Forgive me for quoting myself, but I wanted to give an update on my dad.
A scan in September showed a spot in the Kidney that they wanted to monitor, but otherwise the scan was looking pretty good. The spot in the lung in the scans was determined to be scar tissue from the surgery and not something to worry about. They wanted to keep an eye on the Kidney and scheduled a follow up scan after my brother's wedding in the middle of October. My dad was performing the ceremony, and they didn't want the testing or any treatment needed to get in the way of the wedding.
The followup scan however not only showed the kidney issue, but an extremely fast growing (since it wasn't there in the scan just a month prior) tumor in the muscle tissue around the spinal column. Biopsies showed this to be melanoma as well. Because of how fast it spread, and how it was spread throughout the muscle, they are not able to operate.
Monday he starts a very aggressive treatment to try and slow the growth and hopefully shrink it to the point that they can operate. His brother who has Melanoma as well has responded very well to this type of treatment. It's one of those though that if the cancer doesn't kill ya, the side effect just might. But it's the best hope at this point.
We're heading up to see my folks and the rest of the family for Thanksgiving. Then in a few weeks I'll be heading back up on my own to spend time with my folks as the side effects from treatment start kicking in so that I can be there to help out. Fortunately, I've been able to work things out on the job front to allow me some extended time away.
Thanks everyone for the prayers and smoke.
Cancer sucks.
