Well, a couple of weeks has past and lots of stuff to update and report on.
At our Aug 2 appointment with Dr. Blumenschein, Dr. B decided to proceed with Gemzar as a chemo treatment and give Diana 4 additional doses. Diana already had 4 treatments. However, he also set an appointment with him for Diana after two doses rather to wait until she had all four as he would normally do, to check on her status at that time. Normally, he would not see her until after the 4 doses but he was concerned about her physical condition. So Diana took her IV doses of Gemzar on Aug 2 and Aug 9.
We were invited to a wedding on September 2 in Vermont for the youngest son of our friends from Cape Cod. Diana and the son had a close bonding as he grew up. They had quite a rivalry on the golf course when he a young teenager would try to beat her. This was a very special occasion for us and one that we had really looked forward to attending. We had tentatively planned a short trip to Montreal and Quebec City after the wedding in Upstate Vermont. Based upon Diana’s health and schedule at MD Anderson we formally cancelled the trip in early August. It was a sad day. It is difficult trying to live your life with cancer, but when it affects your outside events it hurst even more. For me to notify the parents of the son being married that we would not be able to attend and cancel our room reservation depressed both of us that day. However, since Diana had a chemo treatment scheduled for August 30, there is no way she could make the trip. Diana was quite sick following the last two infusions of Gemzar earlier in August. She was very tired and only had limited activity during this time period until her next appointment with Dr. B on Aug 23.
She was scheduled to have the next two chemo treatments on Aug 23 & 30. On Aug 23, we met with Dr. B before her scheduled chemo treatment. Upon seeing her condition on Aug 23 – he cancelled the Gemzar chemo treatment scheduled for that day. Diana was very weak and in much pain. Dr. B said she was dehydrated and had a low red cell blood count. He was very concerned about her physical condition.
Instead of her scheduled chemo treatment, Diana got 3 hours of saline via an IV infusion and a red blood cell booster shot. Dr B cancelled her scheduled Aug 30 chemo treatment and scheduled a new CT scan for Sept 1. He scheduled an appointment with the Pain Management Center at MD Anderson for Sept 5 and the next appointment with DR B was for Sept 6.
However, Diana’s pain in her lower back and right thigh are still ever present. So Dr. B is scheduling a MRI in the next day or so to see if there is any need to use radiation on either of those areas. There was also a small out of norm reading on one of her kidney blood test results – so he is to schedule an appointment with a kidney specialist for Diana.
Otherwise – no chemo treatments for 2 months. Assuming the MRI and kidney meetings do not show any problems – our next appointment with Dr B will in November! That news made Diana feel much better. We came home this afternoon – Diana is mentally stressed and exhausted – she went straight to bed. Hopefully in the next few days, the new pain regimen will kick in and she will regain her strength.
All else is well here. In the meantime – thanks for your support and prayers.