June 27, 2016

Finished. Steve is finished with his cancer treatment. Yay! We brought flowers and cookies to celebrate. Here are a few photos.

 Katie, Steve and Dana. Katie and Dana were the radiation techs and helped Steve every day. They are standing under the radiation machine.

This is a coin they gave Steve to commemorate his completion. 

I've received a lot of questions about what comes next. We have a follow-up appointment with the chemo doctor on Wednesday. They won't do another pet scan until late September. Our focus will shift to helping Steve regain full health and strength. It is likely he will still get his gallbladder removed this summer. And it's possible he might go back to work before the PET Scan. In the short-term, we received a little bit of discouraging news. They told us that the effects he's feeling today are the radiation from 10 days ago. That means that for the next 10 days he will continue to worsen as far as his side effects and wounds go. However, after the next two weeks pass, they expect him to begin to improve. He will remain on fluids daily to help his blood pressure and his healing. The doctor will not discontinue fluids until his weight is stabilized and his blood pressure is stabilized and his wounds are all healed.

The wounds to which I'm referring are the side effects from the radiation. It first burns your skin like a sunburn and then it blisters and then the blisters pop and then you have open sores.