Last Doctors Appointments Tuesday!!!!

YAAAAYYY!!!!

We had our last scheduled appointments with both oncologists today and everything went pretty well.

First was the medical oncologist, they drew blood to test platelets, white blood cells & hemoglobin- the only bad news was that Rion's platelets have dropped to 80 (115 is the minimum they would like for them to be.) However with the chemo ending in 6 days we agreed with the doctor that it would probably be in our best interest to soldier on and finish out these last few days. Rion has to be super extra careful not to cut himself or  do anything to cause bruising and we are to watch him carefully to make sure he doesn't start bruising. But we're just super glad that we made it to the end with no side effects that interrupted the treatment schedule.

I was very anxious to talk to the doctor today about stopping the chemo next week and all of the additional medications Rion is on. Just so you know what I'm talking about here is a list of what  Rion takes:

Every day:
Keppra (anti-seizure)
Celexa (anti-depressant)
Zantac (anti-acid)
Zofran (anti-nausea)
Temodar (chemo)
a generic over the counter stool softener

Monday, Wedneday & Friday:
Bactrim (antibiotic to prevent lung infection caused by Temodar)

As needed:
Oxycodone (narcotic pain reliever)
Klonopin (narcotic anti-anxiety/sleep aid)
Phenergan (anti-nausea)

So far he has not needed the Phenergan but he still takes the Oxycodone almost daily and the Klonopin 1-2 times per week. I knew he would be stopping the chemo after next Monday but wasn't sure about the rest. We discussed it today and since he is going back on the Temodar some time after we visit Duke 4/18, he is going to need to stay on everything except the Temodar and Zofran for now. He would only be off the antibiotic for 2-4 weeks and it just makes more sense to stay on it. We could stop the antidepressant at any time but our take on that has been that it may not be doing anything but it would be horrible to stop it right now & have him get depressed...there is no harm in taking it right now when things are still so uncertain.  Everything else he will continue taking indefinitely until we are done with the chemo and ready to start weaning him off the Keppra...that won't be for over a year though at the earliest.

(Funny random fact: we have one of those weekly pill boxes with 14 slots- AM & PM for each day- and Rion calls it his skittle box because of all the different color pills he takes and when you rattle the box it sounds like a Skittle box LOL)

Next up was the radiation oncologist which we've been anxious to see since late last week when Rion's skin burns got pretty bad. A friend of ours who is a firefighter recommended Rion get a prescription for Silvadene cream since the vitamin E cream & aloe vera gel he has been putting on it has stopped working. The doctor was happy to oblige and agreed that it should help to relieve some of the pain he is experiencing. They cautioned that the burn behind his ear (where it's the worst) is likely to crack open so the antibiotic in the Silvadene will also help to prevent infection. Rion went ahead and picked the prescription up today and so far so good. Here are 2 pictures of how his ear & head looked as of this morning (you can see that that the top & behind his ear is where the worst part of the burn is:)

The other good news from the radiation oncologist is that we don't have to go back & see him again for quite some time!!! Not that I don't like him, but that office is in Athens and quite frankly we are tired of seeing the stretch of Highway 78 between Monroe & Athens so often. We'll schedule our follow up appointment with him either on the day of the last treatment or after we visit Duke & see what they recommend.

So that's all for now...the doctor's and nurses continue to be amazed at how well Rion has tolerated the chemotherapy and radiation treatments- he has gained a little weight & continues to only have minor fatigue occasionally. We are blessed beyond words that these 42 days have gone so well and that Rion has maintained a fairly good quality of life. I personally like to think that this experience is a foreshadow for how the next 12 months on chemo will be. Once we get up to Duke and see a clear MRI I will be able to relax a little more and have more peace that things are going to be ok.

Blessings,

Emily