifen so we can start it tomorrow. This is a drug that is primarily used for breast cancer but has been used to treat other types of cancer also. This is a drug that we have not tried yet and are very hopeful about. One of the major side effects of this drug is blood clots and with Sean's level of activity and being on testosterone, which also contribute to blood clots, Dr Raj has decided to also put him on a minor blood thinner, just in case. So he is thrilled about this.

We did hear from our nurse practitioner at NIH this morning and she said that she received the radiologist's report on last week's MRI and that the results "are not good." We will receive this report tomorrow. Regardless, we kinda expected bad news and we've been preparing for that, so it was no news that we were not already expecting.

Overall, we are so grateful for all of the positive thoughts and prayers that have been sent our way and we are incredibly blessed people to have so much support and love around us on a daily basis. We are moving forward...

what a weekend

Well, there's no beating around the bush here. We went to NIH on Friday for chemo and the docs wanted to see Sean about his chest congestion to make sure he didn't have any infection that would prevent him from receiving the chemo. There was no infection, but the doc was not pleased with Sean's physical state. So he sat us down and informed us that he feels as though it is time to update Sean's will and sign a power of attorney. He feels as though all of Sean's physical symptoms are tumor-related and that there is no further treatment he can give him at NIH. So that is where we are with NIH and our docs there.

Now, you have all met Sean and know that he is "hard core" and a very determined individual. He is convinced that this is something that can be beat and he is the man for the job! So we are researching all of our options, traditional and alternative. Of course, he is still taking chinese herbs twice a day and we will be visiting the chinese doc by the end of the week or next week. We have a neighbor who practices Reiki, which is a Japanese healing therapy that Sean really enjoys so we have her on-board. We have also put a call in to a physical therapist that Lauren recommended.

So we have an MRI on Thursday, and are anxious to see what it shows. We are scheduled to have an evaluation of the MRI at NIH on Friday, but we haven't decided whether we are going to go for this or not. We may just go see our outside oncologist instead and seek further options through her. There is a drug that we have not tried yet that we are looking into and discussing with the docs.

We are hopeful and Sean is not done yet, he has told us that he has a lot more left to do. We are staying positive and appreciate all of the positive thoughts and prayers that everyone is sending our way. They make such a difference.

oh boy!

Well it has been a challenging few days here at the Carabine residence. We have been trying to get a nurse lined up, and just when we thought we had one, they called to say that they are having staffing problems and cannot help us at this time. We are getting the runaround from the docs and feel like we are running in circles! It's not helpful when the doc handling your case is only in the office three days a week and when you have as many hands in the basket as we do, it makes it even more complicated. Yesterday we were blessed enough to have Bert and Leah come over and Leah and I were able to run some errands while Bert sat with Sean. This was very nice! But having an easy day just isn't in the cards for us yet, so last night (this morning really, it was 1am!) Sean's tummy gave us fit! Not sure if it was the chemo (or the Burrito Ultimo he had for lunch!) but either way it led us to a sleepless night and lots of cleaning up! But this morning we woke up to more of this darn nurse business, which is still not straightened out, but I have calls in to everyone involved, and Sean is feeling better after some breakfast and good ol' Gatorade! Keeping our heads up...