Service

The arrangements have been made for Jackie's service.

The funeral services will be held
on Wednesday, April 23rd at 1:30pm at

First Baptist Church
204 W. Fulton Street
DeKalb, TX
75559

Viewing of the body will be from 11:00 - 1:30 in the same location.

Immediately following the graveside service at New Hope Cemetery, coffee and dessert will be served at Jackie and Vivian's home. Directions will be provided.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the New Hope Cemetery would be appreciated and can be sent to:

New Hope Cemetery Fund
703 CR 4311
DeKalb, TX
75559

A Peaceful End

We are saddened to let you all know that Jackie passed away Sunday evening around 5:50. He went very peacefully with no pain surrounded by his family and friends.

We are working to determine the day and time for the service and will post again tomorrow to let you all know. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and continued support.

Down to Days

The doctor told us this afternoon that we are down to days. Jackie had a seizure last night, and they put in a catheter and hooked him up to oxygen. We are going to be in in-house hospice here at the hospital in Texarkana (Wadley). They moved us down the hall to a suite which is much more conducive to visiting (rooms 588 and 589). If you wish to come and visit, feel free to.

Jackie's mother and brother are here with us tonight. The hospital staff has been wonderful, and we have a wealth of extended family and friends who have been here for us throughout. We are blessed!

Condition Worsens

Jackie is still sleeping a lot, and his ability to communicate has not improved. It is very frustrating for him. His medical oncologist finally returned, and we saw him last night. It was a sad night. He said his condition has deteriorated to the point that chemo is no longer feasible. He is so weak and shows no signs of improving. The doctor says the disease is taking over and that our goal should be to make him commfortable. He started to show signs of pain yesterday (headache), and that worsened today. They put him on a morphine pump and put a pain patch on him. Hopefully, he will rest well tonight.

Jackie's brother and family came to the hospital last night. They live in Seattle. His brother is at the hospital with him tonight, so I came home a short while ago for a night of rest in an actual bed.

The doctor recommended that we consider hospice when we are released from the hospital. We don't know when that will be at the present time. I expect it will be soon though. This is all happening so fast that it just doesn't seem real.

Neurosurgeon's Visit

I spoke with my Mother this evening and she asked me to post an update again. They are still in the hospital.

The Neurosurgeon came by today on his rounds. He indicated that the blood in Jackie's brain would gradually be absorbed into his system and that surgery was not recommended. As far as his speech is concerned, he said that it may slowly improve over a few weeks.

Jackie is sleeping a large part of the day and night right now. As I understand it, this is due to the bleeding in his brain. Tomorrow, the medical oncologist is supposed to come by during his rounds. He will, hopefully, be able to advise on further treatment.

More tomorrow.....

More Developments

Hi, it's Jana again. I spoke with my Mother a couple of times today. After she returned to the hospital yesterday, she noticed that Jackie's speech was unusual. They immediately took him off of the blood thinner and did a catscan of his brain.

Today, the doctor on call said that the catscan revealed that there was some slight bleeding in Jackie's brain from the tumors. Jackie is now to see a neuro-surgeon tomorrow. The doctor on call over the weekend did not think that any surgery would be necessary but also indicated that "this was not his area of expertise."

This recent development will probably rule out his ability to begin taking the Thalidomide. Thalidomide was to help interrupt the blood supply to the tumors but also can cause blood clots. Since Jackie had a blood clot already and can no longer take blood thinners this treatment is too risky.

Hopefully we will know more tomorrow. It seems like when you get one answer you have five more questions though.

Hospital Update

I have run home to take care of a few things and will head back to the hospital soon. I don't expect Jackie to get out today, maybe not until the beginning of the week. He is "fit to be tied"! He is not in any pain, and everything seems to be OK. It's just hard to get the doctors very involved over the weekend, especially since the one who admitted Jackie and is in charge of him over the weekend is not his regular oncologist.

Thanks to Jana and Lee for filling in here while I was out of pocket! Hopefully, we will be back at home soon.

One of his meds is at the pharmacy. One problem is that it can cause bloodclots. The other one should arrive by mail soon.

Still in Hospital

I just talked to mother and Jackie and they are still in the hospital this morning. The swelling has gone down in his feet but they are continuing to monitor him. Their doctor is out of town so the on call guy should see them again today. He has a couple of unusual sores they want him to look at. He will move or already has moved from taking the blood thinner by IV to an oral med and they will likely have them wait even longer to monitor how the switch goes. Jackie is ready to head to the house and is eating that wonderful hospital food like it was a really good steak dinner!

back to the hospital

Hi, this is Jana reporting

I just talked to my Mother and they are back at the hospital. Jackie has a blood clot that is traveling. He is undergoing a procedure right now to put a filter in to catch the clot, as I understand it. They should be home later today if all goes as planned. We will post again later today to let you all know how he is.


Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Ankles Swelling

I noticed last night that both his ankles were swollen - the left more than the right. They were worse this morning. He had trouble wearing a shoe on the left one. We had to get out for a while to take care of some business, and he is asleep now. The swelling is no better. The doctor's office just called me back, and he will not be in the office today nor tomorrow. Then that brings us to the weekend! His nurse said that if had trouble breathing or had a sharp pain in either leg to take him to the emergency room. So much for staying at home so we would be close to the doctor.

Meds Are Ordered

Both prescriptions have been ordered as of Friday. I verified it today. So hopefully we will get started by the end of this week or early next week.

We went out and ran some errands today and had a little lunch. Jackie was so tired by the time we got back. He just got up from a two-hour nap. He seems very weak to me. I'm hoping the treatment is not too hard on him.

Another Good Night

Jackie's headaches seem to be gone - thanks to that wonderful steroid pill! He has had a good day. He took a long nap this afternoon. My son came for the weekend to help with a few chores around here. He and I have worked up a storm all day, and it makes Jackie feel better to see some progress being made. Think he thinks I'm a little slow.

Jackie's mother, daughter, and sister-in-law are coming on Tuesday to spend a couple of days. That will be good!

We're cooking pizza and getting ready to watch movies since Jackie has slept all afternoon.(:

Good Night

Jackie did not have a headache during the night last night, so the steroids are definitely helping his symptoms. We got everything taken care of yesterday for the meds. I just have to call the doctor's office and make sure they got the mail order RX in the mail. Hopefully, we'll be able to start in about a week.

Better Night

After taking two of the steroid pills late yesterday, his night was better. He still woke up with his head hurting, but he didn't have to take anything for it - just elevated his head and was able to go back to sleep. Alter getting two more in him today tonight should be even better.

Headache During the Night

Jackie had to take Aleve during the night for a headache. I just talked with the doctor's office, and he said to go back to two steroids a day. He's asleep, so I'll wait a while to break the news to him. He didn't want to think it was the tumors, but since he has never had headaches until this started, I felt sure that was what it was. We're trying to get the medicines straight so we can get started on them. Of course, we have to try to make the insurance company happy, if that's possible under the circumstances. At least we have an extremely nice and proficient nurse with the insurance that is being a tremendous help.

2nd Day of No Steroids

Think we've had an alright day! Ran some errands and got a bite to eat in Mt. Pleasant. He has not told me if he's had any problems. So far - so good!

Stopping Steroid

Jackie says he has felt better today. He would not let me call the doctor, and he says he is not going to take the steroid tonight. Hopefully, everything will be alright. He thinks I over react to everything. That may be true! I'm really trying not to, but I just don't trust him to tell me when something is wrong. I know he is trying to protect me and doesn't want me to worry, but I just don't want him to be in pain.

Lower Back Pain

Jackie just told me his lower back is hurting. He tried to make light of it - said it was probably from a fall he took last week. I rubbed it and gave him some Aleve and tucked him in. I'm so afraid it's the tumor on his adrenal gland. Dr. Tran, the radiology oncologist, was surprised that he wasn't already having pain from it when it was discovered, due to the size of the tumor. He told us that day that if it started bothering him, to let him know and he could do something about it. I feel sure he will do some radiation on it. For sure they will up the steroid back to at least one pill - seems these problems have just started since we went down to 1/2 pill early in the week. I'm going to look on the internet for more information about tumors on the adrenal gland now.

Headaches Again

Jackie slept a lot yesterday. The weather was rainy, and he has always liked to sleep when it's raining. I didn't think much about it - just wondered if he would be able to sleep come night. We ended up having a movie marathon. Called it quits sometime after midnight. He was pretty lethargic again this morning. I have to drag everything out of him. It worries me that he doesn't want to tell me when he's having any kind of problem. He finally told me his head was hurting some in the mornings. We just cut the steroid back to 1/2 on Monday and were supposed to stop it completely tomorrow morning. Don't think we're going to do that! I'll try to get through to the doctor in the morning and let him know what is happening.

Side Effects of Treatment

As far as side effects of the planned treatment, we really won't know until we get into it. However, from our research and talks with the doctor, Jackie will most likely have nausea, vomiting, and weakness. There is a possibility of peripheral neuropathy from the thalidomide - nerve damage in the hands and feet. He will have to be closely monitored for this. If such occurs the drug may have to be reduced or temporarily discontinued. So far he is doing great as far as pain is concerned. Hopefully, that will not change. If he does experience pain from the tumors, we have faith in the radiology oncologist to take care of that.

