Living with Esophageal Cancer November 2024 Update 2

Well, the big PET scan and meeting with the oncologist finally happened. It was somewhat of a letdown. The cancer, of course, looks to be still present (or the damaged tissue from it) but the tumors have shrunk. Her ability to breathe is improved but eating anything solid at this point is just not possible. As previously stated, the tumors are inoperable. When meeting with the doctor, he made a matter of fact comment that the radiation/chemotherapy only had about a twenty-five percent chance to be effective.

It got even better. It turns out that the PET scan can’t check to see if the blood clots in my wife’s lungs are still there. As things stand now, there are no plans to ever check to see if they have gone. They are just going to keep her on blood thinners.

She is slated to have a throat scan later in the month. For this procedure, they put her under (sedated) and then will put a camera down her throat. If anything looks worthwhile, then it will be biopsied. Her remaining esophagus was lit up on the PET scan and the report said her SUV (standardized uptake value) reading was at 9.5. This is indicative of moderate cancer activity and a short prognosis of life expectancy.

Based on the throat scan results, a monitoring schedule will be established. Once again when this was being discussed palliative care was mentioned. The doctor also mentioned that further chemo or immunotherapy might be in her future.

My wife has lost about 40 pounds from the current bout with cancer. Lately, she has upped her calorie intake to about 1,000 per day. Food is still via a spoon or straw. The sensitivity to cold still persists even after about a month of being off chemo drugs so all food must be room temperature or warmer. It seems like the opening of her esophagus is still small, but the pain and discomfort of swallowing food has decreased. At her last throat scan, it was reported that the maximum that the esophagus would open was 2 cm.

We are both looking forward to having all the kids here for Christmas. We know there is a good chance that this may be the last time we spend the holidays together.

I enjoy helping my wife deal with her illness, but I really hate to see her suffering. She always has a smile on her face and a positive attitude. Some time next year, I expect to start hearing about hospice care. I hope that day is far off. More updates as things develop.

Election Thoughts

Kamala Harris is clearly not an upgrade from Joe Biden. I think of her as Jezebel, the wicked wife of King Ahab. Oh, Jezebel’s dad, amongst other things, was the high priest of Ba’al. The “bel” part of her name is related to Ba’al. In the case of Harris, I think of her more as the Molech type due to her single-minded advocacy of unlimited abortion, the sacrament of Liberals everywhere.

The Democratic Party has fully embraced murder and mutilation of children as the social cornerstones of their platform. Harris was being honest when, at one of her campaign rallies, she told those proclaiming that “Christ was King” that they were at the wrong political event. Clearly Jesus and God are not welcomed in Democratic circles.

The Democrat Party’s economic ideas are not rooted in the real world but in the sin of envy. Envy, per the dictionary, is defined as “A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another.” Another definition is “Malevolence.”

It’s no surprise that this is a direct violation of the Tenth Commandment.

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”
— Exodus 20: 17.

Oh, coveting someone’s ass has nothing to do with sexual desire, but I can see why Democrats might think that given their embrace of sexual perverts and perversions. Actually, it might be better to think of the “ass” mentioned in this Commandment as your mode of transportation, while “ox” is your job, work truck, or equipment. i.e. your vocation.

Jealousy and ingratitude also come to mind when listening to Democrats whine about economic issues.

During his campaign, Donald Trump was rather quiet about details of what he would do when elected. Oh, I know he promised some tax cuts and things like that, but I don’t recall him presenting another list of potential Supreme Court nominees or specifics about Cabinet appointments. Other than promising Elon Musk and Senator Kenedy a job, much was kept under wraps.

We all know that he will unleash hell on the swamp rats once he takes office, but details are scarce as of now. What has been foreshadowed since his election is that he will go after those in the government that coordinated with big tech and private companies to debank, cancel, silence, or otherwise impede the exercise of free speech. He also promises to crackdown on those that violated immigration law. Other than those breaking our laws by committing criminal acts within our borders, I think he can’t do very much unless Congress gets involved; something they have not done in any meaningful way since Ronald Reagan was President.

Speaking of Reagan, Trump will end up butting heads with the unions representing government workers. Reagan’s ability to fire the air traffic controllers will loom large as a precedent for Trump as he tries to fire folks in the bureaucracy. Reagan’s situation was different in that the air traffic controllers were on strike and thus Reagan could appeal to public safety. The bureaucracy is largely controlled by the Executive Branch (President) but is it really? Do union contracts trump (pardon the pun) the Constitutional power of the President? If Congress authorizes money to be spent, is the Executive Branch obligated to spend it even if they don’t want too?

Also, the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Chevron Doctrine might be a tool that Trump can use to roll back the power of various agencies. Were the Democrats in power, the ramifications of this ruling would take years to work their way through the courts, and in reality, little would change; however, with Trump at the helm, Chevron might be the most effective lever that Trump has to change the overreach of government agencies.

Whatever Trump does, he needs to get Congress to adopt his programs. Governing via Executive Orders is unconstitutional. Trump needs to codify whatever changes that he makes as law. It might not make them immutable, but it will make it harder to undo. He needs to start by making his tax cuts from last time he was in office permanent.

If I could caution Trump on anything, its keep Congress out of any legislation dealing with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). IVF is eugenics and morally something that should not be enshrined into Federal Law. Hard as it may sound, some things need to be kept at a state level even if the result is “messy” and inconsistent from one place to another.

Lastly, Congress needs to find a way to fix our elections and voter rolls without federalizing the election process. Maybe mandate paper ballots and a national holiday on election day. The postal service is a Constitutionally created agency so placing rules on vote by mail would be within their power. Outlawing ballot harvesting by requiring vote by mail ballots to be postmarked on or before election day might be a good start. (The merits of this being a state or federal will be debated, I’m sure, but you get where I’m going with this.)

I gotta go so until next time …

Living with Esophageal Cancer November 2024 Update 1

In addition to everything else, my wife is now taking blood thinners. About a month ago, she had another scan. It showed that her tumors had reduced in size, but also that she had two pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in her lungs).

The PET/CT scan will be in about two weeks. This is the final verdict on the effectiveness of radiation and chemotherapy treatments. This is the benchmark of the best she will be or her “new normal.” The day following the scan, we will meet with the oncologist.

Thus far she is still on an essentially liquid diet. The exceptions are these: she can eat some cream-based soups and her oatmeal breakfast if she runs them through the food processor and liquifies the heck out of them first. The only somewhat solid food she can eat is slices of apple. She chews the apple slices and can swallow some of it. The rest she spits out onto a napkin and then tosses in the trash. Due to the lingering effects of chemo, she still can’t eat anything cold, so ice cream is not an option at this time. Also, anything with spices or tomatoes (including soups) are not something she can eat.

All her medicines are crushed into powder and mixed with liquids, or she can’t take them. Nasea is her constant companion, and she can’t sleep well at night. Amazingly, she has only lost 35 pounds since July. She has trouble walking and we now have handicapped placards in both cars. She needs either my help or that of a shopping cart to walk more than a few feet.

She has an amazingly positive attitude, but it is horrible to watch her suffer.

I plan to update again after the next scan.