Yesterday was an all day event at the LCI (Levine Cancer Institute) Scotty started out the morning at 10:30am giving his blood to the Medical Oncologist. He was so proud to actually walk from the parking deck where we parked into the center without any help except for his cane. He had his new duds on and he was grinning from ear to ear.(He was so glad his pants were on tight with a belt ! He even had me check the belt when we got out of the car !! ;) :).... Of course we had to wait once the blood was taken before we saw Dr. Sumrall. The hurry up and wait game has now started ! Deborah calls it Slow-vine center ! Ha Ha! We finally go back to see the nurse and they check Scotty's weight. He is so excited he gained a few pounds and now weighs 170.8. His BP was elevated and his O2 level was good registering a 94%. Dr. Sumrall's nurse comes in and she begins to go over his blood levels and ask if Scotty has any concerns. FINALLY ... Dr. Sumrall comes in with her new PA Jim from Florida and gets right down to business. I see why Deborah likes her. She is a no-nonsense kind of Doctor with a great bedside manner. She and I immediately hit it off. I had missed her each time in the hospital because she always came in the late afternoon when I was already gone. She told us that Scotty was borderline dehydrated and that he needed to drink more water. Jim the PA says at least 1/2 gallon a day. (He looked it up on his smart phone ) Deborah called him out on it !! The man just laughed. I am sure he was thinking what have we got here ! She said his ankles seemed a bit more swollen than last time, which they are, and that she is ordering a CT scan of his lungs. (We are waiting on the call from CMC Pineville for the day and time) She also said she would be speeding up the appointment for Scotty to see the liver specialist Dr. Russo in order to get the ball rolling on the procedure to treat the liver(TACE). He now will be seeing him August 15th instead of August 22. She said this had proven to be the most successful form of treatment for the liver. Deborah spoke of her concern for him being so jittery and energetic to the point he was starting not to sleep. She refers to him as the "energizer bunny". They decided to cut back on his steroids and hopefully he will begin to settle down more by the evening time. His platelets have dropped from 130,000 to 67,000 but she said she was not concerned with that at this time because his body is battling several things right now. She also told us that medications can alter your platelets. Scotty showed her a rash he had on his stomach and legs and both Dr. Sumrall and Jim diagnosed him with Shingles ! This is why he has been itching so in these areas. Of course he is on nerve blockers for his back so he is not feeling the pain you normally get with shingles. So now he is on Valtrex to treat the shingles. Dr. Sumrall just shook her head and said OMGoodness what can you get next ! She told Scotty she wanted him back in one week for labs and he may have to receive some fluids if the level is still down. She had the nurse come in and do a nose swab and sent us on our way to the infusion center. Scotty would receive Zometa and Deborah and I took off on a mission to find some food ! It is amazing how many medical departments and buildings are connected on that campus. And they have a Starbucks, a Chic-fl-a and a cafeteria. Not to mention several other coffee shops. I will have to say everyone has been very nice to us throughout the center and are very helpful. The infusion took up the appointment time with Palliatative care so the Dr. came to check on us. She saw Scotty while Deborah and I were trying to figure out the maze and told him she would be back. After he finished we dropped by and the doctor came out to chat with us. She agreed to lower the steroid dose some but was so glad to see he was doing so much better with the pain. It is now 3:30 and we are finally on our way home. Thanks to computers the medicine for the shingles had already been sent to CVS and it was ready for pick-up but not before Scotty had a BIG MAC Attack with a chocolate shake ! He was starving !
Today the home health care nurse stopped by and everything seemed okay for Scotty. He hasn't felt as good today but with all the activities of yesterday as well as the Zometa we expected him to be a bit tired. He will continue to see the OT and PT through the Home Health Care organization as well as the nurse.
On another note of family business our brother Kenny White will be entering CMC main on Friday morning for a heart catheterization in hopes of repairing a stint. Please keep him in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for all of us in the coming days and weeks. Deborah and I will be returning to school to work, Scotty will be facing treatment for his liver, Noah will be starting middle school and my daughter Kristin will be returning to Anderson to teach and attend graduate school. We will all miss her ! Needless to say we have a lot going on !
Today Rick Warren had a great devotional http://purposedriven.com/blogs/dailyhope/god-is-good-all-the-time/ Please take the time to read this. As a family we have placed our situations in God's hands and we know through his grace we can develop the strength and courage we need as we move through this journey.
Scotty and Bobby having a good conversation ! Scotty by the pool 7/31/13
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