New Plan...

So everyone knows by now that I love PLANS... Todd has a new plan. After an update with DUKE with ALL the things that are wrong with Todd, I received a call from Dr. D to review all the "issues." You ask, what are the issues???

• Swollen like a balloon.. from steroids
• Speech and Vision still not good. He still is not driving and he is extremely hard to understand.
• Unstable balance
• No energy
• Shortness of breath
• Almost 90% bed/couch bound

Most of this has been on going however things have dramatically taken a turn for the worse within the past 2 weeks. On the plus side, the diarrhea is GONE and his blood sugar is pretty much under control.

I decided to do an update with Duke and instead of hearing from the Nurse, Michelle, I received a call from Dr. D. She was extremely concerned about what I was telling her. This is where the new PLAN comes into effect. We spoke for a bit and then she/I spoke to the Knox Drs.

They are going to wean him off of the steroids and move to Ritalin (yes, the ADHD meds) to help improve energy. Before that can be done, they are going to scan/xray his chest for the following: pneumonia and lung blood clot (because of the shortness of breath.)

They are going to change from CPT-11 to another chemo. This one will be oral... Changing because of the chances of diarrhea again.

Order PT, OT and Speech Therapy. Dr. D said that there is NO reason why he is not up and going... he is having severe side effects from the steroids and almost completely immobile. They are afraid he is losing muscles... add another issue to the list. :)

So.. after rambling.. this makes sense to me, probably not you... They are changing things up. Bottom line, Dr. D said he should be up and moving way more than what he is doing. She stated that the Steroids have really taken a toll on him in addition to the chemo. By changing all this around he will probably be better with the blood sugar levels (come off insulin) as well so this change hopefully will be GREAT.

In the convo.. she stated that the tumors were shrinking and I paused.. I was told STABLE. She said that in order for them to say 'shrinking' it would have to of shrunk at least 50%. His tumor has shrunk approx 15-20%. WOOHOO... this was good news.

We go tomorrow for the scans and the xray's, then an appt with Oncology. Both Duke and Knox Dr's have been fabulous in answering all my questions and keeping me sane. I've said in many instances "if this was your husband, what would you do?" and I feel confident in the advice they give me.

We've had a very rough past 2 weeks... I am so thankful that a little light came through the tunnel today to show me hope. I said several prayers over the last few days asking for some relief for Todd... Its not fair for him to suffer this much.

I've had several awesome gifts come this week. I want to thank everyone for all that you do/done! Any texts to Todd are greatly appreciated because I know he's getting lonely at home.

I'm sure I will know more tomorrow... and will post again!

Continued prayers for us, Todd's mom and my new buddy Sherri (hubby with gbm)...

Then Clan