March 21st, 2008 - Update from Leigh

Wednesday 19th March
Cameron had 2 days full of tests to see how the cancer is responding to the treatment and thankfully all were good results.  Our day on Wednesday began with an early run to Brisbane and me running up the hill with Cameron in the wheelchair. I nearly had to go to the cardiologist myself after that! The first test was the PET scan where he is injected with a radioactive sugar and he has to sit very still for an hour, then he goes in and has the Scan which takes 30 mins.  Been there done that before so he was okay with it all.  Then we rushed over to our normal Outpatients “spot” to have his line care done and bloods taken.  We had to see a doctor as well as his line had looked infected in the morning – good timing! 

Next we went onto the Respiratory Test which was really good news.  When Cam first had this test done he only had 70% use of his lungs and now he has 92 – 98%.  So the mass has shrunk enough to not be crushing his lungs and they have obviously recovered or recovering well from the collapse.  He will still have to have this test in future as although the chemo helps to shrink the mass it can cause scarring and inflammation of the lungs.  We finally got back to our room in the lodge, a different one this time and when Cam went to shower I noticed his line was oozing again, was very red and was painful so off we went back again.  After having swabs, blood samples taken, etc and having antibiotics given intravenously we finally got back after 11 pm, pretty exhausted. 

Thursday 20th March
Thursday began with the next lot of antibiotics been given and Cam having to drink some contrast fluid over an hour and a half then off to the CT scan.  Our appointment with our Oncologist was positive and she had the preliminary results back which showed the mass has certainly shrunk.  The good news from the PET scan is that the tumour that is still there now has some inactive cells so some of it dead so in effect it is less cancer than we can see!  It is so hard to regurgitate all the explanations – Cameron should be doing this he is so good at all the details!  She is happy with his response and says he is in the middle of “fast responsive” and “slow responsive” so I guess that makes him average although his attitude and faith is anything but average!  The plan now is after the next 2 cycles of chemo he will begin radiation in early May which will be every day for 3 weeks.  We will know more on this once we meet the Radiation Oncologist next week.  The heart echo later was normal meaning so far no effect from the chemo. Yes. His blood counts have recovered well too. 

Once again we could not end on a boring note and as we were leaving Brisbane an Oncologist called to say we had to turn around and come back.  The radiologist had discovered a blood clot in Cam’s central line.  So back we went, we just can’t stay away.  Needless to say Cam was a little disappointed.  He now has a new little attachment in his thigh so I can give him injections twice a day for six weeks to thin the blood.  I was given a choice – learn to do it myself or go to the hospital twice a day at 12 hour intervals!  Guess which I chose?.  Finally we left around 7 pm and headed to the Sunshine Coast with all the Easter traffic wanting to go from the city up to our “Paradise”.  Can’t say I blame them.
 
Friday 21st March – Good Friday
We are now home for a few days and have to go to our local hospital every day for the IV antibiotics but it beats having to stay in Brisbane.  Bill has flu and so is confined to his office and bed and can’t have contact with Cam. For a moment it looked like our Easter weekend was going to be spent away from the family but we snatched it back at the 12th hour.  It was wonderful to make it church this special morning as a family.

At this stage Cameron is feeling very tired and I think getting a little fed of being poked, prodded, injected and generally manhandled.  He is experiencing aches and pains and the daily injections burn so a few days of being at home should help him perk up again.  Hopefully this weekend will give me the time to rest too as these past 6 1/2 weeks have finally caught up with me.  A little rest and I will be ready to support Cam with his big week coming around already.

Finally… I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful support, prayers, messages, kindness, thoughtfulness and friendship.  I am finding it a real struggle to get any time for catching up with anyone but want you to know you are all appreciated and Cameron loves the messages.  Every time I think we will be having a few “free” days where I will get to catch up on calls and correspondence we end up having to do something and we spend our lives hurrying to get to an appointment and then we wait and wait.  Patience has become one our strengths!  Hospitals are not easy places to communicate with anyone from and when we do get to be home Cameron still needs so much attention and I try to spend some quality time with Carlton and Owen however short.  Not to mention all the mundane things!  Please know in your hearts that you are in ours and appreciated.   

It is now 11pm so I better get that sleep I was talking about.  Have wonderful and peaceful Easter.  God Bless you all.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 11:23 pm and is filed under Week 6. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “Update from Leigh”

  1. katie Says:
    March 22nd, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    Hi everyone, glad to hear everything is so positive. Cameron, you are so strong and everyone in our house is praying and thinking about you every day. Ruby, Lydia and Ella have now broken up for their half term. They get nearly 4 weeks off! We were planning on going to Egypt, but cannot get any flights (we have left it to the last minute)! We will now have to go out for days! Take care and love to you all. Katie x

  2. Trish Says:
    March 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 pm

    Hi all,
    It was a red letter day in the Kenealy house today as Josh and Matt beat Stuart and Trish at tennis!! Unfortunately, we didn’t even let them!! I hope you are a little more rested than when I spoke yesterday. Leigh I’m not sure that writing at 11:23p.m. is good for the z’s!!
    Stuart and I have just been watching some utube videos from Thailand. We watched some rather interesting ones of them skinning and eating snake!! Stuart is worried about what we will be eating when we go. I told him NOT to show Matt as he is such a fussy eater at the best of times!! (McDonalds sounds good! Apparently snake tastes like chicken!! We’ll avoid KFC!!)
    Some space jokes
    Why did it take three hours for the Martian to finish a 20-page book?
    It wasn’t very hungry.
    How do you get a Martian baby to sleep?
    You rocket (rock-it)
    What do you get if you cross a galaxy with a toad?
    Starwarts!
    What happens when the sun gets tired?
    It sets awhile!
    (O.K. I need a new joke book!!)
    Love you all and pray for you.
    Love Trish

  3. Sandy Says:
    March 27th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

    Hello and Happy Easter to you too. Thanks for the text Cam, so glad you had a good weekend. I will call again soon it was so good to catch up with your mum and hear how well you are doing. Take care and have fun while your brothers are on holiday. tons of love and thinking of you all lots. Special love from The Robertsons xxx

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