Treatment Decision

It seems we have finally come to a conclusion on the direction to go with Jackie's treatment. We met with his medical oncologist in Texarkana today. He had finally spoken with the doctors in Houston, and it was decided that they really don't have anything good to offer him at this time. However, Dr. Patel is going to use one of their medications in addition to the one he was planning to use. They are both quite expensive, it seems, and they are working to get the best price possible. Also, one (Thalidomide) requires considerable paperwork. It interferes with the blood supply of the tumors, and the other one (Temodar) is an oral chemotherapy that tends to poison the cells, as I understand it. Therefore, it appears we won't get started for yet another couple of weeks.

Jackie is happy with the decision. The doctor said that he was looking good, and he is still feeling quite well. He is continuing to eat like a horse, but we have cut the steroid back to 1/2 pill, so his appetite may dwindle somewhat. We are supposed to quit cold turkey next Monday, but get back on one a day if problems arise.

He sends his greetings and thanks all of you for your prayers, cards, and interest in his well-being.

What's Next with Jackie

We didn't find out anything from the doctor on Thursday - communication problems I guess. We thought he would have information for us from MD Anderson. Dr. Patel said they were to call us. I called them yesterday morning and then called Dr. Patel's office with a number that he was to call. We did not hear from him yesterday, so I'll be calling him first thing Monday morning.

The nurse that I talked to gave me considerable information about the clinical trial that Jackie evidently qualifies for. Also, I found it on MD Anderson's website based on the three meds that she said were being used. The first one is the chemo that the doctor in Texarkana plans to use. The trial is to determine if these two additional meds will help the chemo be more effective on metastacized brain tumors from melanoma. The big problem is that metastacized melanoma is extremely difficult to treat. Of course, as the brain tumors are treated systemically, the tumors in his lungs and the one on his adrenal gland will also be treated.

Dr. Patel told us on Thursday if it is going to be six weeks or so before we can get started on something in Houston that we may need to go ahead and do the treatment here. If we start the chemo here then he will not be eligible for the clinical trial. The trial requires that his radiation treatment on the brain tumors be completed four weeks prior to the start of Houston's treatment and, as I understand, that they be actively growing again. He will have been finished for one week on Tuesday. From reading on the internet it seems that we would go to Houston every two weeks for eight weeks and then just every four or five weeks after that.

I have no idea what we will do; but, hopefully, we'll make a decision early next week.

Jackie is still feeling reasonably well under the circumstances and is in good spirits.

Doctor Visit 3/20/08

We went for our appointment today expecting to find out what our next step was as far as treatment was concerned. All we found out was that MD Anderson is supposed to call us - not the doctor. Therefore, we will be calling there tomorrow morning first thing. The medical oncologist (Dr. Patel) thought Jackie was looking good. He feels, however, that if MD Anderson can't get us in for six weeks or so that we may need to go ahead and start the chemo here. Jackie completely trusts him to do what is best. He is feeling good, just a little weak and/or shakey at times. He is still eating heartily and resting often.

We enjoyed a visit from my daughter and two young grandchildren for the past three days. Thanks to Jana we finally got this blog started. Jackie's nephew and his family from New York are coming by tomorrow. Needless to say, we are looking forward to that!

Hopefully, we will have some info to pass along by tomorrow.

Diagnosis to now

As most of you know, we discovered a little over a month ago, February 9th, in the emergency room at Mt. Pleasant that Jackie had tumors in his brain and that they had come from someplace else. He was put on steroids the Monday after we received this traumatic news on Saturday. Then on the following Friday, February 15th, radiation was begun on his brain. We later found that they were in his lung and that he had a large one on the adrenal gland. He had a needle biopsy in his lung February 29th, and his lung collapsed. They admitted us to the hospital and told us the hole should close up in a day or two - instead it took eight days. We finally got back home Saturday, March 8th. We had received the results of the biopsy Wednesday the 5th - amelanotic melanoma.

The doctor said we have two options which are oral medication (chemo) or a clinical trial someplace like M.D. Anderson. All the records have been sent there, and we are waiting to find out if they have anything going on at this time with melanoma. In the meantime he has completed a course of radiation on his brain. We have an appointment on Thursday, March 20th with the medical oncologist to determine the next course of treatment.

Jackie is feeling good - just a little weak. He is not in pain, thanks to steroids and the radiation. He is fortunate to have so many relatives and friends who are concerned about him, and my daughter suggested the idea of the blog and has graciously agreed to put it into action. We'll try our best to update the information regularly, and he will surely enjoy the input from you. She has purchased him a laptop so that if we are away from home, he'll still have access to his computer.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and care and concern! It means so much to both of us and certainly lifts our spirits during this trying time.