Saturday, 11/1/03
Well, we have been at this for 6 months now. Everything seems to be going as per plan and even better than expected when you factor in all the side effects that Les has NOT had to deal with.
Les had his hearing test last Tuesday. Great news – his hearing in his left ear is all within normal levels and his right ear has improved. Praise God!!!
Les is scheduled for his next MRI on Monday (11/3/03) while he is in the hospital awaiting his next round of chemo. It’s my understanding that they will wait for the preliminary results of the MRI before giving him his chemo. I’m not sure how long this process will take, so I don’t know how long we will be in the hospital next week. A normal stay for this new chemo is three days/two nights. We may be delayed a day because of the MRI this time, I don’t know.
The new chemos that Les will get are cyclophosphamide and vincristine. The cyclophosphamide is the one he needs to be in the hospital for; it is given over two days. The vincristine will be given once a week for three weeks at the clinic in an outpatient format, though his first dose will be given while he is in the hospital for the cyclophosphamide. This cycle will repeat every 4 weeks for a total of 8 rounds. Right now our projected end date is in June 2004, though this will probably be changed as we encounter delays for various reasons.
I don’t think Les’ sinusitis is responding to the antibiotic very well. I’m hoping that they can look into it again with the next MRI. We’ve adjusted his feeding schedule so that he doesn’t throw up during the day anymore and that seems to be working good so far.
Fire update: We were never at risk where we live in Murrieta and neither were my relatives down in San Diego. It was a bit smoky around here earlier this week, but then the winds changed and cleared out the valley. We weren’t sure if we were going to get to our appointment last week because the Cedar Fire fire did come within a couple miles of the hospital. The hospital was on temporary evacuation on Sunday and Monday, but our appointment was on Tuesday. We ended up missing Les’ OT at 8am, but we went ahead and kept the clinic visit and hearing appointment. It was kind of weird driving around in all the smoke, but we were never close to any of the fires. I found out that the pumpkin patch didn’t burn after all; the fire just came really close to the property.
Grandpa Barry is still working the fire. He’s part of a strike team on the “Old Fire” in San Bernardino and surrounding mountain communities. He’s safe and tired right now, but still ready to go when and where they tell him.
Well, we have been at this for 6 months now. Everything seems to be going as per plan and even better than expected when you factor in all the side effects that Les has NOT had to deal with.
Les had his hearing test last Tuesday. Great news – his hearing in his left ear is all within normal levels and his right ear has improved. Praise God!!!
Les is scheduled for his next MRI on Monday (11/3/03) while he is in the hospital awaiting his next round of chemo. It’s my understanding that they will wait for the preliminary results of the MRI before giving him his chemo. I’m not sure how long this process will take, so I don’t know how long we will be in the hospital next week. A normal stay for this new chemo is three days/two nights. We may be delayed a day because of the MRI this time, I don’t know.
The new chemos that Les will get are cyclophosphamide and vincristine. The cyclophosphamide is the one he needs to be in the hospital for; it is given over two days. The vincristine will be given once a week for three weeks at the clinic in an outpatient format, though his first dose will be given while he is in the hospital for the cyclophosphamide. This cycle will repeat every 4 weeks for a total of 8 rounds. Right now our projected end date is in June 2004, though this will probably be changed as we encounter delays for various reasons.
I don’t think Les’ sinusitis is responding to the antibiotic very well. I’m hoping that they can look into it again with the next MRI. We’ve adjusted his feeding schedule so that he doesn’t throw up during the day anymore and that seems to be working good so far.
Fire update: We were never at risk where we live in Murrieta and neither were my relatives down in San Diego. It was a bit smoky around here earlier this week, but then the winds changed and cleared out the valley. We weren’t sure if we were going to get to our appointment last week because the Cedar Fire fire did come within a couple miles of the hospital. The hospital was on temporary evacuation on Sunday and Monday, but our appointment was on Tuesday. We ended up missing Les’ OT at 8am, but we went ahead and kept the clinic visit and hearing appointment. It was kind of weird driving around in all the smoke, but we were never close to any of the fires. I found out that the pumpkin patch didn’t burn after all; the fire just came really close to the property.
Grandpa Barry is still working the fire. He’s part of a strike team on the “Old Fire” in San Bernardino and surrounding mountain communities. He’s safe and tired right now, but still ready to go when and where they tell him.