Cancer

by on April 22, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The blood tests came back good for mom, and her specialists are all content with how she is progressing. Mom is feeling better herself, and is so far not suffering from a major dip in ability to operate in the week following her keytruda treatment. Either her body is adjusting to it, or it was not the source of her side effects in the first place. I will continue to closely monitor her. I ran into a bit of complication though. I moved into her basement, and have been sleeping on a couch down there. Very comfortable. A 1970s trampoline couch that is as comfortable as my waterbed. But I can’t lay flat on it, and it would seem that is not good. I’ve been having trouble getting to sleep this week, but didn’t connect the dots. It seems some of my muscle groups (especially around the left shoulder) have been unable to properly relax while I’m asleep, and today I woke up with my body telling me it was done sleeping on the couch. So off to a real bed I go…

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Cancer

by on April 21, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Today is going to be another set appointments and blood testing to make certain mom is responding well to the treatments. She has been feeling tired again, but we sorted all her pills for the next week so we can start today with a fresh set. It is amazing how many pills they have her on right now. And many of them she will be taking for the rest of her life.

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Cancer

by on April 20, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Today at the Mayo Clinic was a quick jaunt into my personal Mayo Family Clinic Northeast, rather than the big block of buildings downtown. My mom just needed to have her blood checked, and it is so much easier to have that done in the outer clinics than going downtown. And they have some good people there who can get blood even from mom’s shy veins. The good news is that her uric acid levels are down, so her primary care physician no longer wants to put her in the hospital for that. The bad news is that mom has a new medication to deal with the uric acid. We’re up to four applications of pills a day, and trying to keep them all down to a manageable level so none of them overload her. It is another delicate balancing act, but I think we’ve nailed down a good compromise.

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Cancer

by on April 19, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Mayo Clinic turned out to be a longer Monday than we expected. It started around 7AM getting ready to go in, getting their at 8AM for blood test, and then an MRI to check the tumors in the brain. I had forgotten to sign my taxes last week, so I had to go into my CPA to do that as well, which I did during mom’s MRI. Then we got out of the Clinic to get some food and watch a park for a bit before going back in for the news. The tumors in the brain are much reduced, so it would appear the treatments are working there. But mom’s bloodwork showed elevate uric acid levels, so the doctor ordered a quick flush of her system during her keytruda treatment. That extended our time at the Clinic until 6PM, and we closed the department down before leaving and getting home around 7PM. A 12-hour day is a long one, and we both basically crashed and went straight to sleep after that. I hate long days at the Clinic.

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Cancer

by on April 18, 2022 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Today we go to the Mayo Clinic for an all day run of tests and meetings. Mom has been feeling better, so I greatly hope that the tests will agree with her feelings. That said, a day at the clinic is always hard on a body. Please pray for my mom. She can use all the help she can get, because cancer just sucks like that.

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