Contact info

Unfortunately if you don't have a blog you are unable to comment on the posts. To do so, please email us at kesselmanws@outlook.com.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

More good news

This week's liver/spleen/kidney scan was normal!  Hurray!   The next round of chemo is scheduled for April 10th.  We'll see both oncologists that day for follow-up visits.  Presuming the lab results are still good, Walt will have his chemo treatment after the 2nd appointment.  Again, we thank you all so much for your thoughts, concerns and prayers.  Please continue to send them as it will be some time before we know that the treatment plan was successful.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Certification day

It's official!  And we have the certificate to prove it!  Walt has successfully completed 37 radiation treatments.  We will follow up with the radiation oncologist in 2 weeks so he can check Walt's skin, etc.  It seems like this day would never come, and now it has.  The effectiveness of the radiation won't be known for another 6-8 weeks.  Thank you for all your prayers!
You have to be able to laugh to get through all this....While Walt was receiving his last treatment today I stopped in the cancer boutique to pick up some more gel for his back (the burns aren't horrible but itch like crazy and are peeling).  Because it is covered by insurance I had to give his name and date of birth.  I laughingly said I could also provide his clinic number, shoe size, etc.  She said waist measurement would be more interesting.  We just laughed.  Then she asked me to verify the spelling of our last name.  I drew a complete blank and looked at her dumbly when she asked if Kesselman had one L or 2.  Sheesh.  We both started laughing really hard at this point.  Walt and I have been together for 30 years so you'd think this wouldn't stump me!  lol 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

There's light at the end of the tunnel!

Only 1 week of radiation left!!!  So far he's only experiencing burns, especially opposite the sites where the radiation enters.  Plenty of prescription gel helps.  Three rounds of chemo behind us.  Not sure how many more are scheduled but we will know more late next week.

Short, sweet and to the point.  Again, thank you for all your prayers!  We're a long way from being out of the woods.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Less than 2 weeks to go

Only 9 more radiation treatments!!!  We won't miss the daily trek to Champaign, that's for sure!  It's not far but the morning is basically shot by the time we get back home.  The radiation oncologist is really, really pleased with the way things are going.  Says Walt is a very fit man.  We just had to laugh when he said this but we knew what he meant.  He really is tolerating the radiation quite well; still no side effects other than the radiation burns which were expected.

Today we saw the hematology oncologist before Monday's chemo appointment.  Some of his lab results are  out of kilter so he'll have an ultrasound of the liver at the end of the month to make sure all is as it should be.  We're hoping and praying that it's the chemo affecting the lab tests and not signs of the cancer spreading.  He still has 1 or 2 more chemo appointments on the schedule.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

2/3rds of the way through

radiation!  The radiation oncologist is very pleased with how Walt is looking and the fact that he's still not experiencing side effects other than slight radiation burns.  These are getting treated with a wound care gel designed for this purpose.  Still not getting much read in our books but that's okay.  I am surprised by how tired I am.  Afternoon naps are for caregivers, too!  And the cats seem to think this is a good idea as well.  Thank you for all your support and prayers!