My Wifes Father - update for family.

Sorry about using my blog to do this, but this was the best way to get everyone I know informed as to the current state of affairs.

Mo's father has stage 4 lung cancer. His left lung has totally collapsed and due to the cancer in that lung (located in the pleura of the lung) the lung will not re-inflate. That lung's function (the left lung in Bob's case) is totally gone leaving the one good lung to do the work for him. The cancer Bob has is additionally in his liver. The cancer in the liver is essentially driving down Bob's desire to eat or drink enough fluids to keep himself 'right' while he is on lasiks to keep the one bad lung from filling with fluid.

On meeting with the oncologist this morning (7/22/09) - the oncologist did not recommend Chemo due to Bob's already diminished health and other pulmonary issues (PAD, etc) indicating that if Bob were more healthy to begin with then it might make sense because he would have some energy reserve to deal with the issues the chemo could bring on. He indicated that in cases such as this the bad side prognosis is 3 - 6 months. If chemo were an option, and Bob were prepared to fight he might get out to 10 months to a year or more but that would be the outside case.

In the end the picture is not rosy. We will be looking to organize in home care for him and Mona in the short term and further working on which long term plans and options are available to us all in order to make the best of a bad situation. The current state is mostly up to Bob - he has some control of his destiny here and can change his life style to make the most of what he has left. We are essentially in a 'wait and see' what he will choose to do. If this information significantly changes, please watch my facebook for further links and information.

Thanks,
Joe (On Behalf of the Campbell/Vercruysse Family)