Let's Make a... Deal?!?

   It was just a month ago that Chris had the PET scan that set into motion the craziness of the past month.    It seems like longer.  For the past two weeks we've been making regular trips to the hospital to check his blood counts, anticipating that they would hit lows that needed treatment (shots or blood/platelet transfusions).  It's not common, but typical to the Chris way of being rare, his never did drop too low.   

      There were a couple things about being in the hospital for this chemo that were difficult.   One was that in an effort to protect his kidney's they were flushing them like crazy.   One day they measured a total of 20 liters of fluid.   That is a lot of fluid and made for miserable days and nights.   Another challenge was the high dose steroids.   Dex is a beast!   It can make you very irritable, which Chris used a ton of willpower to overcome.   It keeps you from sleeping.   It also can cause havoc with your blood sugar.  So he was constantly being poked to test and treat that to try and keep that in line.   

   Unfortunately his endocrine system which is often already overworked because of his brain tumor, has not recovered well.  Chris has been working with his primary care doctor and insurance to get approval for the medications to help.   It's taken him countless hours and numerous phone calls and, even then, the co-pays are more than his chemo.  He's been doing everything to get his glucose levels down, unfortunately they were too high to be able to complete the PET scan and had to reschedule for next week.  However, while we may never know the reason, but we both felt impressed that perhaps there was a reason.  Maybe it was the snowstorm, maybe his body needs a few extra days to recover.   Patience and endurance isn't always easy but we are choosing to trust in God's timing.   Waiting also means that we still must wait to know what comes next.  

    However, we believe there are three potential options.        

    

    #1 - Redo another cycle of KDCEP to knock down any potentially remaining masses.   Possibly done outpatient.  

     #2- Start a new chemo.

     #3-Prep for a Stem Cell Transplant.   

    While they each come with their different challenges, risks and benefits.   I think I'm hoping for option #2.   They said that a second cycle of KDCEP would likely be harder than the first.   So hopefully one cycle of KDCEP was enough to wipe out enough of the masses.   

     Another side effect of this chemo was that Chris could lose his hair.   It doesn't always happen, but it was likely,  and it started to fall out on Sunday.  Last night we decided to shave it, as it was falling out all over and was becoming extremely itchy.  It's amazing to me that we've been able to get this far into his battle with myeloma without this side effect.   What a blessing and sign that cancer treatments are rapidly evolving.   However it's harder than we both anticipated.   Chris mentioned that every time he see's himself in the mirror it doesn't feel like his reflection.   I think for both of us, it somehow makes the battle feel more real.   It's likely not logical, but difficult emotions often have a mind to do their own thing.     But...Chris loves to collect hats so this will give him lots of opportunities to wear them.