Dr. Scott led with the good news at this morning's appointment:
"It's working!"
The chemotherapy is effective according to the results of last Friday's CT scan. All the liver tumors are shrinking. But at the same time the toxicity is high and he had to cancel this morning's infusion because my blood platelet count was too low to treat me. So I get another week off chemo. It may mean that I am now one week on and two weeks off. I guess I'll take that even though I am anxious for the drugs to do their work.
Still one more hospital test next Monday; a trans-esophageal something or other. They will induce sleep and put some scanner down my throat to look at my heart to make sure that the source of my stroke is not originating there. This was ordered by the Neurologist, Dr. Santos. Dr. Scott suspects the stroke was triggered by migraines. But the heart must be ruled out.
My classes at WMCAT ended last week and I have to say that it felt just like that old feeling from grade school at the beginning of summer vacation. But it was bittersweet saying goodbye to the kids.
Time to work a little travel into my schedule.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Stroke
It was a weird week last week. I was having visual problems and lightheadedness that I chalked up to migraines. That may still be the source of the visual symptoms but the problems led to an MRI on Friday and I just got a phone call telling me I had a stroke. Must be a very small one because I don't seem to have stroke symptoms but it means getting back on a daily aspirin regimen.
When I had my appointment with Dr. Santos, the Neurologist/ Ophthalmologist, to see why large fields of vision were disappearing, he ran a battery of tests that indicated the possibility of something in the brain. The fear was that it would be a brain tumor from metastasized cancer. There was an unexplained spot on my retina and a visual field test that hinted something was not right. He ordered the MRI, this time at the Lemmen Holton Cancer Center (part of Spectrum Health) so I was able to do some comparison shopping. Their MRI machine seemed smaller and less frightening and they didn't offer music (a ridiculous salve for the loud MRI noises) and they did offer a cool blindfold and an array of snacks at the end. I think points go to Lemmen Holton. A "wet read" was ordered, which meant my Dr. would get results within the hour.
Somehow, Dr. Santos was unreachable and I waited all evening for the call. Finally at 10:30pm the phone rang it was Dr. Mohr, a partner of my primary care physician, Dr. Hazle. When they couldn't reach Dr. Santos, they bumped down to the next guy on the list and since Dr. Hazle was not the guy on call, it was bumped again to Dr. Mohr, who I guess I would say I like based on our conversation. He did not blurt out the results. He said he did not know me and wanted first for me to set up the story as to why I was having an MRI. After hearing my story he said, "Well I guess this is good news". No tumor. The bad news being that I'd had a stroke. The further good news being that I did not have any horrible stroke symptoms or evidence of permanent damage.
A bunch of new tests have been added to this Friday's CT scan looking for the source of the clot. The doctors say I am too young to be having a stroke and it is undoubtedly related to cancer. I still feel light headed but am somewhat relieved that this is my last week of classes.
When I had my appointment with Dr. Santos, the Neurologist/ Ophthalmologist, to see why large fields of vision were disappearing, he ran a battery of tests that indicated the possibility of something in the brain. The fear was that it would be a brain tumor from metastasized cancer. There was an unexplained spot on my retina and a visual field test that hinted something was not right. He ordered the MRI, this time at the Lemmen Holton Cancer Center (part of Spectrum Health) so I was able to do some comparison shopping. Their MRI machine seemed smaller and less frightening and they didn't offer music (a ridiculous salve for the loud MRI noises) and they did offer a cool blindfold and an array of snacks at the end. I think points go to Lemmen Holton. A "wet read" was ordered, which meant my Dr. would get results within the hour.
Somehow, Dr. Santos was unreachable and I waited all evening for the call. Finally at 10:30pm the phone rang it was Dr. Mohr, a partner of my primary care physician, Dr. Hazle. When they couldn't reach Dr. Santos, they bumped down to the next guy on the list and since Dr. Hazle was not the guy on call, it was bumped again to Dr. Mohr, who I guess I would say I like based on our conversation. He did not blurt out the results. He said he did not know me and wanted first for me to set up the story as to why I was having an MRI. After hearing my story he said, "Well I guess this is good news". No tumor. The bad news being that I'd had a stroke. The further good news being that I did not have any horrible stroke symptoms or evidence of permanent damage.
A bunch of new tests have been added to this Friday's CT scan looking for the source of the clot. The doctors say I am too young to be having a stroke and it is undoubtedly related to cancer. I still feel light headed but am somewhat relieved that this is my last week of classes.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Chemo update
I really feel like this regimen is working. The poking pains in my liver region have subsided and my "tumor marker" blood tests are heading in a downward direction. I seem to have a pattern of a bad week (when the chemo is administered) followed by a good week in terms of nausea and temperature sensitivity but neither symptom has been too terrible. So I would say the glass is half full. The temperature sensitivity, it turns out, seems only to be for cold. Ice water or any chilled food or beverage triggers a "pins and needles" sensation on my tongue and throat but it is short lived and fairly tolerable. Still, I'm staying away from ice cream during week one. The same sensation is felt in my fingers when I reach into the refrigerator or freezer. So glad that West Michigan temperatures are finally spring-like.
I'm not sure that this is related to chemo or not but I am experiencing an uptick in what I am being told are migraines; specifically a rare type called Hemiplegic Migraine. The good news is that I am not getting much of the debilitating headache side of the symptoms; a few pangs at most. But I am getting the visual aura effect where I see bright flashes and a jaggy, crescent shaped distortion in my vision. At other times it manifests as numbness on my left side or blind spots. Yesterday for a couple hours my left peripheral vision disappeared. It happened to come on while driving and could not see the on-coming lane of traffic without physically turning my head 90 degrees to the left. This morning, briefly the vision just below center focus disappeared. I could read a line of type but not anticipate the next line. A couple weeks ago it was the center focus so I could not see faces or read anything. Very strange! But the effect fades away and everything is normal again. I'm sort of old to be experiencing migraines for the first time in my life but there are stranger things.
My teaching job ends in a couple of weeks and I have a ton of work to do to finish up. It will be a bit of a relief and I hope I will be freed up to do a bit of travel during my good week. Abby just moved to Ithaca, New York this week for a new start so perhaps a drive to the Finger Lakes region is in my near future.
I'm not sure that this is related to chemo or not but I am experiencing an uptick in what I am being told are migraines; specifically a rare type called Hemiplegic Migraine. The good news is that I am not getting much of the debilitating headache side of the symptoms; a few pangs at most. But I am getting the visual aura effect where I see bright flashes and a jaggy, crescent shaped distortion in my vision. At other times it manifests as numbness on my left side or blind spots. Yesterday for a couple hours my left peripheral vision disappeared. It happened to come on while driving and could not see the on-coming lane of traffic without physically turning my head 90 degrees to the left. This morning, briefly the vision just below center focus disappeared. I could read a line of type but not anticipate the next line. A couple weeks ago it was the center focus so I could not see faces or read anything. Very strange! But the effect fades away and everything is normal again. I'm sort of old to be experiencing migraines for the first time in my life but there are stranger things.
My teaching job ends in a couple of weeks and I have a ton of work to do to finish up. It will be a bit of a relief and I hope I will be freed up to do a bit of travel during my good week. Abby just moved to Ithaca, New York this week for a new start so perhaps a drive to the Finger Lakes region is in my near future.
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| Abby with packed car and bicycle attached to trunk, ready to embark. |
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