Hopefully the First and Last Health Update of 2012

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Dan

As mentioned in my last post I was to have a Supercharged Jejunum Esophagectomy in November. I did have the surgery and it went just fine. I was in the the hospital for about 2 weeks afterward and it has been about 5 weeks since I was released from the hospital. I’ve been back to the doctor for follow ups and according to them I am recovering just fine.

As a part of my overall health management I had my regularly scheduled CT scan last week and it came back clean – no cancer to be seen. As you can imagine this is welcome news. Officially I have now been cancer free for 1 year since it has been that long since my last treatment. I will have another scan in 3-6 months as apart of my overall follow up plan. It is sure nice to be cancer free .

The New Year

I think the nicest thing about going into the new year is that I do not have any procedures scheduled. I don’t have any tests scheduled. I don’t have anything wrong with me that leaves that little bit of uncertainty in the back of your mind. It is nice to be in this place after 2 1/2 years.

I do have my ailments and am on medications to help with those. But if I am given the opportunity to recover and heal like I need to then those should dissipate as time goes on. From here on out the posts about my health should be few and far in between.

Thank you to everyone that supported me during this time. All of your prayers and positive thoughts really helped me make it through. I look forward to returning to as much of a normal life that is possible.

Sunrise photo courtesy of Hassan9 via deviantart.com

Health Update – The Short and the Long of It

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Dan

The Short

I am having esophageal reconstruction surgery on November 16, 2011.

This surgery is similar to the one I had in June of 2010 except that it is going to be in Houston with a different surgeon. The reason that I am having this second surgery is that there were a couple of areas that were brought together during the first surgery that never had the tissue and/or blood vessels connect. This is what has been causing the scar tissue to grow all this time. With this new surgery I will also have a plastic surgeon who will concentrate on these connections to try and ensure that this does not happen again.

The Long

The journey leading up to this second surgery has been one filled with tens of procedures, tests, and unfortunately emergency hospital stays. The funny thing is that all the procedures that I have endured for the last year+ were to try and save me from having the surgery that I am about to have. Unfortunately all the procedures that I endured ended up becoming more dangerous then the surgery itself, go figure.

This is the tally of procedures, tests, and hospital stays that I have had since my last post in March:

My Son’s iPad Was Delivered and I Get to Play with It

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Dan

My son’s iPad was just delivered and I am “testing it out” to make sure that it is working properly.

The reason my son has an iPad is that he is speech delayed due to autism. He was able to get the iPad for free through some program my wife found. They have developed software that helps kids like my son communicate with the touch interface.

It is so awesome to see something that was intended to play games and edit documents be used to teach someone to talk.

Thank you Apple!

The “Long Term” Stent Ended Up Being the Shortest of Them All

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Dan

Yep, I am without a stent once again. It was not planned this way but with what my doctor saw in my semi-emergency EGD yesterday he thought it was the best thing.

What he saw was that the area of irritation that was there 2 weeks ago was more irritated. When he biopsied it 2 weeks ago it was cancer free and he still thinks it is. His reasoning for why it is there and getting bigger is that the stents are rubbing in that area.

How This All Came About

To rewind a little bit, this all came about because I called my GI doc on Monday to tell him that food had been getting stuck, and whether this was normal for the new stent that was placed 2 weeks ago? He said no, this was not normal and got me in for a chest x-ray the same day. He wanted to see if the stent had migrated down into my stomach.

The results of the test were negative. No, the stent looked like it was in the same spot.

I told him that when the food was getting stuck it was different then in times past as it seemed deeper, like it was at the bottom end of the stent. He said we should go take a look and scheduled me the next morning for an EGD. … Continue Reading

5th Stent Out and the 6th “Long Term” Stent is In

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Dan

I had my latest procedure to swap out stents on Tuesday and everything went great. It was the best procedure so far from both the doctor’s and my prospective. I was eating that night and have literally had no pain.

This new stent is slated to be left in for 4-6 months as opposed to the 6 months of the previous stents. I will get a checkup in 6-8 weeks just to make sure everything is looking alright. If everything does look good we will leave it in for a couple of more months. We are still looking into the non-invasive surgery that may eliminate my need for stents. It would be really nice to have that and be done with all of this. Also, I got the results back from my biopsies and everything looks good which is just more good news.

I am really thankful that everything went so smooth this time around.

