[stanford_status] Jan 7, Sun - Very tired and weak

[John R Larsen]

Hello Everyone,

This will be a short update.  Stanford didn't need very much break 
through medication after this round of gemcitabine (round 4).  The 
previous three times he needed five to seven 2 ml doses of oxycodone 
during the 12 to 36 hour period after.  This time he didn't have 
much pain at all and only had two doses.  

One possible side effect of chemo is mouth sores and thrush.  He has 
never had either before, but he has thrush now so he is on a daily 
antifungal medication once a day for five days.  The thrush hasn't 
bothered him in any way, but it needs to be taken care of.  Another 
side effect has been puking about four days after chemo.  He did 
some of that today, a day earlier than in the past.

Round 5 of the gemcitabine is scheduled for this Thursday, Jan 11th, 
in the afternoon.  Dr. O'Shea said previously that CT scans would be 
done around the 6th or 7th treatment.

Stanford is very tired and weak.  Some days he has more alert times 
than other days.  His legs have lots of fluid build up and his arms 
and upper body are very skinny and weak.  Speaking takes too much 
energy at times and he mostly whispers.  Sitting up requires too 
much energy, but he gets uncomfortable always lying down. He wanted 
to go to church today, but he was so tired that in the end he 
decided it would be better if he stayed home.  His appetite varies.  
This morning around 5 AM he wanted apple pie and ice cream.  We read 
"Eragon" while he was eating that.  I try to take advantage of his 
awake times to read whenever he is up to it.  He hasn't eaten much 
today.

Friday evening we bought one of those Tempur Pedic comfort pillows 
at Brookstone.  In the past week his tail bone has really hurt at 
times from all the extra weight pressing down on it.  I had heard 
good things about Tempur Pedic so we got a pillow for him to try.  
It has really made a difference.  He gave the pillow the "thumbs up" 
and hasn't made any comments at all about tail bone pain since then.

So, that's kind of what has been going on.  We're taking it a day at 
a time.  We keep hoping and praying that things will start to turn 
around soon.  

Unless there are major changes or things to report I'll probably 
hold off on status updates for a few days.

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement, support, and prayers.

John


_______________________________________________________
John R Larsen <john at larsen-family.us>
http://larsen-family.us