Here's the Latest

Steve had another Dr. Hu appointment yesterday which went fine. Dr. Hu was pleased with Steve's latest lab results (as we thought he would be) and he raised the next dose of Temodar to 250 mg (as we thought he would). Something new Steve and Terry learned was the usual high dose of Temodar is in the 400s, not 250, so Steve will likely have regular increases to his dosing for a while. We don't know yet if the duration of chemo will extend beyond the a year to make up for these months of lower dosing but it seems likely and Terry will ask about that during their next appointment.

Steve's next chemotherapy round starts Tuesday night and goes through Saturday. He has blood drawn again on Monday to check his pre-chemo levels.

His next MRI is scheduled for Thursday, September 13 at 8:00 am followed by Dr. Hu at 10:00 am. Cedars Sinai is going all-electronic with their records on Friday so Steve couldn't get a Friday appointment. He will trade his days off from work to make the Thursday appointments.

Their boys started school last Thursday, Adam at Jr. High and Nathan in a heavy class schedule at high school. They have been making a point of spending time together on their days off. Their next is a museum trip for a Cleopatra exhibit soon.

Third Week Lab Work

Here's a quick update on Steve's health since he had his scheduled blood work done yesterday. This is the end of the third week after his last round of chemotherapy, the time when the chemotherapy drugs usually are at their most debilitating. Fortunately, Steve seems to be handling this well with good results. Some of his values, which are mostly normal:
rbc 4.32
wbc 6.2
platelets 152,000
creatinine  1.2 (the lowest in a while)
bun 15.4
The lab technician said the lab results were good for a chemotherapy patient.

Steve has been having headaches and recently been fatigued after work. He relaxes after work and stays quiet for the evening. This is his third round of chemotherapy and during his previous rounds his symptoms improved during his fourth week. We will hope so again. His weight is stable around 244 pounds. He doesn't have time to exercise during the week but he walks the dog on weekends.

His next appointment to see Dr. Hu is Friday. We expect the dose of Temodar will increase again since he is doing so well overall.

The kids start school in a few days. Time marches on.

Being Stable

Steve had his follow up appointment with the nephrologist today. All is stable with his creatinine value unchanged at the 1.5 level. Apparently normal values range from 0.7 to 1.3 so Steve is hanging out slightly high. The doctor said this is most likely going to be Steve's new normal value. Steve had some kidney damage from the first round of chemo and kidneys heal very slowly, so this is not going to change any time soon. The doctor is not too concerned and will only need to see Steve every few months for a check up. Steve's next appointment with nephrology is November 21st and Dr. Hu will send any relevant lab work he orders to their office in the interim.

Steve's last round of maintenance chemotherapy went well. Steve had no vomiting and only mild symptoms. Terry thinks it's likely Dr. Hu will increase Steve's dose of chemo for the next round. They are scheduled to meet with Dr. Hu on August 17th and will find out then.

Steve caught a cold from his kids recently and it acted like any regular cold with stuffiness, improving to loose phlegm. I'm pleased it didn't hit Steve harder than usual. His immune system must be working well for the cold to act normally. Go, Steve!

Otherwise, life goes on pretty well. The summer has flown by with the kids keeping busy in summer school and camp. They start school in just over a week and their family will get back into the new school and homework schedule. It's nice to have regular activities rather than medical problems dominating life.