Kris, Dave and the Lumps: Round 3, Chemo #17 (and others)

Chemo #17… last round!

First to catch up. Kris went virtually blind in her right eye some weeks ago. It started while she was out on her daily walk on a Friday and the ‘blindness’ is much like a film of oil on her eye. We initially thought that it was due to sun block getting into her eye or into her contact lens. She changed out lenses and things seemed to get better. The following Tuesday it returned. The next Friday we went to see an optometrist and he suggested rinsing with eye drops. He found no evidence of macular degeneration, corneal detachment or anything that we were most worried about. That following Saturday (a week on now), it got markedly worse. She rinsed her eye with a hand held spigot we have on one of our tubs for about 15 minutes and that seemed to help but not by much. The following Monday we saw the optometrist again and he referred us to an ophthalmologist. The eye Dr. found a small tear in the macula with an associated fluid pocket. They said that this could be from high blood pressure (and this fits from due to the spike she had when suffering one of her migraines) or she might’ve had a cold which affected this region of the eye. Long and short is we have this damage but don’t know the real cause. They asked her to wait two weeks at which time they would inject dye and get a better picture of what is going on.

Meanwhile, Chemo #16 was scheduled in this time frame. Dr. Moran said that a rare side effect of Avastin is damage to the eyes and could lead to blindness. We will suspend treatment until we know more. After the answer from the Ophthalmologist, we rescheduled for the following Thursday and had infusion #16 (uneventful) based on their diagnosis of the problem. In short, they decided that Avastin wasn’t directly the problem and it was safe to continue with it. Point of fact, the eye Dr. said that they might well use Avastin for this problem with the eye!

When we went back for the test of Kris eye which included the dye, the Dr. found no sign of leakage which indicates that this is likely not related to blood pressure (so much for my theory). He concluded that it must be a hereditary thing and prescribed a drug he has had success treating this problem with. As a coincidence, Kris father Gerry was visiting and he too had a similar event back in the ‘80s which caused him to retrain which was his dominant eye. For the record, Kris is doing fine and sees well enough to function though not as well as she did before this event.

Chemo #17.

We saw Dr. Moran and conferred with him over the drug that the Ophthalmologist had prescribed. Dr. Moran knew of no reason not to take that drug along with the Avastin… especially since this was the final installment of Avastin. He did order a Pet Scan to occur between now and September so that he can review that scan the first week of September. We are back on the post chemo/treatment treadmill of scanning and watching to make sure that Kris is clear of cancer.

“Do not come in early! Do not stay late! There will be overtime!” Anon… for now.

When I asked 'someone' how we can get past a communications issue I received the reply "I would not change any decisions I've made in the past two years. I am NOT going to change. I am NOT going anywhere. Deal with it!" She'll bee anon, for now.

Kris, Dave and the Lumps: update

Friday June 25th, Chemo round 3 number 12

The chemo itself was uneventful. When we talked with the Dr. she decided to have us get another brain scan just to rule out problems in that area in relation to Kris' Migraines. Yes, she's still getting them. If we don't act aggressively enough, she ends up in urgent care. In fact, she had one yesterday (July 2nd) but we were able to take care of it without going to urgent care this time.

Last Sunday, I believe, Kris complained that her vision was blurry. She took out her contact and rinsed out her eye and things seemed to be better so we were thinking bad contact. However, the blurred vision came back with new contacts and rinsing/changing didn't help. It's been getting progressivly worse going from blurriness to 'grey'. Yesterday afternoon (the migraine was pretty much in check at this point) we went to see an Eye Dr. and he found no retinal detachment (good news!) nor any other reason for the blurriness. He gave her eye drops, told her to use them frequently and to call Monday with any changes. This morning she woke up and it's getting dark in her right eye (left eye is unaffected)... we fear that she is going blind in the right eye and are not sure what to do from here, save the usual: see the Dr. and follow orders. My hope is that it is somehow related to the chemo and thus temporary. Yes, we've both said that if it WERE the chemo, it would be both eyes... I argue that maybe for some odd reason her right eye is more susceptible than her left. Long and short is, we dunno... we just know we have another storm to weather.

