Update On Papa

Papa has been having some difficulty swallowing and keeping food down. He was taken to the emergency room 2 weeks ago. After some trouble Nana had with the initial ER doctor a wonderful nurse performed a small test. Papa had to try to swallow a small pill and some water. He wasn't able to; everything came up. A GI Specialist was called in to look at Papa at this point.

The GI Specialist immediately scheduled an orthoscopic procedure for Papa. He wanted to look down Papa's throat to find and determine if there was a blockage. There was approximately 10 to 11cm of food stuck in his throat. The GI Specialist cleared that out. After clearing out the lodged food the GI Specialist found a mass. He was concerned about the look of the mass. He wanted to remove the mass but since Papa is on coumadin there was a concern of not being able to stop the bleeding.

At this point there was nothing else that the GI Specialist could do. Papa needs to be removed from the medication so the mass can be removed. He also would be on a liquid or soft food diet.

I am not sure what happened next but before Papa could be scheduled for a biopsy he needed to be seen by his neurologist. Since Papa suffers from complications under anesthesia due to his cardiovascular dementia he needs to obtain an okay from his neurologist.

Two weeks later an appointment is made to see the neurologist. An appointment is made for the following day for a biopsy.

Today was the day for the biopsy. Papa did well with the anesthesia. The total time for the procedure today was about 2 hours. As far as the mass is concerned things are not looking good. The GI Specialist that Papa saw in the ER two weeks ago performed the procedure today. The mass had grown so the GI Specialist stretched Papa's esophagus. He then proceeded to pull a sample from the mass and then from the lining of the stomach where the stomach meets the esophagus. It was made clear to Nana and to my Aunt that it is very possible that Papa has cancer.

Cancer is something that was mentioned two weeks ago and that I have been trying to prepare myself for. Papa smoked for the first 13 years of my life. Mom told me he smoked longer than that.

Every family has there complications and stories. Mine isn't any different. I just hate seeing family torn apart and all struggling separately.

Getting off on a tangent. But the biopsy results will be in, in two weeks. Tomorrow Papa has an appointment for a CT Scan. Mom says to check and make sure that there aren't other masses.

Papa has been home now 3 months since the complications with the knee surgery. I don't know what may be ahead if this is indeed cancer.

Just since I started writing this mom gave me a call to let me know that the hospital called Nana to tell her to bring Papa back in. Papa's potassium is too low and they are worried about him having a heart attack.