I am sure that each of you hear and say;"wow, Christmas already".Hardly seems possible, in some ways, how quickly the seasons pass.
Bob's journey continues on. The road seems harder and we are tired of the seemingly never ending bumps and detours.
Since my last blog Bob totally ditched the sleep machine. He very often had panic attacks with the mask on. We decided that he did not really need one more thing to deal with.
Bob continues going to the hospital once a month for the daratumumab infusion. This infusion takes 4 hours and he is able to sleep through most of it. Bob is still on the pomalidomide (pomalyst).. The protocol for that is taking the pills orally for 3 weeks and having a week off. Added to the regime now is cyclophosphomide. Taken orally every other day. Plus the dexamethazone for 3 days around the time of the infusion. Those are the chemo drugs.
Bob spent a few days in hospital over the Nov/Dec calender flip. He was really sick. The big concern was the neutrophils being down to point 3, so with really no immunity he was in isolation in emergency------most interesting situation and very challenging for Bob. He was given a number of Filgrastm needles in the belly that get those neutrophils reproducing. Five days later the blood test showed them to be at 3. Therefore onward and upward with the next round of chemo. Lots of stories about this hospital stay!!!!
We were hoping for a chemo break but both our family doc and the oncologist noted that with the protein number going down we don't want to jeopardize what the chemo has accomplished.The kappa lambda free ratio is 80.41.
The other thing that happened in the hospital is the doctors tried to get the pain control meds under control. One thought was that he was actually overdosed. We were at the new hospital near our place so they had totally different ideas than the Pain Clinic and Oncology Dept over at Foothills. All the symptoms are under control and Bob is back down to hydromorphine again. He had already done the Fentanyl and methadone. He seems to be holding the pain but the opioid wave may be coming to an end as he does have some more pain again. Once again we are working with the pain clinic. Half way through the month Bob goes for blood work to make sure all is well . He had been going only once a month.
So much yuck detail but so many things I do not want to forget.
Bob's dad's health is deteriorating. Seems like his mind is going too//- dementia or cancer??? Very hard for them. The doctors are not doing any more treatments. He had radiation. Reta also said they didn't think they would do more treatment even if it was offered. Pray for God's peace and mercy for both dad and Reta.
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Merry Christmas to each of you. Celebrate this Christmas season with family and friends and enjoy much happiness in even the smallest joy.
In Jesus, we find more gifts than our hearts can ever imagine.
May I ask that you give a thought to why Jesus came to earth and as a baby.
For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body. Col. 2:9
With gratitude to those who percivier in prayer for Bob and me.
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