Henry's Oncologist was a little surprised about the results he is seeing in Henry and the response he is having to chemo treatment.
In January 2012 Henry weighted 49 kilos ( and his height is 5 foot 10 inch).. He was 16 kilos underweight and because of that we all were afraid that Henry's body could not handle chemo. I remember he worked really hard to gain weight before chemo started. His stomach was so small that he could not handle food. I remember him having really small meals: a child' s portion that sometimes he could not even finish. Sometimes he sat for almost an hour trying (really trying) to finish his food.
It was hard to see how he could not handle such small portions of food. Henry used to get around 500Kcal in food and 1.500 Kcal from supplementary drinks...And not being able to eat, how could he prepare his body for chemo?...
God, looking back Henry has come a long way.
Now Henry weights 59 kilos and this weight has been gained strictly from eating healthy food. Well, he has some junk once a week, like a chocolate, just to feel normal and to no to be obsessed about good-for-you food. Anything that turns into an obsession only leads to lose the authentic essence of life. So yeah, a chocolate or a bag of sweeties now and again is al right, isn't?. However, the good thing of eating healthy is that because you feel the benefits of it straight away, it is like if automatically you go off anything that is unhealthy. So really, Henry is not struggling on that aspect.
Chemo is working well and Henry's tumour has shrank a fair amount after having had only two cycles of chemo.
We asked the Oncologist if this could change Henry's initial diagnostic in some way. He said yes. "Yes, according to the results up to date, yes, it could expand Henry' s life expectancy.". This is what Henry's Oncologist said.
We were so happy when we came out from the Oncologist consultation room... It was only when we walked into the waiting area full of cancer patients that we thought that maybe that was not the place to show our happiness, unfortunately no all patients get to hear such positive news. None the less, Henry still has stage IV lung cancer and that has not changed.....
So we kept a low profile and then, thinking about it, the profile has been kept low regardless. We are happy but we still understand that cancer and responses to treatment can be volatile.
We are happy but we also keep an stable estate of mind. Good news only mean that we have to keep on working hard, full stop. If at some stage we get bad news (fingers crossed that it won't happen) we will still have to keep on working hard, full stop..
I am not sure if I am explaining my self well enough.
So, nothing has changed since Henry spoke to the Oncologist. Henry is still having lots of fruit and vegetables and Aloe Arborescens.
Henry has not lost his hair, nor has he been sick or lost his appetite. His temperature has not raised and his thin body has managed to stay strong to fight possible infections (which is something that can easily happen after each chemo treatment).
Henry has not lost his smile either.
We hope that, as well as updating on Henry's situation, we can provide with some useful information and hope to anybody who is going through similar, if not the same, situation as Henry.
In January 2012 Henry weighted 49 kilos ( and his height is 5 foot 10 inch).. He was 16 kilos underweight and because of that we all were afraid that Henry's body could not handle chemo. I remember he worked really hard to gain weight before chemo started. His stomach was so small that he could not handle food. I remember him having really small meals: a child' s portion that sometimes he could not even finish. Sometimes he sat for almost an hour trying (really trying) to finish his food.
It was hard to see how he could not handle such small portions of food. Henry used to get around 500Kcal in food and 1.500 Kcal from supplementary drinks...And not being able to eat, how could he prepare his body for chemo?...
God, looking back Henry has come a long way.
Now Henry weights 59 kilos and this weight has been gained strictly from eating healthy food. Well, he has some junk once a week, like a chocolate, just to feel normal and to no to be obsessed about good-for-you food. Anything that turns into an obsession only leads to lose the authentic essence of life. So yeah, a chocolate or a bag of sweeties now and again is al right, isn't?. However, the good thing of eating healthy is that because you feel the benefits of it straight away, it is like if automatically you go off anything that is unhealthy. So really, Henry is not struggling on that aspect.
Chemo is working well and Henry's tumour has shrank a fair amount after having had only two cycles of chemo.
We asked the Oncologist if this could change Henry's initial diagnostic in some way. He said yes. "Yes, according to the results up to date, yes, it could expand Henry' s life expectancy.". This is what Henry's Oncologist said.
We were so happy when we came out from the Oncologist consultation room... It was only when we walked into the waiting area full of cancer patients that we thought that maybe that was not the place to show our happiness, unfortunately no all patients get to hear such positive news. None the less, Henry still has stage IV lung cancer and that has not changed.....
So we kept a low profile and then, thinking about it, the profile has been kept low regardless. We are happy but we still understand that cancer and responses to treatment can be volatile.
We are happy but we also keep an stable estate of mind. Good news only mean that we have to keep on working hard, full stop. If at some stage we get bad news (fingers crossed that it won't happen) we will still have to keep on working hard, full stop..
I am not sure if I am explaining my self well enough.
So, nothing has changed since Henry spoke to the Oncologist. Henry is still having lots of fruit and vegetables and Aloe Arborescens.
Henry has not lost his hair, nor has he been sick or lost his appetite. His temperature has not raised and his thin body has managed to stay strong to fight possible infections (which is something that can easily happen after each chemo treatment).
Henry has not lost his smile either.
We hope that, as well as updating on Henry's situation, we can provide with some useful information and hope to anybody who is going through similar, if not the same, situation as Henry.
