More Doctor Visits

Sorry I'm writing this about a week late (I was in the middle of a move)... The appointments actually occurred last Wednesday, August 11 at the CBCC in Bakersfield.

First was Dr. Shambaugh, who didn't have too much to say but did a quick exam. My father's main concern is coping with pain and he asked about medications. He did not care for the Duragesic patches because of the side effects so he's back to taking Percocet and Tylenol. Shambaugh suggested the time-released Percocet (although it's a huge tablet to shove through the feeding tube) but it definitely cannot be crushed or broken into parts so that will be an experiment. He said as long as there's not more than 1 "cook in the kitchen," (in terms of types of medication), everything else should be fine.

We were supposed to see Dr. Gorla next but things were backed up so we went ahead and made Trang's appointment on time. Trang was very positive overall. He said it looks much better inside the mouth than expected. He said before it looked like an "atomic bomb went off in there" and he couldn't tell the difference between what was an ulcer and what was cancer. He said during this phase of palliative care, my dad is "living a meaningful life." Of course, it's not exactly a happy stage but he said he's happy with the status - he really felt that my father chose the right path to follow rather than having Trang attempt a "heroic surgery." He said, "Just because I can remove cancer doesn't mean I should" because of the larger picture and ramifications. He was very impressed that my dad drove to Bakersfield from Bishop that day and has all his license and registration paperwork completed so that he can ride his Harley again! :-)

Finally, Dr. Gorla briefly met with us. He was positive as well - noting the significant weight gain of my father and said the tumor was a lot smaller.

In about 3 months (November), my dad is scheduled for another set of PET and CAT scans. These can prognosticate how long, perhaps... He won't meet with Gorla for another 6 months.