Just wanted to post an update with the latest.
As some of you will know, Pam's been on and off chemotherapy a couple of times this year. She happens to be "off" right at the moment. That's because the brain tumours (last actively growing in 2009) have become active again and been making tiny nuisances of themselves. So Dr. B. (radiation oncologist) has recommended that Pam have some whole-brain radiotherapy again to address them. They don't like to do whole-brain radiation more than once unless it's really necessary, as it can damage the healthy brain tissue. However Pam's noggin has had nine years to recover from the last round of treatment and the doc reckons it's important to treat the tumours at this point. This has necessitated taking a short break from chemotherapy.
So Pam has now completed four of ten scheduled radiation treatments. They happen once per weekday for 10 days and will be complete next Friday. Unfortunately yesterday and today were not five-star days, as Pam's oncologist told her yesterday that the metastatic disease has been growing somewhat. She also was in a lot of pain yesterday and today that didn't respond to her usual meds, as well as throwing up a bunch - very reminiscent of 2009 and not in a good way. The upshot was that we spent most of today at Health Sciences Centre for Pam to have an x-ray and get some new meds prescribed for pain and nausea.
So I'm back at the office for a bit and Pam is resting at home. She's very tired but some IV medication helped ease the pain and she just needs to nap. Fortunately she's no longer working outside the house so she can concentrate on her health - although the many appointments and treatments take up quite a bit of time.
There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon though as Dr. T. has prescribed a new chemotherapy program to start after radiation is over. It's a newly approved drug for metastatic disease and we're hopeful that it will show some good results.
In the meantime, here's a picture of our neighbourhood turkey, "Kemal", sitting on our front step. :-)
Love to all,
Dallas
