Victor's Progress: Little Setback

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Little Setback

Vic had to see the surgeons again this morning. He started bleeding from the incision (actually where his belly button used to be). They had to take out 6 staples and "pack" the area with gauze, which unfortunately, I will have to repack and dress 3 times a day. (I knew I should have become a nurse instead of a secretary). We will have to see the doctors again tomorrow to check on my "work" and make sure he isn't developing a fever. His sugar was extremely low this morning and the doctor was also concerned about that - his medications will have to be adjusted again. This setback is a little disturbing but we're still hoping he'll be well enough to come home on Saturday as planned.

1 comment:

JudyApril 24, 2009 at 10:25 AM
I am thinking of you both. Barb-you are a great wife, I don't know of any that would change dressings for their husband. Vic-I hhope this setback is minor and you will be on schedule to come home.
My love to you both.
Judy
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Vic's Story

As you may or may not know, Victor Barrales was diagnosed with colon cancer in April 2007.

His first surgery was on May 10, 2007 and it was believed that all of the cancer was removed but to improve his chances on a full recovery, chemotherapy treatment was advised for 6 months after the surgery.The chemotherapy drugs proved very detrimental to Vic’s health. He became very ill from the first treatment and had to be treated at the Sparta Cancer Center daily with intravenous infusions. His white cell count dropped extremely low and was prone to severe infections.

After his 10th chemo treatment, he was rushed to Newton Memorial Hospital with a very high pulse rate and the physicians at the hospital believed he was having a heart attack. It was determined by Vic’s cardiologist that the one form of chemo was causing this problem. He then decided to stop the chemotherapy and his first cancer marker test numbers came back normal. However, another test was taken in early January 2008 and the numbers came back unbelievably high indicating that the cancer had spread.

At the same time, a “lump” was discovered in the back of Victor’s leg and again, he had to have surgery to remove it. This, Thank God, proved to be noncancerous. Victor’s cancer marker test numbers, however, were now going up almost on a weekly basis. He went to see a new oncologist at the Carol Simon Cancer Center in Morristown and went through several Cat Scans. It was discovered that his cancer had indeed spread and was now in his peritoneal lining. He was immediately started on new types of chemotherapy with the hopes that this new cancer was caught early enough. This chemo did even more havoc to Vic’s body. He had to be hospitalized each time he was infused, sometimes twice in a month. He also came down with serious infections from one of the chemo drugs, which meant more surgery in August and again in December.

Now, Victor has been told that there is a surgery to help stop the spread of his cancer, but it is only performed by 4 doctors. Two doctors are located in Baltimore, one in Washington, DC and the other in California. This is very serious surgery, taking as long as 14 hours to perform and up to 21 days in the hospital. Complete recovery will be about 6 months. If the surgery is successful, it would mean not having to get chemo treatments unless the cancer returns.

Victor has been scheduled for this surgery (Cytoreductive) on April 14, 2009 by Dr. Sardi with Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His latest Scans have shown that the cancer is showing in the surface of his liver but is still contained to the right side of his abdomen. We expect to be in Baltimore for a minimum of 3 weeks.

Victor's Progress

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Little Setback

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Vic's Story

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