Kris, Dave and the Lumps: I know, the blog is 'infected' with spam...

I'm working to clear the situation. I have been deleting the spurious posts and will delete the current spate after I've analyzed where they are coming from. They appear to be from me which has me a bit concerned. I'm trying to contact blogspot for their help in clearing this up. Patience, this will be cleared up!

Kris, Dave and the Lumps: Round 3, Chemo #11, 12 and 13.

Kris is doing fine.  Her tongue is still not happy, at all.  Tomatoes are almost too spicy and mouthwash/brushing are… not fun.

 

A new item on the horizon that may be aggravated by the chemo but we do NOT feel is caused by it is that her arthritis is getting worse.  Bad enough that I sent her packing to a rheumatologist who said ‘ho hum’ as it’s just the normal ‘wear and tear’ type of arthritis, not something like rheumatoid arthritis.  She prescribed Celebrex which Kris has hardly taken any of, but, the time she did use it was quite pleased with the results.

 

Kris’ blood pressure is still high.  Hovering about 140/100.  Again, the 100 is the scary number.  Dr. Moran is ok with where this is at and has not adjusted her anti-hypertensive drugs since the last time.  Kris has not had any symptoms that imply high blood pressure problems since the last (and only) headache that seemed to be related to high BP.  Long and short is that this is worrisome but it is in the ‘noise’ category of chemo therapy (much like the tongue issues).

 

My apologies for not sending this out sooner, things have been hectic for the last little while.  Not much of an excuse but I’m clinging to it for all I’m worth!

 

From: David Hart [mailto:david.hart@colorado.edu]
Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 11:53 AM
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Subject: Kris, Dave and the Lumps: Round 3, Chemo #10

 

Wednesday 3 Mar

Kris called me at work at about 6:30 am.  She woke up with a blinding headache at about 4:30 am and took non-aspirin and went back to bed.  No good, so she got up and bustled about her day dealing with the headache.  While feeding the cats and parceling out Nekos drugs she got nauseous and threw up.  So, she took her temperature: 93.3.  She took it again not believing the results: 93.3.  She waited about 5 minutes and took it again: 93.8.  She turned on the fire place and warmed up by it and called me.  We decided to take her to Urgent care and while on the phone she got nauseous and tossed her cookies again.  I got home we made it to Urgent care about 7:20 am… they didn’t open until 8.  When she finally got in to see someone, she got cold again and her blood pressure was 158/100!  The Dr. that saw us also took her blood pressure and it was in the same ball park.  He gave her anti-nausea medication and sent her to get a cat scan just in case there was an ongoing bleed in her head.  Scan was clear.  The Dr. explained that the symptoms were fairly common Migraine symptoms and that as far as the high blood pressure was concerned it was a chicken or egg question.  Migraines/pain will increase BP.  High (VERY high) BP can cause headaches.  While her BP wasn’t high enough to cause a migraine (well, for typical cases) he could not rule out that as a possibility.  Sent us home with a pain med prescription and told Kris to watch her BP and relax.

 

Friday 5 Mar

In for an infusion.  Dr. Moran seemed concerned about her high BP (the nurse read it at about 140/100, we were thinking it was higher as we watched Dr. Moran take it).  He doubled her prescription for Lisinipril (anti-hypertensive medication) which he had prescribed for high BP (though much less so than now) earlier.  We are considering getting a cuff so we can check her (and my) BP at home.  We also discussed the pain Kris is having in her fingers and the consensus is arthritis, take Ibuprofin… This is a wee  bit controversial given that she’s on blood thinners but he said that it’s not enough of a concern to not take it if the join pain gets to be too much.  We are by far more concerned about the high BP.  Kris’ infusion went without a hitch save that she beat me, again, at Pickamino.

 

For those who don’t know, I’m sending this from home.  Friday was my last day with IBM.  I will continue the Blog and these emails but have shifted over to my home email account.  If there is a change I will let you know.  If, perchance, you find that I am not getting someone that I used to (or who wants to hear), please let me know, send their email to this address, and I will add them to the list (with their permission please).  Oh, and as always, anyone who doesn’t want to receive these, please let me know and I will update my list.  IBM was a good ride but the fact is that now is a good time for me to move on.

