Journal entry by Anne Kilkenny —
Hi friends!
Anne here.
Pat is doing so well! He looks better every day and is a lot more engaged in life. His doctors describe him as having a "relatively manageable burden of disease" and "not in imminent danger of death". One of his GPs suggested that she didn't need to see him for three months! THREE MONTHS! His wonderful VA doc is very, very pleased with how he's doing. Maybe his awfully low BP last summer (61/52!) was because of dehydration and chemo because yesterday his BP was (old) textbook perfect: 120/80! His heart rate is still high (115-125) but slowly coming down.
Besides the good news that the tumor in his lung and nearby lymph nodes was gone, we also got the good news that the brain MRI on Nov 11th was clear: no cancer. (Once it's in the brain, a person has only a couple of weeks, and since it takes a couple of weeks to get one scheduled and get results, he'll probably not get another done.)
The 5 new tumors are 4-15mm in diameter, in L1, L2, S1 & S2. The spinal chord in that area controls the front & backs of the upper and lower legs (ie. the ability to walk) and bladder & bowel continence. We love his radiologist and are confident in his care and competence; he'll do all he can to enable Pat to have as little pain as possible. Right now, Pat has NO pain!
If you want to read something scary, read the official package insert for Opdivo. It's no free lunch, but if it works, it could prevent new cancers from developing in vital organs.
Pat & I have had a lot of good conversations about his priorities and preferences. These conversations have given me a lot of peace of mind because I have a much clearer idea of what matters to him.
Anne here.
Pat is doing so well! He looks better every day and is a lot more engaged in life. His doctors describe him as having a "relatively manageable burden of disease" and "not in imminent danger of death". One of his GPs suggested that she didn't need to see him for three months! THREE MONTHS! His wonderful VA doc is very, very pleased with how he's doing. Maybe his awfully low BP last summer (61/52!) was because of dehydration and chemo because yesterday his BP was (old) textbook perfect: 120/80! His heart rate is still high (115-125) but slowly coming down.
Besides the good news that the tumor in his lung and nearby lymph nodes was gone, we also got the good news that the brain MRI on Nov 11th was clear: no cancer. (Once it's in the brain, a person has only a couple of weeks, and since it takes a couple of weeks to get one scheduled and get results, he'll probably not get another done.)
The 5 new tumors are 4-15mm in diameter, in L1, L2, S1 & S2. The spinal chord in that area controls the front & backs of the upper and lower legs (ie. the ability to walk) and bladder & bowel continence. We love his radiologist and are confident in his care and competence; he'll do all he can to enable Pat to have as little pain as possible. Right now, Pat has NO pain!
If you want to read something scary, read the official package insert for Opdivo. It's no free lunch, but if it works, it could prevent new cancers from developing in vital organs.
Pat & I have had a lot of good conversations about his priorities and preferences. These conversations have given me a lot of peace of mind because I have a much clearer idea of what matters to him.
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