Bubble Bubble...

Karen has gotten her third dose of Gemzar and we're still learning what the side effects might be. It makes me into that annoying nurse that's always asking "are you ok?"  It seems that on the third day after her infusion she has mild flu-like symptoms. Temp up just slightly and blood pressure higher; enough to worry us but not enough to go to the ER. Luckily it doesn't last too long and seems to resolve by itself so far.

Unfortunately, this chemo is again producing fluid around the lung. Karen's oxygen needs have been increasing so we know it's time for a thoracentesis. This is an off week for chemo so they've scheduled one for this Friday provided her blood counts are ok.  

So is this particular witches brew doing any good? We don't have a clue but at least she's getting systemic treatment again. We'll find out during the next PET scan, which is going to be a wait. she's going to have to go through a few rounds of this. Three weeks on and one week off for about three months is the ideal. One set down...two to go.

The hip is still a problem. The radiation didn't help with the pain and again we won't know if it killed any active cancer until the PET. We went back to Yale for a follow-up with the specialist and left with mixed feelings. Hip replacement doesn't seem to be a good option unless the cancer settles back down. The pain is limiting Karen's level of activity. The doc is conferring with our oncologist and we may at least have some cortisone injected into the hip joint to see if that would provide at least some relief even for a short period of time. It's not scheduled but then nothing seems to happen as fast as we'd like.  
In the meantime we're enjoying the fall with some trips to the lake house to continue our fall cleanup and shutdown.
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Photo- The witches brewing up the chemo?

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