I hope this finds you
all well fed and full of thankfulness this weekend. The kids and I have had a
wonderful Thanksgiving.
I’ve waited a few days
to post this most recent update, because I wanted to just focus on being
thankful.
Wednesday, 11/21,
Kacie and I were in Birmingham
Nick’s port did not
want to work again. There was another blood clot blocking the end of the line. I wasn't able to gain access to the port two weeks ago to flush the line. I wasn't really surprised that there was a problem. After having some of the clot buster
medication put in the line, it worked just
fine.
The only real concern
the oncologist has right now is Nick’s iron level. The levels seem to be
trending down again. That usually means two things could be happening. 1) Nick’s
body isn't absorbing iron properly again. OR 2) Nick is becoming anemic again.
There is a difference between being iron deficient and anemic. For Nick, the
iron deficiency means that something in his body is preventing him from
absorbing and using iron properly. The anemia that Nick has a history of
developing is called autoimmune hemolytic anemia. It’s a form of anemia that is
caused by the /lymphoma spreading to the spleen.
The oncologist does
not think that Nick is to the point of having the anemia flare up again. He
actually thinks that Nick is having trouble absorbing iron properly. What is
causing this problem? We aren't sure yet. It could be the cancer going active
again.
We are really hoping
and praying that this is just a fluke and the cancer is not growing again. For
now, the oncologist wants to increase Nick’s daily doses of iron to three times
a day. Yes, that is a lot of iron. Nick has had to do this before, so we know
the routine.
Now, we wait and see
what happens.
The other thing going
on with Nick is the surgeon, Dr. Beierle, wants to see more in depth scans
before she makes a decision about trying to remove the cancer from Nick’s
abdomen. There are some insurance issues concerning getting new scans. The
insurance doesn’t want to pay for them. The oncologist and surgeon are going to
try to take a more in-depth look at the scans that were done in August to see if
they can gather the information needed to make the necessary
decisions.
We are waiting to see
what happens on this side of things as well.
Nick is scheduled to
go back the week before Christmas for his next doses of chemo and IVIG.
Lots of prayer will be
very much appreciated.
Happy Thanksgiving to
you all.
In HIS
Grip,
Kristy
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