Making Progress

Troy is still doing well and making good progress in the healing process. The chest tube and one other drain tube was removed today. The heart monitor was also removed. That leaves only the central IV line and of course the feeding tube. He is finally free to move around as nothing is attaching him to any machines or IV poles. He even got out of that hospital gown today!

He has been feeling quite a bit more pain since they removed the epidural yesterday. He had so much pain last night that the doctors finally agreed to give him morphine in order to help get control over it. He's doing better this morning, but we are definitely staying "on top" of the pain using several medications.

The surgeon came in and spent quite a bit of time going over the pathology reports. I don't think we could have asked for better results. No cancer in the lymph nodes and, according to Dr. Ramchandani, he removed lots of lymph nodes for biopsy. The tumor had shrunk considerably and, if I understood the medical terminology, it had shrunk to what they call pre cancer cells, meaning that the radiation and chemo killed all the cancer cells and the surgery removed the remaining tumor. Praise God!!!!!!

You're in pretty good shape for the shape you are in. ~Dr. Seuss

Saturday

Today started out great. We both had a restful night and when they woke us up at 4:30 this morning Troy was feeling good. I know there is probably a very good reason, but I have yet to figure out why he needs to be weighed at 4:30 am. I can understand the blood pressure, blood sugar, temperature, even the lab work, but he has to get out of bed and step onto the scale to be weighed. It's not so bad now that he is several days post surgery, but it was difficult the first few days after surgery, seems crazy! I know they keep a close eye on his weight to judge the amount of fluid that is retained. Anyway, just one of those fun things about being in the hospital.

They removed him from the IV fluids which resulted in getting rid of one of those big boxes on his IV pole. It didn't really get rid of any lines connected to him, but it just seems better to have one less thing to deal with. They also removed him from the oxygen today. That's another tube gone - yippee! Today's struggles are not talking and dealing with the catheter. He can't wait to get rid of that particular tube - for obvious reasons.

Troy decided that he felt good enough to get up and shave and have a quick sponge bath. It was his first time in the bathroom so that was an accomplishment. He shaved and washed up and still felt so good that we gathered up all the apparatuses (or would it be apparati? - no, according to spell check it would be apparatuses) and took a walk around the halls. We did the same thing again around 9:00 am. Just look at the difference a few days has made.

Everyone is very pleased with Troy's progress. He is doing great and his surgeon expects the Barium Swallow Test on Monday to go well. I sure hope so because that is the target for removing the chest tube, it's also when he will start to be able to swallow some liquids. It will stay in place until they are certain that there is no leak in the anastomosis (that's where they sew the stomach to the throat).

It's really interesting how many doctors are involved in Troy's care. There's the surgeon, oncologist, internist, otoloaryngolist (for his vocal chord), anestiologist (in charge of his pain management). The nurses and physician's assistants have been great as well. I can't say it enough - I'm so glad we chose to get Troy's treatment here at Methodist Hospital. What a great organization. I'm amazed that they can operate as smoothly as they do.

Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death. ~Author Unknown

The Laryngoscopy

Troy underwent his laryngoscopy this morning. Basically they inject a special gelfoam into his vocal flap (vocal chord) since the chord was temporarily paralyzed during surgery. He is on voice rest. The doctor said that he could speak conservatively, but the less he speaks the better. This should be interesting! He has a pad and paper and of course "the look"! We are still working on the sign language.

According to what we have been told, his voice will sound hoarse and probably somewhat different that his normal voice for about 6 months. After that, the hope is that the paralyzed flap will heal and work properly again. There is a chance that it won't and his voice will always be different, but the doctors do expect it to correct within the next 6 months. Troy says he hopes he ends up with Kris Kristopherson's speaking voice, but not his singing voice!

He's still doing great. The doctors are all very pleased with his progress. They had planned to remove his chest tube today but the doctor that did the procedure this morning did not want it removed prior to his work because there is always a chance that it will need to be re-inserted and they didn't want to take a chance on that happening during the procedure. We will find out later what the plans are for the chest tube. As uncomfortable as it is, Troy would rather them leave it alone for now. He says he's been through enough for one day!

Still nothing from pathology. Looks like we won't get those results until Monday.

I am so happy with Troy's progress. Seeing how well he has handled the surgery has encouraged me. I realize that he still has a long hard recovery ahead of him, but this surgery was definitely a major milestone in his recovery. I thought I knew how much I loved him until we had to face this terrible disease called cancer. It has definitely forced me to look at our lives and realize that my hopes and dreams are entwined with his. I can't imagine a life without him in it. Hopefully God will grant us lots of years together and many adventures yet to come! (OK - enough of the sappy stuff... well, maybe just one more sappy quote)!

If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I. ~Michel de Montaigne

Day Three

Troy has given me permission to post some pictures of him.

This is him just after he arrived in the room fresh out of ICU. He's still got lots and lots of tubes and devices attached even though two IVs have already been removed. The NG tube (the one in his nose that drains his stomach) is the one that was causing the most discomfort.

Here he is this afternoon with the dreadful NG tube gone. He working on his breathing and being a model patient (for the moment - LOL)

Troy had a very restful night last night. We both managed to get some much needed sleep. This morning was a little difficult for him as he started to cough up some phlegm and it was really painful and frustrating. Hopefully the breathing treatments and respiratory "toys" will help with that.

The afternoon was much better than the morning. Troy walked 370 feet today. He has so many tubes and wires attached that he had to take his entire entourage with him! Both of the nurses behind him were pushing IV poles, plus there are various other apparatuses hanging from the cart that he is using for support.

There will be a chest xray tomorrow and hopefully they will like what they see. If so, the chest tube can be removed. That will be a very good thing!

