April 19 Tuesday

I am here at the hospital this evening visiting Marty.  Don and Anne (Marty's parents) are here, and so are Carolyn and Oni.   Marty had another radiation treatment today and is napping right now. He takes many naps throughout the day now. Today's treatment was #8, which means there are only two more to go. If he feels well enough, we are planning to relocate to Pemberton on Friday.  Hopefully the car ride will not make him too nauseous.

The radiation has been irritating Marty's throat a lot, so he has been having trouble eating solid foods.  He is doing his best to eat soups and drink smoothies and protein shakes, but he has lost a lot of weight.   The radiation has two main goals: There is a tumor putting pressure on a nerve which was causing him a lot of pain in his shoulder.  At this point, either the radiation or pain medicines have been effective at warding off that pain, which is a big improvement from when he first came to the hospital two weeks ago.  The other goal of the radiation is to decrease the size of a mass which is putting pressure on the superior vena cava, which is the main vein which drains the upper body. This radiation treatment is palliative only, and not able to be curative. 

In Pemberton, Marty's mom Anne will be looking after Marty most of the time.  The local palliative nurses are able to stop by once a day to check on him and to see how things are going.  Marty tries to listen to all his voice-mails, but is not able to call everyone back.  If you haven't heard back from Marty in a few days, you can try Oni (Marty's Pemberton and paragliding friend) at  604.698.6532.  Regarding visiting, it is hard for me to give clear direction.  Sometimes Marty is feeling well enough to have visitors, but other times he is not well enough for visitors.  Sometimes he seems too tired, but is able to perk up quite a bit when a friend stops by.  Other times a visitor will stop by and he will be sleeping the entire time.  I don't want to discourage anyone from visiting, but I want to reiterate that it is best to keep your visits to about an hour, and I cannot guarantee Marty will feel like visiting when you show up. 


It is Passover today and this whole week.  I am certain Marty's doesn't want any matzah, but I am going to make him some matzah ball soup, which I hope will soothe his throat a bit.