Steve's blood platelet levels have been too low to take his Temodar. His first round of labs had platelets even lower at 81,000. Terry sent me the following:
Here you go 9/4/14 Blood work for Steve
WBC 4.9
RBC 4.75
Hemoglobin 15.7
Hematocrit 45
Platelets 88,000
Creatinine 1.1
BUN 16
Next Appointment, Avastin and blood work 9/12
He had his Avastin treatment about a week ago. It went well without any side effects, just taking up the morning. They saw a substitute doctor instead of Dr. Hu who was very optimistic about how much longer folks are living with glioblastoma and how many new treatments and options are available.
I got to spend last weekend with them. It's always great to see them and enjoy their home and hospitality. We had planned a quiet day since we didn't know how well Steve would feel right after his second Avastin treatment. We talked and relaxed and barbecued. I noticed more word-finding problems than when I had last seen him. I wonder if that was left over from when he had the flu. Terry was going to mention it to Dr. Hu when he came back from his vacation and will see them on the twelfth.
Terry and our sister Lesley spent yesterday at a seminar on Outsmarting Brain Tumors at Cedars-Sinai. They found some of it basic but they also learned some new information, especially about immuno-therapies and vaccines. Cedars has made the information available to all of us via the magic of the internet, for those of you who may want more information :)
A talk about nutrition:
And another link they liked about someone named Chad at Chad's Blog is http://thebrainchancery.com
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteChad was one of the GBM survivor's that spoke at the seminar on Saturday. He has such a terrific sense of humor and he had the entire room laughing out loud. He is a really nice guy with an excellent outlook on life.
One of the things I learned on Saturday was the link between longer survival rates and good nutrition and moderate exercise. The nutritionist talked about how your dinner/lunch plate should consist of 2/3 fresh fruit and vegetables and 1/3 protein and whole grain products.
There maybe a connection with tumors and sugar from either carbohydrates or white sugar products. Apparently tumors feed on the sugar. There is a diet out there that is horribly restrictive (600 calories per day), but the nutritionist didn't see any proof of that diet being more successful than a diet full of plant products with added proteins and grains. I found that very interesting.
There was lots of info on how much they have learned on the past few years, and the need for more trials. Apparently GBM is much more rare than breast, prostate, lung, and other cancers, and they don't get much in the way of funds for the trials. Their current fundraiser is a run next weekend and they are hoping to raise $15,000.
There was a lot of information to digest. I'll let you know when I think of some more, or when I look a the notes I took!
Lesley