Let God's promises shine on your problems. ~Corrie Ten Boom

Out of ICU!!!

Troy finally made it out of ICU and into a room at 2:00 this afternoon. He's doing well, just tired and uncomfortable. They are still keeping his pain managed pretty well. He's sitting up in a chair and tomorrow will begin taking short walks. I am so proud of the way he has handled this so far. He's a wonderful, strong man and that makes me feel better and I'm confident that he will recover quickly.

We just saw an ENT doc because there was some temporary damage to Troy's left vocal chord during the surgery. As a result he can only talk in a whisper. They want to correct it surgically on Friday. It will be a relatively (compared to what he has been through) minor procedure, but it will mean anesthesia and surgery so that they can inject something into his vocal chord. The doc was confident that this is a temporary and easily corrected problem. There is a chance that this will change his voice so obviously we are a little anxious about that.

This evening his doctors all consulted each other and decided to insert a device called a Vena Cava Filter into his femoral vein (the large vein in the groin area). This will prevent the blood clot that they found from dislodging and going into his lungs, which could be fatal. The procedure was fairly simple but all the moving around had Troy feeling kinda rotten this evening. The other positive is that he won't have to give himself those blood thinner shots in his stomach. We really think that those shots are what have had him feeling so bad over the last week and a half.

We have been counting each tube, line or IV that is attached and there are at least 8 of them coming out of everywhere. Even out of places that didn't have holes for tubes and lines before yesterday! They have begun the slow process of removing them one by one, depending on the function of each one. There were IVs in each arm this morning - those are now gone. The only IV is the central line in his chest. He also got rid of the horrible NG tube that was draining his stomach through his nose. That one was a real pain (literally!). So - three down. The catheter is really bugging him, but they won't remove that one until they remove the epidural. The epidural is one of the things that is keeping him from being in excruciating pain. He doesn't like the catheter, but it's a trade off that he's willing to make at the moment!

It's been an exhausting couple of days, so I think I better get this posted and try to get some sleep! ----- Goodnight!

I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. ~Author Unknown

Tuesday Update

Troy is still in Cardiovascular ICU this morning, but he is doing really well and we are hoping that he will be moved to a room sometime today. When I saw him at 6:00 this morning they got him up and he was sitting in a chair. He is really hoarse and can't speak very loudly. He's got hoses connected to just about every imaginable place. He's got three incisions, stomach, neck and side. All in all, I am really happy with they way he is looking and feeling. Of course, he is on plenty of pain medication. The doctors and staff here are really dedicated to keeping him pain free.

Troy says to tell everyone hello and thanks for the thoughts and prayers!

As I was standing in the lunch line at the cafeteria this afternoon I noticed that Dr. Jac (Troy's oncologist) was right behind me. He had already seen Troy this morning so we had a good visit as we waited. He is pleased that Troy has handled the surgery so well this far. He wants to see the pathology reports as that will give us more information regarding the likelihood of a recurrence of the cancer. He did say that he felt good about the amount of shrinkage that was seen in the tumor after the chemo and radiation. He said that is a good sign that we are less likely to see recurrence. I guess we will keep praying and see what the pathology reports tell us.

We know that the prognosis for this type of cancer is not the best, but Troy is young, strong and healthy and his doctors are all optimistic about his continued recovery. I am feeling better about our situation today. It feels good to get the surgery behind us and start the healing process.

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. - Mark Twain

The Countdown Has Begun

We are as ready as we can be for tomorrow morning. I think at this point we just want it to be done so the recovery can begin. Needless to say, we are both anxious, but we realize that this must be done in order to get rid of the cancer.

The surgery should begin at around 7:30 am and will probably take about 6 hours. I will do my best to post again tomorrow night so everyone can know that he is safely through the surgery and has begun the slow process of healing.

We are leaving everything in God's hands now. I am so thankful that we have so many friends praying for us. It's also amazing that we are hearing about so many people who don't know us praying too. It's been such a comfort.

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. James 5:15 NIV

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Luke 12:25 NIV

What a Day!

Yesterday was quite a day. Troy had an MRI done on his liver, a Doppler Ultrasound done on his right arm and on his right leg. Another endless day of medical tests. They can't use the veins in his right arm so his left arm is starting to look like a pincushion!

He called me at about 2:00 to tell me that they found a blood clot behind his right knee and that he may need to be admitted to the hospital. That was scary! I had been more worried about the MRI on his liver up to that point. I was about to leave work to meet him for his appointment with Dr. Ramchandani (the surgeon) so I headed out to meet him at Dr. Jac's office instead. Dr. Jac decided that he would not admit him, apparently this is a common side effect of the cancer treatment. He put him on a blood thinner and now Troy has to give himself a shot in the stomach twice a day. By the way, the liver turned out to be OK!

We feel like we are really blessed to have been referred to Dr. Ramchandani. He is a thoracic and cardiac surgeon which is important to have for this kind of procedure. The procedure itself called Transhiatal Esophagectomy or Transthoracic Esophagectomy (depending on which one the surgeon decides) is a technically demanding procedure and will involve removing part or all of the esophagus, possibly part of the stomach and the lymph nodes in the surrounding area. The stomach is used to reconstruct the esophagus. We both feel very confident in Dr. Ramchandani's skills.

We spent a long time visiting with Dr. Ramchandani about the surgery and recovery. He told Troy that he wants to make sure we realize that this is a major surgery, the procedure will take about 6 hours. We expect a hospital stay of about 10 days and the recovery to take about 2 months. The surgery is scheduled for May 14th! We are both a little shaken by the fact that surgery is only a little over a week away. Dr. R told us (this is a direct quote): "I will get you well so you can take me sailing". I knew we took up sailing for a reason!

Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-11