Small Steps

 Dr visit on Thursday (5/18) Some of his tumor markers have come down slightly. They watch his LDH (Lactate Dehydrogenase) closely and it dropped from 648 to 461. Still high but better. Not sure if it because of the treatment or something else but for now it’s a good sign. The results from the biopsy came back as necrotic tissue. Dr thinks that it grew so fast and some of the tissue is dying off. He does not see a reason to do another biopsy at this time. The fluid that they drained from the Thoracentesis did not show any signs of cancer cells at this point. They will keep an eye on that and if fluid begins to build up again they will have to do another one. He has developed a cough but thinks it’s from his lung trying to expand again. Mot sure if the lung will ever expand fully again. His breathing has improved since the fluid was removed. Dr would like to see if he can lower his oxygen from 2.5 to 2 and his O2’s stay at 95 or above. The test results for the BRAF Mutation came back negative. It’s not good or bad but if it had been positive that would have given more options for treatment so for now his treatment will stay the same with the immunotherapy. He does not have to have the Paracentesis after all. Dr thinks it was scheduled in error. He has started to develop pain from the mass in his shoulder. The mass has gotten larger. Dr said if the pain gets worse that they will probably scan it and maybe consider some radiation on it to relieve some of the pain. His hemoglobin is running a bit low and if it drops anymore he may need a blood transfusion. Dr would like to see if he can start to ween off of the Oxicodone. He’ll stay on the Morphine extended release. Small steps but they seem to be going in the right direction.