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Hurrah for Modern Medicine and Great Friends

Posted on January 5, 2025 by under Health, Life.    

With Cindy and Ed Egan, and Lou and Kory Parkhurst at Deano’s East.

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When we first got Brian’s diagnosis, our friend Cindy told us that she has another friend who went through the exact same thing about ten years ago. We both agreed that it would be great to meet this couple and kind of hear about their experience, etc. Cindy arranged the dinner and we were actually supposed to meet at Wine Dive, closer to where the Parkhursts’ live, but Cindy had a crazy busy weekend (both she and Ed had pickleball tournaments that day) and so we had a last minute location change to Deano’s to be closer to the Egans’.

The funny part is we were just at Deano’s West the night before with some friends because I wanted to check out the fancy new location. Everything is the same food/drink menu-wise, the only difference because the new West side location is on a lake so if you’re out on the patio then you have better views. Nonetheless, the food didn’t matter to us. We were anxious to meet Kory and Lou and hear about their journey, how they got through it, and get their advice.

It was super helpful meeting Kory and Lou. Seeing Kory, looking happy and healthy 10 years later, really lifted our spirits. All the doctors were very positive that Brian would get through this okay but you don’t really know. Meeting someone who has gone through the very thing that you’re suffering from, and getting their insights was completely invaluable. I am beyond grateful to Cindy for making this dinner happen, which was the night before Brian’s first radiation treatment.

Kory’s cancer was nearly identical to Brian’s. His was further along and he also had his feeding tube installed before treatments began. Because he is a slender guy to begin with, their doctors determined that he couldn’t afford to lose any weight at all. Whereas with Brian, we were hopeful that he wouldn’t need a feeding tube at all. Wishful thinking on our part because once Brian hit 150 lbs, we were like, okay now we need to do something because he can’t lose anymore weight. In hindsight, we should have listened to Dr. Chris Dakhil and had the feeding tube installed early. You may or may not need it but it’s there if you do. It’ll help keep your nutrition up which is important because it’s hard to fight the good fight when you have zero energy. Which is what Brian’s going through now. He has zero energy to do anything. He is fatigued and tired all the time and all he wants to do is sleep.

We thought that we would not have any problems getting the feeding tube installed halfway through but we failed to take the holidays into account. By the time we decided to pull the trigger on the feeding tube, we had run into Christmas and New Year, and Dr. Imad Nassif only does these surgeries on Wednesdays so the first available date was January 8. You live and you learn. We know now but hoping we don’t have to use this knowledge ever again.

Anyway, it’s amazing to me how far we’ve come. It used to be getting diagnosed with cancer was a death sentence. I suppose a lot of it depends on the kind of cancer you have and how far along it has progressed unchecked. But, as unfortunate as it is for Brian to have gotten cancer, he is at least fortunate enough to have the kind that can be treated. We are meeting more and more cancer survivors which makes me think modern medicine has advanced enough that more and more people are winning the battle. We are hopeful that Brian will get through this just as Kory has and this will all be a faint memory a decade from now.

Here’s a picture of the two Deano’s locations for comparison:

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This is a picture of the front of the OG Deano’s where we had dinner with the Parkhursts and Egans on Sunday night. It’s located at Cambridge Market, which is actually around the corner from Quarters at Cambridge where Brian and I used to live over 10 years ago.

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This is a picture of the front of the new West location where we had dinner with other friends the previous night.

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  • « My Pickleball Sabbatical aka 2024 Year-End Recap  « this post »  December Round Up »