The results are in..........

Well, here are the results:
The chemo and radiation have effectively affected the tumor and lymph nodes around his esophagus. His lymph nodes around the esophagus which were showing positive signs for cancer are now negative. However, he has affected lymph nodes in his neck and stomach which have not reduced at all. In fact, they have gotten worse. So now dad has to meet with the doctors again on Thursday afternoon to determine a course of action. Apparently, his oncologist wants to get started as soon as possible. While this is pretty good news, I can't help but be discouraged that dad still isn't out if the woods yet. He still has quite a battle left, and I just hope, for the sake of our family, that he has got the strength to fight through. The doctors were hoping that they could let him gain some weight before giving him another round of chemo, but that doesn't look like an option any more. The reality of hospitalization for my dad is coming closer and closer to becoming a reality. I will update again after mom and dad go to the doctor on Thursday, and let you know what the course of action will be. Hope all of you are staying warm and driving safe. I will write again soon.

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It's been a while, so here is an update.

This picture, as you can see, is from Christmas. Dad does not want anyone taking his picture because of how much weight he has lost, but my cousin got one of him anyways! :) Dad had been doing okay for the most of December. I took him in to get his fluids on Monday, December 22nd and his blood pressure and pulse were really really bad. His nurse told him she though she was going to have to put him in the ER, and dad got really upset, and kept telling me that "he was going down." He was really convinced that this was it. He would be admitted to the hospital and never come out. After his first bag of fluids, his blood pressure and pulse improved significantly, and he never was admitted into the ER, which is good. He had to start having fluids everyday, though, becasue after going the whole weekend with no fluids, he was always in rough shape by Monday. He received fluids on Christmas as well, which was interesting. We all went there and played "Cash Cab" the board game to pass the time. Once he was finished, he was craving taco johns, so we went on a hunt to find one and see if it was open - of course it wasn't. (He did eventually get his taco Johns later that week.) He has been doing okay lately, but he is in a lot of pain - his back really hurts, and he is feeling really discouraged about this becasue he feels like after all of his chemo and radiation, the pain should go away, but it isn't. Its getting worse. So I know that this is really weighing on his mind. The other thing that is really bringing him down right now is the fact that he had his CT and PET scans re-done on Tuesday of this week (Jan. 6th) and he has yet to receive the results of these tests. The first time he had the tests, his results were back the next day. We are almost at a week at this point, and still, no results. I think all of us are a bit worried about why in the world it is taking so long for the results to come back. What could POSSIBLY be taking so long? Today is my Grandma (his mom's) birthday, so I will be over at mom and dads, spending time with them and my grandma. As soon as we get any test results, I will let you all know how things are going! Thanks again for reading this! :) I really appreciate it!!!