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April 2005 Updates Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Apparently, now Bruce has a kidney infection! He had quite a bit of discomfort yesterday and last night, but this morning he was feeling better. When he woke up from a nap today though, he had the pain again and he had a fever. We called the urologist, who called in a prescription for antibiotics for him. Hopefully, the antibiotics will kick in soon! Tonight Bruce is still having the pain & he still has a fever, even though he's been taking Tylenol.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Bruce had more blood work done today, and he also had an appointment with a dermatologist because of a funky rash he has. A sample was taken for biopsy, but we won't have the results for about 10 days.
The antibiotic for Bruce's infection has finally kicked in. He didn't have any pain or fever today! :)
Friday, April 08, 2005
Bruce's nephrologist just called because he just got the results of the blood work Bruce had done yesterday. In just one week Bruce's blood creatinine has gone from 2.7 to 3.8. The nephrologist said Bruce is to stop the medicine he prescribed for him immediately, cut the dose of the antibiotic back by half, and drink a LOT of water to flush the medicines out of his system. Urgent prayers are needed!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Yesterday, Bruce had more blood work done and he also had an appointment with the urologist to get the stent removed.
Today, Bruce saw the nephrologist and we got the results of yesterday's blood work. Bruce's creatinine has gone up some more, now it's 4.0. The nephrologist said if the creatinine had gone up because of the medicine he had Bruce on, it should have dropped some by now and definitely not have gone up some more. Now the nephrologist believes Bruce's kidney failure is related to the lymphoma.
Bruce has to have blood work done again tomorrow morning, have another renal ultrasound done tomorrow, and he also has an appointment with his oncologist tomorrow. The nephrologist said if his creatinine is ANY higher tomorrow, he'll be admitting Bruce to the hospital. :(
Bruce has lost 6 pounds during the past month. Not surprising, considering his lack of appetite. Almost as soon as he starts eating a meal, he feels full and can't eat any more.
On the bright side, the tumor on the back of Bruce's shoulder has shrunk back down to the size that it's been for most of the past 16 months.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Bruce was NOT admitted to the hospital today! His creatinine is down from 4.0 to 3.3! Praise God!!
I do have some not-so-good news though. Bruce's SED rate is extremely high, indicating that the lymphoma is probably more active now...However, we're feeling a lot better about things now that Bruce's onc has taken charge of trying to figure out what's going on with Bruce's kidney. He's ordered additional blood & urine tests (looking for things that the nephrologist didn't check for), he put Bruce on Prednisone, and on Monday Bruce will be having a PET scan done. We'll see his onc again next Thursday & by then he should have the results of everything, including the skin biopsy that was done. Hopefully, then he'll be able to look at the big picture and figure out what's going on....At the moment, his onc thinks the kidney problem is related to the NHL, either directly (lymphoma has penetrated Bruce's kidney) or indirectly (Paraneoplastic Syndrome). Another possibility is that it's an autoimmune disorder.
It's funny how everything is relative...a couple of weeks ago a creatinine count of 3.3 would have sounded frighteningly high to us, but now it sounds miraculously low! :)
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Bruce! Please keep up the prayers!
Sunday, April 17, 2005
If you can hear someone shouting for joy and praising the Lord, it's just me! Today, the tumor on Bruce's back is GONE! We can't feel ANYTHING there!!!
Monday, April 18, 2005
The long scar Bruce had from the biopsy that was done back in Jan., 2004, was raised, fairly wide, and it was discolored. When Bruce woke up this morning though, the entire area was completely flat, the discoloration was gone, and there's only a flat, thread-thin white line where the scar had been. Not only has God removed the tumor from the back of Bruce's shoulder, but now He has also healed Bruce's scar!
Please be praying that He's also healing Bruce's kidney!
Friday, April 22, 2005
The PET scan done on Monday did show uptake in the area on the back of Bruce's shoulder, indicating that some cancer is still there. However, that was the only place in Bruce's body that it showed anything!
As for Bruce's blood counts...as of yesterday, Bruce's blood creatinine was down to 2.2 and his SED rate was down to 11!
We want to thank everyone who has been praying for Bruce! God was listening and He responded! :)
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