"Beating the Odds"

It has been quite a bit since I last updated this blog; and my fault for not having done so. When we last left our intrepid explorer the most recent news was that SoCal had accepted the referral and would start the paperwork for actually seeing me. Since then, quite a bit has happened...

The days after my last post were rather frightful, with horribly increased trouble breathing and me pawing thru my meds looking for something to "fix" things. Bad plan. I should have just gone into the hospital. As it ended up, Monday the 23rd I had Robin take me in the the Emergency Department. A day in the ER getting tuned up, a few tests, and we had the answer to why I was having such difficulty. The left lung was completely "whited out" on the Xrays, signifying that it was basically full of fluid and not functioning. Game plan was agreed to by all that I would keep my appointment for early Tuesday with the Interventional Radiologist and go home for Monday night on enough meds to keep be calm and breathing.

Tuesday morning I awoke and a little voice whispered to me that this would be no appointment; better to pack my bags be ready for a stay in the hospital. Sure enough, the IR Doc took one look at me and said "consult over, I'm admitting you right now". Fast as that I was whisked off to admitting and then off to the Pre-Op unit to be prepped for a procedure that we had previously discussed. Within another hour I was whipped thru the IR Suite and the Chest Tube for the Pleurodesis was placed.

Time for a quick Anatomy lesson and explanation: there are two linings inside your chest, one covers the structures of each lung, and one lines the inside of your chest cavity. Normally these linings just slide across each other and help your lungs function efficiently. In my case the fluid being produced by the tumors in the left lung was leaking into this space between the linings,and squashing the lung out of the way--hence the white-out on the chest film. In Pleurodesis a Chest Tube (plastic catheter about the width of a pinky) is placed into this space, the fluid is drained, and then an irritating agent (talc in my case) is introduced. This irritant effectively causes the two linings to "glue" together, eliminating the space for the fluid to fill and restoring some lung function. OK, end of A&P lesson.

After the first tube was placed, the plan was to evacuate the fluid and "glue" the linings the next day. Of course, nobody informed my lung and it failed to cooperate. The IR tear performed a little wizardry, and back upstairs I went to wait for the next day. On day 3 the Chest Tube had mostly worked, but there was still one large effusion and a small one that were not cooperating. So, back to IR and this time they placed a second Chest Tube to try and get the remaining fluid. Another day, a bit more wizardry, and by Friday things were looking better so late Friday the talc was introduced to start things bonding. Sunday the IR doc came in (wonderful man--he was on a weekend trip and came home early to get to the hospital and check me out on Sunday) to the hospital and checked me out, said that the tubes could come out and I could go home if I felt up to it. Needless to say I was home in 2 hours.

Since then things have been a bit tough...I lost about 20 pounds over the hospital stay and afterward, my appetite vanished and everything tastes like crap. It has not been a fun couple of weeks, let me tell you! The ONC doc has been tweaking my meds, trying to find something that will help with the appetite, but nothing really worked. Also in there has been a return to the hospital as a outpatient, once for an infusion of fluids, and once for an infusion of 2 units of blood. Oh yeah, and I am also getting 4 skin lesions on my scalp irrradiated to burn them off.

The last week I have taken myself off of everything except the core "must have" meds, and lo and behold! My appetite is returning and I have put on 3 pounds in the last couple of days! Must be doing something right!

That pretty much brings us through the last month or so and up to today.

This morning Robin and I saw the Neuro ONC doc to review the latest brain and spine scans. The good news is that the treated lesions are all stable/shrinking. The bad news is that there are 5 or 6 new lesions in my brain that will need treatment. Because of the size (<5mm) and placements of the lesions the team feels that they are all candidates for CyberKnife, so back to Stanford we will go and then a return to the Neuro ONC in 3 months for follow up. He also wants be back on Chemo ASAP, especially since the one that my ONC wants to use has shown some activity against brain tumors.

//OOPS! Just hit the wrong button and published! Why do computers insist on doing exactly what they are told?//

OK, to finish up, the title of the post comes from something the Neuro ONC doc reminded me of this morning; no matter what is going on "you are still beating the odds for someone with Renal Cancer and Brain Tumors. Keep doing what you are doing, and stay strong"

Good advice.

Be well all, and Happy Spring! Read more!