Listen to this articleJust a couple of quick updates…
We received the results back from Josh’s lumbar puncture on Friday, and as seems to be the case with many of the tests lately, there is no clear cut result. The point of the procedure was to check his Cerebral Spinal Fluid for any abnormal cells that might indicate that the cancer had spread to Josh’s spinal area. Our oncologist said usually answers are “Yes’ or “No” in this case, they show that yes there are abnormal cells but they are not reactive. The doctor feels that this may be the result of dead cells from the original tumor draining into the spinal area. This isn’t for certain however, but at this point they are not planning to begin a course of spinal radiation. As the original spinal MRI they did back before surgery was negative, the plan now is to do the 6 week course of radiation/chemo and then during the 4 week break before starting chemo alone, they will do a full spinal MRI to do another check. If anything seems off they will do another lumbar puncture.
I went up to visit with Josh today and pick up his prescriptions in preparation for chemo/radiation starting next week. I was not prepared for all of the boxes/bottles/blister packs the pharmacy had for us. It was very overwhelming. Josh will be adding in Kytril for nausea, Bactrim to help prevent infection, and 3 different doses of Temozolomide to get the 165 mg they want him to be taking during radiation. Reading through the instructions and info sheets was nerve wracking and scary. So, much to plan out as to the timing of his meds as things need to be taken in the same way/same time each day and of course seeing what effect it will all have on him. I am definitely not mentally and emotionally ready for this phase of treatment.
Overall while I was there, Josh looked pretty good. He was pretty tired after some rough nights of sleep, but he got a good nap in this afternoon. He had a bit of a headache, but he was able to get to his therapies this afternoon. Hopefully this means the effects of the spinal headache are beginning to wear off. He is definitely tired of being in the hospital, but he still won’t be home for some time. He will most likely be in Grand Rapids for the entirety of his radiation treatment whether at Mary Free Bed or staying in an outpatient facility nearby. So that’s at least another 6 weeks, which figures out to be at the end of June. That will mean he will have been away from home from March – June — over 3 months. But somehow we will get through this all.
AIRHORN SOLUTIONS