Saturday, July 24, 2010

I've talked to Dad everyday, sometimes briefly, but here's the latest:

Liver is fine. Blood clot in his arm is getting better. He has the flu.

He got the port put in his chest a couple of days ago and they started chemo the same day. Tomorrow will be day 4 of chemo, then he should get a little break. The day the put the port in his chest, he was getting his slippers under the bed, stood up, and passed out. When he fell, he smacked his head pretty good and woke up on the floor of his room, a bit confused. He's fine, but he was really dizzy for a couple of days, partly due to being sick, and partly due to one of the drugs they're giving him, Vincristine.

He says the dizziness is getting better, but he's really, really tired. When I talk to him, he's sounding like he did last time, with the really deep voice, a little slurry, and lethargic. He doesn't talk long, and wants to go back to sleep. I'm hoping he starts to feel a little better soon, he sounds a tad miserable. :(

I might try to get a sitter for the kids this week so I can go see him for a day or two and talk to the nurses and doctors myself. I don't like feeling out of the loop, and with Becky back at work, we don't get to drill the nurses and doctors for answers, and we're not there to make sure he doesn't fall!!!

Jen

Monday, July 19, 2010

Dad went back to UCSF on Sunday after 2 weeks at home. While at home he was feeling quite awful for the majority of it, but started to feel much better near the end. He did get a blood clot a couple of days ago in his left arm below the spot where the PIC line was, but that's somewhat normal, and he's on blood thinners to break down the clot which is working, albeit slowly. It sounds like he's got a cold and has some chest congestion that he needs to get rid of, but that shouldn't be a problem either.

They did a bone marrow biopsy today and it came back looking pretty good. Still no cancer which is great, but they were hoping for an increase of something (Dad couldn't remember what it was called) and they didn't see that, but it's still fine. He seems to be having a bit of trouble with his liver, but that is also just a common side effect of all the chemo and that should be fine too.

His blood work didn't look very good at all, all the values were very low, and he somehow went neutropenic in the last two weeks. They are giving him another blood transfusion to bring some of his values up, and hopefully the rest will go up once his liver is functioning properly.

They won't be giving him any more chemo for a least a couple of days until he gets some of these issues resolved, so we're not sure how long he'll be in the hospital this time. The original plan was 3 weeks, but they might switch it up and do a short 5 day course instead. We should know more in a couple of days. The doctors aren't worried at all about the setbacks, they say it's to be expected with the type and amount of chemo that's he's been getting.

His cell phone isn't working very well in his room, so if he doesn't answer, just leave a message and once he takes a walk he can get reception and call you back.

I'll send another update in a couple of days when we know more!

Jen