News and update

Hi, Marcia here with an update.

Gary finally had the test today to check his tube feeding tube.   Going into it he was extremely nervous as numerous health care professionals had told him that he would need to drink the equivalent of the Hudson River in Barium liquid.  This had him extremely concerned since, as we know, eating and drinking even a little bit of anything is a challenge for him.

As it turned out, he didn’t have to drink anything.  The Barium was put directly into the tube, which only makes sense when you consider the fact that they were doing the test to see what happens to substances after they go into the tube.  If Kurt Vonnegut were writing this he would end the paragraph by saying “So it goes”.

Anyway, the good news is that there is nothing wrong with the tube and there are no adhesions from that surgery that are causing problems.  This means that Gary won’t have to have any additional procedures or what not done to fix the problem.   Of course, there was some hope that fixing a problem with the tube might be the magic answer to Gary’s eating challenges.   We’re all praying that once he gets through chemo, those problems will go away on their own.   Anne and Gary still don’t know if the tube will be taken out now, or left in just in case he needs it.

Someone else told him today (others have mentioned it before) that his regiment of chemo is an especially difficult one.  All in all, everyone seems to think he is doing quite well.   If we weren’t so exhausted and ready to be finished with all of this, he probably would be proud of himself.  We are proud of him.

So, when is he finished?  He’ll have his last big chemo treatment January 26th.  That will be followed by two more Picard chemos – February 2nd and February 9th.  Prepare to celebrate.