Pretty uneventful week. Brody's side pain has persisted but is not to frequent. As Trish mentioned the CT showed the tumor to be looking the same. Brody seems to have recovered from his C. diff infection-- he had some persistant diarhea but it has subsided and we are back to giving him Miralax to keep his stools soft as it can be painful to pass them if they are too hard.
Brody's weight is up to almost 44 pounds now-- he was down to less then 40 a few months ago and his appetite is pretty good most of the time although he is still kind of finicky... he had me bring him a McD's cheeseburger with fries for dinner yesterday and he chased these with 2 pieces of french toast (ate it all).
To try and increase his nutrient intake Trish bought a good juicer last week-- Brody seems to like to make the juice but doesn't care to drink it too much-- everyone else loves it-- I think it might be more of the "pulp" in the juice (texture) rather then the taste of it. Hopefully it will grow on him. We have explained to him that drinking it can help him fight the cancer so he has been drinking it anyway.
Thats pretty much it... we have been continuing to homeschool the boys and other then a few behavioral hiccups-- all is going pretty well with that... There is actually quite a few educational videos on Netflix that we have been utilizing to help supplement our science and history.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Brody's CT Scan Today Showed Brody's Tumor is Staying About the Same Size
Brody has been having pain on his right side (not on his back or belly) right over his right kidney. The pain is not constant but rather comes and goes but is always in the same spot. Brody pointed to the spot where it hurts during an ultrasound and the ultrasound tech moved the wand over the area he stated was hurting. His right kidney was in that area. Brody still has nephrostomy tubes on both sides. His right kidney is his good kidney and his left one does not seem to have very much function. The doctor ordered a CT scan for today and also a nephrostogram to try to determine the cause of the pain Brody keeps having. The CT scan was ordered to get a picture of whether the tumor has changed or not. The nephrostogram was ordered to determine if the tubes are still in place where they should be or not and to gage how obstructed or unobstructed his ureters are. The CT scan showed that the tumor is about the same size as it was last time according to our oncologist but it has not yet been reviewed by the radiologist. The nephrostogram showed that the tubes are placed correctly and that no stitches have come loose that would allow the tubes to slip or wiggle and cause pain. They did not see the dye flow through the urterers to the bladder though which means, in the position Brody was laying, at least for this test, his ureterers are likely still obstructed. Brody has had his tubes in for awhile now since being replaced the last time. They plan to replace the tubes again within next couple of weeks. They will evaluate again at that time if Brody's urterers are still obstructed or not.
So we didn't get any really bad news today and I was relieved to hear the CT scan results. But we still do not have an answer as to why Brody keeps repeatedly and more frequently having recurring sharp pains in the same spot. Interventional Radiology staff decided to try doing the dressings around his nephrostomy tubes a little different though to see if this change could help the tubes move around less in case the little bit of wiggling he does have with the tubes is causing the pain. He has not complained of the pain since they changed how the dressings are placed around the tube. Hopefully, this is why he has been having the pain and the new way of doing the dressings helps.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Brody Has Been Feeling Very Good Despite C. Diff. Infection
As Bill indicated in a previous post, Brody has been dealing with a C. Diff. (clostridium difficile) infection. This type of bacterial infection of the gastrointestinal tract is more likely to occur and can be very dangerous in patients that have had lots of previous antibiotics exposure and/or compromised immune system function. Brody has definitely been exposed to many antibiotics recently and his immune system is weaker than most due to the chemo he must take. Without the competition from healthy gut flora (beneficial/healthy bacteria that line the gastrointestinal tract) that have been killed off by multiple antibiotics, the c. diff. bacteria can easily overgrow and cause significant harm to the gastrointestinal tract. The bacteria releases a toxin that breaks down the cells of the gastrointestinal tract and can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting. Brody has been taking an antibiotic called Flagyl (metronidazole) every 6 hours since he was diagnosed with a c. diff. infection. Overall, fortunately the diarrhea has not been too bad so far and vomiting has not been a problem. However, each bowel movement had been fairly scary since each involves pain and some blood in his stools. Today, though I did not observe any obvious blood in his stools. Hopefully this means he is about to kick this c. diff. infection. I have heard and seen a few horror stories associated with c. diff. which of course means I've been a little more worried than usual this week. Obviously I try not to let my worries of what could happen keep us from enjoying each day though. If Brody feels fine (and he has, really) then we just try to live or lives, have fun and not let our worries intefere with it all. Life, unfortunately, is just to short to dwell on things you cannot control. Sometimes you just have to tell yourself everything is going to be just fine and commit yourself to believing that and then somehow it just seems to be just fine. The power of the mind and concentrating on the positives can be amazing.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Visited Ruby Falls Today for Geordi's Birthday
We celebrated Geordi's 10 year old birthday at Ruby Falls today. I had taken Geordi and Jaden there once before about 5 years ago but they couldn't remember it very well and so really wanted to go again. It was a rainy, cold day in Chattanooga today so this adventure moved to the top of several ideas of things he wanted to do on his birthday. I still can not believe he's 10 already. Where has the time gone?
We had a great time at Old McDonald's Farm
We enjoyed the day at Old McDonald's Farm. Hayride, awesome slides, picking pumpkins, corn maze, hay maze, pumpkin slinging, inflatable horse racing, and spending time with family all equates to a wonderfully fun afternoon in TN.
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