Step-Down for Mike, First Chemo for Mom

I feel like the seals from the featured image on this post. I’m tired. Mike was moved to the step-down unit late Monday night. He’s still improving and getting stronger each day. Mom was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon so she could start her first chemo cycle inpatient. We also talked with the medical oncologist at Duke today about the next steps. Thus…I’m tired, ya’ll!

First, An Update on Mom

Last Monday while Mike was in the ICU, I hopped downstairs at the hospital to attend Mom’s oncology appointment. Dr. John presented her treatment options and she chose to hit her cancer with the big guns! I’m so proud of her. My mom is a tough-as-nails fighter and I want to be just like her when I grow up. Her cancer is DLBCL Lymphoma, which alone is an aggressive, but curable cancer. However, mom has a gene mutation that makes hers even more aggressive. This is referred to as Double-hit Lymphoma. This is why she chose the more intensive chemotherapy regimen.

Even with all this heavy news, her type of cancer is still considered a curable form, so we’re thankful for that. Because her treatments are so intense, and because some of the drugs must be run as a 24-hr drip, her regimen is 5 days of inpatient treatment, followed by 16 days of recovery at home, for a total of a 21-day cycle. She will do three cycles, then have scans to assess the response. She is looking at a total of 6 cycles, as long as her body tolerates the treatments. If something should happen and this treatment regimen is just too much for her, she can back off to a less intense, outpatient regimen to finish out her treatment.

Step-Down and a Duke Update

Mike was moved out of the ICU to the step-down unit late Monday night. On Sunday, he had the stent to his left kidney replaced and also had one inserted on the right side. There were no visual blockages on the right side, but they behaved as if there was a small blockage somewhere when the urologist did the scope. Thankfully, his bloodwork now indicates that his kidneys are filtering properly again. He is still vascularly dehydrated, so he’s still having issues with positional blood pressure drops (orthostatic hypotension), which means he nearly passes out every time he stands up, so that’s the current mystery to solve.

We had a virtual visit with Dr. Ramalingam at Duke today and he was pleased with Mike’s current progress and said he just needs to continue to get stronger so that he can receive the rest of his treatments and transplant. We will be meeting with him virtually weekly until Mike’s strong enough to take the next step. Physical therapy is coming to his room daily to help him regain his strength.

That’s the end of today’s update. It’s taken me 3 hours to write this short update because of all the interruptions. Such is the hospital life! I hope to give more details soon about other non-medical things that have happened along the way these last few weeks. God has been ever-present, even when we couldn’t feel it. I’m off to walk to the other side of the hospital and visit with Mom, now! After I eat some lunch to take care of myself, that is ;-)