Treatment Plan

From what we have researched, Joel is getting the most up-to-date treatment. I guess it can vary from hospital to hospital and doctor to doctor as far as dosage goes but we are confident that Joel is getting the best proven treatment so he can lick this thing. Joel just finished up his first round of chemotherapy and radiation therapy which consisted of taking 2 different forms of chemo and receiving radiation at the hospital 5 days a week.For those of you who don't know I will do my best to give you a quick rundown of what this all is. Until Joel was diagnosed we were cancer ignorant so this has been an eye-opening experience for us.

First the radiation is very precise and the radiation oncologist takes a lot of measurements pre-treatment and those measurements and dosage of the rays are programmed into the machine before Joel's appt every day. Great care is taken to avoid other major organs and any area that doesn't need to be radiated but they must radiate more than just the tumor area to make sure they get it all. Radiation therapy is serious stuff and is used to try and shrink the tumor as well as the lymph nodes. With this you have a one and only shot at getting the cancer, Joel received the maximum number of treatments he can receive and the radiation actually continues to help shrink the tumor and lymph nodes for up to 3 months after stopping the treatments.

One form of chemo that Joel took came in a pill called "Xeloda" and Joel took 5 pills every day for 6 weeks. The second form of chemotherapy is called "Oxaliplatin" and Joel received 3 infusions (through an IV) over the 6 weeks. From what we have read these are the 2 best drugs to fight off Joel's cancer and the oxaliplatin actually helps sensitize the tumor and aid the radiation in helping shrink it.

Joel is so glad to done with treatment.