TUESDAY JUNE 18th, 2019

 What a whirlwind. After finally getting settled at Froedtert early this morning, Chris had another good night of rest. 

Things here have definitely been set in motion.  Chris was seen first thing this morning by a nurse practitioner for the attending oncologist on the floor.  She reviewed his symptoms and everything that has been happening the last few weeks.  She was also able to set a few expectations for us as to how things will be moving forward.  

Not long after that we were visited by Dr. Nirav Shah, a hematology and medical oncology physician who specializes in lymphomas.  He will be seeing Chris once his specific diagnosis is determined and confirmed (Likely Thursday).  He spoke with the attending oncologist on our floor and ordered the remainder of the diagnostic testing required before moving forward with chemo.  
  • Today he had:
    • An echo of his heart to make sure it would be able to handle chemo and get his baseline functionality before starting chemo. 
    • A PICC line placed for eventual administration of chemo.
      • This will also keep Chris from getting stuck multiple times for lab draws and will act as a large IV to deliver his drug infusion for pain. 
  • Tomorrow Chris will get:
    • A PET scan:
      • A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test that helps reveal how your tissues and organs are functioning. A PET scan uses a radioactive drug (tracer) to show this activity. The tracer may be injected, swallowed or inhaled, depending on which organ or tissue is being studied. The tracer collects in areas of your body that have higher levels of chemical activity, which often correspond to areas of disease. On a PET scan, these areas show up as bright spots. (https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/pet-scan/about/pac-20385078)
    • A Spinal Tap: They will take some of his cerebral spinal fluid and test to see if it has any cancer cells in it.  He will get a dose of chemo in the spinal fluid prophylactically just in case.
    • A bone marrow biopsy: This test will tell us the amount of cancer cells in the bone marrow.  
Overall, today was a bit overwhelming, but extremely productive!  We don't have all of the answers, but were finally on our way and moving forward.  

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