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I, Bionicus (May 4, 2002)Modern medicine. Such technology. Kent is beginning to feel like the bionic man. Over the past week (has it only been a week?) he has been poked and prodded, EKG's, CAT scans, nuclear scans, cut and chemo'ed. He's had stuff put in and stuff taken out. In order not to get too bogged down in medical details here, I'm providing links to explain some of the procedures and devices. Some of these are pretty fascinating, but may not be suitable for the queasy. Follow the links according to your own level of comfort. As you will recall, last Sunday after surgery to gather samples for the biopsies, they found out he had clotting problems in his legs and inserted a vena cava filter to trap any clots that might break off. He seems to be doing well in that department.
He's been using the "moon-boots" that I described on Wednesday. Turns out that they are not just for circulating the blood, but the pumping action (acts like a mini-air bag, semi-explosive) slightly injures the capillaries which releases an enzyme that actually helps to dissolve the clots. Pretty neat stuff.
Kent had to wear the boots until they could give him blood thinners. They were driving him crazy, inflating every 10 seconds. Yesterday, they removed them and was he happy. On Wednesday, I also reported that late that evening he was having a Porta-Cath installed. Chemotherapy is very hard on the vascular system and tends to make finding veins difficult. This is a catheter that is implanted directly into a vein in the chest. They access it through a port with a simple poke. No prodding for veins.
Thursday was another adventure. They gave the definitive diagnosis of Burkitt's Lymphoma. If you followed the links from the last posting, you know that this is a fairly rare form of cancer. There are only about 100 cases a year in the U.S. The bad news is that it is a very fast growing cancer. The good news is that it also responds quickly to treatment. They started his first dose of chemo yesterday morning. Because of the tumor in the spinal cord, they need to administer chemo directly to the spinal fluid. In many people, this would require multiple spinal taps to inject the chemicals. This would be difficult on Kent because of the paralysis and needing to use a fluoroscope to make the tap so on Thursday evening, the neurosurgeon installed an Ommaya Reservoir. This sits just below the scalp and passes a catheter through to the brain. They can remove spinal fluid for lab tests, and insert the chemo through the scalp and into the reservoir. Since they replace as much fluid as they remove, there is little discomfort except for the first needle stick. No major headaches like with a normal spinal tap. I got to watch the first treatment last night.
We think this is the last of the implants. Now it is just tolerating the chemo. In the meantime, Kent is doing really well (all things considered). They are keeping him comfortable and fairly pain free. He has all the staff charmed, of course. He is a very easy patient to get along with, cooperative and with his sense of humor intact. He is raring to get started with the physical therapy to work on his legs. His legs are pretty skinny from having all the swelling pumped out of them, and he has lost quite a bit of muscle tone over the past month. Speaking of his legs. The feeling has pretty much returned to normal. He is beginning to get movement back in the toes on the right foot. Still little movement on the left, but I can feel the tension in the muscles when he tries to move anything. This is the first step. He's hoping they let him dangle his legs over the edge of the bed so he can work on getting the muscles back in shape. We are confident that he will be able to reverse a lot of the paralysis the spinal tumor has caused. I am reminded of "It's A Wonderful Life" where all the prayers are being sent on George Bailey's behalf. We have folks all over the world, from all different denominations, and even folks who profess to be atheists praying for healing, strength, and guidance. Our 4 year old granddaughter, Grace, prays for Grandpa often. (Oh, for the faith of a child.) One of our friends, Becky Balding, picks up the mail for us at the Post Office Box. She kept checking, but in 1 1/2 weeks there was only 1 piece of mail. What was that about? Finally, we figured out that because Kent had been coming up to the back door (due to ramp construction at the front of the post office) that they might be saving the mail back there for him. She checked with the folks. The box was overflowing and they had emptied it into a bin that they could carry out for Kent next time he came in. They thought he had just gone out of town. When Becky told the man helping her what was happening, he said that Kent is always such an optimistic person, and they would begin praying for him as well. What a wonderful way to bring the world together. More later. Off to visit. If you are local, please feel free to visit. You may want to call first (916-204-7442) to confirm he is in his room and not expecting any tests that may take him from his room, but we don't always know ahead of time. He is in room 115 at Sutter Roseville Hospital on Sunrise. Love from the Simcoes. P.S. Yesterday, we celebrated Shelby's 12th birthday. One of the nurses commented that it was terrible we had to celebrate it in the hospital. My comment back? It is great we got to celebrate it at all, and together. Keep looking on the bright side. It brings a smile to your face and smiles are so infectious. |