Safari Champ Kids Indoor Play Center Opens in Round Rock

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Dan

Safari Champ, a kid’s indoor play center, has opened up in the location previously occupied by Jungle Java.

Our kids were disappointed when Jungle Java closed but now hopefully they will be happier now that Safari Champ has taken its place. We are planning on taking our kids there today to check it out. I will try to snap some pictures while we are there to share.

Here is a link to their website:

safarichamp.com

Clean Tests, But A Lot of Pain

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Dan

As mentioned before I had my stent in my esophagus replaced last Wednesday. Aa a part of every EGD to replace the stent my GI doctor does biopsies to make sure the cancer has not come back. He also checks my small intestine to see how the villi are doing from me having celiac disease.

In both cases everything looks good – no sign of cancer and my villi have all grown back so their is no sign of celiac disease. That does not mean I can now eat gluten but does mean that my body has healed itself and is absorbing nutrients like it is supposed to now. This is good because it means that I get more out of the food that I eat then ever before.

Throat Pain

Unfortunately with all that good news I am not feeling all that great. When my GI doc removed the old stent I bled – a lot. Then, when placing the new stent he put it in a little different position (on purpose) and therefore my throat is not used to having something there and so it hurts.

I was OK in the hospital when they had me on morphine for two days but for the last 3 days I have been on vicodin and it is not cutting it. I went to a pain management appointment yesterday morning and they gave me something different that is supposed to be in between vicodin and morphine and should last longer. I took it last night and it does help without making me feel out of it like the morphine and the vicodin do.

I was a little concerned with the amount of pain I have been in the last few days but my wife reminded me that when my first stent was put in that it was a very similar experience. Funny, that was less then 6 months ago but I had forgotten. If this time is similar then it may be a few weeks before all of the pain goes away. I made it through the first time though and will make it through this time as well.

Thanks

Thanks again to everyone for their prayers and good wishes. Your encouragement is greatly appreciated.

4th Stent Out, 5th Stent In

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Dan

I am out of the hospital after having my 4th stent taken out and my 5th stent placed in my throat. The hospital stay was not planned on but I was not feeling that great after the procedure so I decided to play it safe and stay for pain management and observation. I think both my throat and I are getting a little tired of getting tugged on every 6 weeks. The last few days flew by, thanks to God, and morphine. I am on a vicodin regime for a couple days as my throat adjusts to it new plastic friend.

I Really Need a Permanent Solution

My GI doc is starting to think that pulling these things out and putting in a new one every 6 weeks for the next couple of years probably isn’t the best plan. The problem is that nobody knows a better plan at the moment. My GI doc is starting to talk about reaching out across the country to find a better and permanent solution. If anyone that they can refer me to I would appreciate it.

A Recap of My Diagnosis

I have a Benign Esophageal Stricture as a result of having an Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy. The surgery was in June 2010 in response to reoccurring esophageal cancer that showed up after chemo and radiation. The result of the surgery was that approximately 1/2 of my stomach and 1/2 of my esophagus where removed. According to the surgeon all of the known cancer was removed from my body and I have been cancer free as of the time that I am writing this. … Continue Reading

I’m Now Officially Addicted to How Stuff Works

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Dan

While searching through the most popular podcasts on iTunes the other day I stumbled upon the Stuff You Should Know podcast. Right off the bat I found a segment on Should You Eat a Gluten Free Diet. It was a good 1/2 segment on what celiac disease is, where it came from, and how to treat it. Other interesting podcasts are How Does the Mafia Work and how does immigration work.

If that wasn’t enough they actually have an iPhone app that not only has these podcasts but videos and articles as well. I have found a new, educational, time waster. The app is awesome and can be downloaded here – How Stuff Works iPhone App

Un-melting A Resee’s Peanut Butter Cup in Your Car

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Dan

I had just gotten out of a meeting and wanted to enjoy the Dark Chocolate Reese’s Butter Cups I left in the car. Unfortunately they where starting to melt and things in cars tend to do.

At home I had placed my Reese’s in the freezer in order to get them back to a solid state but what could I do in the car I thought.

Air conditioning!

At first I held the cup in front of the A/C vent and it was working but my fingers started to freeze as well. Then the defroster came to mind. I carefully balanced the cups between the sides of the defroster vent and turned it on full blast.

A few minutes later I had unmelted Peanut Butter Cups.

Note: You need to park in the shade while trying this endeavor.