Nathaniel ~ Gift of God: The Incredible Man

The New "Normal"

I started this blog on November 9, 2013, while my husband Nat was recovering from major colorectal cancer surgery. The tumor was discovered after a colonoscopy on October 10th. They went in to remove the entire colon and tumour, and to create a permanent iliostomy on the 25th. The surgery was slated to be about 8-9 hours. At 9-1/2 hours, I received a call from OR staff, where Nat was. The surgery would be another 3 hours. I was growing increasingly concerned.

I learned later that the tumor had grown through the colon wall and had begun to attach to major blood vessels and the ureter (the tube between the left kidney and bladder). They scraped the cancerous areas outside of the colon as best as they could, but we didn't know how extensive the cancer was, until after we got the pathology results on November 18th.

This past few months or so before a trip to Florida, I noticed that my husband was pale and he was feeling very sick. He had battled chronic Colitis for 30 yrs. I expressed my concerns to him many times and encouraged him to get in to see his doctor. It seemed to get worse after our trip to Florida. I finally called and made an appt for him on Sept. 25th. On Sept. 21st, I woke up to find him in terrible pain, sweating profusely. I called the advice nurse, and spoke to a physician over the phone. We had to get him to the hospital as soon as possible.

He was realeased from the hospital ER that night and was encouraged to see a Urologist. He also developed a blood clot after the trip to ER. A colonoscopy was scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 10th, where the doctor found a blockage in his intestine. There were high suspicians that it might be a tumor, so Nat was admitted to the hospital for five nights where they did a battery of tests. On October 14th, the biopsies came back from the colonoscopy and we learned that it was cancer. He went home the following day and surgery was scheduled for Oct. 25th. After the surgery, he stayed in the hospital another six nights.

This is his/our journey through the process of getting his diagnosis and recovery.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Incredible Man

Nat's Surprise Birthday Party Three Weeks Post-surgery.

While Nat was at John Muir Medical Center in Concord, he decided he wanted to have a visit from one of the chaplains there. During the course of their visit, she told him, "You are an incredible man." The old saying goes, "You never know what you have until you lose it" goes without saying here. Because even when you still have that thing or person, and you realize that it can be taken from you, you begin to realize just what you have.

Fast forward to today. We are meeting Dr. Sun on Monday for an appt before chemo starts. He will take his first Zofran (anti nausea) and then Xeloda pills (chemo) just before we drive to Pleasant Hill for his first radiation treatment on Wednesday. We have heard so many stories... how difficult chemo is, as well as how well people have done. We are hoping for the latter. There are a ton of side effects that we have to watch out for, such as soreness and dryness on the hands and feet, nausea, intestinal upset, thinning of hair, loss of appetite, thrush, fatigue, and short-term memory loss. Nat continues to take this in stride, but we are both concerned naturally. Only time will tell what the treatment will bring. Nat will get this first leg of treatment for 6 weeks. On December 19, he has outpt surgery to put a port in his vena cava, for chemo infusions and to draw blood, or get transfusions if needed. Then we'll have a month to recover. The infusions will then begin and will last 3-1/2 months. Every two weeks, he will sit in a chemo chair for several hours, and then they will send him home with an IV pump, which will continue infusions until the next day. In two weeks, he will do it again, and then again, until we reach the end of six months.

Hence the journey begins.

In the meantime, we are enjoying life, and the people and things we love. This stuff makes you realize what really matters.

Flying an RC Helicoptor at Matt's House in Petaluma

Zoe and Mona on Thanksgiving Day

3 comments:

Debbie Emery said...: Wow, can't wait to learn more about the bakery and Nat's family and youth. And you know I am sending love and prayers for an "easy as can be expected" radiation and chemo pill. Looking forward to hearing how it all goes
Love and hugs,
Debbie; December 7, 2013 at 11:03 PM
dderosier said...: Much love to you both as you continue this journey together. Am enjoying reading your story!; December 8, 2013 at 8:11 AM
Eddie said...: Hope and pray that everything goes well... With emphasis on the pray part!!!; December 10, 2013 at 4:11 PM