October 2006 Updates Monday, October 2, 2006
On August 10th, Bruce had another appointment with the 2nd opinion nephrologist in Boston. Unfortunately, none of the tests indicated what the cause of Bruce's decreased kidney function is, so the doctor said we'll probably never know the cause. He was very encouraging about the near future however, emphasizing that Bruce's kidney condition is CHRONIC. He doesn't believe Bruce will need dialysis for quite some time, and he feels it's much too soon for Bruce to be having an access for dialysis put in. Yeah!
Bruce has started seeing a different nephrologist locally. He had his first appointment with her on Sept. 7th and we were both very impressed with her. She asked more questions about Bruce's past medical history than his other local nephrologist ever did. Although Bruce is in stage 4 kidney failure, she too thinks it could be YEARS until he needs dialysis. Yeah again! :)
On Sept. 15th, Bruce had a renal artery ultra-sound done. It's hard to believe there's a test that Bruce hadn't had done before, but this was one that he had never had (although he HAS had other types of renal ultra-sounds done). His new nephrologist is the one that ordered it. We haven't gotten the results of it yet, although we probably could if we tried. We don't believe the results will show anything important.
As for Bruce's skin rash, the prescriptions the dermatologist gave him didn't help so, on August 16th, Bruce finally had a skin biopsy done. It showed that he has Mucha Habermann Disease! It's a rare disease, the cause is unknown, and it doesn't sound like it's too much to worry about.
Since I gave the last update, Bruce has been able to feel a tumor slowly growing over the back of his left shoulder. Although it isn't raised very much, it's fairly wide. Bruce says it feels like it's growing inward more than it's growing outward, and at times it can be bothersome for him.
Bruce has also had some borderline night sweats lately. I say borderline because they're more like hot flashes, than like true drenching night sweats where you soak the sheets. He's also been even more tired lately, than usual.
Bruce had an appointment with his onc today and his onc feels that, although the lymphoma is active, some of Bruce's symptoms might be indirectly related to past chemo he's has had, rather than caused by the lymphoma.
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
I recently did this scrapbook layout of Bruce & I thought some of you might like to see it. :)
The journaling on the layout says:
When I met Bruce in our senior year of high school, it didn't take me long to recognize that he was my "Knight in Shining Armor". It wasn't until after we were married and had 3 children though, that I realized what a brave & courageous knight he was!
When Bruce was 34 years old, he was diagnosed with an incurable form of a cancer of the lymph system. At the time, we were told he might die within a month and, at most, he probably only had 2 years. Bruce refused to accept that death sentence though. He faced "the beast" head on and, with an amazingly positive attitude, he has bravely and courageously battled the dragon for over 20 years so far.
Bruce has been an inspiration to more people than he'll ever realize, and he has inspired ME more than he'll ever know. Without any doubt, he is my brave & courageous knight!
Sunday, October 8, 2006
We have another grandchild! He was born early this morning and both he and our daughter are doing well. This is our NINTH grandchild!
When Bruce was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma over 20 years ago, we were worried that he wouldn't live to see his children grow up. We never would have guessed that he'd live to have 9 grandchildren! :)
On to: November Updates Bruce's Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Story ! Main Page Background courtesy of :
Bruce's Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Story
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