Heath had surgery Monday around 12:30. After the surgery, the doctor came out and said that they found some tumors. They biopsied the area and confirmed that it is a spread of the initial sarcoma from his sacrum. The only thing we know is they said he would need more chemo.
He is in pain but doing ok and his attitude is just awesome. Please keep him in your prayers.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Sorry, I had the wrong time. The Surgery is not scheduled yet.
The surgery is not scheduled yet. He may go at 8:45 AM if there is a cancellation but that is unlikely. He may get scheduled for noon or it could be 5PM. If that doesn't happen then he should get in sometime Tuesday.
Sorry for the confusion.
Sorry for the confusion.
Heath is scheduled for surgery at 8:45AM on Monday, 3/3/08
As of now, Heath is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning at 8:45AM.
Heath was admitted into Moffitt on Thursday due to fluid in his lungs. They quickly realized that his right lung was collapsed due to being filled with fluid. They called it Pleural effusion. It was so bad that his heart was being pushed over. They put in a chest tube to start draining the fluid. So far they have drained 10 liters of fluid. Initially, they said it could be pneumonia or cancer that is causing the Pleural effusion. They have sent off a sample of the fluid to biopsy it. They will not have results on that until probably Tuesday.
Going back a little, on January 2 they found another spot on his right lung. They decided to just keep a close eye on it because it was very small. Karis moved up the follow-up scan because Heath has been coughing and not feeling well at all in his chest. Plus she didn't want him to get x-rays here and then have to get them at Moffitt.
He had more w-rays last night so I'm guessing that the doctors looked at them this morning and decided to schedule surgery. They said that he still has fluid on the bottom 3 lobes of the right lung. They are going to perform a right video assisted thorascopic surgery to remove the remaining fluid with a possible right pleuroresis (process to make the lung stick to the wall) and possibly remove the spot that they found back on January 2. They will look at the rest of the lung if possible.
That's all I know at this point. We do ask that you try and check this blog for updates to help reduce the amount of time that Karis needs to spend on the phone for several reasons. Feel free to call me for updates if needed.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers
Heath was admitted into Moffitt on Thursday due to fluid in his lungs. They quickly realized that his right lung was collapsed due to being filled with fluid. They called it Pleural effusion. It was so bad that his heart was being pushed over. They put in a chest tube to start draining the fluid. So far they have drained 10 liters of fluid. Initially, they said it could be pneumonia or cancer that is causing the Pleural effusion. They have sent off a sample of the fluid to biopsy it. They will not have results on that until probably Tuesday.
Going back a little, on January 2 they found another spot on his right lung. They decided to just keep a close eye on it because it was very small. Karis moved up the follow-up scan because Heath has been coughing and not feeling well at all in his chest. Plus she didn't want him to get x-rays here and then have to get them at Moffitt.
He had more w-rays last night so I'm guessing that the doctors looked at them this morning and decided to schedule surgery. They said that he still has fluid on the bottom 3 lobes of the right lung. They are going to perform a right video assisted thorascopic surgery to remove the remaining fluid with a possible right pleuroresis (process to make the lung stick to the wall) and possibly remove the spot that they found back on January 2. They will look at the rest of the lung if possible.
That's all I know at this point. We do ask that you try and check this blog for updates to help reduce the amount of time that Karis needs to spend on the phone for several reasons. Feel free to call me for updates if needed.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Heath is recovering nicely from surgery
Heath's surgery went very well. They removed the 3 small pieces that they saw on the scan plus a couple other suspect pieces. Unfortunately, the doctor said the 3 initial pieces were cancer. We were told that they probably were but still. It was the same kind that he had before. The other pieces that they took out turned out to be nothing.
He is recovering very well. They already removed his chest tube because the lung re-inflated very quickly without a lot of drainage. He might come home tomorrow but he will still have a lot of pain.
At this time we don't know what the doctors will want to do next; we just hope he doesn't need anymore chemo. Karis said that we will meet with Dr. Summers and his ARNP-C, Joe Garrett, in a couple weeks and probably meet with Dr. Agresta on the same day.
I can't say enough about the compassionate and professional care that Heath received from the Surgeon, Dr. Summers, and his ARNP, Joe Garrett, and the nursing staff at Moffitt.
He is recovering very well. They already removed his chest tube because the lung re-inflated very quickly without a lot of drainage. He might come home tomorrow but he will still have a lot of pain.
At this time we don't know what the doctors will want to do next; we just hope he doesn't need anymore chemo. Karis said that we will meet with Dr. Summers and his ARNP-C, Joe Garrett, in a couple weeks and probably meet with Dr. Agresta on the same day.
I can't say enough about the compassionate and professional care that Heath received from the Surgeon, Dr. Summers, and his ARNP, Joe Garrett, and the nursing staff at Moffitt.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Scan results
Unfortunately they found a couple spots on Heath's right lung in one of the scans that they did on Aug. 20th. On Aug. 27th, they confirmed it by doing a Chest CT scan. We are very optimistic but it does suck (sorry but that's how I feel).
We met with the Thoracic Surgeon at Moffitt on Wednesday and he went over everything with us. Heath is scheduled for surgery on Oct. 8th to remove 3 very small pieces of his right lung. They will be able to tell us almost right away rather or not it is cancer. Then they will send it off to confirm.
Dr. Agresta scheduled Heath for another Chest CT Scan on Oct. 1st to get another look before they operate.
Please pray that the spots will be gone before the next scan so surgery is not even needed but if surgery is needed that it isn't cancer and the doctors will proceed with the correct treatment so this will be the end of it.
We met with the Thoracic Surgeon at Moffitt on Wednesday and he went over everything with us. Heath is scheduled for surgery on Oct. 8th to remove 3 very small pieces of his right lung. They will be able to tell us almost right away rather or not it is cancer. Then they will send it off to confirm.
Dr. Agresta scheduled Heath for another Chest CT Scan on Oct. 1st to get another look before they operate.
Please pray that the spots will be gone before the next scan so surgery is not even needed but if surgery is needed that it isn't cancer and the doctors will proceed with the correct treatment so this will be the end of it.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Upcoming Scans Aug. 20th
Heath has his checkup scans scheduled for August 20th.
He is having a lot of anxiety as you can understand and has had problems sleeping because of restlessness. Please pray that both of these things go away and for good results from his scans.
He is having a lot of anxiety as you can understand and has had problems sleeping because of restlessness. Please pray that both of these things go away and for good results from his scans.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
More on Miles for Moffitt
If anyone is planning on attending, register under "Sarcoma Speed Demons". That is the team that Dr. Agresta is in and we will be too.