I'm sorry I haven't given any updates during the last week (other then the short one yesterday), but until today there really wasn't a whole lot to say. Here is the rundown...
Last week and weekend were really good. Jim felt good, had energy and a good appetite. We had a full weekend, which included a surprise BD party for a friend Saturday night and a trip to Riverside Casino on Sunday (for Jim's mother's BD). We came home, took a short walk and cleaned the garage floor which was nasty with sand from the long winter. As always Jim felt his best just before his next chemo (which was Monday).
Chemo #5 went very smoothly on Monday. When Dr. Nabi did the spinal infusion at the end of the day it was one insertion and right in. Jim told her she got an A+! Home we went and the next four hours were spent in the prone position. When he got up on Tuesday he felt pretty good. In fact he told a couple people that it was his best "day after chemo" so far. He may have jinxed himself, because it didn't last!
This morning at 4 he was up and in the bathroom. The next several hours were like that. I was very concerned about him becoming dehydrated again. He would take his anti-nausea pill and lose it an hour later. Late morning it finally stopped. At that point he became very good about drinking his liquids (of course I was nagging big time about it). And he finally ate his first solid food around 6 tonight. It wasn't much but it stayed down. We are hoping that he will feel better when he gets up tomorrow.
I wanted to share one of the things that I asked the doctor about at Jim's appointment on Monday. Dr. Nabi had written all these wonderful notes at Jim's first visit so we would have something we could look back on if we had questions about something discussed that day. One of the things she had told Jim was that after the 6 chemo treatments (by IV) that there was a POSSIBILITY that he would have an additional round of chemo - 4 treatments that would be given via spinal infusion. So, what I wanted to know was why the spinal infusion was being done simultaneously with the IV chemo treatments if the original plan was to possibly do it AFTERWARDS. Well, Dr. Nabi said that because Jim was doing so well with his IV chemo treatments, having so few problems, that it made sense to get a start on the spinal infusions and that way shorten the length of time that Jim would be undergoing treatment. The spinal infusions are highly recommended to aggressively treat lymphoma that is in the bone marrow. Dr. Nabi said she does not want Jim to come back a year from now with brain cancer. So even though there is nothing enjoyable about this part of the treatment plan it could make the difference in making sure that his cancer is completely cured. Also, Jim asked for specifics on the last PET/CT scan that was done a few weeks ago. Dr. Nabi said that all the spots that were there before the chemo are all gone. Thank you Lord!
We are very fortunate that our boss is as understanding as she is. Jim missed all of today from work and said for him to take tomorrow too if needed. That has been how she has been all the way through this. We are very blessed to work where we do and to have the type of boss we have. We have good insurance too which is another blessing.
As we go forward please continue to pray for him to have minimal side effects from the chemo. We want him to feel better and to be able to eat and drink as needed. Thanks in advance! We appreciate it so much.
NEXT CHEMO (#6 and final) and spinal infusion (#3) on 4/5/10 (the day after Easter) . The final spinal infusion (#4) will be four weeks later. Dr. Nabi wants another PET/CT scan before the final spinal infusion. We are hopeful that by early June Jim will be ready to some camping!
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