Nick had a checkup today in Birmingham. It snuck up on me this time. I didn't realize that I had not sent out a prayer request/update until we were on the road this morning.
The checkup went well. The oncologist didn't find anything during the physical exam and Nick's blood work all looked pretty good. The IGG level was low again at ~365. I don't remember the exact number. One good part is it has been 5 weeks since Nick received his last dose of IVIG. This may be a sign that the increased amounts of IVIG are doing some good, since Nick's number wasn't down in the 200s.
The oncologist's plan as far as the IGG problem is to continue to increase Nick's doses of IVIG until we reach a dose of 1 gram. That would pretty much replace all of the IGG that his body would make on it's own. Last month's dose was 55 mg. Today's dose was increased to 65 mg. Next month it will likely go up to 75 or 80 mg. It's slow going more at my insistence than what the doctor would like. Nick's body didn't handle the last huge dose very well a couple of months ago. I want the doctor to go slower. I don't like seeing Nick be sick from something that's supposed to help him. It's something that I can't deal with right now. So...we are taking it slow. We will as long as I can keep the doctor hearing my concerns.
As far as the chemo issue, that's all still on hold until some kind of symptoms present. The oncologist is keeping Nick's concerns about taking chemo in mind. He assured me of that today. During the physical exam, the doctor noted that Nick's spleen was back in it's normal place. Last month it was somewhat enlarged. If it were still that way today, it would be looked at to determine if a symptom were presenting. It wasn't enlarged at all today, so no problem. The doctor also has decided to do routine chest x-rays each month to look for any swollen lymph nodes that can't be seen any other way. Today's x-rays were clear.
Overall, today was a good day. It was very long. It started out with me needing to take my SUV to the tire place to have my tires looked at because my tire sensors were indicating a problem. This was before 7:00 this morning as we were trying to get on the road. Thankfully the problem was very minor and quickly taken care of. We were only 45 minutes late to clinic today.
We are scheduled to return to Birmingham on November 4 for a repeat of today's performance. My hope and prayer is that it will go at least as well as today did.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us. Overall, we are doing pretty well. Some days are still better than others, but I am told that is to be expected.
Pray as God leads you.
As always, we remain...
In His Grip,
Kristy Baxley
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