Dear Family and Friends:
I hadn’t been expecting to write quite this soon, but a lot of people have been asking Karen questions, so I’m trying to get this out. As I detailed in the last update, I expected to return home last Tuesday night or Wednesday after having my first infusion of the antibody. But it didn’t work out that way.
A few hours after I arrived on Monday, December 2nd, I went into atrial fibrillation (A-fib). This raised a concern about whether my heart rate was too high to receive the antibody. They gave me some meds to reduce the rate. Because I had not been on anti-coagulants since the last hospital visit, the cardiologists were reluctant to try to convert me to normal rhythm right away.
Listening to my chest suggested something going on in my lungs. A chest x-ray on Tuesday revealed a pleural effusion – which is to say fluid in the cavity around my right lung. Because my heart rate had lowered some, they tried the trial dose. I reacted by feeling sufficiently cold that I was on the edge of shivering – and my pulse went up. So they paused the test dose.
Wednesday, I’d been on anti-coagulants for a day, so it was down into the basement for a cardioversion to return my heart to normal (sinus) rhythm.
After cooling my heels most of Thursday as the research team tried to schedule a restart, they started anew with the trial dose about 7 in the evening. The research nurse had to hang around until 4am to do all the follow up. I went to sleep about 11:30 and only had to endure the vital checks every half-hour to an hour. Friday, I received the balance of the initial dose – which went smoothly.
Friday and Saturday, Angela, Harry, and Fia moved here. Angela flew up with Fia on Friday afternoon. Harry drove up on Saturday in thirteen hours with the dog and the yowling cat with only a few snags along the way.
Saturday and Sunday (the 8th) I received doses of a diuretic to see if we could reduce the fluid in the lungs. An x-ray on Saturday showing the pleural effusion had increased and a CT scan on Sunday gave more detail. Angela and Fia, charming the socks off everyone, came with Karen to visit me on Sunday morning – the highlight of my day.
Monday, an “Ultrasound-guided Right Therapeutic and Diagnostic Thoracentesis” removed about 800 ml of clear, reddish-colored fluid from my right pleural cavity. In the evening, Karen took me home.
I’ve been feeling weak since I returned from the hospital – and I’m scheduled for the next infusion tomorrow, the 12th. I am due for another infusion on the 19th and then a PET scan on Christmas Eve. I’m hoping the weakness and slight nausea I’m feeling are due to my intestines recovering from the cancer. We’ll see.
Thanks again for the well wishes. Sorry I haven’t responded to all of them.
Previous Updates:
1. https://conicwave.net/node/81
2. https://conicwave.net/node/82
3. https://conicwave.net/node/83
Doug