Final Round of Chemo

Or actually, I should say "Final Round of Chemo that We Know About Right Now."

We're sitting in the hospital infusion room (aaaah, the beauty of a laptop and WiFi) while bag after bag drips into E. Pre-hydration, followed by two pre-meds, then the three chemo drugs, and finally post-hydration. So, 7 bags in all. Some are pretty quick, while others seem to take forever. These are long days for E. We did have a welcome distraction today though with a cheery visitor who even brought a delicious lunch. (Thanks Mapper!)

E. will take his oral chemo (3 pills in the morning and 3 at night) for the next week and that's as far as the plan goes. For right now. Then it's a matter of E. getting the rest he needs and getting some of his strength and energy back. The side effects seem to be piling up on top of each other with each chemotherapy session back to back. Not fun stuff.

We'll be headed to Texas again on September 8th and the following day, E. will undergo a battery of tests including lab work, CT scans and a PET scan. On the 9th, we'll meet with the doctor to hear how effective this regimen of chemotherapy has been and what the plan is from there. E. knows it may possibly include more chemo, either with this current protocol or maybe even with something different.

Last time we were at MD Anderson, we were told that the earliest surgery could happen would be 8 to 12 months from now, depending on how E. responded to the treatment. Since that is still a long way off, we're assuming there will be continued chemotherapy or something (???) in the interim. Guess we'll wait and see what the doctors have to say.

Also, E.'s platelet count is in the low range again (low platelets can cause excessive bruising and bleeding; really low platelets can cause dangerous internal bleeding). He's back to getting lab work every few days (instead of weekly) to monitor his platelets. According to the doctor, if they get too low, E. will have to have a platelet transfusion.

That's the update for now,

S.