Hopefully this is the last entry on Steve's journey in beating the big 'C'. Today a total body scan was completed to determine the presence of any cancer and the scan showed NO Cancer!!!!!! The past year of radiation and chemo therapy (sickness and pain) has finally ended with positive results. Steve is still on a stomach feeding tube and will have to slowly try to take food orally. Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers.

Second chemo treatment completed and was followed by severe nausea. Hopefully the final treatment will be less invasive. Nourishment continues via the stomach tube; we hope by turkey day Steve can have real food. This is a slow process with ups and downs and the goal is complete remission.

First week of chemo treatments is complete. There will be a two week rest period, followed by another week of chemo. So far the side affects have been nausea and discomfort in the throat. Nourishment still continues through the stomach feeding tube.

Into the first week of R-N-R after radiation/chemo treatment and recovery seems worse than during treatment. There will probably no signs of significant change for another week or two. Thanks to Sandy at Bel-Air for the fund raiser. Steve's cost for his food supplement runs about $350 to $400 per month (this is not covered by insurance) so the extra funds will be put to good use.

Final week of radiation/chemo and not too soon. Radiation treatments results in fatigue and radiation burns which really zap the energy level. The burns make it very difficult to swallow or get anything down orally. The liquid feeding was increased to allow for more calories and hydration. The month of no treatments will be a welcome rest and recuperation.

In the home stretch for this phase of treatment..two more weeks of radiation. Weight loss is still a concern. Calories from the stomach feeding is not sustaining Steve's weight. The feedings will need to be increased in order to give him more calories. It will take about one month after radiation for the mouth and throat to heal from the radiation burns, hopefully this will help ease the discomfort he's experiencing from this side effect of radiation.

Week four has ended with no signs of fever. We are hoping this will continue into the up coming weeks. Steve felt good enough to walk a few blocks today, but he must still take caution in over doing the exercise since he's still weak from the radiation and weight loss. Currently he is striving to maintain his weight and gaining a few pounds will be a bonus going into the next phase of treatment.

The second chemo/radiation treatment was completed Monday, a long day (8 1/2 hrs). Steve is responding to this 4th week of treatment fairly well. So far, no recurrence of fever. As expected, there's a lot of hair loss from the chemo. Steve has a haircut appointment today; maybe we'll have to start calling him 'Yul'. We're almost at the halfway mark for the first phase of treatment;followed by a month of no treatments and then 9 weeks of straight chemo. The glands on his neck have gone down considerably and his hearing has returned in the left ear. He will continue to self feed until he is able to eat normally.

Steve was released from the hospital this afternoon and will self feed through the stomach tube until he can resume eating again. So far his system is tolerating the liquid diet. Monday will bring another radiation and chemo treatment.

Steve's stomach feeding tube was successfully inserted yesterday and his first feeding seemed to go well today. There was a lot of discomfort after the tube was inserted but this morning most of the pain was gone. He will be getting approximately 2,000 calories along with other nutrients daily. Just the smell of food was making him nauseous so the feeding tube will hopefully be the ticket in getting weight back on. His temperature is back to normal and the doctors cannot give a definitive cause of that fever. Friday looks like his release date from the hospital; we're crossing our fingers.

Doctors are not able to isolate the source of Steve's fever. Due to loss of appetite a feeding tube will be inserted into the stomach as a direct line for injecting nourishment until normal eating starts. The feeding tube cannot be inserted until the fever goes down...what a vicious circle..So it looks as though a few more days in the hospital. Since Steve is not feeling very well, no visitors please. Thanks all, I will continue to keep you posted.

Steve was admitted to the hospital today due to a recurring fever. X-Rays and blood tests have not come back yet. Doctors are checking for infection or pneumonia at this time. Radiation treatments have made his throat and mouth sore; this will be another challenge in getting meals down. Radiation treatment will continue on Monday.

Start of second week of treatment has Steve still battling the effects of nausea. He can now sympathize with all of us who went through all those months of nausea while pregnant....We'll try to get him on meal regiments that helps ease this condition. He's drinking a lot of Ensure but he still needs more calories. Another few weeks of radiation before his next chemo treatment. Hopefully he can regain some of that lost weight before then.

Late post! Steve has completed his first week of treatment and other than the few problems with chemo last Tuesday, he seems to be holding his own. I bought him some Ensure to drink to help him beef up his weight. He has already lost 10 lbs. and this is only the start of treatment. He has trouble swallowing and this is the problem with eating. Don made him some jook and I bought him a mini food processor to puree his food. I wish I could give him some of my fat! He was nauseated Tuesday night after chemo, but he neglected to take his nausea pills before going to bed; by Wed. morning he was ok. To be continued next week.

Feb.23rd: After 2 days of treatment, Steve is experiencing sinus stuffiness and fatigue. Todays treatment included radiation and chemo, a 6 hour day. There were a few glitches; one maybe due to the temperature of the fluids causing a lot of shivering. Treatment was delayed and for some reason treatment was causing blood shot eyes, this also stopped treatment temporarily. Tomorrow is radiation only. Next post will be Thursday.

Steve's nasopharyngeal cancer treatment will begin on Feb.22 with radiation only. On Feb. 23rd treatment will include radiation and chemotherapy. Treatment will continue for the next seven weeks, 5 days a week with radiation and 2 more chemotherapy treatments. At the conclusion of this round of treatments, 9 weeks of just chemo will begin. There might be a rest period prior to the chemo only treatments begins based on how Steve feels. Thanks all for your support and I will continue to give updates as treatment progresses.

Hi all! This is my first attempt in creating a blog...Hopefully I didn't screw anything up...Posting will begin as soon as I figure on how this really works.