 

Dave H.

 

“Do not come in early!  Do not stay late!  There will be overtime!”  Anon… for now.

Kris, Dave and the Lumps: Round 3, Chemo #10

Wednesday 3 Mar

Kris called me at work at about 6:30 am. She woke up with a blinding headache at about 4:30 am and took non-aspirin and went back to bed. No good, so she got up and bustled about her day dealing with the headache. While feeding the cats and parceling out Nekos drugs she got nauseous and threw up. So, she took her temperature: 93.3. She took it again not believing the results: 93.3. She waited about 5 minutes and took it again: 93.8. She turned on the fire place and warmed up by it and called me. We decided to take her to Urgent care and while on the phone she got nauseous and tossed her cookies again. I got home we made it to Urgent care about 7:20 am… they didn’t open until 8. When she finally got in to see someone, she got cold again and her blood pressure was 158/100! The Dr. that saw us also took her blood pressure and it was in the same ball park. He gave her anti-nausea medication and sent her to get a cat scan just in case there was an ongoing bleed in her head. Scan was clear. The Dr. explained that the symptoms were fairly common Migraine symptoms and that as far as the high blood pressure was concerned it was a chicken or egg question. Migraines/pain will increase BP. High (VERY high) BP can cause headaches. While her BP wasn’t high enough to cause a migraine (well, for typical cases) he could not rule out that as a possibility. Sent us home with a pain med prescription and told Kris to watch her BP and relax.

Friday 5 Mar

In for an infusion. Dr. Moran seemed concerned about her high BP (the nurse read it at about 140/100, we were thinking it was higher as we watched Dr. Moran take it). He doubled her prescription for Lisinipril (anti-hypertensive medication) which he had prescribed for high BP (though much less so than now) earlier. We are considering getting a cuff so we can check her (and my) BP at home. We also discussed the pain Kris is having in her fingers and the consensus is arthritis, take Ibuprofin… This is a wee bit controversial given that she’s on blood thinners but he said that it’s not enough of a concern to not take it if the join pain gets to be too much. We are by far more concerned about the high BP. Kris’ infusion went without a hitch save that she beat me, again, at Pickamino.

For those who don’t know, I’m sending this from home. Friday was my last day with IBM. I will continue the Blog and these emails but have shifted over to my home email account. If there is a change I will let you know. If, perchance, you find that I am not getting someone that I used to (or who wants to hear), please let me know, send their email to this address, and I will add them to the list (with their permission please). Oh, and as always, anyone who doesn’t want to receive these, please let me know and I will update my list. IBM was a good ride but the fact is that now is a good time for me to move on.

Kris, Dave and the lumps: Round 3, Chemo #9

2010-Jan-28, Thursday
Kris went in and had her infusion. The Dr. consulted with her regarding
her tongue and fingernails. He believes that the problems will lessen now
that she's off of Ixempra. Kris blood pressure is up so Dr. Moran put her
on Lisinipril to help keep the pressure down. Kris' spirits are up and
she's doing nicely.

Kris, Dave and the Lumps: Round Three, Chemo #8

2009-Dec-31 Thursday
We went in and got Kris her Chemo. No change to her blood thinners as her
I and R (clotting rate) were within the range they want. We had to do the
infusion on Thursday since Friday was a holiday and we had Kris' dad,
Gerry, along for the right. Better still, the infusions are down to about
an hour so it's much easier than the six hour infusions we've been doing up
until now.

2010-Jan-1 Friday
Kris had a headache all day long. She basically decided to do caffeine to
keep the option of doing a Darvocet open in case this turned out to be a
full blown migraine. Her tolerance for spice is also very low right now.
Basically, even using the special mouthwash she got is on the bleeding edge
of not tolerable due to how 'spicy' it is for her. Her tongue is, well,
raw. Her fingers are also not happy. We are hoping that this will subside
as the Ixempra flushes out of her system. Avastin, the drug she will be on
until May or June, is not supposed to have the side effects that Ixempra
does. All in all, though, things are going well and her spirits are up.