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July 2006 Updates Saturday, July 1, 2006
Bruce & I went to Boston on June 8th, to get a 2nd opinion from a nephrologist there. We really liked both him and his fellow! They spent a long time with us, asking Bruce questions, reviewing his medical records, and explaining kidney function and kidney diseases to us. They're doing some specialized testing on Bruce's blood & urine, and Bruce has to have a nuclear renal scan done on July 5th. He has an appointment in Boston again on August 10th and, hopefully, at that time the doctor will have a better idea of what is causing Bruce's decreased kidney function. Based on the facts he's seen so far though, he believes it's probably a paraneoplastic syndrome, caused by the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Bruce saw both his local nephrologist, and his oncologist, on June 26th. Bruce's body is covered with a nasty, itchy rash and his onc is concerned that it's related to the lymphoma, so Bruce has an appointment with a dermatologist on July 5th to have a skin biopsy done.
Bruce had a PET/CT scan done this past Thursday, June 29th. We don't have the official results from it yet, but it sounds like it showed evidence of active lymphoma. We'll know more next week, after the holiday.
Bruce has an appointment with the urologist on July 14th, but that's no biggy. It's just a follow-up appointment from when he saw him ages ago.
We hope any Canadians reading this are having a wonderful Canada Day today, and that all the Americans reading this will have a wonderful & safe 4th of July!
Monday, July 24, 2006
Sorry I took so long to update, but I wasn't sure what to say. We have test results, but no real answers.
The PET/CT scan did show lymphoma...under the arm and on the back of the shoulder. There was also some metabolic activity in other areas (larynx, pharynx, stomach, spleen, liver, etc), but hopefully that's nothing to be concerned about, as Bruce isn't having any problems/symptoms in those areas.
We got a copy of the nuclear renal scan report, but the way it was written, it sounded contradictory to us. When Bruce saw the urologist, he asked him to take a look at the report. He too agreed that the way it was written, it sounded contradictory! We'll have to contact the one who actually wrote the report, to find out what it means.
Bruce saw the dermatologist, who did NOT do a biopsy the way Bruce's onc wanted him to, because he doesn't think the rash is anything to be concerned about. He gave Bruce a couple of prescriptions, which aren't helping to clear up the rash.
On to: October 2006 Bruce's Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Story Background courtesy of : |