Changes

It's been a while with not really any news, but that's changed now!

David went off the last trial about 4 weeks ago. It never really offered anything positive in the way of shrinkage of the node. But it has had a horrible side effect that we pray goes away at some point. He itches all the time. With these treatments, side effects can start at any time, even after a treatment has been discontinued. And they can continue indefinitely too. Ugh. They have prescribed eczema meds and he uses OTC allergy meds and itch spray and creams as well. Nothing really helps. There isn't a rash. Just itching. 😳 

So what next? MDAnderson does not have a trial that he is qualified for right now, so they put him on 2 medications that are the current standard of care. If a trial opens for him in the future, they'll let him know. We were told by the first trial nurse that MDA will provide standard care, but they are a research hospital and we would receive the best care if participating in trials. We have already experienced this. They just aren't as interested in his case. He has never only received the standard of care, he started with trials right after his diagnosis 9 years ago. So maybe it will work for a while?!

We also had a scary week here!

My father had a trip to the ER after a fall, I spent most of Tuesday night in the ER with him and my mom. He's better, was released on Friday and went to the Bobcat football game Saturday!

Wednesday evening, David experienced an extreme loss of balance and was very shaky. He finally decided he needed to go to the emergency room early Thursday morning. 

We got there about 6am. Their first thought was that he had had a stroke. He was confused, disoriented and slurring his speech. 

They scheduled a brain scan. And he had a zoom consult with a neurologist. There was also concern the cancer had spread to his brain.

They did blood work and started him on fluids.

His bloodwork returned a glucose level of nearly 600! He had been lethargic and had no appetite for a week or so, but with the cancer treatments and previous low glucose levels we did not even think about diabetes! It is no small miracle that he didn't have worse complications with a blood sugar level that high! Praise God!

Well, his brain and spine CT scan and his brain MRI came back clear. Praise God again! No stroke and no cancer there! After over 8 hours in the ER, he was admitted to th PCU.

So now he has diabetes. Ugh. His glucose at MDA at the end of September was 111. This came out of nowhere. I guess it could be a side effect of all the immunotherapies. 🤷‍♀️

After they got him hydrated and insulin-ed up he was feeling much better. Like MUCH better. Energy, appetite back to normal. Yay!

He left the hospital Saturday afternoon with an insulin prescription and not enough intructions. But we figured it out!

Now along with insulin, he has started the new cancer treatment. We have no idea how he will react to it. The lists of side effects are a mile long!

Please pray for:

*No side effects from the new cancer drugs.

*The drugs to shrink the cancer!

*The itching to stop!

*The diabetes to be controlled.

*God's protection and provision for our family.

*Our friends coping with their own health and cancer battles!

That's about it, and that's quite enough!

Thank you for reading all this and for loving us! ❤️