WEDNESDAY JULY 10th, 2019

Well, day one of Chemo Round 2 is in the books.  It was a long, but good day overall.  Chris had another lab draw this morning, and all of his labs looked good; which meant he could start round two of chemo today.  His LDH is down to 544 (225 is high end of normal) His AST and ALT (liver enzymes) are still both normal.  His hemoglobin and platelets are normal as well.  

After the lab draw, Chris had an appointment with Dr. Shah.  He was impressed with Chris's response so far, and is optimistic about the upcoming treatments.  After Chris finishes this cycle of chemo, he will have another spinal tap and another PET scan to assess how his body is responding.  

Lastly, Chris had an appointment at the day hospital to start his chemo.  We were a little surprised that Chris was starting his treatment today with the Rituxan first; it was given on the last day for the first cycle of chemo.  The Rituxan was given in a rapid dose (over 2 hours vs 4 hours the first time). After that, Chris was connected to his 3 med "cocktail" which he'll have 4 total bags of over the next 4 days.  He has to carry the pump and med bag in a large fanny pack for the next 5 days. Check out the picture.  

Chris is feeling okay so far; he didn't have a reaction to the Rituxan, but just feels a bit "off" afterwards. 

I will keep updating the blog as Chris continues his treatment.  Thanks for the love and support from everyone. 

V

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31st, 2019 Today, Chris had his blood draw and meeting with Dr. Shah. At the meeting, Dr. Shah discussed Chris's PET scan results from Monday.  His PET scan looks significantly better, but there is still some residual disease.  Additionally, there are two new areas of concern; one in the left axillary lymphatic region and a second in the prevascular (chest) lymphatic region.  They are relatively small, but were not noted on the first PET scan.  Also of concern is that one of the areas of affected in his abdomen has worsened.  As a result, Chris is getting a biopsy of the left axillary lymph node of concern today.  He will also have a LP tomorrow to check his CSF for involvement again. The possible involvement of his retina makes CSF involvement concerning.  Chris will not be starting chemo today.  Dr. Shah will be changing Chris's chemo regimen based on the results of the biopsy, LP, and meeting with the ocular oncologist o...
Read more
TUESDAY, AUGUST 6th, 2019 Chris had his follow up with the ocular oncologist yesterday. After getting several different types of pictures taken, the oncologist was confident that the spots on Chris's left retina were cotton wool spots and not lymphoma.  "Cotton wool spots are small yellowish-white deposits (resembling cotton fluffs) in the retina. They represent swelling of the retinal nerve fibers. This swelling usually occurs because the blood supply to that area has been impaired and the decreased blood flow has injured the nerve fibers in that location." ( https://nei.nih.gov/faqs/retina-cotton-wool-spots ) As a result of yesterday's meeting with the ocular oncologist, Dr. Shah feels confident that Chris does not have lymphoma in his CSF or brain; as such, Chris started the Gemcitabine/ Dexamethasone/ Cisplatin chemotherapy R-GDP) regimen today.  This chemo regimen does not cross the blood brain barrier typically, but Chris is receiving an increased dose of Ri...
Read more
Image
WEDNESDAY JUNE 19, 2019 Well...good or bad, today we received the information we have been waiting for.   Chris had his PET scan first thing this morning.  He no sooner arrived back in the room and one of he hospital proceduralists was prepping the room for his bone marrow biopsy.  It took two attempts, but the bone marrow biopsy was successful, and the lab obtained everything they needed.   Within an our of the bone marrow biopsy finishing up, Chris was being prepped for his lumbar puncture.  During the puncture. the proceduralist removed some of Chris's spinal fluid in order to test it and see if there are any lymphoma cells in the CSF.  Since access to the spinal fluid is not the easiest thing to obtain, a dose of Methotrexate was put into his CSF prophylactically.  If Chris does end up having the lymphoma cells in his CSF, he would need to get the Methotrexate once during each round of treatment.  We should here the results of the ...
Read more