More Improvement But Also More Side Effects

DeBary, FL.

59 deg. clear, West wind with gusts to 20 mph.

Forecast = tonight, Clear skies. Low 33F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.


The day-to-day happenings around here have been pretty boring. Just normal living.

Monday, Jim had a radiation treatment at 8:45 in the morning and then headed up to DeLand to have his weekly chemo treatment which always includes a chemo doctor's appointment.

When Jim goes for chemo treatment, the first step is to get weighed, have blood drawn and then see the doctor. They have a lab right there, and by the time he sees the doctor, (Doctor Saferali),  she already has the results of the blood test. So far, Jim 's weight has been stable and the blood test results have been pretty good, but this time, he had lost some weight since last week and some of the numbers on the blood test were out of the "normal range".

Jim's appetite has not been real good lately and so he has not been eating as much as usual, thus the weight loss. And, his white blood count is getting low and this can be a very serious thing. You see, if your white count gets too low, you loose your resistance to any infections, such as colds, or other bugs you may pick up by being with other people or eating any fruit or vegetables that are raw and not washed thoroughly or not cooked properly.

So, what does this mean? Well, the doctor recommended that for now, Jim stay away from crowded places, like busy restaurants, stores or any place where there may be a lot of  "germs" floating around in the air. She also said that washing produce was very important and being very careful to cook things completely.  She also said that if the white count hasn't improved by next week, the best thing to do would be to skip a week of chemo and then resume treatment after the bone marrow has a chance to bring the count up some.

Jim is also starting to have more side effects from the chemo. He's noticed more fatigue, loss of appetite, some weakness, and some bowel problems. He pretty much expected these things to happen eventually so wasn't too surprised. Oh, and he's also noticed a lot of  hair in his comb when combing his hair, so that means soon he'll be losing all his hair. :-(

But,  ,  ,  ,  the good news!!!!

Jim's lung is working very well!! In fact the chemo doctor said that she couldn't tell any difference between the left and right lung when she listened to his breathing with her stethoscope!!! That means that the lung has completely re-inflated and the tumor has shrunk enough to allow good passage of air in and out of the lung!!!! :-)

Yesterday morning, Jim had his usual radiation treatment and then saw the radiation doctor. (He sees Dr. Graham every Tuesday after his treatment), He confirmed Dr. Saferali's diagnosis about the function of the lung and was very pleased with the results. If everything goes a planned, Jim has just 12 more radiation treatments. That means that on or about the 26th of this month, he'll be finished with the every day treatments.

He also only has only 4 more chemo treatments left, but that will stretch out into April as the last 2 treatments will be at 21 day intervals. (More on that in a future post).

The weather around here has been bouncing around all over the place. We've had high temps in the 80's with lows at night in the 60's. But we've also had high's in the 50's with low's near the freezing point. We've had quite a bit of sunshine, but also some very stormy days with very heavy rain. I can't complain though, it sure has been better than the weather up north in Illinois!! ;-)


A Quote to Ponder : “Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.”
Braveheart

Woof!!!