Wednesday we had a follow up with the urologist, Dr. S. She squeezed us in between her surgeries. That morning, Tony didn't look well. Very lethargic, clamy, heavy breathing and just plain tired. While waiting for the Dr. he had about 4 cups of water, kept falling asleep in the chair and had those feverish eyes. I was worried, but grateful for the timing of his appointment. I went to get him a Gatorade with hopes of getting some energy in him. He drank it quickly. I guess with his low grade fevers and clamy nights, he must have been dehydrated. I thought he was drinking enough, but obviously not. Dr. S. felt the wound and area looked less swollen. Good news. No need for further draining. (didn't know that was a possibility)
The biopsy on the drained blood from last week showed no infection and no signs of further myeloma growth. WHEW! She says he can go to work starting slow. A couple of hours a day.
As we walked out at 3:45, Tony had a great idea. Let's go to oncology and get the blood work done so we didn't have to go in for 8am the next day. (they close at 4:00) Cutting it close! So off we go, and sure enough the nurses were all casual with no patients around. When they saw Tony they all had concern for him.
How are things down there?
How you recovering?
How's the swelling?
You never should have gone to work so early! Silly man!
We heard, blah blah blah.
He was in his glory. He sat in the big chair and they registered him and took blood. They noticed he had a laboured breathing thing happening. They noticed he looked tired. Oh, all the fuss! It was great watching my husband enjoy the attention of these ladies we've come to know over the past 5 months every week. The doctor overheard and came in the room and started asking all those appropriate questions. Good questions. She asked the nurses to take his vital signs. Blood pressure a bit high. We discussed the low grade fevers and sweaty nights. Not a concern yet, but monitor.
So off we go. But first, we needed to detour to Dolcini, by Joseph. We needed a tray of fresh baked goodies for the entire oncology staff at Humber River Hospital. They really didn't have to see us, but they did. Joseph said to come by on our way in Thursday morning. He'd make sure to have a fresh batch for them.
Thursday Chemo Day
We went to Dolcini's first. LOVELY tray of baked goodies. When we got to Humber, we gave the goodies to the ladies and they all were grateful. Love those girls!
Dr. P in oncology re-confirmed the biospsy results. His hemogloben has been coming down. 95. But that could be from the surgery and internal bleeding. Normal is over 130 (I think). Transfusion was at 67 back in October. So, he's still ok, I guess. In March it had reached 117 :(
His M Protein number keeps rising. This is not good. Should be zero. Presurgery, two weeks ago, it was at 26 and yesterday it was at 33.... what's going on with that? Dr. P is not too concerned as he has missed about 3 chemo treatments in 2 months. When he was diagnosed, that number was 57.
She gave us a prescription for antibiotics in case his fever goes above 38.0. She has enforced to Tony to LISTEN to me and to go by my judgement. If it's over 38.0 for over two days in a row, we are to go to emergency for IV antibiotics. She's not sure why this low grade fever happening. Could be the myeloma in his bones causing the low grade fever.
Dr. P. submitted all his test results to Princess Margaret. They requested a CAT scan of his body. I'm thinking they want to rule out any further myeloma areas that might be increasing his M protein number. Even though he missed a couple of chemo treatments, perhaps something else is brewing. Just ruling out the possibilities, I guess.
Day one of Dex (steroids) so his energy continues to get better as the day goes on. He decides to go into work for a couple of hours. But, a couple of hours turned into 5 hours. Stubborn man! He was clamy and had a funny white/yellow colour. Weird. Can't describe. He just wasn't himself.
This morning as I type, he is much better! No low grade fever over night. His energy is much greater. Hard to tell him to slow down. This Dex stuff is powerful. High energy. Lots of things to do today. He has his mental list and continues to remind me of all the "to do" things that need to be done.
I'm laid back, purposely taking my time. The later we leave, the less hours at the office this afternoon.
He's back!
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