Platelets Rising

Steve has the results from his latest lab work with good news on his platelet count and not on his creatinine count: platelets rose to 59,000, closer to normal and showing signs that his bone marrow is recovering from the chemotherapy; creatinine also rose to 2.7 indicating his kidneys are still not functioning fully, despite Steve's continuously drinking fluids. They wanted to discuss the kidney numbers with their nephrologist but he is out of the office until Wednesday, so we don't know what to make of the numbers yet.

Steve finished his first week of work in better shape than Terry or I thought he might. His level of fatigue was quite manageable as long as he rested after work. His upset stomach increased by the end of the week but was mostly controlled with his medications. Overall, he had a great starting week.

I was concerned about any damage to Steve's brain, particularly near the language center, which likely resulted from the tumor, the surgery or the radiation treatment. When he was home, his brain didn't have to work as hard or try to make as many connections as it does at work. I thought he might discover some limitations in his language abilities when working with complex problems at work. Steve acknowledged that he had forgotten some things and has had some small language issues but all he had to do was ask questions and his colleagues helped him out. I'm glad it has not been a problem for him. The brain is good at building new neural pathways and will make new connections to process and retrieve language with exercise. He just has to keep stimulating his brain and I doubt any of us will notice a problem in the future.

Hopefully, Steve will have a quiet couple of weeks leading up to his April 20th MRI and subsequent round of maintenance chemotherapy. Easter is tomorrow and they will have family over for a nice dinner.

Happy Easter and Passover, everyone.