Oops. Forgot the Photo...

Here's the whole-body hyperthermia unit. The top "arm" comes down and tents the body all around with the metal-looking blanket, and heat radiates up from underneath. I understand that it penetrates the body up to 8" from both directions, effectively rupturing the cancer cells' outer linings while leaving healthy cells fully intact. Quite a machine.

Whole-Body Hyperthermia...

The whole body hyperthermia could not have gone any better today! He did GREAT! He was quite tired afterwards, a side effect of the sedation, but was up and about this evening looking for food... ha ha. I found him in the hall when I got back from dinner (he was asleep when I left, so I thought he'd be sleeping for a while longer) looking for tea, a good sign that he felt well. I've attached a photo of the unit; kind of cool. They lay on the "meshy" mattress, and the heat goes in from all angles. Some people get a bit of a sunburn from it, but he didn't have any side effects, which was great. They administered the low-dose chemo, but the particular one that he had is very mild and shouldn't cause any side effects.

Whew! What a relief to have that over with. It will take a while before we'll know what kind of impact it's made on the cancer, but in the meantime, he seems to be doing great. It's really a breeze; no big deal at all!

I'll try to post more this weekend, otherwise we'll be back home Tuesday! :)

A little walk through the park...

The amphitheatre and indoor concert hall in the park.



















Dad posing near some little gate in the park.























The "vapor wall" in the Bad Salzhausen park. It's mineral water heavily laden with salt, and is GREAT for breathing in the vapors. It really clears out your sinuses, in addition to being very calming to listen to. At the right is a close-up of the sticks that are situated in the wall that allows the water to run down them, thus creating the vapor. I'm curious to know how often these sticks have to be switched out. Surprisingly, there is no rot, mold or algae despite them being constantly saturated.

All of these are from a few days ago when we took a stroll through the park here. It's absolutely gorgeous, and the attention to all of the trees and plants and grounds is just amazing. Each tree's species is labeled (albeit in German and Latin) and the grounds are so meticulously maintained. There are little benches all around where people sit and watch the birds or just enjoy the sun. The weather here has been amazing; 70 degrees today, and it's supposed to hold just as nice until we leave on Tuesday! The town of Bad Salzhausen, where we're saying, is what's referred to as a "spa town" in Germany where the country designated these areas near natural mineral springs and wells as healing places for a myriad of different maladies over the last hundred years. In this particular park, there are 4 or 5 separate wells with mineral water that can be drank, and is rumored to be great for the digestive system. I'll take their word for it, as I can read the mineral content, as well as smell some of the odors of the water, and thing I'd rather not drink it. I've read that the government-run health system used to prescribe stays in these towns and for patients to drink the water to cure asthma, lung problems, etc.

Gutten Abend (Good Afternoon!)

Sorry for the delay in postings; I was a little under the weather yesterday, but am feeling much better today. Just a touch of a cold, but Erika was nice enough to play nurse and brought me heaps of Vitamin C and throat lozenges, and now I'm almost as good as new! They did another ultrasound today, and found that the fluid on dad's lungs is satisfactory enough to schedule him for the whole-body hyperthermia for Friday morning. He'll go in around 10 or 11 AM, and should be finished about 4 hours later. Most people are quite sleepy for the rest of the day, but that's good; it means your body is healing.

It's actually quite an interesting process. They induce fever on the body, and gradually bring his inner core temperature up to 103-104 degrees Fahrenheit. This takes about 1-1/2 hours, and then they begin administering the chemo while the body is at this temperature. The heat makes the cancer cells' outer lining rupture, and they are much more responsive to the chemo, in addition to enhancing the benefits (not necessarily the side effects) of the of the chemo as well. During this time, they also raise the blood sugar level, which also causes the cancer cells to deteriorate because they begin to eat up the sugar, which is laced with chemo, and you get the idea. They hold the body at the higher temperature for 1 hour, and then slowly begin to cool it down. After this, they are monitored every 20 minutes until they're up and around that evening, and detox infusions are begun rather immediately after the hyperthermia is finished to begin flushing the body of the chemo. I have to say, it's rather genius that you allow the cancer cells to be exposed to the chemo for as short a time as possible, while minimizing the potential impact on the body afterwards. What a concept!

So, I'll post an update tomorrow evening letting you know how everything went. I'm sure it will go very smoothly!

Ciao for now,

Chels